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Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west. As of 2015, the population of downtown Louisville was 4,700, although this does not include directly surrounding areas such as Old Louisville, Butchertown, NuLu, and Phoenix Hill.
The five main areas of the Central Business District consist of:
- West Main District (west of 2nd St., north of Market St., east of 9th St., and south of the Ohio River)
- East Main District (east of 2nd St., north of Market St., west of Hancock St., and south of the Ohio River; contains the Whiskey Row Historic District)
- Medical Center (east of 2nd St., south of Market St., west of Hancock St., and north of Jacob St.)
- Fourth St. District (south of Market St., west of 2nd St., north of York St., and east of 5th St.)
- Civic Center (south of Market St., west of 5th St., north of York St., and east of 9th St.)
The tallest buildings in Kentucky are located in downtown Louisville and include 400 West Market designed by John Burgee, PNC Tower designed by Harrison & Abramovitz, PNC Plaza designed by Welton Becket, and the Humana Building designed by Michael Graves. Of the 16 buildings in Kentucky over 300 feet (91 m), 12 are in downtown Louisville. In addition, it is the center of local and regional government.
A glassed-in skywalk called the Louie Link stretches six city blocks and links together the Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC), Fourth Street Live!, three hotels (Galt House Hotel & Suites, Marriott and Hyatt Regency), and 2,300 hotel rooms. In 2010 it was extended from the Galt House to the new $16 million Skywalk Garage, an eight-level, 860-space parking facility on Third Street, and a second skywalk connects from the garage across Third Street to the new KFC Yum! Center.