Possibly relocating to KY...maybe Hopkinsville?

[WebWabbit]

With 5 kids, wanting small town (OK - almost back woods) living, looking into the Lake Cumberland area - Somerset, Monticello, Jamestown & Russell Springs, Ky - tell me the good, bad, and the ugly, as it's looking more and more like it might be sooner, rather than later...... Thx.

[JoeyWilson]

It's about 70 miles north-northeast of Hopkinsville along the Indiana border on the Ohio River. Population of the city is 54K+ and there's a little bit of everything offered, including very good schools. Owensboro is centrally located from some major metros. It's only 30 miles from Evansville IN and two hours from Louisville and two hours from Nashville.

You might call the Chamber of Commerce in Owensboro at 270-926-1860 for a relocation packet.

[shebleedsblue]

Well, pretty much anywhere you move, regardless of the size of the community, every community is going to have their own set of problems and issues.
I live in Christian County and, frankly, I wouldn't advise anyone with children to consider relocating to this area.
Things have gotten more out of hand in the school system than many realize - drugs in the schools are just a given, violence involving police intervention is a daily occurrence, test scores falling for the third consecutive year, weapons being found on school property, police having to be sent out to schoobuses to deal with violent/out of control students - knowing what I know were my children school age we'd be leaving the area.

There are some smaller beautiful communities in the surrounding area.
All of your smaller communities are within a reasonable commuting distance of the larger cities, so you'd pretty much still have the same things at your disposal, but with more peace of mind.
As I said each is going to have their own issues, but to move into a hornets nest like Hopkinsville
would in my opinion would be like *offering* your belly to the devil.

sbb

[Kichenwich]

Originally Posted by WebWabbit

With 5 kids, wanting small town (OK - almost back woods) living, looking into the Lake Cumberland area - Somerset, Monticello, Jamestown & Russell Springs, Ky - tell me the good, bad, and the ugly, as it's looking more and more like it might be sooner, rather than later...... Thx.

G' Morning WebWabbit! I have to say, I love the Somerset area! We have a little cabin on the lake, out in the "nowhere". If you are looking for somewhere that's away from it all, try McCreary county. It's close enough to Somerset to be convenient, but still country. The greatest part of this area is Lake Cumberland-which to me is a peice of heaven on earth. The school systems are pretty good, too.

Another area you might want to check is Mount Vernon (Rockcastle County). It's a very small town, located between Somerset and Berea. This is pretty much a farming community. A friend of mine sold a small house on 110 acres (with barns, ponds, farming equipment, etc) for $110,000! I would HIGHLY recommend this area for raising young 'uns. This county is dry, as is Somerset, Jamestown, etc. There's several restaurants, gas marts, etc., but I don't think there are any large retail chains. Most from Mt. Vernon either go to Berea, Richmond or Somerset to shop.

My family goes to these areas really often, and enjoy every trip. If you would like, there is a really good realtor in that are; Ford Brothers (just google it). You can also search for the Somerset Board of Realtors, as well as Pulaski Board of Realtors.

Anyways, welcome to KY, and bring ya fishin' poles! All the best ~joanna~

[WebWabbit]

Thank to all for everything - I've made the commitment, and will soon be a KY'er !

[Walker in KY]

Wow I am really surprised by the negative posts. We moved to Hoptown a year ago Sept from Southern CA & we also found it through the same site along with 24 other locations. We researched it for months & finally checked out a couple of locations and decided on Hoptown. While checking it out we went to most of the places mentioned too. Now that we are here we never plan to leave. There are jobs that do pay well. I completely changed my career after almost 30 years & work close with those in town and in the county and everyone has been great. Drugs, you can find those anywhere and I think that the volume including crime is subjective depending on where you are from. I came from fairly influential areas of S Cal. and I find it very comfortable and safe here. We actually live in Pembroke on the very edge of Hopkinsville, Pembroke is a very small town and we go to Hoptown for all regular shopping as this is not available in Pembroke other than a quick pick up of something small or a nursery. However, this only take us about 10-15 minutes which coming from a big city this is nothing. Pembroke does have a new housing track being built with fairly tight restrictions, resulting in nice homes that should stay such. I was at Lowes the other day and they told me they are in extreme need of cabinet installers which are sub-contractors who make upwards of $100,000 per year. I know people in CA who dream for this. Of course you need to know how to do this or willing to learn. There are people from all the wonderful places named that both love living there and hate it. Hopkinville (Christian County) is growing (at a slow pace) and has all types of community programs to build relations with Ft Campbell. I think there is a place for everyone & a place is some part what you make of it. We love it here and mabey you will too, if not I wish you well on your quest to find a place that is best for you.