Any cities in Kentucky that are similar to Chicago? (Lexington: crime rate, home)

[rppipa01]

Another way to compare the cities is to compase skylines. While Lexington is a very nice medium sized city (horse farms around the area are gorgeous), it's core is less developed in terms of urbanization.







Here are a few shots of Lexington:

[rppipa01]

18.1 inches – average yearly snowfall in Louisville. That is the number posted by the Metro Government, but honestly, the last few years we have barely gotten any snow (last year, I remeber it snowing maybe twice...neither of which resulted in more than an inch of snow).

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by rppipa01

18.1 inches – average yearly snowfall in Louisville. That is the number posted by the Metro Government, but honestly, the last few years we have barely gotten any snow (last year, I remeber it snowing maybe twice...neither of which resulted in more than an inch of snow).

Thank you so much for posting those pictures, rppipa01! I agree about comparing skylines as that does give me an idea of the differences in the two cities. By the way, those pictures are awesome, especially the Louisville night ones!

Barely any snow sounds great! I wonder if the reduced amount of snow is part of global warming (even Chicago seems to have less than I remember from past winters). Not that I'm going to complain!

[rppipa01]

Here is some more information for you. Lifted this from the Courier Journal today (Louisville's newpaper).

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...WS01/306220043

[rppipa01]

Here is what the skyline of Louisville will look like in a few years (assuming the arena project and museum plaza go through).

[ITChick]

Wow. Thanks rppipa01! Looks like Louisville is really growing into a big city. That's good to know.

Interesting picture too. Louisville does have a nice skyline, even if the expansions don't take place.

[hjwbpstar]

Hello ITChick,
I lived in Chicago for 2&1/2 years. I enjoyed my stay, but I couldn't wait to come home to KY. If you are looking for a state that is friendly, much better climate, and beautiful to look at you need to move tomorrow. I will have to agree that Louisville seems more like Chicago, but they are still several differences. I know it's a big decision so feel free to ask any questions. As for me I guess they couldn't take the country out of the country boy. I will say the southern accent didn't hurt with the ladies.

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by hjwbpstar

Hello ITChick,
I lived in Chicago for 2&1/2 years. I enjoyed my stay, but I couldn't wait to come home to KY. If you are looking for a state that is friendly, much better climate, and beautiful to look at you need to move tomorrow. I will have to agree that Louisville seems more like Chicago, but they are still several differences. I know it's a big decision so feel free to ask any questions.

Good to know this. Thanks!

[rppipa01]

I will agree with what you said...out of all the cities in KY, Louisville is most like Chicago (but then again, other than Louisville and to a smaller extent Lexington, there aren't really any other large cities in the state). I suppose you could argue for Newport/Covington in Northern KY, but they really aren't "large urban areas" in their own right (they are more or less suburbs/surrounding cities of Cincinnati).

I will also argree, that while it is closely related to Chicago in terms of being the most urbanized section of the state and the economic powerhouse that fuels the state's budget, there are many notable difference.

Louisville may be the largest city in the state, but don't take that to mean that it is a behemothic in size (it's Kentucky we are talking about). To people in Kentucky and Louisville, rush hour traffic seems horrible (average commute time is 17 minutes), although most people from larger cities like Chicago/NYC seem to laugh at that. In addition, I have found that I can usually go from my downtown residence out to the farthest suburbs in about 30 minutes travel time (give or take a few minutes for traffic). I know from personal experience (driving to WI on the Dan Ryan), that that is much different from Chicago.

Culturally, Kentucky isn't like Illinois at all. Illinois is a northern state, Kentucky is (for the most part), a southern state. Louisville is more southern in its culture (but it does have a bit of Northern influence too) than Chicago and in general, I think people are probably more laid back here (about some things...basketball, well that is a whole other animal there). In addition, Louisville will probably have less to do than what you are use to in Chicago (not to say that there is nothing to do here...far from it...just less than a 9,000,000 million resident metro area would have). Night life will probably suffer a bit (if you are a 3-4 a.m. night owl) and musically speaking, Louisville doesn't get a lot of big name concerts other than country genre (though, I think that will start to change once the arena is built downtown...even if it doesn't Cincy is only 90 miles upriver). If you are a pro sports nut, you will be driving to Cincy or Indy. If you are into college sports, Louisville and Kentucky are your state (unless you are a Duke fan...don't mention it to the locals outside of Louisville). Economically/politically, Louisville has been a relatively stagnant city (it grew, but not by huge leaps and bounds...although, again, I think this is starting to change with the arena, museum plaza, UPS expansion, and all the downtown revitalization).

If you take a look on Sperling's, there are several comments on there that are accurate about Louisville...some are not though. One describes Louisville as an excellent city to raise a family and that couldn't be more right (excellent school system, low crime rates, beautiful city, affordable housing, etc). They do complain that there is a limited amount of things to do for 30 somethings. Since I am not in that age bracket, I can't comment on it, but I think it depends a lot on what you want to do. Chicago, yeah, they have something for everyone because they can afford it and enough people to support all different kinds of things. Louisville is much smaller and doesn't have the big pro-sports teams, concerts every night, or huge entertainment districts. However, the city does offer a very fun AAA baseball team an UofL sports are great (unless you're a UK fan...but even then, lexington is just 80 miles down the road), 4 Street Live district has a lot of clubs/bars/restaurants if that is your thing, there are several very nice shopping areas around the city, the arts scene is vibrant, and there are many festivals/events throughout the year (st. James Art Show, Thunder, Derby, etc.).

[rppipa01]

Seems like I listed a lot of negatives, so I'll balance it out with some positives. One word: Climate. It is true that Louisville can get a little hot and humid, but in general the weather is fairly mild (fall and spring are perfect...last spring it was 60-70s no humidity, and sunny). Summers generally aren't too bad until around end of July through September with August being the worst month. Winters, as I have said before, can get a little chilly, but generally aren't too bad (last december I wore shorts until the 19th). The worst months are usually the end of January and February. March flip flops between being winter like and spring like. One thing about Kentucky weather, it can snow, rain, be below freezing one day and then 85 the next, all in the course of a week. Generally speaking though, even when it gets cold, it doesn't stay cold for very long.

I have family in the Chicago area and I've been up to see them a few times. I personally like the city, but I think in terms of friendliness, KY has Illinois beat. Granted the state still suffers from some racism and other issues (our politics can be very backwards at times), but overall, I think you'll find people here to be very friendly and helpful.

Also, Louisville does have the advantage of being located within each reach of two other, large metro areas (Cincinnati is only 90 miles and Indianapolis is just over two hours). So if you run out of things to do in town, a weekend trip to our neighboring cities is always a possibility.

I don't know where hjwbpstar lives, but I will absolutely agree with him in terms of beauty. Kentucky in the fall is spectacular (we still have a lot of our forests and the fall colors are great). Mammouth Cave National Park is a short trip outside of Louisville (i think it is about 90ish miles to the south) and is a fun/beautiful/unique park. Land between the Lakes is a bit farther but well worth the trip if you enjoy nature.

Then there are other things as well...lower crimes, good schools, etc.

If you ever have any questions regarding areas of the city, what events are like, things to do, good locations for houses, etc, don't hesitate to ask. If someone doesn't fill you in, we can at least show you where to go to find out.