My family and I are considering a move to Kentucky from Florida... NEED MAJOR ADVICE... (Lexington: violent crime, how much)

[dixiegirl7]

If you come through Bowling Green make a stop at the Corvette museum and also the GM Corvette Assembly plant might be giving tours which is very interesting. On WKU's campus the Kentucky Museum has some very good educational tours and you could see the campus also. Kentucky Museum Your kids would enjoy a trip to Beech Bend Park. On up the road in the Cave City area (30 miles north) you might enjoy Mammoth Cave (world's largest cave system) and also in the same area Guntown Mountain, Kentucky Down Under, Dinasour World. Here is a website with info on all of it and more: Mammoth Cave Online - The number one source for vacation information to the Mammoth Cave region of Kentucky featuring informaiton on cave tours, attractions, amuseument, outdoor recreation, horse back riding, boating, canoeing, hiking, biking, lodgin

[EclecticEars]

Well, what type of environment are you looking for?

These are my personal recommendations based on personal experiences after living all over Ky. and traveling to nearly 100 counties.

Urban: Louisville (Highlands, Crescent Hill) or Covington (Mainstrasse or Devou Park areas); beautiful, historically significant parts of each city that are safe, clean, diverse, and easily accessible to a lot of parkland!

My personal pick would be Covington over Louisville just by virtue of the accessibility to and views of downtown Cincinnati. PLUS, I think the people are just a little bit nicer in much of northern Ky. than in Louisville.

"Lexington" and "urban" are an oxymoron.

Suburban: Around Louisville, there is Oldham County, Lyndon, St. Matthews, Fern Creek, Anchorage, Eastwood, Middletown, Springhurst, Prospect, Indian Hills, and Highview.

Around Northern Kentucky, practically anywhere in the tri-county area (Boone, Kenton, Campbell) outside of the cities of Covington and Newport. I'd personally avoid Florence, though, as it tends to be a bit "nose up in the air."

My favorite suburb in possibly the entire state is Crestview Hills (Kenton County on I-75 & Turkeyfoot Road). Just check it out! Less than 12 minutes to the country as well as Covington and Cincinnati, very close to the commercial hub of Florence, and it has a strong, emerging commercial hub of its own at Crestview Hills Towne Center. Not to mention, Thomas More College, the best Catholic liberal arts college in Kentucky.

The only suburban community around Lexington worth a darn is Wilmore, about 15 miles SW. I don't like Georgetown, Nicholasville, Richmond, or Winchester at all...never have. Frankfort is a nice small city of its own about 25 miles NW of Lex., though.

Small town/small city: Danville and Elizabethtown. No competition here.

Many will suggest Bowling Green, but I (with all due respect to the people that love it) think it's not very impressive. It's not the cleanest town, nor is it the most progressive in economic and civic matters.

Really small town/rural area: Rural Mercer Co. outside of Harrodsburg is beautiful. So is Jessamine Co. outside of Nicholasville. These two counties are separated only by the Kentucky River.

Owenton, smack dab centralized to Louisville, Lexington, and Cincinnati, is a charming little down and the surrounding Owen Co. countryside is beautiful.

I've also always liked the countryside of west Kentucky as the corn, soy, and wheat are nearing their harvest times. The vegetation adds so much beauty to the land; something about seeing the products of farmers' hard work and looking off 1, 2, or 3 miles into the horizon is really something. It's the most Midwestern part of the state geographically. I wouldn't ever live in WKY again, but it is nice to visit.

The rest of Kentucky...well, the regular posters know how I feel.

[AZtoWhere]

I know how you feel about the Tampa crime. That's a major reason I left D.C. in '88 - every morning there was a report of at least one murder and sometimes as many as 5 overnight!

As for places to go - you gotta go to the Kentucky Horse Park and the Toyota plant - the latter is north of Lexington in the nice little town of Georgetown. We were there in May and had a good time. I wish I was there, now. Getting sick of 100+ degree weather, but at least we don't have FL's humidity.

When in Louisville, there is the Louisville Slugger factory (I'm sure I got the real name wrong, but they make baseball bats), and the Kentucky Derby Museum, which is interactive.

Also, depending on what kind of degree you want, you may want to look into online programs, so you aren't tied down to one area for a certain school. University of Phoenix is the largest private and online university in the world, but many other regionally accredited universities now have online programs, as well.

I totally understand how your wife feels about the seasons. I hate AZ for much the same reason. Best of luck finding the perfect place for you!

[Digger57]

Although I will eventually reside in Butler county just north of Bowling Green (just my personal choice) I think that Danville would be worth adding to your list to visit. It has a good mix of small town feel with some larger city benefits without too much of either, if you know what I mean. Besides, I like it, and that should be all the information you need right there!

Digger~

[dixiegirl7]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

Well, what type of environment are you looking for?

These are my personal recommendations based on personal experiences after living all over Ky. and traveling to nearly 100 counties.

Urban: Louisville (Highlands, Crescent Hill) or Covington (Mainstrasse or Devou Park areas); beautiful, historically significant parts of each city that are safe, clean, diverse, and easily accessible to a lot of parkland!

My personal pick would be Covington over Louisville just by virtue of the accessibility to and views of downtown Cincinnati. PLUS, I think the people are just a little bit nicer in much of northern Ky. than in Louisville.

"Lexington" and "urban" are an oxymoron.

Suburban: Around Louisville, there is Oldham County, Lyndon, St. Matthews, Fern Creek, Anchorage, Eastwood, Middletown, Springhurst, Prospect, Indian Hills, and Highview.

Around Northern Kentucky, practically anywhere in the tri-county area (Boone, Kenton, Campbell) outside of the cities of Covington and Newport. I'd personally avoid Florence, though, as it tends to be a bit "nose up in the air."

My favorite suburb in possibly the entire state is Crestview Hills (Kenton County on I-75 & Turkeyfoot Road). Just check it out! Less than 12 minutes to the country as well as Covington and Cincinnati, very close to the commercial hub of Florence, and it has a strong, emerging commercial hub of its own at Crestview Hills Towne Center. Not to mention, Thomas More College, the best Catholic liberal arts college in Kentucky.

The only suburban community around Lexington worth a darn is Wilmore, about 15 miles SW. I don't like Georgetown, Nicholasville, Richmond, or Winchester at all...never have. Frankfort is a nice small city of its own about 25 miles NW of Lex., though.

Small town/small city: Danville and Elizabethtown. No competition here.

Many will suggest Bowling Green, but I (with all due respect to the people that love it) think it's not very impressive. It's not the cleanest town, nor is it the most progressive in economic and civic matters.

Really small town/rural area: Rural Mercer Co. outside of Harrodsburg is beautiful. So is Jessamine Co. outside of Nicholasville. These two counties are separated only by the Kentucky River.

Owenton, smack dab centralized to Louisville, Lexington, and Cincinnati, is a charming little down and the surrounding Owen Co. countryside is beautiful.

I've also always liked the countryside of west Kentucky as the corn, soy, and wheat are nearing their harvest times. The vegetation adds so much beauty to the land; something about seeing the products of farmers' hard work and looking off 1, 2, or 3 miles into the horizon is really something. It's the most Midwestern part of the state geographically. I wouldn't ever live in WKY again, but it is nice to visit.

The rest of Kentucky...well, the regular posters know how I feel.

What is not clean about Bowling Green? It is one of the prettiest cities in Kentucky. Also how is it not progressive economically when it is one of the fastest growing cities in Kentucky? Bowling Green was named by Forbes as one of the top small cities to work and do business in the United States. As far as civic matters, please explain what in the world you are talking about, because I don't know where you came up with that either. It is an international refuge city that welcomed nearly 300 immigrants the past 12 months and expects to welcome 388 in the coming 12 months. These are people from Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, and other countries. We locate translators and teachers that speak these languages and our schools systems, churches and volunteers work together to help them acclimate to a totally foreign place and way of life. That is fairly civic minded IMO.

[timelesschild]

Yeah, I don't think jcm's assessment of Lexington is good either. Jcm, I like you and everything, but your remarks aren't appropriate as answers for this OP, or at least I don't think so.

He wants a safe college town with plenty of football, basketball and Bible-believing independent churches. Lexington has that sewn UP! He and his family would be instant naturals in Lexington! And then it has pretty scenery to add to the mix... I know you have issues with Lexington, and obviously it didn't have the job market for my family (hence my current posting location), but ... it IS perfect in its way.

I would like to add my recommendations for small towns: Danville and Versailles.

[CivilLibertarian]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

Yeah, I don't think jcm's assessment of Lexington is good either. Jcm, I like you and everything, but your remarks aren't appropriate as answers for this OP, or at least I don't think so.

He wants a safe college town with plenty of football, basketball and Bible-believing independent churches. Lexington has that sewn UP! He and his family would be instant naturals in Lexington! And then it has pretty scenery to add to the mix... I know you have issues with Lexington, and obviously it didn't have the job market for my family (hence my current posting location), but ... it IS perfect in its way.

I would like to add my recommendations for small towns: Danville and Versailles.

Timelesschild,

I'd say that you've summed me up pretty well! Scary huh ? In addition to the things you mentioned, I also like the fact that Lexington has the arts and a museum. I must admit it is topping our list as of now! I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to answer my questions. I can't stress how nice it is to have a sounding board like this one with so many friendly, helpful people ready to assist you!

In addition to Lexington, I am going through this thread and jotting down all of the other suggestions you guys are providing. I still plan on checking out Bowling Green and Louisville in addition to the many more I've written down.

Another question... I've heard of this "New Madrid Fault" in Western Kentucky. If this thing were to blow, how would that effect Lexington? I'm not one to shy away from a place due to potential natural disasters (I've been dealing with Hurricanes for 2 1/2 decades), so this wouldn't deter me very much, but it is something to consider.

Thanks again,
ME

[Alt Dach]

IMHO better yet for you might be southern Indiana.

[kygman]

Originally Posted by CivilLibertarian

Timelesschild,



Another question... I've heard of this "New Madrid Fault" in Western Kentucky. If this thing were to blow, how would that effect Lexington? I'm not one to shy away from a place due to potential natural disasters (I've been dealing with Hurricanes for 2 1/2 decades), so this wouldn't deter me very much, but it is something to consider.

Thanks again,
ME

Civil, if the New Madrid Fault has the major quake everybody has been talking about for years, they say it will be felt as far away as Chicago and Washington, D.C. The New Madrid is a major fault, but there are may other faults all over the area that could do some damage too. Might read up on the Wabash Valley seismic zone.

I'm always putting a plug in for western Kentucky, the forgotten part west of Bowling Green. lol But I read what you were looking for and thought somewhere around Lexington and Louisville would be what you were looking for. But you might want to come and look around sometime. Murray State University is a great school to go to. A national organization has named Murray one of 67 "Playful Cities" in the U.S. Paducah is another place to look at. Check out downtown and take the kids to Noble Park to feed the ducks. If your wife is into quilts, the National Quilting Museum is downtown. The Land Between the Lakes has 170,000 acres of nature for the family. There's miles of hiking trails, and elk and bison range, a homestead from the 1850s.

So when you get settled and want a vacation trip sometime, come on down and see what we have.

[CivilLibertarian]

Alt Dach,

Please elaborate on why you think Southern Indiana (or Indiana in general?) would be the best place for my family? Better than Kentucky???

kygman,

When we come up we will definitely check out Western Kentucky! We're trying to plan a vacation that would alot enough time for us to check out most of the state.