Why should you live in Louisville, KY?

Louisville, Kentucky, is a thriving city that’s home to more than 617,000 people. Whether you’re looking for a city with great dining, outstanding recreation, or affordable living, you’ve found it! There’s a lot to love about living in Louisville. Here are some of the top highlights you can look forward to if you’re thinking about moving to the area.

Divine Dining Options

Louisville offers ample options for delicious dining, including some award-winning favorites. The English Grill at the Brown Hotel and Vincenzo’s both received the AAA Four Diamond award in 2020. The English Grill offers the refined air of an exclusive club with a decadent menu. Two of the tasty dishes are center-cut filet mignon with whipped potatoes and candied root vegetables and crispy skin duck with Weisenberger grits and brown butter Brussels sprouts. At Vincenzo’s, you’ll enjoy an authentic Italian experience with dishes like chicken cacciatore and linguine tetrazzine.

Another restaurant is 610 Magnolia, where you can enjoy delicacies prepared by Chef Edward Lee, a finalist for Best Chef Southeast from the James Beard Foundation. Chef Kathy Cary at Lilly’s Bistro has garnered multiple nominations for this award as well.

Louisville is also responsible for some iconic southern foods like the Hot Brown, which is an open-faced turkey sandwich invented at the Brown Hotel to satisfy guests’ late-night hunger. Colonel Sanders hailed from Louisville as well, bringing forth the famous recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The Bourbon Trail

Kentucky has a 200-year history of crafting fine bourbon and provides 95% of the world’s bourbon supply. One-third of that comes right from Louisville. The city’s Urban Bourbon Trail features 46 bars and restaurants with features like bourbon cocktails, bourbon flights, and even bourbon-infused foods. Pick up a passport at the Louisville Visitor Center and earn six stamps by dining or drinking at participating restaurants, and you can earn the year’s Urban Bourbon Trailblazer T-shirt. The last call in Louisville doesn’t happen till 4 a.m., so you’ll have plenty of time to check out the local hot spots.

Four Distinctive Seasons

Louisville’s climate delivers all four seasons, so you’ll get to enjoy a little of everything throughout the year. In winter, lows dip into the 20s, and you can see plenty of snow. This is great for taking a ski trip to nearby resorts like Paoli Peaks or Perfect North, which are both within a two-hour drive of the city. March is the rainiest season, but this helps the blooms burst forth at engaging destinations like the Waterfront Botanical Gardens.

In summer, the average highs climb into the upper 80s, so you’ll have the perfect weather for a visit to Kentucky Kingdom and Hurricane Bay or Calypso Cove Family Waterpark. The crisp autumn weather is perfect for enjoying surrounding farms and orchards. Gallrein Farms is just 40 minutes away and offers a pumpkin patch, petting zoo, haunted house, pedal tractors, corn maze, hayrides, and more for seasonal fun.

Access to the Kentucky Derby

Louisville is home to the iconic Kentucky Derby that takes place each May. This event brings more than 160,000 people from around the world and generates $217 million for the region. The derby is associated with a number of fun traditions that you can take part in, whether you attend the event in person or simply host a derby party in your perfectly located Louisville home. The Kentucky Derby Hat Parade encourages bright, eye-catching headwear for the event. The mint julep is the official drink of the derby, making it an obligatory indulgence for the day.

Those wanting to place a bet on the derby can do so in person or online, so you can place a wager whether you attend the derby live or not. This historic event is a point of pride for anyone living in Louisville.

A Convenient Central Location

If you’re living in Louisville, there are very few things that you can’t access. The city itself is a bustling metropolis that provides an abundance of shopping, dining, entertainment, and recreation opportunities. You’ll also find that two-thirds of the U.S. population is within a day’s drive. Louisville is just 95 miles from Cincinnati, 107 miles from Indianapolis, and 155 miles from Nashville.

The Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport offers nonstop flights to over 30 locations including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Orlando, Miami, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.

Abundant Employment Opportunities

Louisville is home to many major corporations offering a variety of employment opportunities. Here, you’ll find the headquarters for Norton Healthcare, Papa John’s, Texas Roadhouse, Republic Bancorp, CafePress, Long John Silver’s, and Yum! Brands. The Ford Motor Company has two plants in Louisville employing over 13,000 people. Other major employers include Humana Inc., The Kroger Co., and the University of Louisville.

Competitive Cost of Living

The cost of living in Louisville is 8.8% lower than the national average. Housing is particularly affordable, coming in nearly 30% below the national average. Food costs are 28.3% below the national average, and healthcare costs are 27.1% lower than average. If you’re moving to Louisville from another major metropolitan area, you may find that your budget goes a lot further here.

Outdoor Recreation

Though Louisville offers all the urban amenities that you would expect in a city, it doesn’t skimp on natural highlights. This is known as the “City of Parks” for its stunning park system, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. There are over a dozen parks to experience with a wide variety of amenities. You can go horseback riding in Iroquois Park, enjoy the wading pool at Chickasaw Park, or play the 18-hole golf course at Seneca Park. There’s no shortage of outdoor fun available in the area.

Whether you’re a newcomer to Louisville or a well-established local, it’s important to have a reliable ride to help you enjoy all that the city has to offer. Stop by Oxmoor Ford Lincoln the next time you need a new vehicle, or just reach out and let us know what you love about Louisville, so we can keep this list as well-rounded as possible.