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My husband and I are thing of moving to Louisville this summer for financial reasons. I have elementary school aged children and wanted to put them in a good school. I am unfamiliar with the Louisville area, so I would like some input. We will have to rent a house for a couple of years. We could probably swing around $1100 a month at the most. I need a neighborhood that I could rent in and afford to buy in. I do not want my children to have to change schools again. The houses in the area should be less than $200,000 3 BR/2BA. I would like to be close to restaurants, shops, grocery store. Am i asking too much? LOL!
You will not be able to live in Jefferson County according to the criteria you have laid out. You will need to look in S. Indiana, or Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, or Bullitt Co. KY. There are opportunities in those areas which match your objectives.
You will not be able to live in Jefferson County according to the criteria you have laid out. You will need to look in S. Indiana, or Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, or Bullitt Co. KY. There are opportunities in those areas which match your objectives.
You could definitely live in Jefferson County. Look in the St. Matthews/Lyndon/Middletown area. Most houses here will be in the 220k+ range but there are definitely some there that are less than that. As far as renting goes, you'll just have to search around, but 1100 is definitely do-able. While as a whole, Jefferson County schools are not as good as Oldham Co, there are some quality schools, especially in the east end. Oldham Co. schools are actually going down hill IMO. They can't keep the quality up because of the influx of students. With that said, it is still a good school system.
You could definitely live in Jefferson County. Look in the St. Matthews/Lyndon/Middletown area. Most houses here will be in the 220k+ range but there are definitely some there that are less than that. As far as renting goes, you'll just have to search around, but 1100 is definitely do-able. While as a whole, Jefferson County schools are not as good as Oldham Co, there are some quality schools, especially in the east end. Oldham Co. schools are actually going down hill IMO. They can't keep the quality up because of the influx of students. With that said, it is still a good school system.
mdawg, I make a living as a professional Realtor, please go back and review both the OP and my reply. Then guarantee the OP that her child will always go to the best schools in JC.
It's not hard to maintain high quality schools when the parents are as high quality as the parents typically are who live in OC. When teachers who have students with parents who expect their child to achieve, then teachers get to teach rather than dealing with the discipline issues nearly every JCPS teacher will complain is their biggest detriment to providing all students with a good education.
btw... My associates and I love to sell, and do sell houses in Jefferson County. My agents and associates are just as happy to cash a commission check from a Jefferson County sale as they are to sell home located in Oldham, Henry, Shelby, Fayette, Barren, Warren Counties, S. Indiana or any where else we've sold homes in 2009. I have absolutely no gain to be received by downing JCPS. It actually hurts both financially and socially to be seen as anti-JCPS, and I hate it, but the facts are the facts and people buying a home of any value deserve to know what the issues of buying a particular home are.
Tomocox, while I know you are a professional realtor, telling someone will not be able to live in Jefferson County because they want a house around 200k and good schools is pretty much a lie. What it sounds like you are getting across is that the JCPS system is horrible and therefor anyone with school-aged children who use the public school system shouldn't live in Louisville. As I said before, Oldham Co. as a whole may have better public schools, but Jefferson County has very respectable schools as well. Not everyone wants to live in Oldham Co. Getting into a good school in Jefferson County may be a little more difficult than in Oldham Co., but it can be done.
Thank you for the input. I didn't want to start an argument, but it's nice to know that people are passionate about where they live and can be objective.
Tomocox, while I know you are a professional realtor, telling someone will not be able to live in Jefferson County because they want a house around 200k and good schools is pretty much a lie. What it sounds like you are getting across is that the JCPS system is horrible and therefor anyone with school-aged children who use the public school system shouldn't live in Louisville. As I said before, Oldham Co. as a whole may have better public schools, but Jefferson County has very respectable schools as well. Not everyone wants to live in Oldham Co. Getting into a good school in Jefferson County may be a little more difficult than in Oldham Co., but it can be done.
m... I did not and will not lie to anyone for any reason. To say such a thing is quite insulting to me. JCPS is a horrible school system with a few tremendously bright spots. It is a system controlled by the NEA, the KEA, and quite frankly, the NAACP. I have lived in Crescent Hill, was married to a school teacher, have many friends in the system, and had three children educated during my life time in Jefferson County, and the school assignment plan went from bad to worse. Education of a Jefferson County child is a game of chance. Can your child get into those good schools, or because of luck or circumstance, are they forced to attend one of those high schools other than the three which certainly are great schools? But someone must note that while three schools are considered "outstanding" by every measurement, five high schools are considered to be the worst five in the entire state. Does your child get lucky and get into one of the three? Or are they regulated to suffer the most valuable learning time of their lives in educational hell?
I have been there... I simply say that JCPS will never be a good place to raise a child until teachers can teach rather than discipline 40-50% of class time. There are 100,000 students in Jefferson County. 10% in the top schools... 90% in less.... The three Oldham County High Schools (only 3 in the county) all are considered top 15 in the state, and two of the three are just below the top 100 nationwide.
Please never insult me by calling me a liar again. My license to sell real estate is more than just a yearly payment. We are bound to honest and fair dealings by both law and contract. Besides, as I have said, I love selling Jefferson County homes! The OP simply laid out her criteria that a Jefferson County home can not reliably meet. You will also note that I didn't say only Oldham County.... I just said, not in Jefferson County.
m... I did not and will not lie to anyone for any reason. To say such a thing is quite insulting to me. JCPS is a horrible school system with a few tremendously bright spots. It is a system controlled by the NEA, the KEA, and quite frankly, the NAACP. I have lived in Crescent Hill, was married to a school teacher, have many friends in the system, and had three children educated during my life time in Jefferson County, and the school assignment plan went from bad to worse. Education of a Jefferson County child is a game of chance. Can your child get into those good schools, or because of luck or circumstance, are they forced to attend one of those high schools other than the three which certainly are great schools? But someone must note that while three schools are considered "outstanding" by every measurement, five high schools are considered to be the worst five in the entire state. Does your child get lucky and get into one of the three? Or are they regulated to suffer the most valuable learning time of their lives in educational hell?
I have been there... I simply say that JCPS will never be a good place to raise a child until teachers can teach rather than discipline 40-50% of class time. There are 100,000 students in Jefferson County. 10% in the top schools... 90% in less.... The three Oldham County High Schools (only 3 in the county) all are considered top 15 in the state, and two of the three are just below the top 100 nationwide.
Please never insult me by calling me a liar again. My license to sell real estate is more than just a yearly payment. We are bound to honest and fair dealings by both law and contract. Besides, as I have said, I love selling Jefferson County homes! The OP simply laid out her criteria that a Jefferson County home can not reliably meet. You will also note that I didn't say only Oldham County.... I just said, not in Jefferson County.
All realtors honest!???? Ha! Tom, I am sure you mean well, but there are liars in every profession. I do believe you speak the truth and mean well. However, when you steer poeple away from areas, beware there will be someone like myself and others who disagree. That said, please, no name calling here by anyone!
All Realtors honest!???? Ha! Tom, I am sure you mean well, but there are liars in every profession. I do believe you speak the truth and mean well. However, when you steer people away from areas, beware there will be someone like myself and others who disagree. That said, please, no name calling here by anyone!
STX, I don't think I said all Realtors are honest. You are quite correct, our industry has it's terrible reputation, often deserved, of much less than honest people.
Unfortunately, I will continue to steer people away from JCPS with all due respect to the thousands of earnest teachers, parents, and students. I stand firm in my commitments to see that people on this forum get factual, real, and complete information, whether it be for schools, business, property values, or perceived issues. I have and will continue to point out that I am reporting on "perception" when such a need exists.
People who live in Jefferson County already know the situation with JCPS and can decide for themselves, but people such as the OP, need to have the correct information so they can avoid decisions made with less than complete information.
You will note, I didn't direct the OP to Oldham County, but away from the mess in JCPS. An outsider coming in is particularly vulnerable to being pushed down in the system.
I think it should also be noted that I will be the greatest cheerleader JCPS ever had (similar if not more so that I am for Oldham County) if and when that system is allowed by the courts, by the various political factions, etc to achieve a system-wide renewal of purpose, effect, and results. I want JCPS to start teaching children, not hauling them from one end of the county to another for political reasons. Diversity in education means that somebody's gonna get dumbed down as teachers must unfortunately teach to the middle of the class. Let's start seeing all boats lifted by a tide of re-dedication to our children.
Much of JCPS's problem stems from social dysfunction. Too many unwanted children, too many fathers in jail rather than working and supporting the children they fathered, too much of a drug filled war-zone of living. I recognize that, but it doesn't mean that I must subject my children to those situations when many nearby opportunities allow me to avoid the horrific societal pains and even dangers.
I'll add my 2 cents here. My husband just got a new job in Louisville. We are relocating from CT and initially considered moving to neighborhoods in Jefferson County. From my experience, our realtor was very diplomatic when we asked questions about the schools there. He gave us the heads up about the resides school situation without bashing the entire district. With that info we were able to do our own digging, it wasn't too hard. We have 3 children and coming from a district and a state that put the utmost importance on education, we were looking for schools that were pretty close to being equal. We were told that while you may purchase a home in a neighborhood that has a top performing school it doesn't mean your child will go there. Now, what's the point of spending more money buying a home in a good neighborhood with a good school if your child has to sit on a bus for 45 min or longer (and stop off at a bus depot to change buses - I mean are you kidding me!?) to go to school at a poorly performing school? How does busing kids around foster a sense of community? Are parents driving 40 min across town to attend PTA meetings? This system that Jefferson County is currently using is a disservice to the children it is supposed to serve. In my opinion, you don't help the poorly performing schools by sending kids from more affluent areas to them. You help the poorly performing schools by focusing specifically on their needs. It appears to me that what Jefferson County is really doing is lowering the bar for all and that helps no one. After speaking with people who live in Jefferson County and getting a first hand description of the educational system, buying a home in Louisville was out of the question. We were not willing to gamble with out kids education. All you have to do is go to one of the many websites that have school rankings to see that very few Jefferson County schools score adequately. Now having said that, there were schools in Oldham County that we tried to steer away from as well but not many. And even the ones that had mediocre scores way outscored most in Jefferson. I think that unless Jefferson County does something to address this issue they will lose people to OC, especially people who are relocating and have never had to deal with their children not attending their neighborhood schools or being bused to school - which would be slightly more tolerable if the schools they were being bused to weren't underachieving.
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