kentucky natives.... tell the truth!!! (Lexington, Louisville: fit in, houses, job market)

[mass_family]

ok, so how true is it that the fine folks of kentucky dont really care for us yankees ( new englanders ) ?? my wife and i have been looking into getting out of new england for pretty much all the reasons your thinking and have mentioned on this forum. personally i cant stand most of the people or attitudes around here. we are from massachusetts, i am 29, she is 22 and we have a 6 month old daughter. i have been building houses for the last 10 yrs and love what i do. ive gotten alot out of reading all the posts but am still a bit confused. ive read both that the economy was good and bad. so, whats the construction industry look like there? i would LOVE to move to kentucky but if there isnt any work, then that wont happen. and theres also the part where the locals could just run us out of town lol we took a trip down to the london area and loved it.the people were great and extremely helpful. but made me wonder.... maybe they are just hopeing if they give good enough directions then maybe we WILL find our way out and not come back lol also had nice rolling hills, rivers, lakes, and trees. gotta have trees! i also saw something that made me say, yep, ill love it here. ATV's and dirtbikes!!! its something in my blood that i just gotta have. now ive been rambling but if you can pick out the few questions i managed to crunch in there somewhere id greatly appreciate it!!

[mass_family]

i guess i should have kept it short and sweet. so, is there alot of building going on in kentucky that anyone knows of?

[censusdata]

Upstate Kentucky (the areas around and between Louisville, Lexington, & the southern Cincinnati suburbs) know locally as the Golden Triangle has a very strong economy, as does the Bowling Green area in Western KY. The state's Appalachian region has a very poor economy, which tends to skew our numbers.

What type of area are you looking for sizewise, and in terms of topography?

[mass_family]

well we liked the rolling hills, open fields with wooded areas surrounding them. pretty much the rural areas. we arent city people by any means and like the small towns with mom and pop stores. the type of place where i know the people im buying things from and they will know me... over time of course but you get the idea.

[The Village Idiot]

You'll like the areas around Lexington. You can live in the country and find plenty of work in the suburban developments. Louisville or Northern Kentucky (Cincinnati metro area) would be about the same as Lexington.

The Lexington area is a little closer to the mountains and areas such as Red River Gorge, Natural Bridge, and the Daniel Boone National Forest, if you're interested in hiking and other outdoor activities.

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by mass_family

well we liked the rolling hills, open fields with wooded areas surrounding them. pretty much the rural areas. we arent city people by any means and like the small towns with mom and pop stores. the type of place where i know the people im buying things from and they will know me... over time of course but you get the idea.

In order to have a good market for construction, you will need to be relatively close to one of the areas that teebird mentioned. I really like Bardstown. It is a small city/large town in the central "Knobs" portion of the state. Rolling hills, very green and wooded in that part of the state. It is also not too far from Louisville (45 min to 1 hour) or Lexington (1 hour). The area is fairly prosperous, especially for a small town Kentucky. It is an old town by Kentucky standards and has done a good job preserving its historic nature. It also has a high percentage of Catholics, which is kind of unique for small town Kentucky (Louisville and NKY have high Catholic percentages as well).

Other smaller towns that I would recommend checking out would be Danville, Harrodsburg, Versailles and Georgetown. Georgetown might have the best market for construction. It is only about 20 minutes north of Lexington. Versailles is a fairly affluent town about 20 minutes west of Lexington. There seems to be a good amount of residential construction going on there as well.

[mass_family]

that is awesome news! i was under the impression that there was very little to no work there. that made my day to hear that. now the thing i am still concerned about is getting hired. i still have this fear that since im from the north that i wont get a job. im almost positive theres no truth to that but for some reason it still concerns me.

[rnc76]

FYI...

I think with your interests you would be readily accepted in KY, especially in areas not too far from the larger metros. Just respect the local traditions, don't start every sentence with "back in Mass, we did it this way..." and I think you'll fit in just fine. Expect some good natured ribbing on your accent (I'm assuming you have one even though you might think you don't). I don't think that would bother a person from Mass though, cutting up is part of the culture up there. You might have a slight adjustment in how polite most people are in KY. You can't get them to argue with you. When I lived in Mass, arguing was a legitimate form of communication (as long as it was kept within boundaries).

[mass_family]

haha very true, arguing is an all day long affair at work. im not much of the arguing type tho. i do my fair share of good natured ribbing however. and yes i DO have a strong accent even for the area i live in. and its cool, ill say cah ( car ) and all the things people get a kick out of! well it sounds to me like out of the places we were considering kentucky is looking like the one! which i am very happy about because we fell in love with the small farm towns and the scenery. i was worried about the job market there and i think you have pretty much put my mind at ease there! any other information that would be helpful coming from a former mass-hole? lol oh, one more question.... is riding a dirtbike or atv an acceptable form of transportation in kentucky?? lol

[tomocox]

MASS, people in Kentucky don't have any disapproval for any group of people because they are from New England, California, Texas, Timbuctoo, or Outer Mongolia, but many times people come to Kentucky expecting the stereotypical hillbilly that is portrayed in books, movies, and news media. If you come to Kentucky expecting us to be something we are not, you won't like us and therefore we won't like you.

Come to Kentucky, even in the most backwoods hollars (we call deep dead end valleys a hollow) you will be accepted if you allow locals time to get to know you. If you come to Kentucky on a high horse or inside of a box, it likely won't be fun. Come to Kentucky, stand out, but stand still and let the people come to you. Like a kitten with a new toy, they will come to you and will grow to love you if you are loveable.