Work in Richmond, live in Lexington? (Berea, London: rentals, house, living in)

[bc531]

Hi all,

My husband accepted an assistant professor position at EKU last week, so we will be moving to the area in August. We are in our late 20s, newlyweds, no children yet. We are looking to rent a 3/2 house and are debating on Richmond versus Lexington.

Would the commute from south Lexington to Richmond be tolerable? We live in Orlando now and are used to horrendous traffic. I presume I will be working in Lexington (no job yet), so one of us will have to commute. I've seen a lot of posts mentioning Hamburg as a nice (but congested?) area. Are there any other zips in south Lexington worth looking into? We're willing to pay up to $1500 or so in rent and are living in the suburbs of Orlando right now, so we're OK with suburbia.

The other option is living in Richmond, but we like to be close to shopping, activity, nightlife, etc., so I assume Lexington has more of that to offer since it's bigger.

I've never been to Kentucky, and my husband was there for all of two days for his interview, so we are clueless. Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

[ttyl1979]

Here's what I think you should do. Live in Lexington in the Hamburg Area. Lots of shopping, restaurants, etc. It's exit 108 in Lexington. Richmond is exit 87. You can be on the interstate in minutes. It takes about 18 minutes to get to EKU from exit 108 (Hamburg). EKU is right off I-75 and so is Hamburg.

It would be an easy commute. You could also live in Richmond, but for your age and wanting to be out and about. I think Lexington would serve you better. Orlando is great, I worked at Disney for a summer and loved it. Lexington traffic is nothing compared to Orlando. What I have noticed about Lexington, is if you live in Hamburg, you love it. If you don't, you think it's a nightmare. It's the roads leading into it, like Man O War that will wear you out about 4:30. If you live in Hamburg that won't affect you. It is the closest area of town to Richmond. I wouldn't go any further west, it would be a nightmare getting to the interstate. There really isn't anything south until you get to Richmond.

As for renting prices. You could get a 3 bedroom, 2 bath in Lexington Hamburg area for about 850-950. Try Timber Creek area, or Gleneagles. Both are right off the interstate. If you pick Richmond you could get something cheaper than that, but it won't be as nice (the area) as Hamburg.

You can go to www.lbar.com and search rentals. Look for the Hamburg area, 40509.

[bc531]

Thank you! That was exactly what I had in mind, so you helped confirm that. I'll check out that site for rentals; there seem to be a lot in the Hamburg area -- very reasonable prices as well (compared to Orlando, that is). Thanks again.

[Wing Feathers]

Why not live in Richmond, or Berea?

[bc531]

That's the other option, but I will probably be working in Lexington, so one of us is going to have to commute. We are used to living in a big city and think Lexington would offer more to do outside of work than the other options. Admittedly, I have never been to the area, so maybe there is plenty to do in Richmond/Berea, but from what I've read, Lexington sounds like it better aligns with our interests.

[LEXpert]

For $1500 you can get a pretty nice house near Hamburg. I guess the decision is to live where you work, and commute for everything else, or live by everything else and commute to work

[InLondon]

Richmond actually has a decent amount of shopping. The new Richmond Centre is still being developed. New stores that just opened there include TJ Maxx, Belk, JC Penney, there's also a new Kohl's on the northside of town.

http://www.shoprichmondcentre.com

[bc531]

LEXpert, you are right. Our inclination is to live by everything else and have a bit of a commute, especially since I'll probably be working in Lexington.

InLondon, thanks for that link -- it's nice to see what's going on in Richmond.

[tibor75]

Originally Posted by InLondon

Richmond actually has a decent amount of shopping. The new Richmond Centre is still being developed. New stores that just opened there include TJ Maxx, Belk, JC Penney, there's also a new Kohl's on the northside of town.

http://www.shoprichmondcentre.com

TJ Maxx, Penny, and Kohl's constitutes "decent" shopping? I guess if you live in a town of 5000 people it would. Not for somebody coming from Orlando or any other real city.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by tibor75

TJ Maxx, Penny, and Kohl's constitutes "decent" shopping? I guess if you live in a town of 5000 people it would. Not for somebody coming from Orlando or any other real city.

Yes, it's decent maybe not great but sufficient. You do know what decent means right? Those type of stores also exist in Orlando if you're not aware of it. Not sure what the attitude is all about. Gasp, even in large metro areas, people go to TJ Maxx!