Lexington is the second largest city In Kentucky. It is known worldwide for its Bluegrass horse farms and Keeneland Race Track, and proudly boasts of itself as “The Horse Capital of the World.”
It is also known far and wide as the home to the Kentucky Wildcats, the basketball team of the University of Kentucky. Located in the heart of Lexington, UK has won many NCAA championships over the years.
In early years, Lexington was known as the Athens of the West, because of its ties to Transylvania University, an institution that figured prominently in Lexington’s history as a cultural and educational center.
In recent years, Lexington has become a regional center for health care that includes the University of Kentucky Medical Center, which aims to become one of the top 20 hospitals in the nation. There are three other major hospitals in the city, which also provide health care to Central and Eastern Kentucky: Central Baptist, Saint Joseph and Samaritan.
It is also a major regional shopping center, boasting a greatly-expanded Fayette Mall and a booming Hamburg Pavilion, built on land formerly belonging to a horse farm.
A thriving downtown offers many historical sites to tourists and houses a healthy arts and cultural district.
The city’s downtown Lexington Convention Center has recently been expanded and hosts many national meetings and conventions, thanks to the Hyatt Regency and the Radisson Hotel. Several other convention centers also exist in Lexington, including new facilities at Coldstream Farm to accommodate conventions and business meetings.
The city is truly growing in all directions and there have been many recent efforts – including the purchase of development rights – aimed at preserving the natural beauty of the horse farms around the city.