Downtown living that is NOT college oriented? (condos, house)

[KerryB]

Two 30 year old young adults w/ baby & dog looking to move to downtown Lex. Want to try & make it as urban as possible, but know that Lex has a pretty college-like downtown (we've both lived here before). Are there any areas that more young adults live in nowadays?? (Not that we personally have anything against college students, but we're kinda past that point in our lives).

We're kinda hippie dippie, so we've always liked the area around N Limestone & W 3rd Street. I also know there have been a lot of lofts/condos recently built downtown, but not sure the types of people who live in these. We could buy or rent, depending on the place. Thanks.

[Pilot1]

The neighborhoods around Chevy Chase like Kenwick and Mentelle Park are pretty good with lots of families. Many seem to be very liberal with all the Obama signs I see, so you should feel comfortable in the midst of other Hippie Dippies.

[timelesschild]

How much are you wanting to spend?

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

How much are you wanting to spend?

Well, if we were buying, probably no more than $200K for a decent 3BR. If renting, I guess around $1K a month give or take.

[timelesschild]

Hm, OK, I would second the Kenwick suggestion. Or if you can find a smaller house on a nice street off North Broadway, that could be doable. There are pocket neighborhoods off South Limestone you might like too - Shady Lane or Cherokee Park (is that the right name?) ... Very nice areas, not students, very nice professional and bohemian folks. People are starting to take better care of the craftsman bungalows along Rosemont Garden and that could be an option - you would certainly be among like-minded people, and not too far from downtown.

If you can find a smaller house around the back side of Bell Court, that is a lovely area for families.

West Second and Third Streets should be good if you can find anything affordable. They are beautiful and friendly, not too student-ish past the obvious Transy areas.

Of lesser interest: Castlewood is pretty and close to downtown, but dubious for family safety. The two streets Madison and Merino, on the west side of downtown just south of Rupp Arena, might be good for you, pretty, and among like-minded people, but the surrounding neighborhoods are challenging.

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

Hm, OK, I would second the Kenwick suggestion. Or if you can find a smaller house on a nice street off North Broadway, that could be doable. There are pocket neighborhoods off South Limestone you might like too - Shady Lane or Cherokee Park (is that the right name?) ... Very nice areas, not students, very nice professional and bohemian folks. People are starting to take better care of the craftsman bungalows along Rosemont Garden and that could be an option - you would certainly be among like-minded people, and not too far from downtown.

If you can find a smaller house around the back side of Bell Court, that is a lovely area for families.

West Second and Third Streets should be good if you can find anything affordable. They are beautiful and friendly, not too student-ish past the obvious Transy areas.

Of lesser interest: Castlewood is pretty and close to downtown, but dubious for family safety. The two streets Madison and Merino, on the west side of downtown just south of Rupp Arena, might be good for you, pretty, and among like-minded people, but the surrounding neighborhoods are challenging.

Those sound good. Which are closest to downtown?? We kinda wanna be able to walk to stuff instead of always relying on our cars for everything.

[timelesschild]

What stuff do you want to walk to? If you are close enough to downtown to walk to arts events, you won't probably be able to walk to a grocery store, guitar shop, bookstore, etc. That's the main trade-off.

In order of proximity to downtown from closest to farthest:

North Broadway, 2nd, 3rd Streets
Madison & Merino Streets
Bell Court
Mentelle Park
everything else mentioned so far is honestly driving-distance unless your children are school-aged and very hardy.

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

What stuff do you want to walk to? If you are close enough to downtown to walk to arts events, you won't probably be able to walk to a grocery store, guitar shop, bookstore, etc.

Restaurants, coffee, drug stores, parks, etc. Maybe around Woodland??

[timelesschild]

Around Woodland is wonderful but I don't know about the $200k. That's why I didn't mention that area - a house there is double the price of other areas. You never know, though - you could luck up on something.

[charz]

There's a new condo across from Calvary Baptist Church in downtown that I think has more college grads than current students. It looks nice and has it's own parking garage. It doesn't have a name that I've seen, so I guess I'm not much help, am I?