Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello everyone, the wife and I moved from Alaska to Michigan to TExas, now we want to get back somewhere with 4 seasons, not just HOT AND HOTTER. Can anyone provide me with some insights on the western portions of KY, I have been to Lexington several times, I think we would prefer to western side of the state. The wife is a school librarian and I would be looking for work not sure what kind as of yet. Any help would be appreciated. We both love the outdoors and would like to get some acreage. Any info on schools would be good also.
thanks for your time
RD
Are you looking at Owensboro only or any portion of Western Kentucky? Also, what type of community do you want....Western Kentucky has quite a few to offer: Louisville (largest city in KY), Owensboro (small mid-sized city), or several smaller sized cities like Henderson, Paducah, etc...
Can anyone provide me with some insights on the western portions of KY, I have been to Lexington several times, I think we would prefer to western side of the state.
Not quite sure what to make of this statement...are you meaning that you have been to Lexington (the 2nd largest city in the state) and didn't like it? Or do you mean that you would prefer smaller cities cities in Western Kentucky (also, I apologize for the last post...Louisville isn't *technically* in Westernern Kentucky...it is officially in the Bluegrass region but I my mind, it kind sits in between both). Or do you just prefer the climate/geography/natural features of Western KY. If you could please provide a little more information, I would be happy to help you in your search.
Quote:
The wife is a school librarian and I would be looking for work not sure what kind as of yet. Any help would be appreciated. We both love the outdoors and would like to get some acreage.[/
Four questions here (with some related questions):
1. What type of jobs/community are you looking for (pay can vary greatly between city/rural areas of the state)? Do you know what population size would be ideal for you? Or would you rather live far out in the country (for all intensive purposes I mean less than 500 people).
2. Do you want access to a larger city (Louisville if you live in the eastern portions of wetern, KY.....Evansville, IN for Henderson, or cities in TN if you live in SW Ky) for work/acitivies/culture, etc? If so, how far out would you like to live (ideal commute)? If not, do you want to be miles and miles away from civilization (more than 2 hours)? One point to note here, although Louisville is a larger sized city (largest in the state with official pop. of 556K....unofficial as 700K...metro area of 1.2 million), there are several surrounding communities than still have a rural feel to them (and you can still easily buy acres of land).
3. You mentioned that you like the outdoors...can you be more specific? Do you like all outdoor activities or only specific ones (boating, camping, hiking, etc...)? Do you want to live close to a national park (Mammoth Caves) or a National Recreation Area (Land between the Lakes). Or do you prefer state parks (52 in the state...western KY has a fair share)? Do you like to fish/hunt? Is golf important?
4. This is probably going to be the hardest of my questions for you to answer. Do you know where abouts you'd like to live in Western KY? Do you have a preference? Sometimes Westerns KY can be kind of hard to define..here are two maps (one includes Louisville and its surrounding counties as part of WKY, the other does not).
I think if you could give me some basic answers to at least some of these questions, I can atleast point you in the right directions (in terms of what communities to look at). Hope I can help!
I guess, to answer some questions. We want to live outside of a city. Commute to work, like a 20 or 30min drive to work. What can you tell me about Henderson, Madisonville or Owensboro? What are the jobs like in those areas for teachers. I like to hunt and fish thats what I meant as far as outdoor activities. Sorry about the general post. I will try to be more specific.
Haha, that is not problem. Just wanted to get a general idea about what you were looking for before I posted any sort of information. In terms of personal information, I will be sort of limited in what I can tell you (I have some friends from the western portion of the state and know a few people who have told me their impressions of some of the communities you listed, but I myself have very limited first hand knowledge). So I'll try to be as helpful as I can be (even though it may be a bit limited):
Since you want a city (>20,000), I'll narrow my topics down to Henderson, Owensboro, Madisonville, and Paducah.
Henderson is a city located in Henderson County, along the Ohio River in Northwestern Kentucky. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 27,373 and is part of the greater Evansville, Indiana metropolitan area. It has shown a .5% growth between '00 and '05. As of the 2000 census, Evansville had a total population of 121,582. Henderson is the county seat of Henderson County.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,427, and the median income for a family was $39,887. Males had a median income of $32,131 versus $22,225 for females. In the city the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The County school system includes 8 elementary schools: A.B. Chandler, Spottsville, East Heights, Bend Gate, South Heights, Jefferson, Cairo, and Niagara; 2 middle schools: North Middle and South Middle; and 1 high school: Henderson County High School. My roomate came from the high school in Henderson. From what he has told me about the district, the high school is very large as it serves the entire county.
SCHOOL PROFILE:
County: HENDERSON
Type: Public High School in Mid-size City (pop. 50000-250000)
Grades: 9 to 12
Students: 2155
Full-time Teachers: 114
Student/Teacher Ratio: 19
As for teaching positions, I really don't think you'll find that that is much of an issue in Kentucky (as we have a shortage of teachers). You can try to check out this site for jobs listings in the Henderson County system or the local newspaper called the Gleaner:
As for fishing, there is always the Ohio River (personally I wouldn't eat anything out of there, but to each his own). The river has a ton of local species (catfish, walleye, crappie, sauger, bass, paddlefish, etc...). Some of the best places to fish (in my opinion) are small feeder creeks along the river (especially if a power plant is dumping warm water into the strem). Ask the locals, they'll know good spots. Also, you may want to look at day trips to Land Between the Lakes (see below)
In terms of hunting, this is a bit harder for me to answer. One common practice in Kentucky is to hunt on a farmer's land (and in Western KY, there is plenty of that). If that's not your bag, then you may want to drive down to Land between the Lakes National recreation Area (deer, turkey, and plenty of other woodland species). It is probably about 100 or so miles from Henderson. One thing that will be on your side is that Kentucky has a great Fish and Wildlife program and both hunting and fishing are very popular in the state.
Now, as I said my roomate was from Henderson. He couldn't wait to get out and move to Louisville, but I think that was mostly because Henderson is a small town (and kids like to get out into the world). As for life there, from what he has told me, it sounds like a nice place to live. Evansville which is pretty much right across the river offers a lot of things to do (so you aren't too far from civilization). Hope this helps.
Owensboro is a city in Daviess County, Kentucky, in the United States; it stands on U.S. Highway 60 about 30 miles southeast of Evansville, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 54,067 and a metropolitan population of 91,545. Owensboro is the third largest city in Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County6.
In terms of teaching and educational opportunities, Owensboro is home to the International Bluegrass Music Museum, Brescia University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, and Owensboro Community & Technical College.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median income for a household in the city was $31,867, and the median income for a family was $41,333. Males had a median income of $33,429 versus $21,457 for females.
In terms of jobs for teachers, I honestly have no clue. There are 31 schools in owensboro and like I mentioned before, job availability is probably pretty good. Sorry I can't give more information...Here is a website though that describes the school district and has links to some of the schools:
As for hunting/fishing...basically the same as what I listed in Henderson. I do know that there are some hunting clubs in Owensboro, but in terms of where they go...I have clue. One thing you might want to do is check out hunting/fishing in Indiana (requires license). Another useful link for you may be to use the KY fish and wildlife site. There they have a list of kentucky's waterbodies (can search by city, species, etc..). What is nice is that it will list the waterbodies in the region, give you a fishing forcast, and tell you what regulation/permits are required.
Here is information on hunting in KY (one thing you might find funny is that part of Hunter Education class is being able to differiential between an elk and a deer. This is because a boy in E. KY shot an Elk from the managed herd and thought he had bagged a record sized deer. Needless to say, the state wasn't all too happ with him).
Hope I can help some. I was born and raised in Madisonville KY and my parents still live there and have lived in Hopkins County KY all their 80+ years.
I have been through Henderson a number of times on the way to Evansville, as that was the nearest big city (over 100,000) for which to do major mall shopping, restaurants, etc that were not in Madisonville at the time I grew up there in the 70's and 80's.
Madisonville sits in the heart of western Kentucky coal mining area, but much of that industry is now gone as strip mining is becoming more expensive and burning coal mined in Kentucky and other nearby areas is dirty and takes a lot to clean it up to meet recent Clean Air Act standards over the past two decades. So that being said, coal mining has gone downhill. And probably Madisonville overall is a bit poorer because of it. But luckily Madisonville is along the Pennyrile Parkway and has always had other industry to fall back on such as a local Coca Cola bottling plant, Carhart plant, etc. So...Madisonville is certainly not "poor" by what I consider poor and jobless. And western Kentucky is not like Eastern Kentucky in terrain, although we do share the same issues with coal mining. M'ville is in a semi-hilly terrain, quite a bit of trees, but enough cleared land for farming as well. Madisonville is still though a pretty small town (pop 16,000-20,000) and acts that way in that the main things to do in town for young folk is to go to the local mall parking lot and hang out, etc. No cultural activities in Madisonville, besided a new movie theatre. I visit once a year. Madisonville has always been kind of segregated with blacks in one part of town and the rest white, and I dont think that has changed. Madisonville will offer a cheap housing market that is for sure, and quiet location. Nearby for fishing is the land between the lakes about 50-60 miles away to the southwest which is superb for that.
Henderson is best described as being close to Evansville, so you can live in a small town but be near a large one. Cheap housing there too. Really unsure about the town there itself as just bypassed it on the way to Evansville.
Owensboro is famous for barbeque. Owensboro is a medium size town a bit more people than Madisonville. We did not go there much as a family as not much to do there that we could not do elswhere. I would consider Owensboro safe.
As for the schools....most schools there are county school systems. Hopkins county has two high schools...Madisonville North Hopkins and Hopkins County Central (I think that is the name...it is a new one). Schools are OK, nothing great...maybe better since I was there as Kentucky has tried to spend more on education lately. Henderson county has one high school in Henderson while Owensboro as I think two high schools....Owensboro Apollo and Daviess County. At least that was the the way back in the 80s when I went to High school. Dont think anything has changed since then as the area is not exactly growing rapidly. Unsure about school hiring.
You did not mention Bowling Green...but you might check that out as Western Kentucky Univ is there. Also, I forgot but Kentucky Weslayan University is in Owensboro.
Weather in that part of the state is hot and humid in the summer...nice falls and springs and winters are pretty mild with more rain than snow. It does snow at least a few times a winter and schools will shut down. But it melts quite fast.
Hope this helps some from someone who lived there.
A bit more information for you....that whole area from Lake Between the Lakes to Madisonville to Elizabethtown north to the Ohio River is all pretty rural and a lot of people hunt and fish and finding land to build a home should be pretty easy. Lots of people live in the country. If you like hunting and fishing and most of all University of Kentucky basketball you will fit right in.
The area is pretty friendly....though to outsiders it will take a while. The more you are like them the better. Also the area is religious with lots of Baptists and going to church service on Sunday is very important to most people.
Also, Madisonville does have excellent health care with a Regional Medical Center and two clinics which serve a multi-county area. More severe cases are treated in Evansville.
sorry on the last post....should be Land between the Lakes....
Last edited by Marka; 07-05-2006 at 12:41 AM..
Reason: merged
Thanks Danin, I usually try to respond to all the posts on here to make folks feel welcome but I lack a lot of the personal knowledge they are looking for. Much appreciated.
I lived in Owensboro for the some of the longest years of my life. It is very provincial - they do not readily accept outsiders on the whole. There are lots and lots of restaurants and people eat out more than anywhere else I've ever lived. Housing is expensive. Schools are okay - other than the whole KY concept of education. It is accessed from I-65 via the 70 mile Natcher parkway. No interstate runs through it. Go across the blue bridge to southern Indiana and the climate and scenery are the same, but the people are totally different. Good luck.
Last edited by kimmieyky; 02-09-2007 at 08:27 AM..
Reason: inappropriate
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
