Relocating Questions (Lexington, Louisville, Ashland: apartments, rental, mobile home)

[swill2004]

Hello,

My family is planning to move to the Lexington area in the summer. I was wondering what is the best area to rent a home near the University of Kentucky. Doesn't have to be downtown and can be a short commute away, but must be a family oriented area and safe. Also, what private or public schools seem to be the best? I am not familiar with this fine state or city at all and live on the west coast currently so any information you can provide would be great.
Also, what are the statistics of tornado's in the Lexington area?
Thanks!

[CraigCreek]

Chevy Chase would be ideal - but rental houses are a bit scarce in this very safe neighborhood. However, there are many two-bedroom apartments, older but very well-maintained, nearby. Schools in Chevy Chase include Cassidy Elementary, Morton Middle, and Christ the King, a K-8 Catholic parochial school. All have excellent reputations. Henry Clay High School is the public school for this area, and is also good.

Chevy Chase is a very desirable older neighborhood located about a mile from UK, with lots of trees, two shopping centers within walking distance, and Woodland Park fairly close. The school campuses include playground equipment, and substitute nicely for neighborhood parks. Downtown is less than two miles away from Chevy Chase.

You might also look into Ashland Park, next door to Chevy Chase and sharing all of the same qualities, but with older, larger houses, along with some apartment buildings. Both houses and apartments (largely four-plexes) are well cared for in both Chevy Chase and Ashland Park.

Ashland Park was named for stateman Henry Clay's estate, from which the subdivision was created in the early 1900s. The house and 14 acres of original estate grounds are located within Ashland Park and are open to the public (as a museum house, with tours - the park-like grounds are open during daylight hours, free of charge).

Hope this helps - there are many additional threads here dealing with this area.

[CraigCreek]

Just saw your inquiry re tornados. We have far more "watches" than warnings here - watches are issued when conditions are right for tornadoes; warnings are issued when a tornado is actually spotted. Only two tornadoes have hit Lexington in the last ten years or so, and both were considered small and the damage was very limited - just a few houses in one neighborhood each time were damaged. No lives were lost.

However....Kentucky IS on the fringe of "tornado alley", and back in early April, 1974, a tremendous outbreak of tornadoes hit the state, with great damage and loss of life. Lexington was spared, but Louisville and many other cities and towns were hit. Tornadoes strike somewhere in Kentucky each spring, but are unpredictable, so knowledge and common sense are your best protection.

The best advice I can offer is to be prepared when tornado watches are issued. Keep your weather radio on, make sure you have a safe place - in the basement or lowest level of your house, away from windows and with as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Keep all windows and doors closed if a tornado approaches. Keep a supply of batteries, flashlights, medicine, and drinking water on hand in your safe place just in case, and be prepared to move to your safe place if you hear a warning. Tornados sound like a freight train approaching, so if you hear this sound (and no train is around), take cover. The sky and ambient light often turn greenish just before a tornado forms. Clouds which precede tornado formation often hang down from the sky like upturned bowls, forming a series of rounded semispherical shapes from which a funnel can drop. However, seeing this sort of cloud doesn't guarantee a tornado.

If you spot a tornado and are in your car or in a mobile home, get out and take cover in the nearest sturdy building or ditch, crouching with your face down and your neck covered by your clasped hands. If you have a blanket, put it over you.

Sirens and loudspeakers are used in Lexington to alert the public of both watches and warnings, and the local TV and radio stations also do an excellent job, as do the various weather sites online. Tornado season is mostly in the spring here, with a smaller season in the fall, when weather conditions can change rapidly (though tornados can form any month of the year).

Again, tornados are uncommon in Lexington, but not unheard-of. Don't panic if you hear that a tornado watch has been issued, but remain alert and be prepared. You'll very likely be just fine.

[blossom4792]

Try something like www.greatschools.net

There are a couple of excellent school "triangles" (elementary, middle and high together).

The first is in Chevy Chase as the previous person suggested: Cassidy, Morton and Clay.

Another is in SW lexington: (multiple elementaries led by Rosa Parks plus Beaumont, Henry Clay).

There are many others that are also very excellent, mainly in the SW part of town.

Many newcomers head to Veterans Park Elementary and then find out that the middle/high aren't what they would like. Others head toward family-friendly "Hamburg" (SE/40509) and find the schools are all mixed.