20 apartments for rent in South Louisville, Louisville, KY

The South Louisville neighborhood (also known as the South Side) is the area of Louisville bounded by Central Avenue, Industry Road, Longfield Avenue, Taylor Boulevard, Third Street, and the CSX Railway tracks.

Just three miles south of the city center, this land was once owned by the Churchill family in the 1870s. With the advent of the streetcar, South Louisville became an industrial area, with additional housing springing up around the edges. The once flourishing industrial area eventually faced decline in the 1970s. As the factories closed, the area lost population and became blighted.

A turnaround occurred in the late 1990s, however, when the University of Louisville began expanding southward, revitalizing the neighborhood. This drew in other property developers, and today South Louisville is a thriving community of immigrants and those affiliated with the university. Residential housing includes renovated “shotgun style” homes characteristic of earlier times, as well as new condominium developments, which often use old warehouse space as a base.

The South Louisville neighborhood’s recent shopping mall development, Central Station, is an example of this type of redevelopment. Today this once-empty factory space has been transformed into a shopping mall, with grocery store, restaurants, office complex, and medical center.

Neighborhood residents can get their exercise at the new South Louisville Community Center on Taylor Boulevard, whose facilities include an indoor track, weight room, and gym. The Center also features a “teen room” and game room, as well as offering special programs and classes.

One of the most prominent features of the South Louisville neighborhood is the Churchill Downs Race Track, site of the annual Kentucky Derby. The most famous thoroughbred race in the state, and arguably the world, the Kentucky Derby is memorialized in a museum on the grounds, in addition to its clubhouse, track, and stables.