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My husband will be starting a new job at Lexmark and our family will be relocating to Lexington next month. Please help us narrow down a neighborhood! Finding a house in a good school district is very important to us. We are not as concerned about middle/high school, as we will likely be moving before our kids reach that point - but we would like a good elementary school. I've noticed a lot of houses for sale with schools in the Liberty and Sandersville Elementary districts. Any info on these schools?
Other neighborhood suggestions for us? We're looking to spend up to $210k and would prefer to be within a 20 minute drive of Lexmark. We want a safe neighborhood with good schools, and prefer newer housing (although we would consider an older house if it was in good condition or newly rennovated).
But ... the parent reviews of Liberty are suspicious. I'm pretty sure they are faked; I have a friend sending her child to Liberty and we went through them and thought they were too homogenous. That said, people seem pretty happy with Liberty.
I'm not sure about Sandersville - it too is a new school and I haven't heard anything bad!
A lot of young families are very happy over in "Hamburg" (zip 40509, SE), a vast new area (that's where you're seeing Liberty). It's not extremely close to Lexmark, but I think you'll have to drive about 15-20 minutes to find the housing you want.
In the other direction you'll get to Masterson Station (zip 40511, NW - that's where you're seeing Sandersville), and again, it's a vast area of new homes (overbuilt).
I guess that people who are from Lexington seem to prefer to settle in the older neighborhoods in the middle or in the southwest side of town (way too far for you, I think). A friend who is a Lexington native said that Hamburg is popular with people who aren't from Lexington, just take that with a grain of salt : ). I like it over there, but I understand what she means!
To me, Sandersville and Liberty are too new to know what they will be like long term.
The elementary schools that are perceived to be the best are Cassidy, Veteran's Park, and Rosa Parks. Cassidy district is mainly older houses well above your price range. Veteran's Park is newer and has options in your range, but is about as far across town as you can get from Lexmark. Rosa Parks is about 15-20 minutes from Lexmark, but about the only houses in that price range will be in Beaumont Enclave.
The 40509/Hamburg area really only has one good elementary school, which is A.C.E. (Athens-Chilesburg Elementary). You can get a house in your price range in that price, but the problem is that there just aren't that many houses in that district.
It might be a little more of a drive, but I would look along Man O War between Nicholasville Road and Harrodsburg Road in neighborhoods like Willow Bend, Wyndham Hills (or anything that starts with the word Wyndham), Copperfield, Rabbit Run/Saint Stephens Green at Rabbit Run.....pretty much the 40504, 40513, and 40514 zip codes.
Hit my blog on this site if you need a breakdown of what each section of Lexington is like :-)
Yes, I really like the last neighborhood you suggested. We just drove down there today past Waveland Museum and it's really quite nice.
But ... there might be homes in the Rosa Parks area in that price range. There are some smaller options in Palomar that might be around there, and then Harrods Hill and that area on, you know, that side of Wellington heading towards town. In any case, all will be in zip 40513. Seems a bit far from Lexmark, but I'm with you on the value, etc.
... on the Rosa Parks theme, there's a listing on Nutmeg for $239K. A few others; not sure if those in Palomar are single family or what, but it's that "Nutmeg" neighborhood I was talking about : )
I'm showing one on Palmetto Springs in Palomar tomorrow that would fit into that price range. The Glade section of Palomar may be too small for a family. Valencia seems more like detached townhouses to me.
I've got two buyers in that price range, so I am seeing a lot of the houses on the market right now out there.
I think if they get on New Circle, they could be to Lexmark in 20-25 minutes. The OP probably could live about any place in Lex if they were close to a New Circle Road exit.
I have to add one thing sort of semi off topic ... on Sunday we wandered into an open house in Clemens Heights ... I was FLOORED. It was one of the most beautifully put together homes I have ever seen. Way beyond HGTV. I would have never known it from the exterior. It's 179K if anyone is in that price range. (It's on a corner of Twain Ridge and whatever, don't have the address, wonderful, seriously, and of course I'm not a realtor or neighbor or anything - someone nice deserves that house!!).
Thanks for the input, everyone! I guess I should have mentioned that both hubby and I are Lexington natives, so I do have some idea of the areas of town you all are talking about. We've just been gone for long enough (10 yrs) that things have changed quite a bit! Tons of new neighborhoods, developments, and schools that we know nothing about. I've looked at listings online and see so many in the Hamburg and Masterston Station neighborhoods that look really nice - I'm just concerned as to whether they're safe areas or not (especially Masterston Station... it concerns me slightly that Blackburn Correctional is right next to it). It sounds like the schools are a toss-up since they are so new that no one knows whether they would be considered "good" or not.
We're going to take a look into some other areas mentioned as well. I suppose that it's true that as long as we're close to New Circle, the commute to Lexmark shouldn't be TOO bad.
In the meantime, if anyone with kids at Liberty or Sandersville Elem reads this and has any input, it would be much appreciated!
The Lexmark campus is very close to the interstate. You could in theory live in Georgetown near the interstate and be within 20 minutes. Just giving you another option to consider.
Also Hamburg would work too. But don't go to Lexmark using New Circle. It would be easier to hit the interstate and take the Newtown Pike exit for Lexmark.
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