London or Madisonville Kentucky? (Lexington, Jackson: fit in, rent, houses)

[cmor]

Hi,

We're a family moving from Tampa,FL and are lucky enough to have two locations to choose from for relocation to Kentucky. But which place is best?

We'll be on one income... so public schools for the kids (oldest in K) and looking for a home with maybe 5 acres, just enought to have a couple horses under $150k? Seems feasible from what I've seen, but is it really?

Our biggest concerns: racism and tornadoes. My husband grew up in the hic capitol down here in central FL and has experience some strong racism. We know we can hack it and fight the battle...but since we've moved to Tampa it's been nice, hispanics, african americans, white, asian,philipinos... color is pratically unnotticed. Would either of these KY communities be better for a ethnically diverse family?

Weather, we've been spoiled by the cool & sunny winters here, is there a big difference in weather between London and Madisonville? Wind, tornadoes or otherwise? How would you describe the countryside? Can you go for a walk without getting winded in East KY?

One of things we like least about Tampa is how curt people are... even to kids, so which town of London or Madisonville is friendlier? One of the things we'll miss most is the beach. Is there a nice lake for swimming in either place?

Thanks! So MUCH! It a decision that'll shape our lives for many years!

[erickp]

How soon are you looking to relocate?

Madisonville is a mess at the moment. It suffered heavy damage from the ice storm. The entire city was without power for several days. Some rural areas of the county may be as long as a month without electricity.

[Sundance]

but since we've moved to Tampa it's been nice, hispanics, african americans, white, asian,philipinos... color is pratically unnotticed.

Uh-huh. I just searched the Tampa forum. Kindof contradicts what you said....

Newsflash: racism isn't confined to a geographical area.

Madisonville has different races living together. Always has. So don't come into Kentucky with an attitude.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by cmor

Hi,

We're a family moving from Tampa,FL and are lucky enough to have two locations to choose from for relocation to Kentucky. But which place is best?

We'll be on one income... so public schools for the kids (oldest in K) and looking for a home with maybe 5 acres, just enought to have a couple horses under $150k? Seems feasible from what I've seen, but is it really?

Our biggest concerns: racism and tornadoes. My husband grew up in the hic capitol down here in central FL and has experience some strong racism. We know we can hack it and fight the battle...but since we've moved to Tampa it's been nice, hispanics, african americans, white, asian,philipinos... color is pratically unnotticed. Would either of these KY communities be better for a ethnically diverse family?

Weather, we've been spoiled by the cool & sunny winters here, is there a big difference in weather between London and Madisonville? Wind, tornadoes or otherwise? How would you describe the countryside? Can you go for a walk without getting winded in East KY?

One of things we like least about Tampa is how curt people are... even to kids, so which town of London or Madisonville is friendlier? One of the things we'll miss most is the beach. Is there a nice lake for swimming in either place?

Thanks! So MUCH! It a decision that'll shape our lives for many years!

I live in London (obviously ) so ask me anything. The best elementary school in the district is Bush Elem. (not named after the former president). Laurel Lake is huge and it's very crowded there during the summer. For swimming, there's a nice public pool along Highway 229 near Levi Jackson State Park. Also, the Mill Street Park near downtown London has a nice water feature that kids love.

Tornadoes are rare but in 2001 a tornado damaged a shopping center and several houses very close to downtown London. But it's very rare though. Usually when we do have a tornado here they are weak and short lived that do little damage. I know that Madisonville has more tornadoes than we do here.

The countryside is beautiful, I have pictures in my profile of the countryside around London.

An ethnically diverse family would fit in here, although the majority of town is white.

If you're looking for farm land, there's beautiful farms all over the eastern part of Laurel County in particular. Not many farms elsewhere in the county.

[cmor]

Thank you! We're looking to move in April. Any attitude that comes across are just fears, it is just figuring out which city we will best fit in. Stereotypes suck, the only way to break them down is to address them, which is why I blatenly asked about racism.

Does Madisonville usually get ice storms that throw out the power for weeks? yikes. We'd have to take a winter survival course or something! Thanks for the info InLondon, I'll check out your pics

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by cmor

Thank you! We're looking to move in April. Any attitude that comes across are just fears, it is just figuring out which city we will best fit in. Stereotypes suck, the only way to break them down is to address them, which is why I blatenly asked about racism.

Does Madisonville usually get ice storms that throw out the power for weeks? yikes. We'd have to take a winter survival course or something! Thanks for the info InLondon, I'll check out your pics

You're welcome! Ice storms are rare anywhere in Kentucky. The last bad one that we had here was in the early 1990's. I know that Lexington has had a few bad ice storms within the past 10 years that luckily we didn't get in this part of the state.

[censusdata]

Once an area gets a bad ice storm it seems like major power outages are less frequent in the future because all the weak trees are destroyed in the first storm. In Lexington my house had tremendous tree loss from the 2003 ice storm but very little this time even though the ice was just as thick

[MichaelBNA]

Madisonville is larger, has better chance for jobs, more schools, more shopping, and is closer to larger cities in Evansville, IN and Nashville, TN. If I was moving from out of state and I had Madisonville and London to choose from, I would go with Madisonville. Just a better part of the state for me. That's my short answer. Want a larger one, let me know! LOL!

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by cmor

Hi,

We're a family moving from Tampa,FL and are lucky enough to have two locations to choose from for relocation to Kentucky. But which place is best?

We'll be on one income... so public schools for the kids (oldest in K) and looking for a home with maybe 5 acres, just enought to have a couple horses under $150k? Seems feasible from what I've seen, but is it really?

Our biggest concerns: racism and tornadoes. My husband grew up in the hic capitol down here in central FL and has experience some strong racism. We know we can hack it and fight the battle...but since we've moved to Tampa it's been nice, hispanics, african americans, white, asian,philipinos... color is pratically unnotticed. Would either of these KY communities be better for a ethnically diverse family?

Weather, we've been spoiled by the cool & sunny winters here, is there a big difference in weather between London and Madisonville? Wind, tornadoes or otherwise? How would you describe the countryside? Can you go for a walk without getting winded in East KY?

One of things we like least about Tampa is how curt people are... even to kids, so which town of London or Madisonville is friendlier? One of the things we'll miss most is the beach. Is there a nice lake for swimming in either place?

Thanks! So MUCH! It a decision that'll shape our lives for many years!

Hi

I was born and raised in Madisonville and my parents still live there so I have been back many times since I left in 1984 to go to college and then start my career. But I have never been to London so I cannot compare.

As another poster said one good thing Madisonville has going for it is location as Evansville is 45-55 minutes north and then Nashville is about 1 1/2 to 2 hours southeast...so you are reasonably close to larger cities, Nashville of course being the larger of the two. When I fly home for a visit, I fly into Nashville airport and then rent a car to drive home. Nashville being a larger city and airport would have more direct flights from larger cities (for example I take the Chicago to Nashville flight). The nearest cities to London would be Lexington to the north and Knoxville to the south and both airports there are more regional...I know Lexington is but not sure about Knoxville.

Madisonville does have excellent health care facilities for a city its size with the regional medical center and several clinics. It does serve as the medical hub for that part of the state....of course you are a close drive to the larger cities for more specialized care.

There is a small mall on the south side of town....and a larger Walmart and other shopping there on the south side of town. No huge retail big box stores though that I can recall is there....no Best Buy nor Target, Kohls, etc...so a lot of people make the short trip up to Evansville for shopping at their malls and to eat out.

As for eating out...I recall about 10 years ago or so when the city was so excited to get an Applebees. Besides fast food that is about the only chain restaurant in town (that I recall). 10 years ago (plus or minus) the city had a huge vote to make the city of Madisonville wet (as in allow businesses to serve and sell alcohol). The rest of the county is still dry (illegal to sell alcohol). The big selling point was to attract more restaurants. I do say that downtown has remained in pretty good shape....it doesnt look like a dump. And the town is safe....you can always have something going on but you dont hear about murders, etc more relatives and domestic violence stuff.

The school district is Hopkins County school district....and schools are ok...I got a good education (but this was 20 + years ago). Far north and south ends of town contain the newer homes...with probably the south side (Grapevine) having the best overall feel with the city park and pool nearby too.

Economy-wise....Madisonville is in the heart of the western KY coal fields. It isnt real hilly like the eastern areas of KY but there is or was quite a bit of strip mining...more from digging into the ground...rather than blasting hills/mountains like they still do in Appalachia. My dad was a coal miner for 40 years. But coal mining has been down the last 10-20 years so overall economy is OK but not great.

In terms of weather....you get four seasons....I rarely remember snow on the ground for Christmas...but usually we had our first real snow just past New Years Day and the period from then through about mid February was our winter when snow/ice can occur. Ice storms....especially like they just had...are infrequent but you can get periods of freezing rain but the storm they just had was the worst one ever. As for tornadoes....rare. There was one on the south side of town in 2005 (?) but that was the first one in a long long time. Growing up I remember getting a few hail storms and wind events...but it always seemed the worst storms bypassed us to the north. Flooding from rivers/streams is a very minor concern as no large river flows nearby. Summer is quite long and very humid like Florida.

The racism and ethnic question is very difficult to answer. Although I visit quite often to see my parents and I do get out around town...it is hard to know how the city has changed ethnic wise. But I will give you my take growing up. Well...I would say quiet racism still exists. I do recall the schools being intergrated growing up in the mid 70s to mid 80s but blacks lived in one area of town and the rest was mostly white and the two sides rarely mixed. I am sure over the years it has maybe softned a bit...but this is the old South and sometimes customs die hard especially for the old folks. I do not recall any overt white - black violence ever occurring in town...but one of those whites and blacks get a long at work, etc but at night many in town would prefer it they would not live on our street. That said....I dont think you would get any in your face remarks regardless of your ethnicity. There are many doctors in town, and they came from different parts of the world. But you wont run into ethnic restaurants or anything...except Chinese food and even that is pretty rare down there.

Housing is very cheap compared to just about anywhere. But you wont find terribly run down parts of town....most sections even the old ones are kept up pretty good. The community loves basketball and it is the big sport with local high school football a close second. The town does stand behind its schools. Southern baptists are pretty big there religion wise...but there are most other religions there too...with Protestant dominant over Catholic. Penecostal church is real big there too.

That is my take on Madisonville.... pop has been about 16-17,000 and pretty steady state not growing nor greatly losing pop.

Good luck

Dan

[timelesschild]

I'd go for London.