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So here's the situation.... we're a couple living in Madison, WI who plan to retire in a year & a half. We're over the long cold, snowy winters here! We're looking to move to a warmer climate with mild four seasons. We already know it costs less to live in Ky. then WI., which is important to us. We checked out parts of Tn. last summer(eastern), but it wasn't for us. We're interested in Henderson, Owensboro, Bowling Green & Elizabethtown, Ky. I'd like to find a way to narrow those options down, since we're also interested in Evansville, In.. Cookeville, Tn & Smyrna Tn. We'd like to live somewhere close to shopping, enjoy hiking & biking & especially playing disc golf(we know there are lots of courses in BG). Religion isn't a big thing to us & we don't want it thrown in our face. We'd like to live in a safe area, but I don't think we'd have any problems anywhere other then maybe BG.
With what I've said so far in mind, I'd love input from those of you who live or have lived in any of those cities. What do or don't you like about those cities?
Feel free to ask me any questions that might help you help us decide the best place for us
Many moons ago, I lived in Elizabethtown for about 9 years. Back then, it still had very much of a small-town feel to it, but was close enough that you could get to Louisville fairly quickly if you needed some big city amenities.
In recent years, E'town (as the locals call it) has grown up some. It's now gone partially "wet", meaning that you can buy alcohol by the drink at restaurants, but there are no liquor stores. There are also more shopping and dining options than when I lived there. Overall, it's a nice, clean, quiet town that offers close proximity to the state's 2 largest cities (30-45 min. to Louisville; about 90 min. to Lexington).
It's somewhat funny to me that you're planning to retire here in KY. I'm very much a "winter lover" and had included Madison, WI in my short list of retiring spots! (Burlington, VT and Cambridge, MA are also on the list). What are some reasons (other than the snow and cold, which doesn't bother me) that I should or should not consider retiring to Madison? (just curious....)
Any of the four Kentucky towns you listed are all very safe. Owensboro, actually, has the highest crime (incl. murder) rate of the four, but even that is concentrated to a few old industrial/working class areas on the city's west and east-central sides.
Let's analyze these towns one by one, shall we? I'm a western Ky. native, so I know quite a bit about all but Bowling Green.
Henderson: Look in the dictionary, look up the word stagnant, and you'll see a huge picture of Henderson right beside it. They just got a Super Wal-Mart and Lowe's, but only after 15-20 years of downtown business owners and old folks (I mean 70+, and they're probably 25% of the city's population) railing against any supercenter kind of store. Very little infill growth or activity in its urban core, although the Main and Second Street areas have some very cool and beautiful historic homes that are priced rather cheaply even by Midwest standards. Personally, I would avoid Henderson, there's not much there to look at. At least it's across the river from Evansville, but that's not much to brag about, either.
Owensboro: this would probably be my top pick. It's about as slow paced as any American metropolitan area you'll find, and I'm sure much slower even than Madison. It's basically a small town with a convention center and a small airport, but that's not bad...just what it is. It's a very clean, well-laid out town, with some things to do downtown. OWB has the Int'l BBQ Festival every May on the riverfront, bringing 500,000+ people from all over North America. There is a large community college and two small private colleges. It's still only 35 min. from Evansville, but 1 hr. 45 min. or so from each Louisville and Nashville. Not to mention, Daviess, and the surrounding counties of McLean and Hancock, are three of Kentucky's very best public school systems and are much stronger educationally and assessment-wise than the vast majority of schools in surrounding larger metros.
Elizabethtown: many of the same amenities of Owensboro, but without the riverfront. Downtown is very tiny and rather dead, though. Still, there is a lot of hub-bub on Dixie Highway (Wal-Mart, Target, Sam's, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, etc.) It's a nice small city. E'town is a smaller city than Owensboro, but Hardin Co. has more people than Daviess Co. (where OWB is), so it is still more of a regional shopping, healthcare, and entertainment center for the surrounding counties. Oh, and it's 35 min. from Louisville.
Bowling Green: It has WKU, which is fairly large and somewhat strong academically (especially in Journalism and Business) but is basically a big party school otherwise. The city is really making an effort to rejuvenate its downtown and is currently building a new Performing Arts Center and minor league baseball stadium. Still, the road system in town is a horrendous mess that had to have been designed by a third grader, and away from WKU and Scottsville Road (main thoroughfare) the town isn't that clean.
jcm1986...
I find the crime stats interesting, since the data I have from a certain web site I visit to get most of my stats shows that the crime rate violent/property at a 3 & 5 for Owensboro, and 6&7 for Bowling Green. Henderson is 5&6 which seems high for the population there.
Stagnant doesn't sound that good to me. I did figure though that it might be a better choice then E'ville, being it costs less to live there, yet is still close to E'ville.
I hear some people saying that Owensboro is nice, then others talking it down. I guess that's why different people like different things. I just need to find someone who has the same likes/dislikes as we do
I don't think I'd really care to drive 1 hr 45min to the airport in Nashville or Louisville though to catch a plane. How is he airport in Evansville?
Elizabethtown seems to have the better "what we would be looking for" options. Smaller yet still has what we would need & want, yet still close enough to a larger city if we get bored.
BG, party school? Madison, Wi has one of the top party schools, so BG couldn't be that bad. BG does have several Frisbee Golf courses to keep us busy, and I believe enough shopping. The crime does concern me a bit though. As far as traffic issues, what some see as an issue, others don't. I guess that's something I'll have to judge for myself when we come to visit
I appreciate you taking the time to give me your impressions!
lexingtony...
I'm not really concerned about the dryness of E'town, but do appreciate that it is a non smoking city. Do they sell alcohol in the grocery stores? Where is the closest city to buy alcohol? I noticed that they do have lots of eating, shopping places. I especially like knowing that they have a Golden Corral I like the fact that it's pretty close to Louisville, for flying or if we want more action every now & then.
We've lived in Madison, Wi for over 20 years now. I grew up in Miami, Fl & lived there for 21 years. The main reason we came here was to experience snow, since I had never seen it. Now, I'm sick & tired of it! Last year we got over 100" of the white stuff. It's not like that every year. We're not into winter sports at all, so we hibernate for 5-6 months, which isn't fun to us. We do actually go bowling once a week to get out & do something. I don't appreciate having to shovel snow or snowblow snow as often as we have to. Madison is very liberal, being a college town. That bothers my spouse more then me. The property taxes are sky high! Median home costs aren't cheap either. There are plenty of things to do around here when the weather is warmer & it is a clean town.
we will be living on a fixed income & don't have enough money to live high on the hog in retirement, so we need to find a place with a lower cost of living. You might like living here, there are enough people who do. It's just been long enough for us! We want less hassles to deal with into our retirement years, and want to have more months to be able to get out & enjoy nature. I'd suggest if you're interested, to make a visit in the winter to see if you'd really appreciate it.
jcm1986...
I find the crime stats interesting, since the data I have from a certain web site I visit to get most of my stats shows that the crime rate violent/property at a 3 & 5 for Owensboro, and 6&7 for Bowling Green. Henderson is 5&6 which seems high for the population there.
Hmmm...now that's interesting. Which site are you getting your info from?
Stagnant doesn't sound that good to me. I did figure though that it might be a better choice then E'ville, being it costs less to live there, yet is still close to E'ville.
On that note, you'd be just as well off living in Evansville. The outskirts of EVV and Vanderburgh Co., IN have some nice suburban communities. Nevertheless, EVV is not doing much to "revive" itself from the "urban renewal" mess of the 1960s; as a primary regional center and at least two hours from Louisville, Nashville, Indy, and Nashville, it isn't doing much in the way of arts, culture, and other defining hallmarks of a cosmopolitan area. The city is not that much smaller than Madison but in comparison Madison will sure feel like Chicago.
I hear some people saying that Owensboro is nice, then others talking it down. I guess that's why different people like different things. I just need to find someone who has the same likes/dislikes as we do
I don't think I'd really care to drive 1 hr 45min to the airport in Nashville or Louisville though to catch a plane. How is he airport in Evansville?
I've never been to the EVV airport, but there aren't a lot of flights out of it. There are a few commuter airlink flights out of there, but it's overall a rather expensive airport that is well detached from the rest of the city. Louisville, Nashville, Indy, St. Louis, and even Lexington are all much cheaper options.
Elizabethtown seems to have the better "what we would be looking for" options. Smaller yet still has what we would need & want, yet still close enough to a larger city if we get bored.
BG, party school? Madison, Wi has one of the top party schools, so BG couldn't be that bad. BG does have several Frisbee Golf courses to keep us busy, and I believe enough shopping. The crime does concern me a bit though. As far as traffic issues, what some see as an issue, others don't. I guess that's something I'll have to judge for myself when we come to visit
I appreciate you taking the time to give me your impressions!
BG has worse-than-average traffic for a city its size, but most of the headaches on concentrated on Scottsville Road. I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it if you moved there.
JCM1986....
The stats come from sperlings best places.net. Check it out, you'll find some very interesting information. It's my retirement bible if you will
With the info on the lack of flights at EV, there or Henderson, Ky may not be the best bets. It seems to be best to be closer to a larger city if you want to or need to fly, cost wise. It isn't really all that bad here in Madison for flying. I actually live about 5 min. from the airport. I'll check the cost of airfare to see how bad it really is.
As far as the traffic in BG, we really would be able to pick & choose when we go/come, being retired, so that may be a non-issue.
jcm1986...
lexingtony...
I'm not really concerned about the dryness of E'town, but do appreciate that it is a non smoking city. Do they sell alcohol in the grocery stores? Where is the closest city to buy alcohol? I noticed that they do have lots of eating, shopping places. I especially like knowing that they have a Golden Corral I like the fact that it's pretty close to Louisville, for flying or if we want more action every now & then.
Unfortunately, I don't think you can buy alcohol in the grocery stores. I think it's just "by-the-drink" in restaurants. When I lived there, it was completely dry, and we would drive to Bardstown, which is in neighboring Nelson County, to buy bottles. It's a short drive.
OH! And thanks for the input on Madison. I have visited before, but not in the winter, so I probably should take your suggestion and come up to see it "at its worst", so to speak.
I had heard about the higher property taxes, but I figured that most any place I moved would have higher property taxes than KY. And I had about Madison's liberal bent, which is one of the reasons it was high on my list.
When I say higher property taxes I mean $21.43 per $1,000 of home value in Madison, Wi. vs $8.79 in Lexington, Ky. The median home cost in Madison is $257,400 vs $196,000 in Lexington (figures may be a bit different with the housing situation as bad as it is right now, but they would both be lower).
So here's the situation.... we're a couple living in Madison, WI who plan to retire in a year & a half. We're over the long cold, snowy winters here! We're looking to move to a warmer climate with mild four seasons. We already know it costs less to live in Ky. then WI., which is important to us. We checked out parts of Tn. last summer(eastern), but it wasn't for us. We're interested in Henderson, Owensboro, Bowling Green & Elizabethtown, Ky. I'd like to find a way to narrow those options down, since we're also interested in Evansville, In.. Cookeville, Tn & Smyrna Tn. We'd like to live somewhere close to shopping, enjoy hiking & biking & especially playing disc golf(we know there are lots of courses in BG). Religion isn't a big thing to us & we don't want it thrown in our face. We'd like to live in a safe area, but I don't think we'd have any problems anywhere other then maybe BG.
With what I've said so far in mind, I'd love input from those of you who live or have lived in any of those cities. What do or don't you like about those cities?
Feel free to ask me any questions that might help you help us decide the best place for us
I'll be down in Frankfort Kentucky for a visit this weekend in the hopes of a pre-retirement move. My 25% Norwegian heritage is not enough to keep me up here in the frozen nord much longer
Evansville and Owensboro were both on my list until Censusdata pointed out the time zone change gives cities to the east an extra hour of daylight this time of year. I hate it when it's dark by 5.
Oh, and madison (Dane County) homes are indeed way over taxed but it is an terrific area if you can handle the extra winter. For me by the time February rolls around I'm ready for spring, which of course won't come until at the soonest April
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