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Hi everyone. I am a UK student originally from Virginia. My husband, son, and I live in Harrodsburg, KY but since I will be in class 5 days a week, I cannot afford the commute to Lexington. We have decided to move into town. We are flexible on the commute because my husband has a company truck and just drives for a living, and I don't need to live too close to campus. The first bit of advice I need is on elementary schools. My son will be starting Kindergarten and since I am not from here, I have no clue which schools are better. We cannot afford private school, so we need a public school. Next, we want to live in a good neighborhood with very very low crime rates. We prefer to rent a house but since we have to be so selective on rent, area, schools, etc, we are willing to rent an apartment or townhome. We are looking for a 2 bedroom, no more than $600/mo. Does anyone have any recommendations for apartment complexes in Lexington or Nicholasville or even Versailles? Also, I'm sure this is a long shot, but does anyone know of rental companies that would help us find a rental home? We are looking to move early to mid August. A safe neighborhood is our biggest priority as my husband is VERY reluctant to move to a big city and is making a big sacrifice for me. And any suggestions about school districts to try and live in are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks so much!
See if you can find a two-bedroom apartment in Chevy Chase or Ashland Park, both of which would put your son in the Cassidy Elementary School district. There are a number of older but very well-maintained four-plex (and some six and eight-plex) apartments in these neighborhoods - the first block of Cochran Road off of High Street/Tates Creek Road, along Romany Road, Cooper Drive, and Duke Road in Chevy Chase, and on many of the side streets in Ashland Park. However, you may need to budget more than $600 a month to get a two-bedroom apartment in these areas.
You won't get pools and party rooms but you will get larger rooms, hardwood floors, laundry rooms, perhaps extra basement storage and perhaps good-sized balconies. Both neighborhoods are considered very safe and are close to Chevy Chase and Romany Road shopping centers, Woodland Park, and Cassidy School, whose campus (shared with that of Morton Middle School) serves as a sort of unofficial neighborhood park and playground. Chevy Chase and Ashland Park are side-by-side, and are only about a mile from the edge of the UK campus.
You might also look at the neighborhoods close to Stonewall Elementary and perhaps Clays Mill Elementary (the Southland area), which are newer (not that new, though - 1940s-50s!) but have similar features, though they are farther from UK. Rent may be a little less in these areas, but the apartments here are newer and so may be priced similarly.
My son went to Stonewall Elementary and we think he received an excellent Education there.
Not sure about the others. (Rosa Parks is suppose to have a great reputation, not sure which part of town it's in though.) Veteran's Parks Elementary also.
If your kid is smart enough, you could try and get him/her into one of the local magnet schools. I went to Maxwell Elementary as a child. It's a Spanish emersion school, so your child would learn Spanish as well as English. In today's world, knowing two languages is increasingly more important, and studies show it's easier to pick up languages as a child, so might as well start them now!
The magnet schools don't cost any extra, and don't have defined districts, they just require an entrance exam (at least that's all I had to do, years ago). The magnet schools would guarantee your child got a good education, while not limiting where in town you could live.
For schools, look at greatschools.net ... I could go through a lot of specifics, but that's a starting point. Actually, there are some rentals that would get you into Rosa Parks Elementary (Ft. Harrods Drive, something like that) which would be ideal and I think the rent is quite low.
And of course Cassidy if you can. And there are plenty of others that are good and many to avoid.
Again, you'll all think I'm getting a commission, but I was once referred to lexingtonrentalhomes.com so I would try them - they have a website that maps out the available homes and price ranges and their agents seem to know the neighborhoods and school districts.
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