Considering relocating to KY---Religion an issue? (Lexington, Louisville: 2010, rent, violent crime)

[sendmorecops]

Originally Posted by mdawg

I lived in Louisville for 10 years, and I prefer it over Lexington. Louisville always has something going on and it doesn't revolve around the University of Louisville. Lexington is a oversized college town, with bad traffic and not much to do. Louisville has the Kentucky Center for the Arts, the Science Center, the Louisville Zoo, the KY State Fair, Waterfront Park, as well as many, many other parks that blow Lexington away. Lexington has the KY Horse Park. (I know there are other things but that is what most people think of when they think Lexington) To me, Lexington is just a sprawling suburb with a tiny downtown area. I know other people see it differently but thats how I see it. The countryside around Lexington is very nice, but if you are going to be living in the suburbs, I would choose Louisville. If you wanted some acreage, and plan to only go into town every so often, then I might look into the Lexington area. What did you want to know specifically about the areas?

Yeah,but the really important question is: how many non-white people live there?

I find it amusing that everyone is getting up in arms over the religious aspect of this thread, but not the racial aspect.

[SFLWR]

goober- I grew up around the Owensboro area and might be able to answer some Q's you have about it....what do you want to know ?

[urbancharlotte]

Originally Posted by goobersmoochers

I've seen some posts touch on this topic, but not in depth...

My family and I are agnostic, not religious...We are very DIS enchanted with NM (the land of enchantment--ha!) mostly because of the massive influx of illegals and gangs, not to mention ridiculous housing prices.

We have friends in KY who think it is wonderful, and we are considering relocating there. (I'm an English teacher, he's in HVAC). How important is religion to folks in Kentucky?

We've heard about Benton (KKK? Really?) and other smaller towns; we like the idea of a safe, affordable, family oriented area (who doesn't?) but we don't want to feel out of place or persecuted. We DON'T want anyone praying for our souls, ya know? It's hard enough to be the only white people in town (welcome to NM!); we don't want to exchange one square peg with another, so to speak. Would we be the only agnostics in town? Would they have vigils outside our home? Or is there still a place where kind-hearted non-judgemental respectful responsible people live, and let others live? Could that place be somewhere in Kentucky?

If I were you, I'd "front" like you (and your family) are religious. Just buy a shiny new bible (you don't have to read it) and place it on the rear panel of your car (so others can see it when you are parked at Wal-mart). Also, get you one of those "What would Jesus do?" bumper stickers and you're good to go. Honestly, "fronting" like you truly believe isn't far from being the average Christian nowadays anyway. With that said, you should fit right in.

[goobersmoochers]

Originally Posted by mdawg

I lived in Louisville for 10 years, and I prefer it over Lexington. Louisville always has something going on and it doesn't revolve around the University of Louisville. Lexington is a oversized college town, with bad traffic and not much to do. Louisville has the Kentucky Center for the Arts, the Science Center, the Louisville Zoo, the KY State Fair, Waterfront Park, as well as many, many other parks that blow Lexington away. Lexington has the KY Horse Park. (I know there are other things but that is what most people think of when they think Lexington) To me, Lexington is just a sprawling suburb with a tiny downtown area. I know other people see it differently but thats how I see it. The countryside around Lexington is very nice, but if you are going to be living in the suburbs, I would choose Louisville. If you wanted some acreage, and plan to only go into town every so often, then I might look into the Lexington area. What did you want to know specifically about the areas?

You answered what I needed to know. I understand they are both the same size, but Lex is a lttle more expensive with a little less crime, is that correct? We are a family of four, I'm a teacher, he's getting his HVAC cert., and the girls are in school. How are the schools? Did you go to school there? I have heard good things about them...but from here, ANY school system is looking better than this...Thanks!

[goobersmoochers]

Originally Posted by SFLWR

goober- I grew up around the Owensboro area and might be able to answer some Q's you have about it....what do you want to know ?

Thanks! First, why are so many big houses SO cheap? We were looking online for real estate and could not believe how inexpensive it is. For example, we are currently living on an acre parcel with a single wide ten year old trailer house. It was the cheapest thing around at $60,000. We are seeing large homes in Owensboro for thirty and forty grand. Is it a gimmick, a flood zone, or are they really that affordable?

How are the schools in Owensboro? How about teaching jobs? My kids are mid and high school age, and I'm a teacher. Did you go to school there? How long ago? Things looking good in the district, or not? Here we are having MAJOR budget issues with cuts in pay and staff, and very large class sizes (40 kids or so) unless you are in a rural town.

I have heard Owensboro is a nice place for a family. Do you agree? Why? What about it makes it nice?

Thanks!

[goobersmoochers]

Originally Posted by sendmorecops

Yeah,but the really important question is: how many non-white people live there?

I find it amusing that everyone is getting up in arms over the religious aspect of this thread, but not the racial aspect.

The racial aspect isn't an issue for me. That's why this thread is about religion.

[mdawg]

Originally Posted by goobersmoochers

You answered what I needed to know. I understand they are both the same size, but Lex is a lttle more expensive with a little less crime, is that correct? We are a family of four, I'm a teacher, he's getting his HVAC cert., and the girls are in school. How are the schools? Did you go to school there? I have heard good things about them...but from here, ANY school system is looking better than this...Thanks!

No they are not the same size. Louisville has over 1.2 million people in its metro area, Lexington has about 453,000 people in its metro area. I haven't really found Lexington to be more expensive than Louisville. As far as gas goes, it is cheaper here. I'm not really sure about crime, I haven't had any problems in either city.

Here is a house in Lexington in a nice neighborhood for about 350k and 3700 sq ft.

4765 Firebrook Blvd, Lexington, KY, 40513 - MLS #922255 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

Compared to 350,000 in Louisville

LOUISVILLE Real Estate - - 17004 EPSON CT, LOUISVILLE, KY, 40245

Of course, I don't exactly know how nice of an area the house in Lexington is located in, but I lived right down the road from the house that is for sale in Louisville. Anyways, just a comparison, I think you get about the same bang for your buck in each city.

[SFLWR]

Originally Posted by goobersmoochers

Thanks! First, why are so many big houses SO cheap? We were looking online for real estate and could not believe how inexpensive it is. For example, we are currently living on an acre parcel with a single wide ten year old trailer house. It was the cheapest thing around at $60,000. We are seeing large homes in Owensboro for thirty and forty grand. Is it a gimmick, a flood zone, or are they really that affordable?

How are the schools in Owensboro? How about teaching jobs? My kids are mid and high school age, and I'm a teacher. Did you go to school there? How long ago? Things looking good in the district, or not? Here we are having MAJOR budget issues with cuts in pay and staff, and very large class sizes (40 kids or so) unless you are in a rural town.

I have heard Owensboro is a nice place for a family. Do you agree? Why? What about it makes it nice?

Thanks!

Owensboro is in Daviess Co. ..the population of the co. is around 94 thousand and city is around 55 . It's a nice town but not really much to do there. They do have an ice rink and a laser tag (thinking of your teens ) the mall is nothing but a drive across the river to Evansville IN is only 30 min. and has a nice mall. Also across the river in Santa Clause is Holiday World...an amusement park that is really nice ( we usually go every yr. ) Ok....I'll get back to O'boro now....the houses your probably seeing that cheap are in a bad part of town and real old houses...if you tell me the roads I can tell you better or if you find more that you wonder about, just tell me the name of the roads and I can tell you maybe about that area. You can find a nice home in a decent area for 60,000 or a nicer area and nicer home around 80,000. and up. Do you want to live in town or more in a rural area ? I lived in some of the rural areas and can tell you about them too. The schools in the county are better than the ones in the city in my opinion. I went to school there but that was at least 100 yrs. ago... but mercy sakes, noooo , not 40 in a class ! and I don't live there now but my family does ( I called mom on some of this ) I'm sorry, I don't know about how the teaching jobs are. Oh , their is a Unitarian church . Hope this helps and if you want to know more about certain areas , just let me know.


I almost forgot.... they have bbq mutton there that is the best

[erickp]

Oh yes, Owensboro mutton...Moonlight, Old Kentucky... although I've got to sing the praises of Hickory Pit in Evansville.

Cities: Owensboro is much like small town Kentucky. That's not a negative comment, jst an observation that people live and socialize much as tghey do in small towns. Lexington is more Old South provincial. Alistair Cooke described Kentucky as the most Southern of the states, and cited Lexinfgton as an example. Louisville is a gem, but I'm biased because it's my home town. Louisville is often described on this board as not so much IN Kentucky, but SURROUNDED BY Kentucky. This also gives me an excuse to mention My Morning Jacket, and quote moderator stx12499...

And, perhaps the city' beloved indie band, My Morning Jacket, sums it up best:

My Morning Jacket hail from the city of Louisville, Kentucky, an odd metro-suburban mix of stark industry and fine thoroughbreds and rock and roll fevers. "It's a place with no labels," James says. "It's not the South, it's not Chicago, and you don't think of it as you think of New York or LA. It has some Southern romanticism to it, but also a Northern progressivism, this weird urban island in the middle of the state of Kentucky that has always provided a fertile, often dark, bed. For us, Louisville and the surrounding areas are the center of massive creativity and massive weirdness. The place has its flaws: You move away, but you're always going to come back."

Or was it Louisville's gonzo journalist who said it best?

"If I could think of a way to do it right now, I'd head back to Louisville, sit on the porch drinking beer, drive around Cherokee Park for a few nights, and try to sink back as far as I could into the world that did its best to make me. It's not hard to get tired of interminable palms and poinciana, and I could do at the moment with a single elm tree on a midnight street in the Highlands."--Hunter S. Thompson

[goobersmoochers]

Thank you both for the info. I had no idea the metro areas were that big. The problem with getting stats off city data is I forget all the folks like ME that live just outside the city limits.

As to Owensboro, I'll look those houses up and share addresses with you for your input, because we simply could not believe they were for real. I know the real estate is really really inflated here in NM, but those just seemed tooooo cheap.

So Owensboro is kinda blah? I'm okay with that, as long as it's less than a day's drive to exciting places.

We love the outdoors, hiking, walking, camping, fishing, hunting...Are there good places like that around Owensboro? What about Louisville and Lexington? We would probably want to live in a semi-rural area like we do now, the best of both worlds. We like to keep a garden and some chickens and soon we will add a milk goat to the family---mmmmm, fresh goat milk! With a big ol' plate of bbq mutton in the bbq capitol of the world. Sounds delish!