If you could live anywhere, where would you live? (Lexington: transplants, to rent)

[snadai]

Background: My husband travels and works from home, so as long as we have an airport, we are good. We currently live in SW Michigan, and are looking to relocate.

We originally had looked in the Rockies (Colorado/Utah) and they are a little too dry for me...I'm used to green, beaches, rain...as well as snow, I guess.

We have tentatively decided now between Kentucky (either Lexington or Louisville) or North Carolina (Asheville or Charlotte). We have 4 kids, so we need good schools - we are used to a small town feel but would like bigger city amenities...we've been living on 2 acres of land not in a neighborhood so would like to be in a subdivision with other families around.

We are ok with conservatives/liberals (we are conservatives, but all our friends are liberals), would like to be in a community that we don't have to drive everywhere and would like a town that feels friendly.

Can anyone tell me if we're on the right track with any of these towns? I love the rolling hills and horse country of Kentucky, along with the midwestern/southern feel to it...I'm worried that North Carolina will be too hot and perhaps too Southern...I've heard that the Southerners don't really appreciate all the Northerners infiltrating...;-) Any input anyone has would be appreciated. Right now we are leaning Lexington area over Louisville, but could switch...

We will be renting for a year or two, until we get our bearings...looking to rent around 2000 per month. I joke that I need a town with good restaurants, and a Whole Foods market...but I'm not there yet, LOL.

So, the question - Lexington? Louisville? NC? Any input appreciated...

[nkyhowaboutit]

You described central KY to a tee! Winchester, Lexington, Georgetown!

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by snadai

Background: My husband travels and works from home, so as long as we have an airport, we are good. We currently live in SW Michigan, and are looking to relocate.

We originally had looked in the Rockies (Colorado/Utah) and they are a little too dry for me...I'm used to green, beaches, rain...as well as snow, I guess.

We have tentatively decided now between Kentucky (either Lexington or Louisville) or North Carolina (Asheville or Charlotte). We have 4 kids, so we need good schools - we are used to a small town feel but would like bigger city amenities...we've been living on 2 acres of land not in a neighborhood so would like to be in a subdivision with other families around.

We are ok with conservatives/liberals (we are conservatives, but all our friends are liberals), would like to be in a community that we don't have to drive everywhere and would like a town that feels friendly.

Can anyone tell me if we're on the right track with any of these towns? I love the rolling hills and horse country of Kentucky, along with the midwestern/southern feel to it...I'm worried that North Carolina will be too hot and perhaps too Southern...I've heard that the Southerners don't really appreciate all the Northerners infiltrating...;-) Any input anyone has would be appreciated. Right now we are leaning Lexington area over Louisville, but could switch...

We will be renting for a year or two, until we get our bearings...looking to rent around 2000 per month. I joke that I need a town with good restaurants, and a Whole Foods market...but I'm not there yet, LOL.

So, the question - Lexington? Louisville? NC? Any input appreciated...

I do live in the Louisville area and generally like it but I would pick Charlotte in this case. Main reason for this is your need for schools. Kentucky performs pretty poorly in education and it's particularily problematic in the Louisville area (with the exception of Oldham Co) and the Charlotte area has two pretty solid school systems in Union and Carrabus Counties. South Charlotte even has some good schools there.

Don't worry about Charlotte being too Southern, with all the transplants there I'd call it Southern lite. Louisvile has a midwestern/Southern feel to it, but it does not have a lot of transplants from outside KY, (I know I'm one.)

North Carolina does have a pretty fairly warm summer but not like Southern Miss or Louisiana.

[nkyhowaboutit]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

I do live in the Louisville area and generally like it but I would pick Charlotte in this case. Main reason for this is your need for schools. Kentucky performs pretty poorly in education and it's particularily problematic in the Louisville area (with the exception of Oldham Co) and the Charlotte area has two pretty solid school systems in Union and Carrabus Counties. South Charlotte even has some good schools there.

Don't worry about Charlotte being too Southern, with all the transplants there I'd call it Southern lite. Louisvile has a midwestern/Southern feel to it, but it does not have a lot of transplants from outside KY, (I know I'm one.)

North Carolina does have a pretty fairly warm summer but not like Southern Miss or Louisiana.

The problem is that Charlotte's urban schools may leave even more to be desired than JCPS and not everyone wants to live in suburban/exurban hell.

Consider that before you automatically relegate people to the suburbs.

On that note, Lexington has both a Whole Foods and a couple of spinoffs, a booming mom-and-pop restaurant scene as well as a great selection of fine dining, and Dunbar, Henry Clay, Tates Creek, and Lafayette have educated some of this state's most prominent and brilliant.

[EclecticEars]

Given the general wording of the original question, I would live in California or Texas. There.

Now, to be more specific to your needs, snadai, I would easily pick Charlotte or Raleigh-Durham. I haven't been to Charlotte, but I really enjoyed R-D and its atmosphere myself, although it was based on only one visit. Otherwise, I have my personal reasons.

I'm adding R/D because that metro area is about midway in size between the Louisville and Charlotte metros and has a diverse economy and thriving innovative and creative classes. Plus, I know practically nothing about Asheville.

All areas listed are fairly evenly liberal/conservative, so you'll find a niche. Lexington has elected some very liberal state representatives and senators but collectively its metropolitan area is most conservative. Asheville is even a pretty even split in the metro, but the city itself is well known for "granola" and "blue."

Let's compare:

CHARLOTTE
Pros:
1. Modern, post-industrial, booming (until last three years) economy
2. One of the largest financial centers in the western world
3. Comparatively cheap cost of living to many other metropolises in U.S.
4. UNCC, Queens College - great schools
5. Beautiful skyline
6. A lot of activity downtown and promotion thereof
7. Halfway between D.C. and Atlanta
8. Charlotte-Douglas International Airport becoming a major world hub
9. Appalachians nearby if you like to hike and camp
10. They have a light rail line, LYNX

Cons:
1. Terrible overall public school picture, not sure even suburban schools are much to brag about
2. Limited urban experiences, if that is your thing
3. Scorching summers, if that is not your thing
4. Lack of recreational opportunities within immediate metro
5. Charlotte has a crime problem, let's face it
6. Economy isn't as diverse and is more "eggs in one basket" (financial) than the other cities listed
7. With its rapid growth it may be gradually losing its "Southern-ness"

RALEIGH-DURHAM
Pros:
1. Very friendly people, particularly in small towns just outside of R-D
2. Beautiful Piedmont region
3. Location of robust and innovative Research Triangle Park, the Silicon Valley of the Southeast basically
4. UNC, Duke, NC State - outstanding options in higher education
5. Some pretty good suburban school districts (as I understand it)
6. Traffic problems not bad...yet, although the area continues to explode
7. Within 2-3 hours of Appalachia and ocean for outdoor opportunities
8. Diverse employment market

Cons:
1. Limited recreational opportunities w/in immediate metro
2. Area may be growing "too fast" and losing a lot of its Southern character
3. Raleigh-Durham, for as large of an area as it's becoming, does not have a major international airport, although I'm sure that will come with time
4. Bad public school situation in R and D themselves, although that's endemic to urban America
5. Not much of a grid system in R or D or their surrounding suburbs; that's because its development is mostly post-WWII, so it lacks a traditional neighborhood "surrounding" in many areas
6. If you ever want to work for state or local government down there, wages start out at nearly total crap.
7. Completely SILLY, I know, but their TV news broadcasts and graphics seem so "small-townish." Straight outta Bismarck, yo.

LOUISVILLE
Pros:
1. More of an eclectic, artsy, sort of "ironic" vibe in the Highlands, Original Highlands, Clifton, Crescent Hill, the lower Brownsboro Road area, etc.
2. Some wonderful inner city neighborhoods such as the ones mentioned above, plus Old Louisville (although crime is seemingly on the gradual increase there), Germantown, and Butchertown
3. City, east of I-65, is generally pretty clean
4. Excellent skyline
5. Downtown is making a comeback gradually and some of its developments are quite impressive
6. Louisville is a major medical research and innovation center, believe it or not
7. Excellent park system designed, in large part, by Frederick Law Olmsted, same gentleman that designed NYC's Central Park. These parks are connected by a system of beautiful parkways.
8. Nice, clean, beautiful airport, albeit rather small
9. Halfway between Chicago and Atlanta, and approximately halfway between New York and New Orleans

Cons:
1. With a few exceptions, JCPS is a terrible public school system
2. With a few program exceptions, higher education options are not great unless you intend to stay in Louisville
3. For such blue-collar roots and a "friendly" accolade, I found many of the people to be quite cliquish, closed-off and snooty
4. The city west of I-65 sucks for the most part
5. Interstate highway system in extremely desperate need of overhaul in the inner-city
6. The rivalry between east end vs. west end vs. south end. My gawd...
7. Terrible place to be single
8. It's pretty lame when the entire city practically wets its pants for 2-3 weeks at a time before a silly two minute horse race. Just sayin'...
9. Despite crime stats, the west end has a terrible violent crime situation

LEXINGTON
Pros:
1. One of the cleanest cities I've been to in the United States, can be quite beautiful
2. University of Kentucky is the town's heart, soul and passion (I'm not even a huge UK fan and I'm acknowledging this!) and has a beautiful campus
3. Ashland, Gratz Park, and Downtown are beautiful, classy neighborhoods with precious architecture
4. The horse farms surrounding town make the Bluegrass look like Ireland after spring rains
5. The city is doing a VERY good job in including bicycle paths along thoroughfares
6. Airport is tiny, but clean and nice
7. Close to Lake Cumberland and Red River Gorge for weekend trips
8. Some pretty good public schools in Fayette County itself if you look in the right sub-districts

CONS:
1. Lexington has a terrible traffic situation for a city its size and an outmoded-since-1979 traffic system (thankfully, Mayor Gray wants help alleviate the situation some)
2. It shouldn't take 45 minutes to span the length of Man O' War Boulevard during rush hour (ties back into #1)
3. If not for UK, the city would be absolutely nothing
4. Much of the city has a strangely provincial, pretentious vibe that doesn't sit well with me
5. The community absolutely rabidly worships UK athletics, especially everything basketball. Much worse that UofL fans in Louisville, UNC or Duke fans in N. Carolina, Alabama and Auburn fans in Alabama, etc. It's almost sad, actually.
6. Long-term vision and planning are not synonymous with Lexington
7. "Tear the damn thing down": Lexington and Atlanta have the same philosophy on historic preservation
8. The city's park system stinks. Period.
9. Terrible public schools in exurban and suburban communities
10. Last year it was rated as the WORST place to be single in the U.S.

[mangodog]

Gosh, people complain that they do not like their work nor their co-workers
I probably do what most wealthy people consider a menial job. I am well paid for it and have lots of discretionary savings from it. I truly find pleasure and joy in what I am doing because I am able to do in unto The Lord God of Israel - The Precious Holy God of the Bible.

I was just pondering the other day that people do most every thing on earth for money. So what a mental shift it will be for some to ponder that for those who love the Lord God and are with Him in Eternity, that they will be working for Him and there will undoubtedly be NO MONEY EXCHANGED for it ! WOW . Work in Eternity will be out of Love and Devotion. No one ever talks about this on earth - like they cannot or will not consider it.

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by snadai

Background: My husband travels and works from home, so as long as we have an airport, we are good. We currently live in SW Michigan, and are looking to relocate.

We originally had looked in the Rockies (Colorado/Utah) and they are a little too dry for me...I'm used to green, beaches, rain...as well as snow, I guess.

We have tentatively decided now between Kentucky (either Lexington or Louisville) or North Carolina (Asheville or Charlotte). We have 4 kids, so we need good schools - we are used to a small town feel but would like bigger city amenities...we've been living on 2 acres of land not in a neighborhood so would like to be in a subdivision with other families around.

We are ok with conservatives/liberals (we are conservatives, but all our friends are liberals), would like to be in a community that we don't have to drive everywhere and would like a town that feels friendly.

Can anyone tell me if we're on the right track with any of these towns? I love the rolling hills and horse country of Kentucky, along with the midwestern/southern feel to it...I'm worried that North Carolina will be too hot and perhaps too Southern...I've heard that the Southerners don't really appreciate all the Northerners infiltrating...;-) Any input anyone has would be appreciated. Right now we are leaning Lexington area over Louisville, but could switch...

We will be renting for a year or two, until we get our bearings...looking to rent around 2000 per month. I joke that I need a town with good restaurants, and a Whole Foods market...but I'm not there yet, LOL.

So, the question - Lexington? Louisville? NC? Any input appreciated...

Oldham County is your place. We've either got what you want or so close that we are closer tan most places in Louisville to good shopping, great restaurants, (A Whole Foods is very, very close). We have great home values, excellent national and international air service, great schools, and most any amenity a family would need to grow strong, intelligent, well prepared children.