Valley Station, Kentucky (Louisville, Shively, Bardstown: low income, apartment, house)

[Off Topic]

Originally Posted by Artman

Off Topic, could I get you to elaborate a little on what you mean by it's a rough area? My wife read your post and now she's panicking about the area.

Keep in mind I live in the more upscale, some even say snooty, area of town. So keep my admitted bias in mind. I do have cousins who live in Valley Station, however, and I'm there once or twice a month.

It's a blue collar area, as previously said. There is obviously nothing wrong with that. It's very mixed with residential and commercial - a little too close for my comfort.

I hate using a stereotype like red-neck. But that is how that area is perceived - correctly or incorrectly - by people in other areas. There is nothing like gang activity there and I certainly would not be afraid to walk the streets at night. Nothing like that.

I apologize to anyone I've insulted; there are a ton of nice people in that area. But I feel like these forums are useless unless we all give our honest opinions.

I agree with tomocox that this area is sitting on the edge and could go either way. My gut is that it's going to go down before it goes up, but I certainly could be wrong.

You can read a little more about the area here:

Valley Station News - Topix

Valley Station, Louisville - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Courier-Journal.com: Places in Time (broken link)

[ocheewah]

Valley Station is very much a blue-collar area that has seen some pockets of nice new development over the past few years. It carries a reputation as sort of a rough and tumble good-ole-boy place to live but that is also changing somewhat as nicer restaurants, theaters, etc. have moved in that direction. High schools - I would rather live in PRP's district than Valley High's. Middle school - I would consider applying to Johnson Traditional instead of Stuart, Farnsley, or Frost out in that area. Don't know anything about the elementaries out that way. I've had family out in that area who wouldn't live anywhere else. They like the convenience of being close to downtown and the river. With the Freeway and Greenbelt, it is not nearly as far from everything as it used to seem.

[Artman]

Thank you to everyone for your input and the links provided. Best to you all!

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by ocheewah

Valley Station is very much a blue-collar area that has seen some pockets of nice new development over the past few years. It carries a reputation as sort of a rough and tumble good-ole-boy place to live but that is also changing somewhat as nicer restaurants, theaters, etc. have moved in that direction. High schools - I would rather live in PRP's district than Valley High's. Middle school - I would consider applying to Johnson Traditional instead of Stuart, Farnsley, or Frost out in that area. Don't know anything about the elementaries out that way. I've had family out in that area who wouldn't live anywhere else. They like the convenience of being close to downtown and the river. With the Freeway and Greenbelt, it is not nearly as far from everything as it used to seem.

I also agree that the best public schools are traditional and you have to apply to those. All three of my kids are in traditional. I think that Valley station kids go to Carter for elementary but I am not to awful sure. My kids go to Shaffner and Johnson. They will go to high school at Butler.

[Nmissi]

I live on Torrington in Valley Station, and for anyone who is considering a move here- it's a lovely, quiet street, in a very mild neighborhood. Lots of young families with children.

The worst part of the neighborhood is, unfortunately, the end I live at- there are apartments around the corner. At one time, they were well-kept, but the owner passed away and now they're managed by someone who lives out of the area. The maintenance has become slipshod, so the apartment buildings are ugly. But the apt residents seem like nice folks, just very young or very poor. The rest of the neighborhood is houses built in the fifties. Overall, it's pretty well kept, and the neighbors are nice.

My grandparents built this house in 1951, and I moved into it in 1997. I would think nothing of walking these streets at 3 am if I had to. It is a safe environment. The most you'll have to worry about is nosey neighbors, probably- people are awfully friendly/chatty.

[K. Dunn]

Ca family here, got two girls myself ages 5 & 9. Your right there isn't a lot of info out there on the west side, but overall I just kept hearing "Go East Young Man!". Honestly, eastern Jefferson County as you get closer to Prospect and all of Oldham County would be better for both schools, quality of neighborhoods, and plain safer. Outer Suburbs in Shelby and Bullit County have nice areas too! Check out La Grange, Goshen, or Crestwood if you can. Were coming from one of those "safest cities in the USA", here in Thousand Oaks, that is a big one for us too, and should be for any family, if you have the choice. Good luck.

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by K. Dunn

Ca family here, got two girls myself ages 5 & 9. Your right there isn't a lot of info out there on the west side, but overall I just kept hearing "Go East Young Man!". Honestly, eastern Jefferson County as you get closer to Prospect and all of Oldham County would be better for both schools, quality of neighborhoods, and plain safer. Outer Suburbs in Shelby and Bullit County have nice areas too! Check out La Grange, Goshen, or Crestwood if you can. Were coming from one of those "safest cities in the USA", here in Thousand Oaks, that is a big one for us too, and should be for any family, if you have the choice. Good luck.

Those areas it would be pretty darn hard to find an apartment in that price range I would think. Valley Station is no Crestwood, but it is full of nice, friendly folks, affordable living and is near the Gene Snyder expressway. There are also some beautiful areas and close to Otter Creek Park andRiverside-Farnsley Mormon. It is also very safe, you don't hear much about this part of town. Another area to consider is Pleasure Ridge Park nearby there. It burns my butt when people keep directing people away from here because the east end is the "holy grail". Y'all don't know what you are missing!

[Nmissi]

Originally Posted by missymomof3

Those areas it would be pretty darn hard to find an apartment in that price range I would think. Valley Station is no Crestwood, but it is full of nice, friendly folks, affordable living and is near the Gene Snyder expressway. There are also some beautiful areas and close to Otter Creek Park andRiverside-Farnsley Mormon. It is also very safe, you don't hear much about this part of town. Another area to consider is Pleasure Ridge Park nearby there. It burns my butt when people keep directing people away from here because the east end is the "holy grail". Y'all don't know what you are missing!

I'll show my south-end prejudices here: I loathe going to the east end. Absolutely dread it, try to avoid it unless I absolutely have to go (for a Dr's appt, to find something I can't find at J-mall, etc.) The traffic is dreadful, and a lot of the areas have taken on the typical suburban sprawl appearance. I used to work out on Shelbyville and Hurstbourne, and it was so... blah. It looked like every other city I've ever been to, not much character. Now, that does not apply to the old neighborhoods...Cherokee Triangle, the Highlands, Bardstown road, etc... mainly to Westport Road, Shelbyville Rd, etc. There are so many strip malls and Mcmansions popping up out there that it looks like suburban Atlanta, suburban Orlando, suburban Washington... and a lot of folks living out there aren't locals, but imports- and sometimes, they're not very friendly. Typically, people who've lived here a long time smile readily and are conversational; the imports are sometimes more hesitant and standoffish.

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by Nmissi

I'll show my south-end prejudices here: I loathe going to the east end. Absolutely dread it, try to avoid it unless I absolutely have to go (for a Dr's appt, to find something I can't find at J-mall, etc.) The traffic is dreadful, and a lot of the areas have taken on the typical suburban sprawl appearance. I used to work out on Shelbyville and Hurstbourne, and it was so... blah. It looked like every other city I've ever been to, not much character. Now, that does not apply to the old neighborhoods...Cherokee Triangle, the Highlands, Bardstown road, etc... mainly to Westport Road, Shelbyville Rd, etc. There are so many strip malls and Mcmansions popping up out there that it looks like suburban Atlanta, suburban Orlando, suburban Washington... and a lot of folks living out there aren't locals, but imports- and sometimes, they're not very friendly. Typically, people who've lived here a long time smile readily and are conversational; the imports are sometimes more hesitant and standoffish.

Ok, I'll admit.... I feel the same way. There is no way I could live out there. The traffic is horrible, the drivers are rude and it just feels so, I dunno, crowded. The FAR East end, However is fine. My father in law lives off Brownsboro Rd past Seminary drive and it's quiet and wooded. He and his wife have a creek and woods that run through their back yard! Other than that, no thank you!

[JefferyT]

Wow, Valley Station gets its very own thread!

With the usual East End stereotypes, too (though "future ghetto" is a new one for me)!

Torrington. I had a high school chum who lived on Torrington. It's in that Deering Road area, which seems to be getting quite a bit of new development. Torrington itself is mostly ranches and split levels. Generic suburban housing. Perfectly safe.

The redneck reputation is interesting and I wonder where it came from?

From what I recall from Valley Station the people who lived near us were from the City of Louisville, military from Ft Knox (active duty and retired), or transplants from out of town (like us), and country people who came to Lou to work in the factories after the war.

Maybe the country people is what gave the area the rep (but they lived in other parts of Louisville).

Maybe it was that there was a lot of blue collar workers there, thus it didnt have the snob appeal of the East End (does this demonstrate a real elitist attitude, that blue collar workers are somehow "rough"..ie violent or not law-abiding?)

Anyway, that was the rep, and it looks like it still holds.

My famliy has lived there since 1971, and Valley Station was 'uncool' (as was the entire Southwest County) when we first moved there, so this redneck/undesirable reputation is a long term thing.

Valley Station, the part I lived in, was very economically diverse at that time, and it depended on what subdivision you lived in, really.

The place ranged from white collar professionals and managmeent to the lower end of the working class. That was the range of kids I went to school with.

The place probably has become weighted more to the upper middle class end a bit , after I left, with those new subdivisions that opened after the Gene Synder went in. It used to be just Windsor Forest or a mini-farm out in knobs, out Blevins Gap, for the more well-to-do, but there are more options now.

I tend to agree about the East End. That was were the shopping was, but the place is just way to sprawly & congested nowadays (Anchorage and Pewee Valley are nice, though).

If I'd move back, and lived outside the city, a place out in hills like on Bearcamp, Blevins Gap, or Scotts Gap would suit me fine.