Thinking of Moving to Kentucky (Lexington, Louisville: salons, apartment, to rent)

[Moving_Somewhere_in_US]

I currently live in Colorado and looking for a place to move to. I've read a lot about Kentucky and it seems to be somewhere I might like. I'm hoping to get some feedback regarding what you might recommend. I am single with a dog. I have bookkeeper/office managment/admin skills - higher than average. I like to go to home cooking, ethinic restaurants. I like to have access to decent food shopping since I like to cook, too. I don't mind neighbors and like the outdoors. I would like someplace that is dog friendly with good off leash areas. I like to fish, go to festivals, and take my dog places. I don't like big cities, but I do not want to be without neighbors. I would like to rent a house but would be fine in an apartment. I would like to spend no more than $800/month and would like my commute to be no more than 30 minutes. I have no kids, just my dog and I.

Any city suggestions? Any feedback would be most appreciated!

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by Moving_Somewhere_in_US

I currently live in Colorado and looking for a place to move to. I've read a lot about Kentucky and it seems to be somewhere I might like. I'm hoping to get some feedback regarding what you might recommend. I am single with a dog. I have bookkeeper/office managment/admin skills - higher than average. I like to go to home cooking, ethinic restaurants. I like to have access to decent food shopping since I like to cook, too. I don't mind neighbors and like the outdoors. I would like someplace that is dog friendly with good off leash areas. I like to fish, go to festivals, and take my dog places. I don't like big cities, but I do not want to be without neighbors. I would like to rent a house but would be fine in an apartment. I would like to spend no more than $800/month and would like my commute to be no more than 30 minutes. I have no kids, just my dog and I.

Any city suggestions? Any feedback would be most appreciated!

Well, Denver is becoming huge and Colorado Springs is burgeoning that it will be huge with in 20 years. On the other hand, Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky are growing steadily but aren't the "dream" places that many people find Colorado to be. Keep in mind, Denver has appx. three million (probably four million when you consider Boulder and Fort Collins,) and Colorado Springs has over a million people in its metro but won't be there for long.

Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington metros are all growing from 7-14% per decade. Cincinnati has about 2.2 million (with about 450,000 on the Northern KY side,) Louisville metro about 1.3 mill., and Lexington metro about 600,000. I don't know how you define "big city," so I figured I'd throw out those numbers and let you come to your own conclusion.

Now, to all the other criteria you mentioned. Pet friendly, single friendly, white collar job market, festivals, etc. You're welcome to ask specifically for more info. In order of best to worst:

Pet friendly: Louisville, Northern Kentucky, Lexington
Single friendly: Northern Kentucky (b/c Covington and Newport are across from Cincy, which is not a bad city at all for singles,) Louisville (close second place,) and Lexington (distant third)
Job market: Northern Kentucky, Louisville, Lexington
Festivals: Northern KY (once again, b/c of the proximity to Cincy,) Louisville (close second place,) Lexington (distant third, again)
Ethnic foods/dining: Louisville, Northern KY, Lexington
Overall dining: Northern Kentucky (Cincy,) Louisville (great for a city its size,) Lexington
Closeness to abundance of outdoor recreation away from the city: Lexington, Louisville, Northern KY
Recreation/parks within the city: Louisville (hands down), Northern KY (Devou Park is wonderful and Cincy has a well developed park system of its own,) Lexington (pathetic park system for a city its size.)

Covington's MainStrasse District/Downtown, Newport's Downtown/Monmouth Street Area, and Louisville (particularly the Highlands, Crescent Hill, Clifton, and St. Matthews areas) are the absolute best areas for singles in KY. It's not uncommon in those areas to meet a 30-something who is still going to school for their Ph. D., J.D. or whatever and not married. Lexington is horrid for singles if you're over the age of 25. The rest of Kentucky is horrid for singles if you're over the age of 18...and I'm NOT joking AT ALL, either.

Again, if you have more questions, just ask.

[dixiegirl7]

From your post since you said you don't like big cities, I would not recommend Lousiville or Lexington since they are the biggest cities in Kentucky and very congested. I would recommmend you look into smaller cities like Elizabethtown, Bowling Green, Owensboro or even Frankfort. They have everything you are looking for but are less crowded.

[Sundance]

Why on earth would anyone want to move from CO to KY???

[city_data_poster]

Moving Somewhere, I've read your post...and all of the things that you say you're looking for/hoping to find in a city located somewhere in Kentucky....and my one word reply to you/for you would be...."Louisville".

[dixiegirl7]

Originally Posted by city_data_poster

Moving Somewhere, I've read your post...and all of the things that you say you're looking for/hoping to find in a city located somewhere in Kentucky....and my one word reply to you/for you would be...."Louisville".

You must have missed the part about not liking big cities.

[Cattknap]

Oldham County has that country feel - La Grange is a great historic town with a downtown main street yet you are fairly close to the airport, great shopping, cultural arts of Louisville, etc. You can live in a burb of Louisville yet feel that you are in the country. Places like Goshen and Old Taylor Place are beautiful with that country feel (horse ranches, tree lined windy neighborhood streets, big properties yet with a cozy neighborhood feel and only 5 miles from decent shopping in Prospect (the best Kroger's, a great meat market, party shop, bakeries, pharmacies, doctors, dentist, post office, restaurants, garden center, hardware store, cleaners, hair and nail salons, yoga, Starbucks, etc., etc.).

We retired almost 9 months ago from So. California and we just love it here.

I love to cook also and find everything I need

[DeoGratias]

I don't think you'd like it here. What you want are big city amenities without the big city, and somewhat of a liberal vibe. I'm not sure where you'll find that, but certainly not in Kentucky. Keep looking.

Kentucky is rural except for three large metropolitan areas. The rural areas are (gasp!) socially conservative and (horror of horrors) "hicks" live there.

[Cattknap]

Originally Posted by DeoGratias

I don't think you'd like it here. What you want are big city amenities without the big city, and somewhat of a liberal vibe. I'm not sure where you'll find that, but certainly not in Kentucky. Keep looking.

Kentucky is rural except for three large metropolitan areas. The rural areas are (gasp!) socially conservative and (horror of horrors) "hicks" live there.

Liberal vibe? I don't get that at all and i don't get the sarcasm either or maybe that is just your brand of humor, I don't know.

[dixiegirl7]

Originally Posted by Cattknap

Liberal vibe? I don't get that at all and i don't get the sarcasm either or maybe that is just your brand of humor, I don't know.

I, also did not pick up one thing that said liberal vibe. It seems they are reading a lot into this.