Best places to live around Louisville, KY (Lexington, Franklin: for sale, amusement park) - Kentucky - City-Data Forum

Delaney72 · 08-19-2009, 10:39 AM

Hi. My husband and I may be relocating to the Louisville area from Connecticut. We have 3 kids ages 8, 7 and 2 1/2 so a good school district is very important. We'd also like to be in an area that is family friendly - other families with young children, recreation etc. I've heard good things about Oldham Cnty schools, but which towns are the best and are there any other districts that have good schools. We would probably be able to spend up to $340,000 on a home. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

wmac62 · 08-19-2009, 10:52 AM

I think you are on the right track in considering Oldham County. What ever you do please take my advice and do not move into Jefferson County. As you can see from this website the county is in complete disarray over the schools, police, crime& punishment, you name it. I have traveled around the world and lived in numerous location in the USA and abroad after serving in the military for twenty years. Obvioulsy I consider myself to be very diverse in world cultures, having said that, I regret moving to this county and consider Louisville to be on the top of my worst places I ever lived list ranking higher than, Korea, Germany, and Iraq. Do not let a realtor talk you into Jefferson County. IN your price pint yuo can find a nice home in Oldham County or any other surrounding county

Delaney72 · 08-19-2009, 11:45 AM

Thanks for the post. What exactly is it about Louisville that you don't like? I had read some great things about the city. I believe it was on a few Best Places to Live list a few times.

Off Topic · 08-19-2009, 01:35 PM

Oldham County, hands down, if you have children. Great school system, still rural and small-town feel, but close to lots of good shopping, restaurants, etc.

I have no idea why someone would consider Louisville one of the worst places they've lived, but all of our opinions are so dependent on personal experiences. I can only say that I've found Louisville an absolutely wonderful place to live. There are few places I'd trade for it.

Delaney72 · 08-19-2009, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Off Topic

Oldham County, hands down, if you have children. Great school system, still rural and small-town feel, but close to lots of good shopping, restaurants, etc.

I have no idea why someone would consider Louisville one of the worst places they've lived, but all of our opinions are so dependent on personal experiences. I can only say that I've found Louisville an absolutely wonderful place to live. There are few places I'd trade for it.

Thanks for the reply. I've read so many great things about the area - I got a little nervous! I live outside a small city right now and there is little to do so living near a city with many different things to do would be great.

I've read that Crestwood, Prospect, LaGrange and Goshen are good places to live with good schools. Is this accurate? Are there any others within Oldham county?

Thanks.

wmac62 · 08-19-2009, 02:58 PM

It’s dirty: Drive around look at the roadways, medians, bus stops, interstates, and downtown. Look closely at the above. More than likely trash cans are overflowing, bus stops are littered with trash, medians are not maintained, grass four feet tall it is uglyTraffic: This is only one of the cities I know for its size which does not have a legitimate bypass, some will argue that I264 is a bypass but I would disagree, pull up a map and look at this city, then pull up Denver, Chicago, Fort Wayne, IN. Lexington and we could go on and on. Pay particularly attention to I65 coming out of Indiana and South to Louisville. Do you see a bypass which allows out of town traffic to bypass the city from East to West or North and South, no. Traffic is a mess around here. School Systems: Review the Jefferson County School System with other schools across the Nation they speak for themselves. If you live in a cave then you may not have heard about the Jefferson County School System. It is 100 percent corruption. The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 there was no need to continue the diversification plan. Jefferson County School Board decided to continue this practice, costing tax payers millions of dollars in waste for keeping buses, drivers, maintenance, and fuel. This does not include the inhuman treatment of families and children and stress they have caused.Crime: People will argue this however I worked six years in the criminal justice systems in Jefferson County until I could not take it any longer, seeing criminals probated to re-offend over and over again. They will tell you the city’s crime rate is lower than other cities comparable to size, however this is because Louisville Metro incorporated most of the counties smaller communities, so the numbers really do not look that bad, but check it out. Look at the real size of the city before Metro Louisville expanded itself and do a true comparison.Offtopic even concedes Oldham County for schools which I agree with him 100 percent; now remember Oldham County is not Louisville. I think you will be more tolerant of Louisville if you do not live in Jefferson County. I may have a different perspective if I would have been a litter smarter and not bought a house in Jefferson County. The only thing I’m hoping to get across to you is investigate thoroughly before you take the plunge. My wife and I have daughters 4 and 7. She retires in October and we plan on moving to Franklin, Williamson County, TN. As you can see I did not say Davidson County and I love Nashville, but I would not live in Davidson County, TN for the same reasons I am leaving Jefferson County.Good luck on your move and I hope you at least take the advice of not moving into Jefferson County, Choose Oldham and I think you will be ok.

Delaney72 · 08-19-2009, 03:53 PM

We really are only considering Oldham County. I was also hoping that Louisville would be a city that we can go into as a family or for a night out. The city we currently live outside of has little to offer. No culture, no nightlife, nothing. In fact, you really wouldn't want to go into most parts of the city at night. We don't know for sure we're definitely relocating, my husband is currently talking with a company based in Louisvile but we wanted to see if it's a place we'd be interested in living. We are certainly hoping to get out of CT. Weather stinks, taxes are high, housing is ridiculously expensive and most people are very narrow-minded - they think anywhere outside of New England has nothing to offer. Yet they also believe they are more open-minded and accepting than anywhere else. Anyway. Thanks for the input.

JefferyT · 08-19-2009, 06:03 PM

Quote:

I've read that Crestwood, Prospect, LaGrange and Goshen are good places to live with good schools. Is this accurate? Are there any others within Oldham county?

Prospect is in Jefferson County. You might want to post this in the Louisville subforum as it gets a few folks from Oldham who could advise you better.

Realistically speaking, your interlocutor works in law enforcement/criminal justice so is exposed to the dregs of soceity so i think this colors his POV about how dangerous Louisville is.

It is perfeclty OK to live in Oldham County and go into Jefferson County for restaurants, movies, shopping, or if you are more into highbrow things, the performing arts. For kids, there's the zoo and a bikepath along the river which you can do as a family. Or drive up to Huber Farm in Indiana..they used to have a little petting zoo there. And I think that natural history museum is or was ptiched to kids. Plus the Six Flags amusement park and the State Fair every year.

Off Topic · 08-21-2009, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delaney72

I've read that Crestwood, Prospect, LaGrange and Goshen are good places to live with good schools. Is this accurate? Are there any others within Oldham county?

Yes, all three are very nice areas with good schools, imo. I have a relative who lives in Crystal Lake Subdivision in LaGrange, and it is very nice. There are a bunch of houses up for sale there, so check it out. Unlike a lot of subdivisions with the name "Lake" in it, they actually have a lake!

Now, I'm not a huge fan of the actual town of LaGrange, which is like a lot of "newer" small towns -- lots of strip malls, etc. It's probably the one small town in Oldham that isn't a Mayberry small town. But there are very nice areas in and around it.

Prospect is more up-scale and modern. I'm a big fan of Prospect (part of which is in Oldham and part in Jefferson). So if you are looking for modern, go with Prospect. If you want something more rural, go with PeeWee Valley, Goshen, Crestwood or LaGrange.

Louisville is an easy ride from any of them, but especially Prospect. And Louisville is a very family friendly place with tons of family activities.

Off Topic · 08-21-2009, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JefferyT

Realistically speaking, your interlocutor works in law enforcement/criminal justice so is exposed to the dregs of soceity so i think this colors his POV about how dangerous Louisville is.

Yeah, I don't think what he said describes Louisville in the least. Parts of it, sure -- just like any bigger city, you'll have sketchy areas. And name me a place in the country where re-offenders are not a big part of the crime problem. Over and over again, just about every ranking I've ever seen by any magazine or web site has Louisville with a very low crime rate in comparison to cities of its size. If you work in the court system, you're not seeing the best of our area, to say the least. (It's almost like asking a doctor what he thinks about an area and having him say, "It's very unhealthy -- all I see all day long are sick people!")

Quote:

Originally Posted by JefferyT

It is perfeclty OK to live in Oldham County and go into Jefferson County for restaurants, movies, shopping, or if you are more into highbrow things, the performing arts. For kids, there's the zoo and a bikepath along the river which you can do as a family. Or drive up to Huber Farm in Indiana..they used to have a little petting zoo there. And I think that natural history museum is or was ptiched to kids. Plus the Six Flags amusement park and the State Fair every year.

Exactly -- plus Triple A baseball and Henry's Ark and Waterfront Park and the Science Center and Frazier Museum and the Louisville Slugger Museum and UL sports and on and on. And Louisville is one of just a very few cities with a full-time professional orchestra, opera, ballet, children’s theatre, dinner theatre and Broadway series. I can't think of a single city our size that has all of that.

As I said, there are a ton of family friendly things to do around here. Frankly, if you can't find something fun to do in Louisville, you aren't looking very hard. In fact, the complaint for years was that it was too family orientated, with not enough for single people to do.