Looking at London, KY and immediate area (Louisville, Berea: tax, living in)

[HomeSweetHomeNY]

My in-laws live in London Kentucky.. so I've been there a bunch of times. It really depends where you're coming from.. I've never been to texas. But I am from New York and to me, London, is a COMPLETE COMPLETE culture shock. I could never ever ever ever live there =] It's very small to me, there's a downtown but there's nothing there, most of the stores are empty.. never see anyone walking around it. I think the weekend big fun is the flea market. It's very spread out. It is what they call an "interstate" town. everything looks like it was just randomly built there, no rhyme or reason to the layout of the town. Lots of windy roads, random little stores all over the place. It's beautiful in the fall though! But it really depends where you are coming from. To me, I honestly think I would die if I lived there. But for you guys.. it depends where you're coming from, what you expect, and what you need in a town. My husband was raised there and he and his brothers got in a lot of trouble around there.. and I always tell him I don't blame him lol, because there's nothing to do there for kids really! Best way to see if any place is liveable, VISIT!

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by HomeSweetHomeNY

My in-laws live in London Kentucky.. so I've been there a bunch of times. It really depends where you're coming from.. I've never been to texas. But I am from New York and to me, London, is a COMPLETE COMPLETE culture shock. I could never ever ever ever live there =] It's very small to me, there's a downtown but there's nothing there, most of the stores are empty.. never see anyone walking around it. I think the weekend big fun is the flea market. It's very spread out. It is what they call an "interstate" town. everything looks like it was just randomly built there, no rhyme or reason to the layout of the town. Lots of windy roads, random little stores all over the place. It's beautiful in the fall though! But it really depends where you are coming from. To me, I honestly think I would die if I lived there. But for you guys.. it depends where you're coming from, what you expect, and what you need in a town. My husband was raised there and he and his brothers got in a lot of trouble around there.. and I always tell him I don't blame him lol, because there's nothing to do there for kids really! Best way to see if any place is liveable, VISIT!

Hmmm, ok. By the way London's downtown is very much "alive" and is still being revitalized. There's plenty to do here. You don't know anything about the town obviously. Let me guess you're probably not over 21 are you?

[InLondon]

I have went back and read some of the earlier posts and it's interesting. Most of the people that have posted do not know anything about the London area. London/Laurel County is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. The population of Laurel County is nearly 60,000.

Since I have been living here for 29 years I feel like I should be the one to give some "pointers" to those interested in the area.

There's lots of new construction going on even though the economy is not so well. The best restaurants are known to be Shiloh's, Weaver's, Sel et Poivre, Ruby Tuesday. New businesses that have opened in 2008 include Starbucks, Walgreens, Peebles Dept. Store (Nov. 2008), Madison Avenue Bath & Body (upscale women's store).

Largest employers:
St. Joseph Hospital - London
Laurel County Public Schools
Wal - Mart Distribution Center (900 employees)
Aisin Automotive (600 employees)
ABC Automotive
HSBC
ACS
Laurel Cookie Factory
Sara Lee
Flowers Bakery
Sourcecorp
Laurel Grocery

Most upscale neighborhoods:
Crooked Creek
Hemlock Falls
Woods Edge
Mallard Point
Deerfoot Valley
Club Valley
Stonybrook
Spring Gate
Kirkwood
River Bend
Cross Keys
Quail Chase
Reed Valley
The Heritage
Laurel Canyon
Canyon View
Hunting Creek
Twin Oaks
Country Club

The area with the most new homes being built is along Highway 192 west of London.

Phone service is through Windstream and DSL is available in nearly all of Laurel County.

Cell phone carriers include Sprint, T Mobile, AT&T, Cellular One.

All Laurel County Schools are either new or have been remodeled. Bush Elementary has the highest test scores in the district.

Levi Jackson State Park is a huge park just minutes from London and includes walking trails, bike path along the road, amphitheatre, plenty of areas to picnic, putt putt golf, an area for campers in RV's. The historic McHargue's Mill set along a stream where you can feed the ducks. (sorry a favorite memory of mine from years ago.)

Ok, there you go. I just had to jump on this since there had been some ridiculous stuff posted in this thread.

[EclecticEars]

All of InLondon's points are true about his town. I won't refute them and they positively contribute to the town's quality of life.

However, lest we not forget the negative contributions. Watch the news (or visit the stations' websites) out of Lexington and Hazard. Domestic violence this, assault that, robbery here, $100,000 in meth paraphernalia there... There is A LOT of crime in London/Laurel County, considering the entire county only has 62,000 or so residents. It's not even 1/4 the freakin' size of Lexington!!!

Hey, I'm here to be like Fox News. Fair and Balanced!

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

All of InLondon's points are true about his town. I won't refute them and they positively contribute to the town's quality of life.

However, lest we not forget the negative contributions. Watch the news (or visit the stations' websites) out of Lexington and Hazard. Domestic violence this, assault that, robbery here, $100,000 in meth paraphernalia there... There is A LOT of crime in London/Laurel County, considering the entire county only has 62,000 or so residents. It's not even 1/4 the freakin' size of Lexington!!!

Hey, I'm here to be like Fox News. Fair and Balanced!

After 29 years, I have not encountered any crime here. The bad thing is when there is crime it's typically in East Bernstadt, a community a few miles north of London. Around here it's known to be the "bad" area of the county.

[xxmagex]

Originally Posted by freezerhack

Thanks for replying. Yes, I am looking at the Somerset area as well. Doesn't appear the commute to London is all that bad. And yes, seasons would be nice. Oh...and a view(of anything besides tank farms and refineries). Sure mosquitos are everywhere, but here it seems since hurricane Rita, you can't get a break. My kids cannot even play outside without getting completely attacked. The mosqitoes have always been bad, but not like this.

As far as all the looking via internet I have done, seems that SE Kentucky is where most are complimentary. We will see.

Thanks again!
Fellow Texan

About the commute between Somerset and London. Back in the 1990s I use to make it daily. Grew to hate it, but that was because of the monotony of the drive. When/If they start/finish I-66 the commute will be much easier and quicker

[southernbychoice14]

I will also comment on the commute between Somerset and London as I did it two to three times a week for a few years and I hated it.If the weather is at all icy the road is awful.Having lived in both I will say that Somerset would probably appeal more to an outsider as it has a lot of transplants.

[unacceptedinlondon]

I moved to London a little over a year ago and I absolutely do not like it.Everyone that I have met have been very rude.The people act like if you're not from here then you do not belong here.I can't go anywhere without being stared at.It's just awful.The employee's in the stores are even rude.I don't think they were taught the words please and thankyou.If not for the rude people London would be a great place to live.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by unacceptedinlondon

I moved to London a little over a year ago and I absolutely do not like it.Everyone that I have met have been very rude.The people act like if you're not from here then you do not belong here.I can't go anywhere without being stared at.It's just awful.The employee's in the stores are even rude.I don't think they were taught the words please and thankyou.If not for the rude people London would be a great place to live.

I don't experience that here. Apparently you're being rude to them. If you're getting stares, perhaps there's a reason for it.....

[EclecticEars]

InLondon is a profuse defender of his hometown and of the Commonwealth. If something goes awry, it's probably your fault that you're not personally thriving in this "rag tootin' fine state."

Anyway, London is the most decent town in S.E. Kentucky. A lot of rednecks and some drug crimes in the rural part of Laurel County, but it's basically SEKY's best town. (Hey, they have the only Starbucks in SEKY, which is great!)

What ever you do, think of these when you think of the communities immediately surrounding London (i.e.: East Bernstadt, Corbin, Barbourville, and the biggest offender, Somerset):