Under the leadership of Mayor Steve Collier, the City of Lawrence offers award-winning schools, affordable housing, beautiful Fort Harrison State Park, and a friendly atmosphere - all just minutes from downtown Indianapolis. With a population of approximately 50,000 residents, Lawrence is a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family. Located on the northeast side of Marion County, IN operating under "unigov," the consolidated city-county government of Indianapolis, Lawrence is one of four "excluded cities," and therefore maintains its own municipal government. Major attractions include: - Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park, a repurposed military base with more than 1,700 acres of landscape and history blended together, serves visitors from all over the country year-round. - An award winning school district, the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township (MSDLT). - 12 city parks along with Fort Ben totaling more than 2,000 acres of public park space. - The Fort Ben Cultural Campus led by Arts for Lawrence and the City of Lawrence, which includes the Theater at the Fort, the Sterrett Center, a cultural plaza with an amphitheater, interactive public art, and a visual arts building with a gallery and space for art classes.