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My husband and I are both avid climbers who are moving to Lexington KY for several reasons, including being closer to family as well as the Red River Gorge (I'll be pursuing climbing guide certifications and building my business in the meantime).
We are going to be in town for a year with the goal of saving up enough for a travel trailer/truck so we can hit the road full-time. This means we'd like to keep our housing budget as low as possible while living in an area suitable for our interests. We'd like to enjoy the grind at least a little bit.
Our priorities:
-proximity to RRG (HWY 64)
-proximity to LEF climbing gym (Brucetown/Castlewood)
-less than 800/mo for 2BR apt is ideal (need home office for business)
-proximity to quality grocery stores (we blow through many lbs of produce in a wk, Aldi is our favorite store)
-"safe" "nice" area (coming from a neighborhood with loud disputes, hard drug problems, and waking up to neighbor's parties at 5am on the regular, hence the move)
-high-quality internet as we both work online
Bonus:
-bike-friendly or walking distance to grocery
-1-story apt.
-A/C would be a nice luxury
No pets. No kids. Not huge into nightlife scene (live music is a rare/luxurious splurge - we're pretty frugal).
Would also be nice to have some proximity to other eccentric, nerdy, frugal young professionals like us who are active. Though we're not super concerned about this as we're sure we'll meet plenty of new climber friends at the gym/crag.
We have been researching all the forums we can find but without knowing the area, we're struggling to narrow down the options. There are so many neighborhoods and all of the ones that seem like a good fit are the farthest away from our top priorities: climbing multiple days a week at the gym or RRG. Are the north and east sides really that bad? Any nice pockets on the NE side worth checking out?
Any and all neighborhood or specific apartment suggestions are appreciated! Thank you so much!
The Red River Gorge is only about an hour away from Lexington, no matter where you start from. But if proximity is that big an issue for you, look into what's available in Winchester, which is closer to the Gorge, and has lower housing costs, yet is an easy commute to and from Lexington. Your budget would be a better fit there - it's on the low side for Lexington rentals, and "quality grocery stores" are not going to be close to lower-rent areas.
You might want to look for apartments in Idle Hour, which is off of Richmond Road. There is a cut-through via nearby Henry Clay Boulevard to Winchester Road (which intersects with I-75 near the I-64 interchange, i.e. the way to the RRG), plus proximity to New Circle Road (which offers all kinds of wares but is not bike-friendly, however). Richmond Road turns into Main Street and runs through the heart of downtown, plus you'd be close to the Henry Clay estate, Ashland, which has park-like grounds open to the public for walking.
Farmers' markets are best for locally grown fresh produce in season, and Lexington has excellent ones. Not sure about Winchester, but I imagine they also have a farmers' market or at least local produce stands.
There are some bad areas in the north end of Lexington, as well as some nice, safe neighborhoods.
However, it doesn't really take that long to get around town most of the time, so I wouldn't select an apartment based on proximity to the Gorge, if I were in your shoes.
If you can, spend a few days in Lexington before making your move. Check out what seem to be likely neighborhoods, and make a trip over to Winchester as well and see what you discover. Good luck finding your place.
The Red River Gorge is only about an hour away from Lexington, no matter where you start from. But if proximity is that big an issue for you, look into what's available in Winchester, which is closer to the Gorge, and has lower housing costs, yet is an easy commute to and from Lexington. Your budget would be a better fit there - it's on the low side for Lexington rentals, and "quality grocery stores" are not going to be close to lower-rent areas.
You might want to look for apartments in Idle Hour, which is off of Richmond Road. There is a cut-through via nearby Henry Clay Boulevard to Winchester Road (which intersects with I-75 near the I-64 interchange, i.e. the way to the RRG), plus proximity to New Circle Road (which offers all kinds of wares but is not bike-friendly, however). Richmond Road turns into Main Street and runs through the heart of downtown, plus you'd be close to the Henry Clay estate, Ashland, which has park-like grounds open to the public for walking.
Farmers' markets are best for locally grown fresh produce in season, and Lexington has excellent ones. Not sure about Winchester, but I imagine they also have a farmers' market or at least local produce stands.
There are some bad areas in the north end of Lexington, as well as some nice, safe neighborhoods.
However, it doesn't really take that long to get around town most of the time, so I wouldn't select an apartment based on proximity to the Gorge, if I were in your shoes.
If you can, spend a few days in Lexington before making your move. Check out what seem to be likely neighborhoods, and make a trip over to Winchester as well and see what you discover. Good luck finding your place.
Thank you so much for you response, CraigCreek!
We do understand that we are splitting hairs in terms of distance but saving money on gas and time on commuting is very important to us so every mile counts.
Winchester does sound like a great option to check out, as does Idle Hour. We will definitely look into local farmer's market as that is certainly something that we're interested in.
We definitely plan to drive around the area when we come visit in a couple weeks but we wanted to try to narrow down the neighborhoods as much as possible so we're not aimlessly driving around for days: we'll be on a limited timeline so we want to be efficient with our search. We keep hearing "some parts of the north are good and some are bad" but no one seems to be able to help us narrow down exactly what that means. We'd really like to know what some of the "good" northern neighborhoods are before we get down there.
Any suggestions regarding the northern neighborhoods, anyone? Specific areas would be great.
Areas on north end to avoid: anything around Russell Cave Rd, Dixie and Deep Springs, Woodhill,
Loudon Ave (although there are some streets off of Bryan Ave that are in the midst of being gentrified)
I agree that Idle Hour may be a good area to look.
Thank you for your responses, everyone! We ended up biting the bullet and going for a smaller space in Hamburg for the proximity to highways. Turns out the added cost was worth the location for us. These are great suggestions for our next round of searching! It will be nice to take our time looking instead of having to find a home in 2 days during a visit.
Thank you for your responses, everyone! We ended up biting the bullet and going for a smaller space in Hamburg for the proximity to highways. Turns out the added cost was worth the location for us. These are great suggestions for our next round of searching! It will be nice to take our time looking instead of having to find a home in 2 days during a visit.
Welcome to the Bluegrass! Hope you enjoy your new digs.
Since the Red River Gorge was a big factor in your choice of locations, you might want to check it out during the winter - not for climbing, but for the spectacular icicles which form wherever water runs or drips or falls - combined with the many evergreen trees and shrubs, it looks like a natural Christmas card! Again, do NOT try to climb when it's icy - stick to the paths and treated roads (the loop will be treated, maybe not immediately, but within a reasonable time after snowfall or ice, barring disasters such as a major ice storm, which I devoutly hope we are spared this winter).
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