Questions about Louisville (I'm from Houston, TX) (Owensboro, Covington: fit in, crime)
Louisville areaJefferson County
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Hi everyone I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me about the Louisville area. I am originally from Houston, Texas and I'm a single mother in my 30's currently in Nursing School. Once I graduate I am considering working at the VA Hospital in Louisville. I'm a veteran so I think I will have a good chance at getting a job. I don't know if any of ya'll are from the Houston area or Texas, but if so which state do you like better? I have no family in Kentucky and I don't really have family in Texas anymore either. I am looking for a fresh start I guess. I have read that Louisville is grey and gloomy? Is this true? I do like sunshine, but I can't stand this Texas heat anymore. This summer has been brutal! I want to live in a very safe area for my son. I can afford 110-200k for a house. What are some good private schools in the area? We are christian and when I did a google search they were mostly Catholic Schools? Does anyone know any good christian churches? How is the commute? I would like to live fairly close to work and my son's future school. Also, I really hate tornadoes....are they a common thing in the Louisville area? I'm very down to earth and hardworking. Some people have told me that people in Louisville are snobbish and if I don't have a lot of money I won't fit in? If anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks!
Hi everyone I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me about the Louisville area. I am originally from Houston, Texas and I'm a single mother in my 30's currently in Nursing School. Once I graduate I am considering working at the VA Hospital in Louisville. I'm a veteran so I think I will have a good chance at getting a job. I don't know if any of ya'll are from the Houston area or Texas, but if so which state do you like better? I have no family in Kentucky and I don't really have family in Texas anymore either. I am looking for a fresh start I guess. I have read that Louisville is grey and gloomy? Is this true? I do like sunshine, but I can't stand this Texas heat anymore. This summer has been brutal! I want to live in a very safe area for my son. I can afford 110-200k for a house. What are some good private schools in the area? We are christian and when I did a google search they were mostly Catholic Schools? Does anyone know any good christian churches? How is the commute? I would like to live fairly close to work and my son's future school. Also, I really hate tornadoes....are they a common thing in the Louisville area? I'm very down to earth and hardworking. Some people have told me that people in Louisville are snobbish and if I don't have a lot of money I won't fit in? If anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks!
I've been to Houston before, and I would have to say that I like Louisville better. A lot of the rumors you posted are not true. Louisville is like any other big city, hit or miss. Some areas are great, others crime ridden. I've lived in Northeast, Central, and Southwest (current) Louisville and haven't had issues anywhere. The weather is definitely not grey and gloomy. It is unpredictable. A few years ago we had a snow storm, heat wave, and tornado storm all in one week (during march). One year we may not see snow but 2-3 days in the winter, and then there are some, like this past winter, where it seemed that snow and cold never went away. As for temperatures, a lot of locals joke around saying that it is either summer or winter here, no fall, no spring, and that the season can change in 1 day. We have our share of nicer fall/spring days, but again it's really unpredictable. For example, last week it was cool and rainy, then all the sudden it got hot and humid, and it has cooled down today. For the most part it's very humid during the summer, and the spring time is really bad for allergies since we're located in a valley (one of the worst allergy cities in the country). Weather wise, you just have to expect the unexpected. Tornadoes are not very common. We have yearly watches/warnings but most of the time, if they touch down, it's in surroundings cities, especially in Indiana just over the river. It's not unknown for them to touch down in Louisville, but nothing I would worry about.
There are plenty of private schools in the area. The public school system also has a traditional program you can use if you apply your son to get in. They are college prep schools, but in most cases you must be in the program before high school in order to go to one of the better high schools. St. Xavier and Trinity (high schools) are the 2 private schools that everyone raves about around here. DeSales and Holy Cross are 2 of the bigger South End private high schools. I honestly don't know much about lower levels of private schools. I went through the traditional program in the public school system.
There are also plenty of big christian churches around here. I think one of the most well known is Southeast Christian Church over in the east end. The commute is all dependent on where you live and work. I personally only drive 15minutes to work, but I also work third shift so I have the luxury of empty roads. We indeed have a rush hour, and the east end generally stays pretty busy. You don't need a lot of money to fit in here. Again it's like any other bigger city. You have the rich and snobby and the ones who live paycheck to paycheck, but there are great people all around. I'm not rich by any means, but I definitely don't have trouble fitting in. I've meet a lot of people by just hanging out in the Highlands area. There are a lot of people always willing to help me and vice versa. It's all about just finding good friends, like anywhere.
110k-200k is a broad budget, but you can definitely find something here in that range. You'll get more house for your money if you shop in the South end, but the east end has a much better reputation, and that's also where most of the private schools are. Fern Creek is a pretty good area. It's in the East end near the Southern edge of the city, houses are fair priced, and everything you need such as grocery, restaurants, etc are all right there. It's not necessarily "close" to everything else, but it makes for a pretty even commute to all areas of town. It's a busy area, but I spend a lot of time there since I have friends, family, and favorite restaurants over there. My brother bought a single story 3bedroom home in that area for 120k.
Hope this helps. All in all, it's not a bad place to be. We're within a few hours of Cinci, Indianapolis, and Nashville (3ish hours) too so you can always go on short weekend trips just for a temporary different surrounding. If you like going to the lake, there are also tons, the closest being about half an hour outside of the city.
Hi everyone I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me about the Louisville area. I am originally from Houston, Texas and I'm a single mother in my 30's currently in Nursing School. Once I graduate I am considering working at the VA Hospital in Louisville. I'm a veteran so I think I will have a good chance at getting a job. I don't know if any of ya'll are from the Houston area or Texas, but if so which state do you like better? I have no family in Kentucky and I don't really have family in Texas anymore either. I am looking for a fresh start I guess. I have read that Louisville is grey and gloomy? Is this true? I do like sunshine, but I can't stand this Texas heat anymore. This summer has been brutal! I want to live in a very safe area for my son. I can afford 110-200k for a house. What are some good private schools in the area? We are christian and when I did a google search they were mostly Catholic Schools? Does anyone know any good christian churches? How is the commute? I would like to live fairly close to work and my son's future school. Also, I really hate tornadoes....are they a common thing in the Louisville area? I'm very down to earth and hardworking. Some people have told me that people in Louisville are snobbish and if I don't have a lot of money I won't fit in? If anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks!
You'll find Kentucky an ecclectic and interesting mix. Christian churches? yes plenty, it's on the northern tier of the bible belt so you should be able to find good churches, I'm already researching a few in the Louisville area myself.
Kentucky is the south but it's the upland southern region, right on the border of the lower midwest and Louisville and also Covington Ky is pretty much right on it's northern border, the northernmost southern cities. Kentucky summers can be brutal and quite hot and humid as well, some years worse than others, but usually June, July, August and the first few weeks of Sept are pretty dern hot. It probably cools down a bit more at night in July and August than Houston normally would, and maybe the suns not quite as intense but I lived in Central Florida and I can tell you, at least in western Kentucky, their were some July and August days that were every bit as hot in Ky as Florida. At least in Florida, the air moves with the sea breeze during the day, in Ky, humidity and heat can just drip off of the walls practically. Plus allergies are awful in Kentucky...it's just the truth. There's lot's of Poplar, Oak, Sycamore, not to mention ragweed, Johnson grass ( Fescu ) and also all of the Tobacco, Corn and soybeans....it really gits yah if your an allergy sufferer...even in the cities like Louisville.
Winters are going to be very different for you. Kentucky is right on the cusp of the humid subtropical to temperate climate zones so that means the whole state is subceptable to not only humid Gulf coastal air from further down south, but also Canadian and sub-arctic cold fronts that can dip down out of the midwest. They have a tendency to kinda lose a bit of their steam by the time they get to the Ohio river, however daytime temps from Dec to February in the mid to upper 20's are common, sometimes colder, with nighttime temps in the single digits to "0" or below easily. Nighttime temps with a windchill factor of -15 would not be unheard of around Christmas through Jan/Feb. Generally colder than that for any long period of time in winter would be considered pretty harsh winter weather even by Kentucky standards, but I have seen -25 below around midnight with the wind blowing. I've also seen where one week it's single digits and below at night with daytime highs in the teens and 20's only to have temps the following week climbing up into the upper 40's, so it can vary, depends on the year. I would say, however, that generally the winter days and nights in Louisville and throughout Kentucky will be noticably gloomier then Texas with less sunshine and alot more cloudyness, without a doubt. Snowfall varies from winter to winter to some winters having hardly any snow at all to some winters having snow on the ground the whole month of January or more. I'd say the worse is ice storms, they can really wreak havoc on Kentucky during winter, Louisville as well. Generally more than a foot is a big snow for the Louisville area. In NE Kentucky in the mountains they'll get more but nothing like the gargantuan amounts of snow that you'd see at points further north of the Ohio river.
My family in western Kentucky always says: "Watch out for January in Kentucky cause that's when you get all of the nasty ole "0" weather" It's true, that's the coldest month.
Louisville I think keeps the roads inside of the city pretty clear of snow, get out into the rural areas with the hills and hollows, curvy roads with high or no shoulders, you need to be careful driving in winter there.
Louisville and Kentucky also receives quite a bit of severe weather in the Spring and summer. One May and June I was up there and I don't think their was a span of more than 2 days at a given time during the whole month of June at least that their wasn't severe t-storm watches or warning or something somewhere in the area LOL
Last edited by EricOldTime; 07-28-2014 at 02:48 PM..
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Weather - There would be more cloudy days than Houston but most days have mostly sunny conditions at least once a day. Late winter is the cloudiest. Louisville isn't in the main tornado alley but they do occur sometimes. Most are small and brief, no worse than a thunderstorm wind gust. Bad outbreaks hit the region on average once every 20 years, the last as March 2, 2012. An EF4 hit about 20 miles north of downtown in Southern Indiana. But tornadoes hit a very small land area. My in laws lived just out of the path of the bad EF4 in 2012 and their homes were untouched. You should worry more about losing power in a thunderstorm or replacing a roof from a hail storm, as that is far more likely
Outside the most affluent areas of the East End (Prospect, Springhurst, right in Anchorage and St Matthews) no one in the metro area would care how much money you make. Most outsiders complain that Louisville is TOO blue collar and too religious.
There are a wide variety of private and public schools across the metro. There is a large catholic school system but also other Christian public schools. Public schools are all over the map, from great to bad. The most consistently good school districts are Oldham Co in KY and Floyd Central and Silver Creek in Indiana
I come from the Calvary Chapel evangelical church group. They have a location out in Audubon Park near Louisville close to the airport, called: "Calvary Chapel Louisville"
I've been to Houston before, and I would have to say that I like Louisville better. A lot of the rumors you posted are not true. Louisville is like any other big city, hit or miss. Some areas are great, others crime ridden. I've lived in Northeast, Central, and Southwest (current) Louisville and haven't had issues anywhere. The weather is definitely not grey and gloomy. It is unpredictable. A few years ago we had a snow storm, heat wave, and tornado storm all in one week (during march). One year we may not see snow but 2-3 days in the winter, and then there are some, like this past winter, where it seemed that snow and cold never went away. As for temperatures, a lot of locals joke around saying that it is either summer or winter here, no fall, no spring, and that the season can change in 1 day. We have our share of nicer fall/spring days, but again it's really unpredictable. For example, last week it was cool and rainy, then all the sudden it got hot and humid, and it has cooled down today. For the most part it's very humid during the summer, and the spring time is really bad for allergies since we're located in a valley (one of the worst allergy cities in the country). Weather wise, you just have to expect the unexpected. Tornadoes are not very common. We have yearly watches/warnings but most of the time, if they touch down, it's in surroundings cities, especially in Indiana just over the river. It's not unknown for them to touch down in Louisville, but nothing I would worry about.
There are plenty of private schools in the area. The public school system also has a traditional program you can use if you apply your son to get in. They are college prep schools, but in most cases you must be in the program before high school in order to go to one of the better high schools. St. Xavier and Trinity (high schools) are the 2 private schools that everyone raves about around here. DeSales and Holy Cross are 2 of the bigger South End private high schools. I honestly don't know much about lower levels of private schools. I went through the traditional program in the public school system.
There are also plenty of big christian churches around here. I think one of the most well known is Southeast Christian Church over in the east end. The commute is all dependent on where you live and work. I personally only drive 15minutes to work, but I also work third shift so I have the luxury of empty roads. We indeed have a rush hour, and the east end generally stays pretty busy. You don't need a lot of money to fit in here. Again it's like any other bigger city. You have the rich and snobby and the ones who live paycheck to paycheck, but there are great people all around. I'm not rich by any means, but I definitely don't have trouble fitting in. I've meet a lot of people by just hanging out in the Highlands area. There are a lot of people always willing to help me and vice versa. It's all about just finding good friends, like anywhere.
110k-200k is a broad budget, but you can definitely find something here in that range. You'll get more house for your money if you shop in the South end, but the east end has a much better reputation, and that's also where most of the private schools are. Fern Creek is a pretty good area. It's in the East end near the Southern edge of the city, houses are fair priced, and everything you need such as grocery, restaurants, etc are all right there. It's not necessarily "close" to everything else, but it makes for a pretty even commute to all areas of town. It's a busy area, but I spend a lot of time there since I have friends, family, and favorite restaurants over there. My brother bought a single story 3bedroom home in that area for 120k.
Hope this helps. All in all, it's not a bad place to be. We're within a few hours of Cinci, Indianapolis, and Nashville (3ish hours) too so you can always go on short weekend trips just for a temporary different surrounding. If you like going to the lake, there are also tons, the closest being about half an hour outside of the city.
Plus allergies are awful in Kentucky...it's just the truth. There's lot's of Poplar, Oak, Sycamore, not to mention ragweed, Johnson grass ( Fescu ) and also all of the Tobacco, Corn and soybeans....it really gits yah if your an allergy sufferer...even in the cities like Louisville.
This is the epitome of truth.
I was in canada last month, and the night I came back to Louisville, within the first hour, the good ole allergies got me and I felt bedridden for a few days. They seem to hit randomly. One week no problems, the next week can't smell, eyes itch, etc. Welcome to Kentucky
I was a single mom when I moved back here from Houston. I grew up here so I can give you advice and help you compare areas and schools etc here to ones in Houston. Msg me and we can chat.
I was in canada last month, and the night I came back to Louisville, within the first hour, the good ole allergies got me and I felt bedridden for a few days. They seem to hit randomly. One week no problems, the next week can't smell, eyes itch, etc. Welcome to Kentucky
Yeah, well in western Kentucky around Owensboro it's just as bad. When I was a kid, in the field next to my grandparents house was a very large Tobacco patch, plus they had Oak trees around and also a large field out back that had Johnson Grass, Ragweed and Goldenrod in it.....I was constantly stuffed up with the yellow stuff and headachey..
You know the worst? Besides the grass in Kentucky and all the agriculture and woods around? It's the Sycamore trees! They are beautiful and everywhere in Kentucky but they pollenate all summer long and it's the Sycamore pollen that really makes you feel bad. Get next to one of those trees before? Notice they have that kinda "stink" to em? That's the pollen...it will clog every sinus in your body and your eyes will water and go nuts! Welcome to Kentucky!
Of course my penchant for Ice-Cream and flour products didn't help at all. The only cure that I had was to wash it all away with some of the spectacular country dinners that my grandparents used to make. Fried Cornbread, with new potatoes ( the little yummy red taters ) and fresh snapped green beans, dried beans, sliced tomatoes, pickles, onions, Okra, Canteloupe ( Muskmellon ) slices with salt....all fresh from their garden. Washed down with a tall glass of Iced-Tea or Kool-Aid.....or a bowl of Burgoo....mmmmmm!!! I won't say anymore ( suddenly I forgot that I was even suffering
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