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My boyfriend and I are looking at several locations to relocate to from upstate NY. We need a change in scenery! We have been pretty set on Asheville, NC but Louisville has been catching my attention. It is a little bigger than what I'm used to, but it seems like it's really turned around in the last few years and turned into a progressive, interesting city. In respects to the request by some posters, I will follow the outline for posting about moving to this area:
-Where you are working: I'm a massage therapist, he works from home.
-How much you are willing to spend on housing: We would like to keep rent in the $800-$1000 range. 2bdr.
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate: Up to 40 mins.
-If you have kids: Private school or public school? No kids! (yet)
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight?: How about all? I like small town, but also like city variety. We are very adaptable and adventurous!
-Community amenities important to you: WATER. The boyfriend kayaks and I love to swim in natural settings.
-Pie or cake? Pake.
Alright, so that's the basics. Honestly I just want to hear from people whether they have relocated or have strong roots in the area. What is life like? How are the people? How is the music (I'm a part-time musical performer and may want to break out on the scene someday)? How is the nightlife? How is the OUTDOOR life (I love hiking, biking, nature, nature, nature)?
How is the OUTDOOR life (I love hiking, biking, nature, nature, nature)?
I lived in Louisville for many years and visit for three day weekends at least once a month, sometimes more.
I will talk to the nature thing.
Louisville is a great place for hiking. One of the things I do there is go hiking. I hike the Jefferson Memorial Forest, which is a wonderful hiking spot...rugged hill country/forest trails with little lakes (man made) stuck in the woods, and great views in spots over the valley and flatlands and to the distant ridgelines of Indiana. Beautiful.
The Jefferson Memorial Forest is part of a belt of hills called The Knobs.
One of the outriders, which used to be called Burnt Knob, is now a beloved city park, Iroquois Park, which is right in the city and connected to downtown via a parkway or boulevard. You also have excellent hiking here, and the views across the city and surrounding countryside is unparallaled.
This hill country crosses the Ohio at Louisville, where it becomes known as Floyds Knobs or the Indiana Knobs. A bit further north, part of the Indiana Knobs, is Clark State Forest which has extensive backpacking trails.
South of Louisville, also in the Knobs, is Bernheim Forest, which has extensive backcountry trails but also some nice landscaped "English Garden" type areas in the lower parts.
People will also tell you about Cherokee Park and the new park they are developing along the Floyds Fork of the Salt River. Cherokee is nice, again a forest in the heart of the city with some walking trails. I'm not familiar enough with those, or Floyds Fork, to comment.
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On edit, if you want to do a group hike there is a guided group hike on (usually) trails of the Jefferson Memorial Forest...the group meets at the visitors center on, I think, the last Saturday of the month.
If you like to do trail cycling, Waverly Park has a good mountain bike trail set- up. I know this park well as I used to live near it (and even camped in it, off trail, when i was a kid). Even if you dont mountain bike it's a nice place for a quick morning or afternoon hike.
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Cycling. I recently took up cycling and cyle quite a bit here in Ohio...both urban, suburba, country road, and bike path cycling, for pleasure and for errands.
From my POV, Louisville has a developing hipster urban cyclist scene (the scene thats' featured in Momentum or Bicycle Times magazine), but I find the bike trail system is somewhat underdeveloped. They are trying for a loop around the city, but it is incomplete and not all on dedidicated right-of-way. Then there are the usual striped bike lanes on streets that you find everywhere.
I personally would not feel safe cycling in suburban Louisville...and I say that as a suburbanite cyclist. The city maybe moreso, since there are side-street options.
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Water. Kayaking. Hmm....Floyds Fork? Blue River in Indiana? I'll let others answer that. There used to be canoing on the Blue River in Milltown Indiana, west of the city.
When i was young my familyl would go out swimming quite a bit...mostly to Rough River (a popular weekend getaway spot back in the day), but the lakes here are Corps of Engineers resevoirs, not the natural lakes like Chatauqua Lake or the Finger Lakes. A very different scene than what you are used to if you are from upstate.
Last edited by Dayton Sux; 03-14-2013 at 12:19 PM..
I've recommended it before and I'll do it again. I'm going to recommend New Albany, IN for you. It's a solid part of the Louisville metro and only 10-15 minutes from downtown, but feels more like a separate small town than a suburb. At least the downtown portion. There are parts of New Albany that are definitely more suburban. Schools are good, but won't matter much for you. There are several great restaurants and lots of historic old buildings in New Albany itself and many more in Louisville. There aren't many quality apartment complexes in the town, but you may be able to rent a house in your range and I would recommend getting one near downtown if possible for the experience. But for apartments:
The people in the metro are nice. Many lifers, but also several younger people helping to revitalize various areas and there are meetup and social groups that can help get you integrated. Life is a little slower paced but the area offers a lot of opportunities for a motivated person to find things to do. The music scene is actually really good and there are several local groups. Zanzabar and Headliners Music Hall host a lot of these smaller concerts. You have things like the Forecastle festival and Abbey Road on the River that happen as well and larger events like Bruno Mars, Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga, etc that come to the Yum! Center. The fairgrounds seem to host more country type artists. Nightlife offers lots of bars and restaurants in addition to the music. There are some club atmosphere type places, but I'm not as familiar with those.
Outdoor life is fantastic. You can easily get a kayak in the Ohio River right from downtown New Albany. People also jump in there and swim on special occasions, but it's not something I would recommend. Louisville has a Hike, Bike, and Paddle event hosted by the mayor and several running events. The Louisville Loop bicycle trail is still under construction, but has large portions done. Same for the Ohio River Greenway which when finished with run from New Albany around to Jeffersonville and will connect with the mile long pedestrian walkway on the old rail bridge over the river and into Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville. There are several caves in the area that offer tours and/or more serious caving. Mammoth isn't that far away. Parks in the city are good, the Jefferson forest offers some good trails with hills, there are other more rugged areas nearby in Indiana. Deam Lake is close by for swimming in a natural setting and Patoka Lake is a little farther out, but would be good for a day trip. There is also hiking around Patoka and a couple hidden spots along the way.
Since you asked about backgrounds, I'm from a more rural part of southern Indiana about an hour from Louisville. Lived in Indy and Columbus, OH for about 10 years all together before moving back this way. Spent a year in Old Louisville then bought a place up the hill from New Albany. Loved Indy's downtown and a few things about Columbus, but overall Louisville has been my favorite so far.
Oh yeah, Louisville has a great art scene and if you are a hiker, nature lover you will fall in Love with Louisville and the state of Kentucky. Louisville has some of the most gorgeous
Parks, hiking trails, I think you would really like it probably. I love Iroquois Park, Cherokee Park, Jeff Memorial forest and Bernheim forest was always a favorite too.Tom Wallace Park is a nice little park (or it was, been awhile since I've lived in Louisville.) Nearby, there are Taylorsville Lake, and Rough River.
Great feedback above. Being 3 times larger than Asheville, Louisville offers many more amenities, but does not feel like a "big city." New Albany is a good option, as they have a quaint little downtown. However, all the real action is on the Ky side of things.
Given your interests, the Highlands, Clifton, or Crescent Hill would be great for you.
This website is a way to connect with locals before you even come:
The neighborhoods profiled there are also great places to look, although Portland is still quite rough in parts, the rest of the areas are very hip, progressive, and artsy.
IMO, Louisville is superior to Asheville, yet for some reason, it is less well known nationally. And for the locals, that is just fine with them.
There are lots of other great links I can provide, including to some of the area music and alt weekly magazines, as well as links to restaurant sites; Louisville is easily a top 20 foodie city.
There are TONS of spots to look. Most of the cool housing in Louisville is on craigslist, or you have to drive around and call for rent signs. Sites like apartments.com will only lead you to cheesy, typical suburban complexes.
That said, there is one new complex I can vouch for:
It is priced at the higher end of your wish list, but it is drawing lots of young couples, and I am guessing you may be able to talk them into a 2 bedroom for 1000-1050 per month. IMO well worth the price to have all the amenities in one of America's most beautiful waterfront parks, next to a pedestrian bridge, and right next to a big canoe and kayak area in the Ohio River (UofL has a spot they launch from there).
Same for the Ohio River Greenway which when finished with run from New Albany around to Jeffersonville and will connect with the mile long pedestrian walkway on the old rail bridge over the river and into Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville.
Wow...didnt know about this! This will be GREAT when its done. The Indiana side of the river @ the Falls of the Ohio/Silver Creek is pretty scenic.
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Deam Lake is close by for swimming in a natural setting and Patoka Lake is a little farther out, but would be good for a day trip. There is also hiking around Patoka and a couple hidden spots along the way.
I remember Deam Lake...it had a nice beach. Re Patoka Lake and vicinity. This is near the Hoosier National Forest, which has hiking, too (260 miles of trails, it says)....the southern and middle sections are very easy to get to from Louisville.
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Tom Wallace Park is a nice little park (or it was, been awhile since I've lived in Louisville.)
It still is...I second this recommendation! Its in the Jefferson Memorial Forest, and you can work a visit to this gem as part of a hiking trip.
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Music scene. I used to be (and still somewhat am) a follower of local music where I live now, and have also went to a few venues in Louisville. The scene in Louisville is sort of spread out around the east and central parts of the city...there isnt one street or district that has the big concentration of venues.
If you come to Louisville you should visit Ruyard Kipkling (aka "The Mother Lodge") as its sort of a key venue in the local music scene. The above mentioned Zanzibar has a sort of intimate stage set up since its more a restaurant bar/with stage in back, but its actually a pretty good room to be in since if you stand in front you are pretty close to the peformers.
Id search around on the net for open mike nights, etc.
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Other stuff. I'm dont live in Louisville anymore and what I do in town is more with family, but I will say there is a great local festival culture in the city, with street fairs, art fairs, etc happening in the better months. I usually try to visit these when Im in town, and actually book visits around them.
There is also an impressive local coffeehouse scene going on...you will actually find more of this happening than in some larger cities. These are places that serve latte, cappucino, etc, with baked goods, etc. You know the scene. Louisville has really embraced coffee culture, quality is high, and coffee shops abound. I really lilke these as a place to crash after walking around the city, to write, to relax, as an alternative to bars. An apparently others do too because sometimes its tough to find a seat!
My favorites of this scene are Days (which I go to for a spoken word event every month), Quills (for the coffee. Quills makes the best imo.... The atmosphere is a bit zen/hushed...maybe ok if I am writing), and Sunergos & Sister Bean (Sister Bean since its right across from Iroqouis Park so you can get some coffee and something to eat after a hike).
I have put this opinion here before, but in other threads . . . My SO and I did the research and spent lots of time and money before our decision to come to Louisville. It does nothing the best, but more of everything, well. Makes perfect sense huh ? As for Asheville, it was very hip and cool, but too small, autocentric and employmentally challenged and youth oriented for us as older, professional hippies might be able live comfortably in, longterm. Asheville is where you spend vacations as a college student, Louisville is where you come to settle as a big people As I look at my little sphere of reality, anything I require is within walking distance. I can birdwatch in the Beargrass Preserve by the zoo, run through gorgeous Cherokee park then walk up to Bardstown road for any type of food I want or shop from local, non-chain merchants. As a dedicated bicycle commuter, I can ride to the waterfront or anywhere else in the city within 20 minutes. Ive lived or spent time in every state on the east coast and nowhere has had the wide envelope of good stuff I enjoy here. As selfish as it seems, I sort of hope the 'Ville stays a secret because after lving in all the places I have, when the 'secret' gets out, everyone feels a need to 'improve' or add 'convenience' and then you're back in Jersey . . . . But, I digress, I really cant see anyone going too far wrong in a move here.
The type of people you meet here will vary greatly depending on what part of town you're in. I prefer the highlands, clifton,crescent hill or east market district (i refuse to say nulu lol), probably because i'm a liberal, artsy, foodie musician with no kids. others who raise families might prefer other options, but in my opinion the only reason to come to louisville is because of it's urban core which is very unique. similar suburbia can be found just about anywhere in the u.s. but an area like the highlands is something I have not seen in any other city I've been to. the great thing about living in the areas i've mentioned is having great amenities rivaling a much bigger city while not having to deal with all of the negative aspects of big city life.cherokee park is a gem right in the middle of the coolest neighborhood in town. the food scene is incredible and has been voted top five nationally. as I said, i've been a musician in this town for 20 yrs. and will tell you that the scene here is good. plenty of venues for original or cover bands, and a wide variety of styles of music.
now for the bad.
First of all, the weather is quite depressing at times. weeks on end of no sun and rain. we are one of the worst places in america for seasonal allergies, and while that might sound trivial, it really affects tons of people here on a daily basis, myself included.as I said before, depending on what part of town you are in, there are a lot of trashy redneck types here and the city has been known for being kind of insular.
all in all I think louisville Is a great city for me Inside the watterson expressway and east of I-65. I don't think I would be happy living anywhere else In the state.
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-Nat
