Frankfort or Bowling Green (Lexington, Louisville: house, college, live in)

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by censusdata

I just got back from Bowling Green after spending 3 days there. There is tons of new housing and shopping everywhere, even extending into Logan County. I was thouroughly underwhelmed with Downtown Bowling Green, I seriously think Russellville had a larger "Main Street" area and more historic homes.

I've never figured out why DT BG is not more thriving. Campus is a stone's throw away and lots of students live between campus and downtown, it seems that there would be a lot of bars, shops, restaurants... Something that downtown BG lacks IMO is a lack of continuity in businesses, particularly bars. Other than Mariah's and 440 Main, the bars down there seem to change names and decor every couple years. There was one place that was a pretty good college hangout about 10 years ago on the square, Kelly Green's, it was always packed, then it changed ownership and the name and decor changed. I'm not sure if anything is there anymore. I like going back to familiar places when I visit a city and nothing seems to stay the same, even the good places that seem to do good business just close for some unknown reason.

[blue_eyedgirl]

Wow, I'm so suprised to hear all the anti-BG talk. I lived there for 3 years and loved it. If I were to move back to KY (god willing it will happen soon) I would absolutely consider moving to BG again. Its a nice clean mid-sized town with alot to offer. I moved there from Grayson County to go to WKU and immediately fell in love with BG. I had always spent time there even before college and it just feels like a homey environment. I can't really compare it to Frankfort though because I was only there once on a school trip many moons ago. Don't buy into the anti-Bowling Green negativity. Its a great place!

[dixiegirl7]

Originally Posted by blue_eyedgirl

Wow, I'm so suprised to hear all the anti-BG talk. I lived there for 3 years and loved it. If I were to move back to KY (god willing it will happen soon) I would absolutely consider moving to BG again. Its a nice clean mid-sized town with alot to offer. I moved there from Grayson County to go to WKU and immediately fell in love with BG. I had always spent time there even before college and it just feels like a homey environment. I can't really compare it to Frankfort though because I was only there once on a school trip many moons ago. Don't buy into the anti-Bowling Green negativity. Its a great place!

I am glad to hear you had a good experience with your time in Bowling Green and we would love to have you back anytime.

[dixiegirl7]

Originally Posted by rnc76

I've never figured out why DT BG is not more thriving. Campus is a stone's throw away and lots of students live between campus and downtown, it seems that there would be a lot of bars, shops, restaurants... Something that downtown BG lacks IMO is a lack of continuity in businesses, particularly bars. Other than Mariah's and 440 Main, the bars down there seem to change names and decor every couple years. There was one place that was a pretty good college hangout about 10 years ago on the square, Kelly Green's, it was always packed, then it changed ownership and the name and decor changed. I'm not sure if anything is there anymore. I like going back to familiar places when I visit a city and nothing seems to stay the same, even the good places that seem to do good business just close for some unknown reason.

There is a project to revitalized downtown and I hope it works. I think most people just forget to go down there and it is hard for stores and restaurants to compete with the mall, shopping centers, and chain restaurants out Scottsville Road. My mother owned a small restaurant downtown and was open for breakfast and lunch for a while and they did a great business just off the locals that had offices there (law firms, WKU employees, etc.) so you can succeed if you gear it to the population.

[llgator]

Originally Posted by rnc76

I've never figured out why DT BG is not more thriving. Campus is a stone's throw away and lots of students live between campus and downtown, it seems that there would be a lot of bars, shops, restaurants... Something that downtown BG lacks IMO is a lack of continuity in businesses, particularly bars. Other than Mariah's and 440 Main, the bars down there seem to change names and decor every couple years. There was one place that was a pretty good college hangout about 10 years ago on the square, Kelly Green's, it was always packed, then it changed ownership and the name and decor changed. I'm not sure if anything is there anymore. I like going back to familiar places when I visit a city and nothing seems to stay the same, even the good places that seem to do good business just close for some unknown reason.

Most college kids are below the legal drinking age and underage enforcement is fairly aggressive. So bar and night-club owners can't depend on WKU students to be strong supporters of their nightclub business. When I attended WKU in the late 70's, enforcement was very lax and there were lots of bars and nightclubs with live music. But these days, much of the college-age crowd has been driven to private venues for their "partying". I guess that's what the current legal drinking age debate is about. The current policies have been very good in some ways and very bad in others.

I'm not much of a night-club goer now that I've "grown up" but 440 Main is my choice if we're going out in the evening for drinks or to hear some music. They have live music scheduled several times through the year and always draw a good crowd (as do several other downtown establishments). I'm just not convinced that there is much of a market without college kids to supplement the younger adults who want to "go out". Businesses have to make money to stay with it!

IMO, the best restaurants in Bowling Green almost all downtown...The Brickyard, 440 Main, The Cellar, Mandolin, and Mariah's. If all you ever go to are the places along the Scottsville Road, you've missed out!

Veering back to the original topic, I don't know anything about Frankfort so I can't offer a comparison but overall, Bowling Green is a great community to live in IMHO. It just depends on what you're looking for. There are lots of housing options, excellent parks and recreation facilities, decent shopping and restaurants, good medical facilities and 2 strong public school systems. The presence of WKU adds cultural and educational influences that are not typical for a city this size. Just my 2 cents!

[censusdata]

One big detail on comparing Frankfort & BG...

since BG is in Central time and Frankfort is in Eastern, though both are at a similar longitude, Frankfort gets an additional hour of evening daylight each day. Right now Frankfort has 8:30 pm sunsets while BG has 7:30 pm sunsets

To me, having 365 extra hours of evening sunlight per year is something Lou and Lex should consider advertising more, that's one heck of an asset

[bw87a]

i agree with the sunlight. i enjoy being at the back of the time zone in louisville and getting the extra part of the day.

[timelesschild]

Originally Posted by bw87a

i agree with the sunlight. i enjoy being at the back of the time zone in louisville and getting the extra part of the day.

Yes, absolutely! I agree 100%. That is a VERY nice perk.

[Hey_Hey]

Frankfort has a lot of politicians walking around, so I would choose Bowling Green.

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by llgator

Most college kids are below the legal drinking age and underage enforcement is fairly aggressive. So bar and night-club owners can't depend on WKU students to be strong supporters of their nightclub business. When I attended WKU in the late 70's, enforcement was very lax and there were lots of bars and nightclubs with live music. But these days, much of the college-age crowd has been driven to private venues for their "partying". I guess that's what the current legal drinking age debate is about. The current policies have been very good in some ways and very bad in others.

Why is it that hundreds of other cities and towns in the country have thriving areas surrounding universities filled with bars, coffee shops, art galleries, bookstores? Why can't BG achieve that with WKU, it is certainly a large enough university to have an area like that downtown.