The Highlands, Louisville

The Highlands is an area in Louisville, Kentucky which contains a high density of nightclubs, eclectic businesses, and many upscale and fast food restaurants. It is centered along a 3 mile (5 km) stretch of Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue (US 31E/US 150) and is so named because it sits atop a ridge between the middle and south forks of Beargrass Creek. The commercial area extends from the intersection of Bardstown Road and Taylorsville Road/Trevillian Way in the south, to the intersection of Baxter Avenue and Lexington Road in the north, a length of 3.2 mile (5 km). A section of the nearby Barret Avenue also contains many similar businesses. The residential area is separated from other adjacent areas like Germantown and Crescent Hill by the south and north forks of Beargrass Creek. The middle fork runs through Cherokee Park, and the south fork divides Germantown from Tyler Park, after flowing past several cemeteries and undeveloped forests downstream from Joe Creason Park. Due to its large collection of night clubs and restaurants, it is locally known as "Restaurant Row". The grid of streets east and west of Bardstown Road are mostly single family residences and range from working class neighborhoods to some of the most expensive streets in Louisville, such as Spring Drive. In 2000, the Highlands had a population of nearly 33,000.

The Highlands was the last area near downtown Louisville to be urbanized, since its steep 60 feet (18 m) incline above the flood plain made travel difficult, and the area showed no signs of urban development until just before the Civil War. Several notable families did own plantations in what is now called the Highlands, spurred by the Louisville and Bardstown Turnpike (today's Bardstown Road). The turnpike was first planned as early as 1784, but authorization to begin construction was delayed until 1819, and thwarted then by the Panic of 1819. Funds were finally allocated in 1829, with construction beginning in 1832. Bardstown Road was originally a turnpike (with a macadamized surface), and tolls were collected at toll gates along the way. The portion of the road nearest to Louisville was free, so as Louisville grew, the first gatehouse moved further out. The earliest was at Beargrass Creek; it then moved to what is now the intersection of Broadway and Baxter, and subsequently to what is today Patterson and Bardstown, then to Eastern Parkway and Bardstown by 1873. It was at Speed Avenue by 1901, when the turnpike was sold to the city. The second tollgate was permanently located near today's Bashford Manor Lane and Bardstown. The cooperation that led to the boycott created a strong community sentiment that the right changes could be made along the business corridor. Many older buildings had been razed already to make space for more modern fast food restaurants and drive in banks, and there was concern that nothing would remain eventually of the streetcar suburb era corridor. This led to the creation of the Highlands Commerce Guild in 1977.

The Highlands area had a population of about 14,236 when the Census Bureau last took count in 2010. The population consists mostly of people from the ages of 20–39 years old. The area tailors itself to these demographics. Highlands consists of Bardstown Road all the way to Baxter Avenue.

Before the era of multiplexes, small single screen theatres dominated. Several in Louisville were located along Bardstown Road and were popular sources of entertainment in the Highlands for decades. Baxter (later called the Airway). 1055 Bardstown Road. Housed The Brycc House in the late 1990s, now home to a Buffalo Wild Wings
The Cherokee. 1591 Bardstown Road. Now the site of Bombay International Grocery
Bard. 2470 Bardstown Road. Razed. Highland (later called Shibboleth Hall). 1014–1016 Bardstown Road. Razed. Today, the Highlands has an 8 screen multiplex, Baxter Avenue Filmworks, located in Mid City Mall. The complex opened in 1996 as Baxter Avenue Theatres.