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Kentucky is a great state. It is full of wonderful friendly people from border to border. It has 4 distinct seasons, lovely cool falls, cold and sometimes very snowy winters, heavenly springs and hot humid summers. The big cities are like big cities everywhere else. Louisville and Metro Cincy' are very big (over 1 million). Lexington is big (around 400k). Paducah, Owensboro, Bowling Green, and Ashland are medium (60-100k). Ashland is in a 300k metro area. Hopkinsville and Henderson are both parts of larger metro areas but neither is the core city (both in the 200-300k range). There are some shangri la retirement towns here. Murray, Cadiz, Danville, Berea, are awsome, progressive, and friendly. But....most of Kentucky is very, very clanish. Local politics subscribes a pecking order and outsiders aren't generaly welcome. These small towns are suspicous of strangers. They don't like yankees. Blacks and whites tend to segregate themselves and there is a lot of racism on both sides. Neither blacks nor whites like the Mexicans and gays and lesbians would, in a word, be miserable. Everything from banking to local justice is centered around families that for the most part have been around for generations. They don't want growth becuase they don't want to lose control. Things are changing slowly but those of you who read the retirement magazines and find a small quaint town to build your dream retirement home in need to be very careful about smaller Kentucky cities. This is especially true in the mountains of of the east. Kentucky is a place were you can be born in one county and move to the next county over and 40 years later the peolple will say," he's not from around here". After reading a lot of your posts I would just caution you to be very careful about these smaller cities. Remeber there are 120 seperate county governments is this small state. That ought to tell you something. I just want you to realize this isn't the same as the suburbs of Atlanta or the California wine country. Don't confuse the Appalachians with the Smokies of the Carolinas or East Tennessee. You won't find any progressives in Pikeville or Hazard, and the tobacco farmers and coal miners aren't impressed by attorneys and rainbow flags.
Last edited by watchmanonthewall; 10-16-2006 at 04:48 PM..
What you describe isn't endemic to Kentucky. It can be applied in one way or another to just about every state in the union, especially in small rural communities. Some states are far worse than others but please get the notion out of your mind that this is exclusively a "Kentuckian" phenomenon.
BTW Toria:
The MSA of Lexington, KY has population of 429,889 according to the US Census Bureau's data as of July 2005.
I am a "yankee" from NY and my family and I are planning on relocating to KY in the next couple years.
My brother-in-law moved to central KY a few years ago and married a local girl. We have been down to visit them a few times and after talking to my native sister-in-law and meeting the people of KY myself I can't really agree with this post at all. At least as far as central and western KY go.
We have found the people of central Ky the friendliest we have ever met. I can't tell you how many times I was waved to and said hello to by complete strangers in the street, or had long conversations with folks that I simply said hello to while out at a store or around town. Something that would never happen in the north east!
My yankee brother-in-law loves the state and wouldn't live anywhere else.
My sister-in-law did say that in the eastern part of the state getting over toward the Appalachians it can be different. She discribed it this way,"If your car breaks down in central KY the local people will push your car to the closest garage and have you over to dinner while it is being fixed, but if it happens in eastern KY they won't even stop if you try to flag somone over for help driving by."
I have not visited eastern KY myself so I can't say from personal experience what it is like. But I think it is a shame someone that sounds like they are a native Kentuckian is giving your home such a bad rap.
I don't know...sounds like my experience to a T, and I'm supposeldy living in one of the "progressive" areas.
MSA = "how far can we pull from and make our numbers look imporessive". Not too long ago, Boyle County tried to claim they have a "MSA" of over 275,000. You and I both know how big the circle would have to be to bring that number into Boyle stats.
Correct the city proper of Lexington, KY contains a populace of 268,080 people.
The Metropolitan Satatistical Area which includes Lexington, KY and surrounding areas (cities and burbs) has a populace of 429,889.
Cheers!
OF COURSE I know what an MSA is, Informer....however, if someone asks what the population of a village/town/city is, I don't think most people offer up regional figures.
My sister-in-law did say that in the eastern part of the state getting over toward the Appalachians it can be different. She discribed it this way,"If your car breaks down in central KY the local people will push your car to the closest garage and have you over to dinner while it is being fixed, but if it happens in eastern KY they won't even stop if you try to flag somone over for help driving by."
Not true. I come to find eastern (south-eastern that is) Kentucky one of the more friendlier areas in the country.
Too many people got "Deliverance" on their mind.
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Can apply to anywhereville USA...
I cant agree.
