Any So Cal transplants to Ky?

[Kentucky Crimson]

Welcome to Kentucky!

I'm a Louisville native, new to this forum, and lived all over the US. I lived in Fountain Valley-Huntington Beach from 1980 to 1982. I enjoyed SoCal, but with all due respect, the traffic, air quality, cost of living, etc. drove me out of there. I have fond memories of my time there.

It's nice to read responses of my home state from a SoCal perspective, and hope you will find what you're looking for here. I returned here in 2005 after being away for 34 years. I never thought I would get to do so, but love every day being home.

[Wayne G]

Thanks, I think your experience living in So Cal is amplified several times over today (the congestion has increased exponentially from the 1980's to today). The traffic and cost of living are the 2 most prevelent factors I hear when people talk about leaving (my self included).

[crystalblue]

Originally Posted by Wayne G

Hi Cattknap, you've certaintly detailed quite a bit for us. We are nearing retirement age (5 years away) and we too have the same aspirations. The income tax exclusion for pension income to $41K is a huge consideration! We too have friends in E-town, Ky who are Ca transplants. Their input for E-town is very positive overall however the weather (cold, storms, tornadoes) are also a shared concern.

I really appreciate your input for diversity and your comfort level for your daughter in law, that's very important (and I find it significant that your perception of Ky is so favorable in that respect). We are sensitive to racial diversity as we are a black couple and we would not wish to be made to feel ostracized. It's funny because we have friends who are in E-town (also black) and they have expressed overall positive statements for their perception of acceptance.

The only incidence mentioned was my friend was in a public setting and he was asking a question to an employee who ignored him (and my friend was very aware it was racially motivated). This incident was a source of irritation for my friend however he quickly accepted the other person's attitude of one of ignorance and my friend choose to overlook the matter.

I do understand your comments regarding your friend's friends (the black couple who moved to another community) and I assume they moved towards a city that had a larger minority population. We have visited E-town once last year and are coming out again at the end of this month.

E-town seems to be a quaint town, and our experience at several public stores/restaurants have been nothing but friendly, courteous treatment. In fact, I think I would be very surprised if I encountered anything but that however I am not naive to the fact that racism exists (everywhere for that fact).

Another positive for E-town (and I suspect other parts of Ky) is when we visited last year we drove through several subdivisions just looking at neighborhoods. Our objective was to get a feel for the area, check out the scene and just make some general observation (including determing our ability to cope with the humidity - we visited E-town in Aug 06).

What really surprised us was we were greeted in passing by other motorists (mostly white) who either waved and smiled at us as we drove past their vehicle (and some waved from their drive ways). Since you live in So Cal, I don't have to tell you that this NEVER happpens here (for whatever reason). That said, our initial impression of Ky is the general public treated us with a level of friendliness that surpassed our expectations!

Changing subjects; So Cal is just too expensive & conjested and we really cannot see ourselves retiring here. The problem is most of our family and extended family lives here so moving to Ky is a foriegn prospect for us and many of our family members are questioning the clarity of our thinking!

The other thing that concerns me is my wife has horrible allergies, she is really plagued by sinus headaches and my concern for her is Ky has large spanses of greenery, grass and what I suspect may be more problematic for her and that she may find making the adjustment to Ky to be possibly really tough in terms of her allergies.

do people really wave at each other?

in florida, the only kinda wave youll see has a finger sticking up...

[Wayne G]

Regarding: "do people really wave at each other? in florida, the only kinda wave youll see has a finger sticking up... "

I understand your comments and your reactions are also understandable. I live in So Cal and its the same for us as you stated (in FL). The odd thing was people seemed genuinely friendly in E-town and yes, they waved at us on more than one occaision. Now keep in mind this is not what we had expected either so we were just as surprised!

[Walker in KY]

Thanks for the info we haven't tried it, but my husband will be glad to know of another. We did find one place in town (Cancun) that's not bad.

Sorry for my delayed response, I have not been checking in as I should have.

[redwingfan1]

Originally Posted by crystalblue

do people really wave at each other?

in florida, the only kinda wave youll see has a finger sticking up...

When I read this question and the other posts about people "waiving" at you, I chuckled. I am in Michigan, but my mother's family are all from Kentucky, the Bowling Green, Richardsville and Riverside areas. Yes, they do waive at you! I LOVE that! When I took my husband down for his first time at a family reunion, he had the same reaction and kept asking me "do you know them? Is that why they waived at you?". I wish we could relocate down there..however we are on our way to Yuma, Az. To anyone relocating to Ky, you will love it. Best of luck to you all.

[Wayne G]

Yes, that's very cool. I am glad you had the same experience! The thing I find that is amazing is folks seem genuinely friendly. Thanks for sharing!!