Does rural Kentucky hate Louisville? (Lexington, Owensboro: neighborhood, income, income tax)

[dixiegirl7]

I think it has a lot to do with your city or town's local government and how proactive they are on getting funds for projects. Bowling Green has a lot going on and seems to always be getting funding for various projects. Of course, having WKU here might help. We also are home to sever major companies that have a global presence.

[Hey_Hey]

Originally Posted by censusdata

I think communities that aren't growing as fast tend to blame a lack of government spending as the problem. Areas that have less population growth will see less projects because their infrastructure isn't being overloaded by new population growth.

To me a lot of the argument about new road construction is bogus anyway because most interstates and major connector roads are used as much by people from out of town/ state as by locals.

As for Louisville not getting enough back, I will say that Jefferson County has by far the most modern road system in the state, even without the East End bridge and a terrible Spaghetti Junction. Since 1980 I-65 has been made into a superhighway, the Watterson was reconstructed and the Gene Snyder was extended from I-64 to Dixie Highway, and Greenbelt Highway and Hurstbourne Parkway have been extended.

I think Lexington and Northern KY should be the ones complaining about road projects, their traffic is awful compared to Louisville's.

I second that on the Lexington traffic. I would rather drive through Atlanta than try to leave Lexington's downtown area. Lexington is essentially a very large suburb with no urban core. Because of that there is no viable limited access road that can get people from one part of the city to the other. You're forced to take secondary roads filled with traffic lights.

For the person that said Owensboro is a drain on Louisville, I would disagree. Owensboro is one of the cities that pays more in state taxes than it receives in state funding. Other cities include Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green, and Paducah. I'm sure Covington is in that list as well. Any city that has a high concentration of jobs will produce more tax revenue and needs less money to keep the infrastructure maintained to an acceptable level.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Robocops Uncle

Papa Johns blows all the other big names out the water

That ain't sayin' much.

[OboroCatfan]

jcm1986 - BIG WHOOP about the bridge. Do you see where its located at and how long its going to take Indiana to build US 231 to reach the bridge from I64?? We all will probably be dead by the time its completed. The bridge is so far out of town it will benefit Hawesville before it benefits Owensboro. Maybe Owensboro should ask the state to move the city to where the new bridge is. Why didnt they just build it running into Owensboro like they would for Louisville instead of out in the middle of nowhere.

And as for Carter Road another BIG WHOOP. Owensboro has been without air service for a long time now. It sure isnt generating a whole lot of development out there so far.

I get tired of hearing the whining from people from Louisville. They get at least half of their tax dollars back. The rest of us have to get by on scraps from Frankfort. I would rather just keep out tax dollars here instead of sending them into the blackholes that are Frankfort and Louisville.

You can call me names all you want but I stand by what I say. I cant expect anything less from liberals. Besides Owensboro brings in over 200 million annually in tourism yet so much money goes to the state. We even had the guy who runs the RiverPark go to Frankfort to ask for help funding the International Mystery Writers Festival which brings great acclaim to the city and state and he was blown off and given nothing. Thankfully local patrons and businesses ponied up the money. The state would have let the festival die off. So much for support. I am sure Louisville wouldnt have any problems getting money. I hope they choke on the new arena. How much money is the state ponying up to build that and why shouldnt UL build it instead since its really for them??

[OboroCatfan]

rbryant - not to burst your bubble but even with Louisville, Kentucky is on a par with Mississippi and West Virginia. This state pretty much scores around the same with those states on just about every category in comparison to other states. The "big tax base" you speak of doesnt seem to do much good for the state. Where is all that money being spent? It sure isnt in western Kentucky.

Yes the lack of an interstate does affect Owensboro and it galls us to know that the interstate running by Bowling Green was originally planned to run along the Ohio River through Owensboro and Henderson but as usual plans were changed and Owensboro even though it was the third largest city in the state was left off the interstate map.

And if you call those former tollroads that run between Owensboro and Bowling Green and Owensboro and Henderson "roads" you need to try driving them sometime. Sure the tolls were taken off (by a Republican Governor I might add) but no work has been done on them other than to patch them up some. Try driving them at normal speed and make sure to stop when you get where you are going and have your vehicle's alignment checked.

I see where Louisville wants more interstate bridges and I always hear about improvements being made to I65 and I64 going through that part.

And maybe if Louisville became part of Indiana or Ohio another Kentucky city could step up and be the flagship for the state - like Lexington or heaven forbid Owensboro. I just get sick watching our tax dollars going to the state and nothing coming back. And I watch as Louisville seems to get everything it wants.

I find also the comment about the study of tax dollars coming back to Louisville done by a UL person to be funny to say the least. Can we get an unbiased opinion instead?

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by OboroCatfan

jcm1986 - BIG WHOOP about the bridge. Do you see where its located at and how long its going to take Indiana to build US 231 to reach the bridge from I64?? We all will probably be dead by the time its completed. The bridge is so far out of town it will benefit Hawesville before it benefits Owensboro. Maybe Owensboro should ask the state to move the city to where the new bridge is. Why didnt they just build it running into Owensboro like they would for Louisville instead of out in the middle of nowhere.

And as for Carter Road another BIG WHOOP. Owensboro has been without air service for a long time now. It sure isnt generating a whole lot of development out there so far.

I get tired of hearing the whining from people from Louisville. They get at least half of their tax dollars back. The rest of us have to get by on scraps from Frankfort. I would rather just keep out tax dollars here instead of sending them into the blackholes that are Frankfort and Louisville.

You can call me names all you want but I stand by what I say. I cant expect anything less from liberals. Besides Owensboro brings in over 200 million annually in tourism yet so much money goes to the state. We even had the guy who runs the RiverPark go to Frankfort to ask for help funding the International Mystery Writers Festival which brings great acclaim to the city and state and he was blown off and given nothing. Thankfully local patrons and businesses ponied up the money. The state would have let the festival die off. So much for support. I am sure Louisville wouldnt have any problems getting money. I hope they choke on the new arena. How much money is the state ponying up to build that and why shouldnt UL build it instead since its really for them??

Kind of ironic that you would point your finger at liberals for "calling names", yet your 4 posts have consisted of nothing but anger and hatred. If you come at people with that kind of energy, what do you expect in return?

"They get at least half of their tax dollars back. The rest of us have to get by on scraps from Frankfort." -- This comment makes no sense. That means that almost half of their tax dollars go to the rest of the state. Why should residents in Louisville be happy with that? That statement is completely hipocritical.

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by JMT

I think part of it is the fact that Kentucky is in the SEC and represents the entire state of Kentucky when Kentucky plays Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, etc., rather than "city" schools such as Louisville, Memphis, Cincinnati, Charlotte, etc.

Why should the name on the jersey alone determine who represents an entire state? If the School for the Blind and Mute was called "Kentucky" and played in the SEC, should it automatically be the most popular school in the state?

Take the two each schools baseball team, both of which just went to the NCAA. U of L had 4 players from Louisville, 3 from E-town/ Radcliff, 3 from Owensboro, and 1 from Lexington, Paducah, and Bowling Green. UK had 4 from Lexington, 2 from Paducah, and 1 each from Jefferson, Rockcastle, Bath, and Madison Counties; meaning U of L had 13 in stater's and UK had 10.

Even after the largest fundraising effort in its history, UK barely has a larger endowment than U of L ($832 mil to $797 mil) despite having 1/3 more alumni. U of L has also made 3 major medical breakthroughs (first cervical cancer vaccine, hand transplant, and wireless artificial heart transplant) while UK has made no major discoveries in its history, despite receiving a much larger portion of state funds.

Baseball UofLSports.com - University of Louisville Official Athletic Site
ukathletics.com - 2007 Baseball Roster

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by OboroCatfan

rbryant - not to burst your bubble but even with Louisville, Kentucky is on a par with Mississippi and West Virginia. This state pretty much scores around the same with those states on just about every category in comparison to other states. The "big tax base" you speak of doesnt seem to do much good for the state. Where is all that money being spent? It sure isnt in western Kentucky.

Yes the lack of an interstate does affect Owensboro and it galls us to know that the interstate running by Bowling Green was originally planned to run along the Ohio River through Owensboro and Henderson but as usual plans were changed and Owensboro even though it was the third largest city in the state was left off the interstate map.

And if you call those former tollroads that run between Owensboro and Bowling Green and Owensboro and Henderson "roads" you need to try driving them sometime. Sure the tolls were taken off (by a Republican Governor I might add) but no work has been done on them other than to patch them up some. Try driving them at normal speed and make sure to stop when you get where you are going and have your vehicle's alignment checked.

I see where Louisville wants more interstate bridges and I always hear about improvements being made to I65 and I64 going through that part.

And maybe if Louisville became part of Indiana or Ohio another Kentucky city could step up and be the flagship for the state - like Lexington or heaven forbid Owensboro. I just get sick watching our tax dollars going to the state and nothing coming back. And I watch as Louisville seems to get everything it wants.

I find also the comment about the study of tax dollars coming back to Louisville done by a UL person to be funny to say the least. Can we get an unbiased opinion instead?

Did I mention another thing about this state I hate? The STUPID rivalry between UL and UK. I mean, really, do you believe an academic professor would produce a biased study because he teaches at UL, catfan? Seriously, this is taking a silly basketball game too far.

Bottom line, Louisville loses a higher proportion of its taxes than almost anywhere in the state. Why does it seem like Louisville gets so much? Because it is like NYC compared to somewhere like Owensboro. Maybe you need to actually stop and explore the city and see how much bigger it is...thus it is going to get much larger capitol projects. You think 200 million is a lot? Louisville has multiple conventions a year that pull that in tourism in one day.

Owensboro has a metro area of 112,000 compared to 1.25 million for Louisville. Louisville has multiple suburbs as large as or larger than Owensboro. Louisville's Indiana suburbs alone are much larger than Ownesboro and get to use everything Louisville offers without paying taxes.

Kentucky is not on par with MS and WV. Check your facts. It is Louisville and perhaps NKY and Lexington to a degree that bring it above those states. Compare Louisville to Charleston, WV or Jackson, MS and you will see what I mean.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by stx12499

Did I mention another thing about this state I hate? The STUPID rivalry between UL and UK. I mean, really, do you believe an academic professor would produce a biased study because he teaches at UL, catfan? Seriously, this is taking a silly basketball game too far.

Bottom line, Louisville loses a higher proportion of its taxes than almost anywhere in the state. Why does it seem like Louisville gets so much? Because it is like NYC compared to somewhere like Owensboro. Maybe you need to actually stop and explore the city and see how much bigger it is...thus it is going to get much larger capitol projects. You think 200 million is a lot? Louisville has multiple conventions a year that pull that in tourism in one day.

Owensboro has a metro area of 112,000 compared to 1.25 million for Louisville. Louisville has multiple suburbs as large as or larger than Owensboro. Louisville's Indiana suburbs alone are much larger than Ownesboro and get to use everything Louisville offers without paying taxes.

Kentucky is not on par with MS and WV. Check your facts. It is Louisville and perhaps NKY and Lexington to a degree that bring it above those states. Compare Louisville to Charleston, WV or Jackson, MS and you will see what I mean.

Spot on

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by OboroCatfan

rbryant - not to burst your bubble but even with Louisville, Kentucky is on a par with Mississippi and West Virginia. This state pretty much scores around the same with those states on just about every category in comparison to other states. The "big tax base" you speak of doesnt seem to do much good for the state. Where is all that money being spent? It sure isnt in western Kentucky.

Looking at statistics for all 50 states on various things. Kentucky's rankings are average for most things. Obesity and smoking still ranks high here, but other things are not bad. Crime statistics are very low for Kentucky, along with STD's and abortions are nearly non existent compared to all other states.