Economy of Lexington, Kentucky

Employment The economy of Lexington, Kentucky was shaped by its considerable distance from any major navigable rivers.

[1] In the 1930s, in an effort to counteract the Great Depression, several capital building projects were funded by the federal government and by wealthy members of the horse industry.

[2] Numerous new dormitories and classroom structures, some temporary, were constructed; Memorial Coliseum was completed during this time as well.

In the early 1950s, a good deal of research money and effort was devoted to national defense projects relating to the Cold War.

This expanded the university's influence on Lexington and on Kentucky as a whole, which in the long-run bolstered its employment numbers.

All of this industrial investment, coupled with a high demand for housing, led Lexington to become the 14th fastest-developing metropolitan area in the United States.