A Unique Place to Live

Lexington-Fayette County is a bustling mid-size city in Kentucky, located in the middle of some of the most fertile and iconic farmland in the US.

Home to the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, Keeneland racetrack, a growing southern-inspired culinary scene, and adjacent to the world famous Bourbon Trail — it’s a wonderful place to live, work, and play.

It’s no wonder Lexington continues to attract new residents year after year.

Photos provided by Jeff Rogers

Like many other cities across the country, Lexington has experienced growing pains in recent years:

• • • • • • • • • • • • a lack of affordable housing supply,
                      • loss of farmland,
                      • and a history of sprawling, car-focused neighborhood development.

The difference between Lexington and other US cities is Lexington has a lot to lose by continuing to grow out — a $2.3-billion agriculture industry.

The jobs and economic impacts created by agriculture are connected to dozens of other industries throughout the Lexington community – manufacturing, trucking, local food, education, insurance, accounting, real estate, and more.   

The agriculture industry is the factory floor of Lexington-Fayette County, and its success depends on the fertile soils that make up the farmland that surrounds the urban core. 

Fayette Alliance

Available Land

Land is essential to a city’s growth — that’s why it must be used responsibly in order to maximize its potential. And to say that “Lexington currently doesn’t have enough land inside the Urban Services Boundary to grow” is a myth that can easily be disproven.

In 2024, Fayette Alliance commissioned a research study to gain a better understanding of the land available for development inside Lexington’s historic Urban Services Boundary (USB).

This study, titled “Grow Smart: Land Use Analysis and Recommendations,” provides a detailed analysis of where and how Lexington can grow in the coming years.

• • • • • • • • • • • • Lexington has approximately 5,000 acres of vacant and undeveloped land left inside the USB.
                      • Of this available land, ~3,500 acres are zoned for housing development and ~1,300 are zoned for economic development.
                      • Click below to view the maps of undeveloped land inside Lexington’s USB. ⬇️

Housing

Fayette Alliance’s Grow Smart housing study provides a detailed map of where the vacant land s located inside Lexington’s Urban Services Boundary (USB) and provides recommendations for how this available land can best be utilized to accommodate future growth.

• • • • • • • • • • • • Important: Where development happens is a vital component of whether it’s affordable and sustainable. 

The development of “Missing Middle” housing will be essential to meet growth demands, maximize the 3,500 acres of land available for housing development, and create housing units that are affordable for Lexingtonians.

• • • • • • • • • • • • Consider: As a result of the increased cost of materials, shortage of labor, rise of interest rates and more, large, single-family homes that rely on car-centric development are just not affordable for most community members. 

The graphic below demonstrates the potential number of new housing developments possible to build inside the Urban Services Boundary — approximately 31,000-42,000 units.

By the Numbers: Housing Opportunities in Lexington-Fayette County.

• • • • • • • • • • • • With thoughtful development that prioritizes diverse housing types, 20,000-25,000 housing units can be built on existing land inside the USB.
                      • When combined with infill and redevelopment opportunities, 31,000-42,000 housing units can be built inside the USB.
                      • The City of Lexington’s newest study indicates that Lexington will need to build 26,500 new housing units to meet its projected 20 year growth
                      • Important: Nearly 80% of this housing is needed for households with incomes at 80% or lower of the Area Median Income (AMI). 

The most efficient way for Lexington to meet housing demand, and build the type of affordable units that are most needed, is to diversify the types of housing being built, and build them near existing services, jobs, infrastructure, and transportation routes.

Economic Development

As a city grows, it must supply jobs for a growing population — and Lexington’s economy continues to grow and thrive.

• • • • • • • • • • • • Fact: Lexington’s job growth rates post-pandemic were just announced as the best of any metro area in the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank’s district, which includes much larger cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburg. 

Fayette Alliance’s research shows that not only does Lexington have enough land available for job creation inside the Urban Services Boundary (USB), but it also has underutilized office and industrial space. 

• • • • • • • • • • • • Lexington-Fayette County has 1,300 acres of vacant and undeveloped land available for job creation inside the USB — this includes the 250 acres of land located on the Coldstream Research Campus.
                      • 1,150,881 sqft. of vacant industrial space currently exists inside the USB.
                      • 335,759 sqft. of vacant office space exists in downtown Lexington.
                      • 1,178,033 sqft. of vacant suburban office space exists throughout Lexington-Fayette County.

Lexington’s Urban Services Boundary

The Urban Services Boundary forces city planners and developers to creatively use available land inside our city, as opposed to continually expanding outward into our signature Bluegrass farmland.

By maintaining the USB, we can be balanced in our growth approach, develop in an innovative way, and continue to create a sustainable world-class city in a world-class landscape.