Young couple moving to Lexington, looking for home ($100-150 range) in older neighborhood (Ashland: for sale, crime)

[jillagig]

Well, apparently my job has just moved me and my fiance to Lexington and thus our home search begins. I've been learking here for the last three-four days as well as on lbar.com and I am a little dizzied by the large number of options as far as newer housing development homes there are in the greater lexington area, and at the same time a little dissapointed as there seem to be very few cute, smallish, older homes as there are in my current town in West Virginia. I have been looking in the Kenwick neighborhood and have seen a couple of potentials there on lbar, however I was wondering if anyone would mind recommending me to any other neighborhoods I might be missing. We are looking in the price range of $100-150. Other requirements are a yard big enough for a large dog, 3 br or 2br with office, and a room we can use as a family/bonus/rec room or a basement (called the "Man Cave" by my fiance). Any area in particular tend to have more basements? We are not so much concerned with schools for older children, as we have yet to have kids, however an area with a good elementary school would be a plus. Any help would be appreciated as I've only been to Lexington once for my interview and I have found from moving to a new area previously that it is nearly impossible to find good neighborhoods from looking at listings online.

[lexingtongal]

Southland is a nice area with some homes in that price range. Mostly ranch style, some with basements, some without. It is conveniently located and safe. There are also some streets that are off of Clays Mill Rd that might fit your needs. Garden Springs would also have homes in that price range.
The only caution I would add is that in Kenwick you will be looking at mainly 2nd or 3rd block to be in that price. The 3rd blocks of the streets in that area can get a little dicey.

[timelesschild]

Southland has good schools, adorable Cape Cod houses and big yards. Also it is walkable with retail and parks. It is a very good area for dogs, because of the big yards and the parks. Lots of people get out to walk their dogs. The elementary school is Clays Mill which is good. There is a huge farmers' market on Southland Drive every Sunday from spring through fall, and outdoor music on Tuesdays.

[jillagig]

Wow thanks for the tip on Southland. It sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, ideal place to walk the dog and the farmers market is an added benefit (I absolutely love them). Thank you so much! Anyone know much about the area around Woodland Park vs. Ashland Park? When I went to interview for my job I was driving around trying to get a feeling for somewhere I might like to live and I happened to stumble upon Ashland Park and thought "ooooo feels like home". Sadly, apparently the same thoughts are felt by others since the homes there are way too pricey for us at this point. Just curious, Lexingtongal what you mean by dicey? I tried to go online and it is really hard from the crime maps to get a since of what areas have more crime, as it seems like it doesn't vary that much downtown block to block. Or maybe it's just my opinion that it doesn't seem to make much difference to me feeling safe if there is one breakin on the street vs. three in the last year. I probably wouldn't feel very safe either way.

[lexingtongal]

By Dicey I mean that some homes are not very well maintained and are sort of run down. I had a single girl friend that lived on the 300 block of Sherman and she had 2 large dogs. She said she wouldn't have lived there otherwise. She complained of revved up cars and rough people. There were lots of barking dogs around her as well.
The area has its share of petty crime. Car break ins primarily.

[barrypii]

Check out masterson station / leestown road area... you can get an almost new house with a decent yard (some actually do) plus you are 5 minute drive to the dog park.

[momstime]

We've lived in Lexington for almost 11 years now. We have also lived in several different areas of Lexington and I agree you can find older homes in the Southland area, but they do tend to be older and smaller and personally it doesn't seem the safest area of Lexington to me. It's fine to drive through but you do hear of robberies more lately in that area these last few years. As for the Masterson Station area, it too seems to be on the news quite a bit. I think alot of people jumped on board to move there a few years ago when new subdivisions went up there but it is a little too close to some undesirable neighborhoods. You may want to look on the South side near Winthrop and Boston road area. The area around Stonewall elementary also has a reputation for older more established neighborhoods and the school has been a good one in Lexington for many years. Now would be a great time to buy with the market in your favor. All in all Lexington is a wonderful place to live and I think for the most part you will find it a reasonably safe place to live.

[LEXpert]

An area that is close to Southland is Chatham Village. It is over by Lafayette high school. Prices are still reasonable there for most houses. Another area is between Clays Mill Road and Harrodsburg Rd. These are houses from the 40's. If you don't mind 50's ranches, there is Gainesway. This area has big yards. Most the resident are older, like the Southland area. (That is my code word meaning that there are alot of original owners, so expect the houses to look like Better Homes and Gardens circa 1975.) I use to live in the back part of Gainesway. The school district is awful, but it has a convenient location to anywhere in Lexington. Other than school district, Gainesway has alot to offer and prices are good. (Check it out on lbar.com. Just enter "3" for area and then type "Gainesway" for neighborhood. You'll pull up all that are for sale now.)

[shilo0854]

Thx for the link LEXpert. Even tho I personally am not moving till 09 I plan to fly down in Mar 09 to look for houses and it will be 3 days to find one. I'm looking for a older home with price dependant updated or not. Any new sites and info is super for me to note as I get closer to coming down there.

[timelesschild]

There is nothing unsafe about Southland! Good grief.... it's like Mayberry.