Looking to move to Kentucky need a little help (Lexington: apartments, renting)

[Micah Girl]

Originally Posted by heatwave13

Hey everyone,

I was born in Lexington and grew up around Nicholasville all through my teenage years and through college at UK. I no longer live in Nicholasville/Lexington area, but I visit quite often and, since I grew up there, I can probably tell you most anything you want to know about the area. Just ask me some specific questions and I'll try to help.

Just as a general note, the Lexington area seems to be growing in a north/south kind of way, more specifically, the growth and addition of homes, schools, and retail, etc. seems to be growing north of Lexington in Scott County and south in the Jessamine County/Nicholasville area. East and West of town still retains much of the "Bluegrass" horse country atmosphere. But, yeah, central Ky. and Lexington have seen quite a bit of growth lately.

Just ask me if you want more info about schools, church, University of Kentucky, general impressions of the people, etc......

I'd like to jump in with some questions!

What's it like to live in the city of Lexington? Are there neighborhoods that have a small-town feel for families? How hard is it to get to know your neighbors? Do kids play up and down the street, or does everyone retreat into their homes like in many suburbs? If we are looking for this kind of environment are we better off moving just outside the city?

I plan to pursue doctoral work at UK so will be spending much time there, but need to think about what will be best for the whole family. I have 3 kids 8 and under.

Thanks

[Silas]

Erik,
Check out my home community of Owensboro. Lots of great reasons to live here. We are a great small community and still the 3rd largest city in Kentucky. 3 colleges, New performing arts center, 3 fine museums, low crime, friendly people, Vagas style convention center, Beautiful Ohio river recreation, lots of partks. BUT most of all we have a very healthy economy. Good industrial employment, Huge regional medial center with new cancer research center and innovative biotechnology plant. Great rural farm community, with lower priced land, and much below average cost of living.
You mentioned underground cable. Check out Watts Cable Construction owned by friends of mine that work nationally but with home offices in Owensboro

[emg35]

Silas, Thanks for the info I will looking into it.

Anyone have info on Audubon Park?

Erik

[heatwave13]

Originally Posted by Micah Girl

I'd like to jump in with some questions!

What's it like to live in the city of Lexington? Are there neighborhoods that have a small-town feel for families? How hard is it to get to know your neighbors? Do kids play up and down the street, or does everyone retreat into their homes like in many suburbs? If we are looking for this kind of environment are we better off moving just outside the city?

I plan to pursue doctoral work at UK so will be spending much time there, but need to think about what will be best for the whole family. I have 3 kids 8 and under.

Thanks

Living in Lexington is fine for most folk. It's a medium sized city that has most everything you would need. It does not have the feel and/or pace of a big city, but yet, there is still plenty of stuff to do if you want and know where to look for it. Lexington has people from all over the place living there, lots of midwesterner type of people from Ohio, Indiana, etc. Plenty of decent jobs and companies to work for as well. Lexmark, University of Kentucky, Toyota Plant (Camry and Avalons), etc. just to name a few.

Yes, there are plenty of neighborhood environments in the Lexington area and how you get along with the people is largely up to how your attitude is and whether or not you make an effort to get to know anyone. Easy for me to say I guess, since I'm a talkative extrovert type of guy. A lot of it depends on what part of town you live on. Out in the suburbs, you'll find more of the kids-playing-in-the-street and in each others yards atmosphere. I grew up doing that myself so I know it exists.

Many of the newer, more quiet neighborhoods are on the south end of town, and yes, into the outskirt communities like Versailles, Woodford county, Scott county, and Jessamine county/Nicholasville.
These outskirt communities are growing pretty quickly as more and more people move into the area or are getting out of the city of Lexington. Taxes are generally better in the outlying counties. Things may have changed, but I recall city of Lexington residents being taxed more heavily than those of us who lived just outside of town in the next county. There was and still may be a city payroll tax, where if you work in the city of Lexington, you automatically get taxed, along with your state, federal, etc.....and so on and so forth.

Additionally, the process of getting to know folks partly depends on how busy people are and/or how much free time they have. People everywhere just seem to be a lot more "busy" than they used to. It's hard for me to answer any more detailed than this since I don't know where you're coming from or what type of job you and you're family will be looking into. If you're going to do some study at UK, you'd better go ahead and do it because tuition is constantly going up, up and up. I graduated from there back in 1995 and I can't believe how much costs have increased since then.


But yeah, it's a nice, clean, medium sized city that is really quite nice overall. I no longer live there, but I do go back and visit some of my family quite often (I spent 8 days there over Christmas/new years), so I know what'alls going on.

If you have any more questions or need details, let me know and I can probably tell you something about any part of town you're interested in.

[Micah Girl]

Originally Posted by heatwave13

Living in Lexington is fine for most folk. It's a medium sized city that has most everything you would need. It does not have the feel and/or pace of a big city, but yet, there is still plenty of stuff to do if you want and know where to look for it. Lexington has people from all over the place living there, lots of midwesterner type of people from Ohio, Indiana, etc. Plenty of decent jobs and companies to work for as well. Lexmark, University of Kentucky, Toyota Plant (Camry and Avalons), etc. just to name a few.

Yes, there are plenty of neighborhood environments in the Lexington area and how you get along with the people is largely up to how your attitude is and whether or not you make an effort to get to know anyone. Easy for me to say I guess, since I'm a talkative extrovert type of guy. A lot of it depends on what part of town you live on. Out in the suburbs, you'll find more of the kids-playing-in-the-street and in each others yards atmosphere. I grew up doing that myself so I know it exists.

Many of the newer, more quiet neighborhoods are on the south end of town, and yes, into the outskirt communities like Versailles, Woodford county, Scott county, and Jessamine county/Nicholasville.
These outskirt communities are growing pretty quickly as more and more people move into the area or are getting out of the city of Lexington. Taxes are generally better in the outlying counties. Things may have changed, but I recall city of Lexington residents being taxed more heavily than those of us who lived just outside of town in the next county. There was and still may be a city payroll tax, where if you work in the city of Lexington, you automatically get taxed, along with your state, federal, etc.....and so on and so forth.

Additionally, the process of getting to know folks partly depends on how busy people are and/or how much free time they have. People everywhere just seem to be a lot more "busy" than they used to. It's hard for me to answer any more detailed than this since I don't know where you're coming from or what type of job you and you're family will be looking into. If you're going to do some study at UK, you'd better go ahead and do it because tuition is constantly going up, up and up. I graduated from there back in 1995 and I can't believe how much costs have increased since then.


But yeah, it's a nice, clean, medium sized city that is really quite nice overall. I no longer live there, but I do go back and visit some of my family quite often (I spent 8 days there over Christmas/new years), so I know what'alls going on.

If you have any more questions or need details, let me know and I can probably tell you something about any part of town you're interested in.

My husband is a nurse practitioner and RN so we expect he'll probably work at the UK Medical Center. I have worked in college ministry for years, but want to go back to school to become a professor, so that's why I am looking at classes and probably part-time work at UK.

We love college students and college towns, and Lexington kept coming to the top of our list. We have 3 kids 8, 6 and 4 that we currently homeschool, but would like to have options of good public school education if we decide to go that route. We will get involved in a local church and know that we'll make friends that way, but want to live in a neighborhood where we will be able to get to know those who live nearby. We are looking to be a part of the community!

I am planning a visit in May but until them am constantly looking up real estate on line. I'd love some suggested zip codes to find good Lex. neighborhoods. We are hoping to find a bargain home but in a great area!

Thanks for any additional input.

[heatwave13]

If you like the college atmosphere, then you'll enjoy Lexington, where it's all about our Kentucky Wildcats. A couple times per year, I'll still drive up to Lex. for some home football games at Commonwealth Stadium. It's tough to recommend certain areas since I don't know what you or your family are into and whatall ya'll like to do, what kind of $$$$ house you can afford, etc....

Generally speaking, many young families are moving to the south end of Lexington and Fayette county and, like I said before, the outlying areas like Jessamine, Woodford, Madison, and Scott counties. Some of this'll depend on how close you want to be to UK and the UK med center. Also, very close to UK is Central Baptist Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital, and Good Samaritan Hospitals.

The areas around UK, I think, have a 40536 zip code. I used to live just outside the city limit into Jessamine county with the 40356 zip. Use those two to get started with, but really, there are so many more areas to look into, it'll take a while to look into it all. Lexington is very large, area wise, and very spread out, and parts of town can really differ from each other and often have their own vibe.

Let me know if you need anything else.

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by emg35

Silas, Thanks for the info I will looking into it.

Anyone have info on Audubon Park?

Erik

audubon park is a "suburb" (now incorporated neighborhood) of Louisville. The zip is 40213.

[ladeebee]

Greetings. My husband and self are in the process of making the move to KY within next year. Our draw is our 2 children and 2 grandchildren are there but I must say the milder climate, the friendly people and the areas beauty are a big big plus.
We are looking at the Harrodsburg area. It is between Lexington and Danville where our children live and is not the big big city that Lexington is and close enough to Danville, a very comfortable sized city to feel just right. A lot of history in the area too.
The kids have lived in their areas for 20+ and 7 years so we have traveled there many many times.
Danville is a growing city with reasonable taxes, house prices, and a decent representation of shopping stores. Being only 45 minutes via Nicklausville to Lexington it is close enough for the big games and city culture offered there. Going via Harrodsburg on the Bluegrass Pkyway to Lexington is a more peaceful drive which is why we are looking in that area.
Check these towns out. Ladeebee

[Walker in KY]

Hello, I did quite a bit of research prior to my move from California myself. I lived in Orange County the majority of my life (getting close to 50). We chose what we find to be a wonderful place in Hopkinsville KY. We moved here a year ago last September and have never regretted it for a minute. This area is really growing while it still provides a more calming enviroment and the people are friendly. I was previously an executive in the finance industry and had no idea what I would do here. I decided to go into Real Estate and have been very busy. This area is about 20 miles away from Ft Campbell which is having quite a bit of housing construction going on as well as several new housing tracts here locally. I was just recently speaking with a manager of Lowes who stated that they cannot keep up with the demand on needs for cabinet contractors and installers. He advised they average about $90K to $100k per year (self employed). This with about a 40% less cost of living than CA. Housing prices compared to CA are amazing. Statistics I read March of 2005 advised the average as $97,000, I re-pulled the same source approximately 6 months ago and it advised a price of $115,000. Of course they range from $60K (starter home) to an extremely nice home in the $2-300,00 range and of course you can go higher. This is not a fast paced flashy area however, whenever you want a bit more excitement it is only about 45 min to an hour from Nashville, and 20 minutes from Clarksvilles restaurant row with almost everything you could want. It would be well worth the time to check out the Christian County Chamber of Commerce. If I can be of any help feel free to contact me. If this area is for you I would love to be of service, if not, I wish you a wonderful and happy life where ever you find that special place

[emg35]

Thanks Walker in KY

Great info