Bowling Green

Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the 2020 census, its population of 72,294 made it the third-most-populous city in the state, after Louisville and Lexington. The Bowling Green Assembly Plant has been the source of all Chevrolet Corvettes built since 1981. Bowling Green is also home to Western Kentucky University and the National Corvette Museum. The city refers to the first county commissioners' meeting (1798), which named the town "Bolin Green" after the Bowling Green in New York City, where patriots had pulled down a statue of King George III and used the lead to make bullets. According to the Encyclopedia of Kentucky, the name was derived from Bowling Green, Virginia, from where early migrants had come, or the personal "ball alley game" of founder Robert Moore. In 1859, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (currently CSX Transportation) laid railroad through Bowling Green that connected the city with northern and southern markets. Growth in steamboat commerce and the proximity of the Barren River increased Bowling Green's prominence. In November 1861, the provisional Confederate government chose Bowling Green as its capital. On September 18, 1861, around 1300 Confederate soldiers arrived from Tennessee to occupy the city, placed under command of Kentucky native General Simon Bolivar Buckner. The majority of its residents rejected both the Confederacy and the Lincoln administration. During the summer of 1864, General Stephen Burbridge arrested 22 civilians in Bowling Green on a charge of treason.

History

Bowling Green is the primary city name, but also Hadley, Plum Springs, Richardsville are acceptable city names or spellings, Bowling Grn on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The city of Bowling Green was officially incorporated by the Commonwealth of Kentucky on March 6, 1798. The city refers to the first county commissioners' meeting (1798), which named the town "Bolin Green" after the Bowling Green in New York City, where patriots had pulled down a statue of King George III and used the lead to make bullets during the American Revolution. The name was derived from Bowling Green, Virginia, from where early migrants had come, or the personal "ball alley" of founder Robert Moore. The first Europeans known to have reached the area carved their names on beech trees near the river around 1775. By 1778, settlers established McFadden's Station on the north bank of the Barren River. During the summer of 1864, Union General Stephen G. Burbridge arrested 22 civilians in and around Bowling Green on a charge of treason. This incident and other harsh treatment by federal authorities led to bitterness toward the Union among Bowling Green residents and increased sympathies with the Confederacy. In 1813, the first mule-drawn street cars began to replace by 1895, and in 1805, the city was subject to disruptions and raids throughout the remainder of the war. On September 18, 1861, around 1300 Confederate soldiers arrived from Tennessee to occupy the city, placed under command of Kentucky native General Simon Bolivar Buckner. On February 14, 1862, after receiving reports that Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River had both been captured by Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant.

Geography

The Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport is 547 feet (167 m) above sea level. The city has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 35.7 °F (2.1 °C) in January to 78.7°F (25.9 °C), on average, in July. On average, 41 days of 90 °F-plus highs occur annually, and 11 days occur each winter when the high fails to rise above freezing. Annual precipitation is 47.51 in, with spring being slightly wetter; snowfall averages 8.4 inches (21.3 cm) per year. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bowling Green has a total area of 35.6 square miles (92 km²) of which 35.4 square miles is land and 0.52 km² (0.45%) is covered by water. It is located on the Ohio River, which runs through the city. The Ohio River is a tributary of the Little Ohio River. It runs through Bowling Green, which is located just south of the city's central business district. It has an average elevation of 547ft (167m) and an average annual rainfall of 47.5 inches (1.1 m) in spring and July. The average annual temperature is 78.8 °F, with an average monthly average of 42.4 °C (90 °F) in June.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, 58,067 people and 22,735 households resided in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 75.8% White, 13.9% African American, 0.3% Native American, 4.2% Asian, 2.16% Pacific Islander, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 6.5% of the population. The median income for a household in theCity was $33,362, and for families was $45,287. The per capita income for the city is $19,302. About 19.4% of families and 27.7%. of the town's population were below the poverty line, including 30.9 percent of those under age 18. The city is located on the Mississippi River, which runs through the center of the downtown area. It is the only city in the state that is not on the National Highway System. It was the site of the World War II Battle of the Bulge, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is based there. The town is home to the National Park Service, which was founded in 1854. The U.N. World War I Memorial is located in the downtown section of the City. It has been declared a national historic site by the United States Department of the Interior and the National Museum of American History and Culture. It also is the location of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Economy

With one major public university and a technical college, Bowling Green serves as an education hub for the south-central Kentucky region. General Motors Manufacturing Plant, Holley Performance Products, Houchens Industries, SCA, Camping World, Kobe Steel, Minit Mart, Fruit of the Loom, Russell Brands, and other major industries call Bowling Green home. Bowling Green's high income and job growth combined with a low cost of doing business led the city to be named to Forbes magazine's 2009 list of the "Best Small Places for Business" In an evaluation of 179 cities across the nation, Forbes ranked Bowling Green 19th best city in which to do business. The Bowling Green metro area was recognized by Site Selection magazine as a top economic development community in the United States for communities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000 people. The city's 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: Commonwealth Health Corporation, Western Kentucky University, and Warren County Board of Education. EVINE Live's corporate headquarters are located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, although the largest part of its day-to-day operations are in Bowling Green. The third-largest home shopping network, EVine Live, has its warehouse fulfillment center located off Nashville Road. The City of Bowling Green was named the 2009 Chamber of the Year by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and a 5-Star Chamber by the U.S. Chamber of commerce. It has experienced a 5% increase in manufacturing employment since April 2005.

Arts and culture

Diddle Arena is a multi-purpose arena with a seating capacity of 7,500 persons. The Bowling Green Hornets of the Central Basketball League are based in Bowling Green, although they play their home games in Russellville. The city and surrounding area is home to the Warren County Inline Hockey League and the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers team. Bowling Green has six golf and eight disc golf courses. The National Corvette Museum has more than 75 Corvettes on display, including mint classics, one-of-a-kind prototypes, racetrack champions and more. The historic house museum is a classic example of Italianate architecture with ornamental brackets, deep windows, and cupola. In 2006, Diddle Arena hosted the first WWE event to be held in Bowling green in over ten years. The bowling alley is one of the largest in the state, with a capacity of more than 2,000 people. It was built in the early 1900s and is located in the heart of Bowling Green's historic downtown area. It is also the home of the Bowling Green Ballpark, a baseball stadium currently in use by the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods organization. In 2021 as part of Minor League Baseball's realignment they will begin play in the newly formed High-a East. They are a farm team for Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays. It also has several members in the Bluegrass Hockey League, and Central Commonwealth League. The area is also home to several members of the NCRHA, and has several other minor league hockey leagues.

Parks and recreation

The Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Department administers 895 acres (3.62 km²) of public land for recreational use. The largest "water playground" in south-central Kentucky is the Russell Sims Aquatic Center, which is open year-round. The city's community centers include a game room, a playground, and a community center. There are no public swimming pools in Bowling Green, but there are a number of indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The town's parks and recreation department has a total of 895. acres of land for public use, including community centers, swimming pools, and other facilities. The parks and Recreation department also has a public swimming pool, which was closed in April 2014 and is now used by private and school swim teams and physical therapy. There is no public tennis courts in the city, but the city does have two tennis courts. The community center has basketball/volleyball/wallyball courts, a concession stand, and walking trails. It also has an auditorium, basketball courts, and picnic shelters. It is the largest community center in the state, with a playground and community center, as well as a board game room (billiards, video games, racquetball) and a playground. The Bowling Green parks department has an annual budget of more than $1.2 million for parks, recreation, and community centers. It has a population of 2.3 million people. The population of Bowling Green is 2.4 million, and the city has 1.6 million residents.

Education

Public education is provided by the Bowling Green Independent School District in inner sections of Bowling Green and by Warren County Public Schools in outerlying sections. Several private schools also serve Bowling Green students. Public schools are operated by the Warren County district except Bowling Green High and Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science. Religious schools include Legacy Christian Academy, Holy Trinity Lutheran, Saint Joseph Interparochial School, and Saint Joseph Catholic School. Bowling Green is home to Bowling Green Adult Learning Center, Daymar College, Western Kentucky University, and the University of Kentucky. The Bowling Green Public School District is a part of the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky Board of Education is a member of the National Council of State Legislators for Education. The district is also part of Kentucky's Board of Regents for Education, which is a state agency for public and private education. The school district has a history of being one of the most successful districts in the state in terms of enrollment. It has been in operation since the 1950s. It was founded by the Kentucky State School Board in 1953. It is the oldest public school district in Kentucky and the second largest in the United States after the Kentucky Public School System. It also has the largest enrollment of public schools in Kentucky, with more than 2,000 students. The public school system has a population of more than 1,000,000. In the 1970s, it was the largest public high school in Kentucky with more students attending than any other state school.

Public library

The Warren County Public Library has three permanent locations. The Main Library, which opened in 1956, is in downtown Bowling Green. The system's largest branch is the Bob Kirby Branch Library, located off Interstate 65 close to Greenwood High School. The Graham Drive Community Library was a neighborhood branch located in a residential area of the Housing Authority of Bowling Green that opened in late 2007. On July 27, 2007, the Warren County Fiscal Court voted to create a county-wide taxing district to benefit the public library. The library system, formerly known as the Bowling Green Public Library, became the Warren county Public Library on July 1, 2008. The Mobile Branch, now retired, was a 28-foot (8.5 m) truck that traveled across Bowling Green and Warren County carrying a variety of library materials for adults and children. The Depot Branch, which opening in 2001, was located in the historic, renovated Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot and housed a technology and early childhood center, as well as traditional library materials; it closed in 2007. The Smiths Grove Branch, the system's first branch, is Located in the nearby community of SmithsGrove, Kentucky. It opened spring 2008. It was replaced by a number of community "satellite library" locations in late 2020. It is located off I-65 near Greenwood, Kentucky, and is located near the intersection of I-70 and I-75. It will be replaced by the I-270 bypass in the fall of 2020. The Library is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky and has a branch in Smithsgrove.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky = 81.2. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 67. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 61. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Bowling Green = 4.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 72,294 individuals with a median age of 31.4 age the population grows by 12.94% in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,789.81 residents per square mile of area (691.05/km²). There are average 2.23 people per household in the 22,400 households with an average household income of $34,319 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 9.00% of the available work force and has dropped -4.59% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 21.82%. The number of physicians in Bowling Green per 100,000 population = 255.2.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Bowling Green = 49.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 10.5 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 117. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 207. 90 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 26.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 34, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky which are owned by the occupant = 42.31%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 28 years with median home cost = $137,710 and home appreciation of 0.83%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $5.82 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,044 per student. There are 17.1 students for each teacher in the school, 458 students for each Librarian and 306 students for each Counselor. 4.73% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 15.87% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 11.76% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).