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Gosh I hate to sound like I am dissing Lexington-- I am not! We are looking forward to many of the wonderful things about Lexington. But sometimes goods come with bads... One of which, I fear might be friendliness to newcomers. Friendliness not as in polite conversation but warming up, not socially excluding... My husband's work will be with a lot of international ppl- so not planning to meet a whole lot of locals there. I tend to fit in anywhere we've lived-- from big cities, wealthy areas, to more provincial areas... I keep hearing negative comments about locals not being included in born and raised here- Lexington- circle. I've heard this repeatedly. Even abroad. Very tight knit, you'll never fit in if you aren't from here.... For me, eh- it would be disappointing and sad, but we travel home a lot and I am fortunate to have good friends. I would be ok so long as my kids are able to fit in and adapt. I fear if rumors are true that my kids will be socially excluded for being outsiders... Have you found any truth to this heresy? If so, any tips, other than to go out and buy college sport attire for the whole family. (I've already ordered) I'm sure there are very friendly people but just trying to gather vibes about the overall culture...
I haven't found this to be true at all. Ninety percent of the people that we have met and known are not even Lexington natives! I am also shocked and surprised when I find a person who was actually born or raised here.
I've had neighbors from New York, Ohio, New Jersey, California, Ireland and Japan.
My son growing up attended school with people from England, Japan, Mexico, Korea, China, West Virginia -
heck when he was in college he met people from everywhere.
I have worked with people here that were originally from New York, Maryland, Mass., Indiana, Michigan
But my experiences might not be your experiences, I can only relate you my experiences.
Welcome to Lexington, I love it here - hope it all works out great for you also!
crazee cat lady-- thanks for reply! I am glad to hear this. I've certainly not seen this exclusive/snob side of Lexington, but we are just now moving so I guess we'll know soon enough.
I have never heard Lexington is not diverse or transient, just more that it's hard to fit in if your not native-- whatever than means.... Also if judging by the variety of restaurants than I should be in good shape, but I attributed that diversity to the college life (college towns= great variety of intl restaurants) I don't care if everyone is from Lexington or if everyone is from all over, I just hope they are friendly and inclusive of new kids. Other parts of KY, I have found Kentuckians to be extremely friendly.
crazee cat lady-- thanks for reply! I am glad to hear this. I've certainly not seen this exclusive/snob side of Lexington, but we are just now moving so I guess we'll know soon enough.
I have never heard Lexington is not diverse or transient, just more that it's hard to fit in if your not native-- whatever than means.... Also if judging by the variety of restaurants than I should be in good shape, but I attributed that diversity to the college life (college towns= great variety of intl restaurants) I don't care if everyone is from Lexington or if everyone is from all over, I just hope they are friendly and inclusive of new kids. Other parts of KY, I have found Kentuckians to be extremely friendly.
The small towns in Kentucky are usually way over the top friendly - in a great sort of way.
I was warned of this same thing that you are talking about, when we first told people that we were going to move here - I haven't found it to be true at all. We live in South/Southwest Lexington in the Clays Mill road
Area, and it seems pretty friendly and diverse here. I love the diversity of so many people from different
places and cultures, I consider it a big plus and it's one of the things that I love about living here.
Gosh I hate to sound like I am dissing Lexington-- I am not! We are looking forward to many of the wonderful things about Lexington. But sometimes goods come with bads... One of which, I fear might be friendliness to newcomers. Friendliness not as in polite conversation but warming up, not socially excluding... My husband's work will be with a lot of international ppl- so not planning to meet a whole lot of locals there. I tend to fit in anywhere we've lived-- from big cities, wealthy areas, to more provincial areas... I keep hearing negative comments about locals not being included in born and raised here- Lexington- circle. I've heard this repeatedly. Even abroad. Very tight knit, you'll never fit in if you aren't from here.... For me, eh- it would be disappointing and sad, but we travel home a lot and I am fortunate to have good friends. I would be ok so long as my kids are able to fit in and adapt. I fear if rumors are true that my kids will be socially excluded for being outsiders... Have you found any truth to this heresy? If so, any tips, other than to go out and buy college sport attire for the whole family. (I've already ordered) I'm sure there are very friendly people but just trying to gather vibes about the overall culture...
I'm trying to think of a good way to explain this, in part because it is not my intent to insult you. I am just trying to answer your concerns.
If you are discussing your average family, with kids attending your average Fayette County school, living in 99% of Lexington's neighborhoods you will find Lexington a friendly, open, and welcoming city that is more than willing to add new residents as adopted natives. Lexington is used to transplants and actually likes them. It is a beautiful city, with a lot of activities, that is fairly flexible about the personal quirks of others as long as your are nice yourself.
However, if your goal is the break into Lexington's hoity-toity upper crust, cotillion attending, especially horse industry related crowd, yeah, you are going to encounter problems. You are going to encounter problems from two fronts, the group you are trying to break into, who basically have known each other's families for over a century, and then everyone else who will be highly annoyed by clear snobbery or social climbing. Lexington has one of the highest percentages of higher education graduates in the nation, and is considered affluent for the area, but there is something in the culture of the city that frowns on people thinking they are too good for those they might consider a lower station.
I've got to be honest here, because you have asked, if you paint the same picture of yourself in person that you have on here, you might be setting yourself up to be disappointed. We would potentially be living in the same neighborhood so..... if you sent out the same vibe when I met you that I have gotten from reading your various posts I would be polite to you, I would drop off muffins to welcome you, I would help you if you needed it, but I'd be rolling my eyes as I walked away and I certainly wouldn't be asking you over for dinner or to join us tailgating. I'm not trying to be mean, just honest.
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Thanks for reply-- the last part was a little ouch but I appreciate the honest feedback and I get what you are saying and I hope I don't come across as bad as I apparently sound : /
In initial post, I just meant "fit in" or "make friends" for the normal crowd, not trying to fit in with a certain demographic or wealthier crowd... not trying to avoid either, just want to make friends from any background and hope my boys are accepted and make friends with anyone they can. I was just concerned because I know we won't meet a lot of local people at work, unfortunately my husband will be working with ppl not based in Lexington area, so that eliminates that route and I just keep hearing its a tougher crowd to break in to if you aren't from here... We certainly have lived in other areas that had reputations of not being friendly and that turned out to not be true. So I am hoping thats really how it is in LEX. I would like to meet friends too but I am ok with sitting at home and working (I am more of an introvert and I have friends I can call on the ohone- although not the same I am just worried for my kids, I want them to adjust and meet kids. But thanks for feedback and we are definitely not in the horse scene so I guess that is good- tougher crowd to meet people? Unfortunately we are also not really in to the sports scene so I worry that this might limit our social life. But even though we aren't so in to it, I most certainly am prepared to support the local sports scene and have fun watching games... I am excited about moving to Lex, I am not trying to dis it and I hope thats not how I come across.
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and I get what you are saying and I hope I don't come across as bad as I apparently sound : / 
I am just worried for my kids, I want them to adjust and meet kids. But thanks for feedback and we are definitely not in the horse scene so I guess that is good- tougher crowd to meet people? Unfortunately we are also not really in to the sports scene so I worry that this might limit our social life. But even though we aren't so in to it, I most certainly am prepared to support the local sports scene and have fun watching games... I am excited about moving to Lex, I am not trying to dis it and I hope thats not how I come across.
