Louisville, Kentucky is home to numerous structures that are noteworthy due to their architectural characteristics or historic associations, the most noteworthy being theOld Louisville neighborhood, the third largesthistoric preservation district in the United States. The city also boasts thepostmodernHumana Building and an expandingWaterfront Park which has served to remove the former industrial appearance of the riverfront.

Thedowntown business district of Louisville is located immediately south of theOhio River, andsoutheast of theFalls of the Ohio. Theairport is located approximately 6.5 miles (10.5 km) south of the downtown area, and easily connected to most parts of the city by threeInterstate Highways, maximizing its accessibility. The largest industrial sections of town are located to the south and west of the airport, while most of theresidential areas of the city are located to thesouthwest, south and east of downtown.

Another majorbusiness district is located in the moresuburban area east of the city on Hurstbourne Parkway. This area is considered Louisville's keyedge city—a relatively new concentration of business, shopping and entertainment outside a traditional urban area. Louisville also boasts a large number ofparks, with 122 parks covering more than 14,000acres (57 km²).

As of September 2016, there are four road bridges crossing the Ohio River toIndiana: theSherman Minton Bridge (I-64) in the city's West End, theJohn F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge (I-65), theGeorge Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge or Second Street Bridge (US 31), and the newly openedAbraham Lincoln Bridge that lies just east of the Kennedy bridge in Downtown Louisville.^[1] One more bridge is planned to be opened as part of theOhio River Bridges Project by late 2016. This bridge will extend the Indiana and Kentucky segments ofI-265 (via KY-841) to connectUtica, Indiana with Louisville's East End.^[2] Roads in southern Indiana branch out from the city originating from these bridges.I-71 branches out to the northeast from downtown Louisville towardOldham County andCincinnati.

Major roads extend outwards from the downtown area to all directions, like the spokes of a wheel. Many of these, such asBardstown Road, are former privately owned turnpikes, which were made free roads by the city in 1901. Thus, as is typical of cities built on property organized by theMetes and bounds system, the old spoke roads extend relatively erratically from the city center, with turns and curves based on old geography and now-forgotten property ownership. In areas such as downtown,Old Louisville, and the West End, old turnpikes and roads were rebuilt to fit the grid, but in other areas, the spoke roads remained as the old farms they once served were developed. Where the spoke roads remained unaltered, smaller roads were built in between them as the farms were developed, either in a relativelygridiron style in older sections, or incurvilinear styles, often with manycul-de-sacs, in newer areas.

The city'sarchitecture contains a blend of old and new. The Old Louisville neighborhood is the largesthistoric preservation district solely featuringVictorian homes and buildings in the United States;^[3][4] it is also the third largest such district overall. TheButchertown,Germantown, andPortland neighborhoods are known for theirshotgun houses. TheLouisville City Hall largely follows earlierarchitectural styles, mainlyFrench Empire. The nearbyJefferson County Courthouse is an example ofGreek Revival architecture. Likewise, many of the buildings downtown follow either the Greek Revival,Italian Renaissance orFrench Renaissance. These mix well with several of the city'spostmodernskyscrapers. The buildings of theWest Main District in downtown Louisville boast the largest collection ofcast iron facades of anywhere outside of New York'sSoHo district.^[5]

Louisville has traditionally been divided up into three sides of town: the West End, the South End, and the East End. In 2003, Bill Dakan, aUniversity of Louisville geography professor, said that the West End, west of 7th Street and north of Algonquin Parkway, is "aeuphemism for theAfrican-American part of town" although he points out that this belief is not entirely true,and most African Americans no longer live in areas where more than 80% of residents are black^[clarify]. Nevertheless, he says the perception is still strong.^[6] According to the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors, the lowest median home values are west of Interstate 65 in the West and South Ends, the middle range of home values are between Interstates 64 and 65 in the South and East Ends, and the highest median home values are north of Interstate 64 in the East End.^[7] Immigrants fromSoutheast Asia tend to settle in the South End, while immigrants fromEastern Europe settle in the East End.^[8]

The most affluent residential areas are to the east of downtown Louisville. The nine richestlocations by per capita income inKentucky, and 19 of the top 20 such locations, are found in this East End, which trace their origins to several 19th centurysummer colonies for wealthy Louisvillians. The nearest to downtown, as well as the wealthiest in terms of average income, isMockingbird Valley, and the two most prominent and oldest Eastern Jefferson County cities areAnchorage andGlenview.

There are also two areas which are sometimes considered to be their own side of town. The area east of I-65, south ofEastern Parkway, and west ofBardstown Road is economically, culturally and topographically abuffer zone between the East and South sides, and is routinely claimed by both residents and outsiders as belonging to either side.

The interior areas of the city's east and south ends are also sometimes considered by some to be their own side of town, sometimes called the "Inner East side". The area basically fromOld Louisville, along Eastern Parkway toThe Highlands, and to theButchertown andClifton areas have seen an influx of young professionals in recent decades. These areas are home to mostly singles and non-families, are much more liberal than the rest of the city, and featurepedestrian-friendly shopping, with many eclectic shops. Most of these neighborhoods are either partly or entirely in historic preservation districts.

See also thetallest buildings in downtown Louisville

The five tallest buildings in Louisville are all indowntown.

Some notable tall buildings outside of the downtown area are 1400 Willow Avenue, a 21-story condominium complex nearCherokee Park completed in 1980; Baptist Towers, a 17-story retirement living community inOld Louisville; and the suburban office buildingsWright Tower (15 stories, completed in 1966), Watterson Towers (16 stories, completed in 1972), Hurstbourne Place (13 stories, completed in 1982) and the 11 story 120 ft (37 m) high riseCommodore Apartment Building, near Cherokee Park, built in 1929 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 29, 1982.

This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2023)

Several important projects in the city are slated for completions in the late 2000s to about 2020.

The creation of a"ring of parks" will connect the waterfront,Levee Bike Trail, theFarnsley-Moremen Landing,Jefferson Memorial Forest andE. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. It is currently under planning. Another recreational infrastructure project completed in 2014 was the conversion of the formerBig Four railroad bridge over theOhio River into the second longest pedestrian-only bridge in the world. There are also plans to use the existing (but closed) vehicle lanes on the K and I railroad bridge over the Ohio River as a pedestrian sidewalk to connect Louisville'sRiverwalk Trail to a planned 7-mile (11 km) greenway on theIndiana side which will connectNew Albany,Clarksville andJeffersonville.Status: Segments currently range from planning to completion.

The primary roadway project will be the controversial $3.9 billionOhio River Bridges Project, which includes the reconstruction of theKennedy Interchange, where Interstates64,65 and71 meet. It also includes the construction of anI-265 eastern span and the dualization of the I-65 downtown span.

• RiverPark Place, a mixed low and high-rise apartment/condominium development covering 40 acres (160,000 m²) including a 150-slip marina between River Road and the Ohio River, near Towhead Island. A 16-foot wide walkway is to be developed along the river's edge, connecting withWaterfront Park to the west, and Beargrass Creek and Eva Bandman Park to the east.Status: Completed, On hold since 2008, resumed late in 2011.^[9]
• Park DuValle is a $200 million investment that is revitalizing an existing neighborhood by applying principles ofnew urbanism into its design. Park Duvalle was formerly a massivepublic workshousing project with barrack-styled housing that became essentially a warehouse forlow-income residents. The new community is based on a mixed-income design that features pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, large recreation and civic spaces,single-family homes, duplexes and small townhouse multi-family structures in period-style design.Status: Completed.^[10]
• Norton Commons, located 20 minutes northeast of downtown inProspect, near I-71 and I-265, is a 595-acre (2.41 km²)mixed-use development based onnew urbanism principles. It's a multi-year development and will feature single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes, along with traditional looking storefronts, civic spaces and parks in a variety of period-inspired designs all within walking distance.Status: Completed, Plans called for a total of 2,900 residences, and 560,000 square feet (52,000 m²) of commercial space.^[11]

• Liberty Green, a 29-acre (120,000 m²) $233 million project that will have 448 rental apartments/townhomes and 250 home-ownership townhomes in thePhoenix Hill neighborhood just east of downtown Louisville, and will include a recreational facility and possibly some commercial space.Status: Completed, Rentals were scheduled for completion by 2009, Sales of townhomes by 2018.^[12]
• KFC Yum! Center, a 22,000-seat arena in Downtown Louisville, bounded by River Road and Main, Second, and Third Streets, that is now the home for the University of Louisvillemen's and women'sbasketball teams. The arena was the main part of a $450 million project that also included a 975-space parking garage and a floodwall; the arena itself cost $252 million.Status: Completed; opened October 10, 2010.
• Lynn Family Stadium, a soccer stadium forLouisville City FC, the city's team in soccer'sUSL Championship league, opened in 2020 in the Butchertown neighborhood, just east of downtown. The stadium has also been home toRacing Louisville FC since it started play in theNational Women's Soccer League in 2021.Status: Completed; opened July 12, 2020.
• Nucleus Research Park, In 2007 U of L announced plans to create a nine-acre medical research park on the so-calledHaymarket property roughly bounded by Market, Preston, Brook, and Jefferson Streets, along I-65 in Downtown Louisville, with 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²) of research space. The project is expected to cost $300 million and would be constructed from 2009 to 2017. A 200,000-square-foot, eight-story, $18 million building, is the first in a series of structures, broke ground in July 2011, and was expected to open in May 2013.Status: Completed; Opened October 23, 2013.^[13]

• Geography of Louisville, Kentucky
• List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area
• List of parks in the Louisville metropolitan area
• Neighborhoods in Louisville, Kentucky, including:
  • List of cities in Jefferson County, Kentucky

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