Need info moving to Jeffersonville, IN, working in Louisville Ky (Lexington: low income, best city)

[JillHw]

I am moving from Georgia and have absolutely NO idea about Jeffersonville, IN or Louisville, KY.
I have several questions:
1) if we live in IN but work in KY, what kind of extra income taxes will be involved?
2) Which part in Louisville, Ky is a safe area to work in, esp for a single lady who may have to work later shift/overtime.
3) Is the commute bad esp the bridge during peak rush hours?
4) What do you all do in winter for fun? I love outdoors and I will get cabin fever if I have to stay indoors, not a coach potato type, LOL
5) Which part of Jeffersonville/new Albany/Sellersburg/Clarksville/Floyd Knobb area is the best to live as far as a safe nice community with parks etc?

Thank you so much!!!!

[CraigCreek]

You'll get a better response if this is posted in the Louisville forum instead of the Lexington forum.

Admins., can this be moved, please?? Thanks...

[censusdata]

I'm actually in the process of buying a house in Southern Indiana while working in the East End of Louisville. I didn't know too much about the area initially but I've learning a lot driving around, researching census tract level maps, and from this forum. The pros of the IN side are much cheaper housing apples to apples and cheaper car insurance.

1) if we live in IN but work in KY, what kind of extra income taxes will be involved?
You pay more up front but get more back at the end of the year. IN and KY are nearly identical in overall tax burden

2) Which part in Louisville, Ky is a safe area to work in, esp for a single lady who may have to work later shift/overtime.
Violent crime is concentrated west and southwest of Downtown, mainly west of 9th St and north of Shively. Downtown is pretty good. If you use common sense your odds of having a problem are very low.

3) Is the commute bad esp the bridge during peak rush hours?
Right now yes, though if you live in Floyd Co (New Albany) and can use the I-64 bridge it's not as bad. KDOT / IDOT are in the process of building a new downtown bridge, new suburban bridge to connect the loose ends of I-265, and the downtown interchange is being rebuilt. When done there will be no traffic jams crossing the river but there will be a $1 toll each way for frequent commuters, except for the I-64 bridge which will remain free.



4) What do you all do in winter for fun? I love outdoors and I will get cabin fever if I have to stay indoors, not a coach potato type, LOL
Most winters have enough mild days to do some outdoor activity. Sometimes I just go to a large store and walk around for an hour or exercise at home.

5) Which part of Jeffersonville/new Albany/Sellersburg/Clarksville/Floyd Knobb area is the best to live as far as a safe nice community with parks etc?
Violent crime is low (a couple murders per year in the whole area inside IN I-265), some areas are low income and kind of urban redneck, main problems would be theft. Most areas are very nice.

Almost everything outside I-265 is rural / exurb / small town. Floyds Knobs is quite affluent, Sellersburg is a bit larger and is middle class. Neither have a lot of apartments.

New Albany is a fully intact pre 1950s city. If you want an older house with some character or urban living look here. Being urban it's more like a checker board of affluent and less affluent areas. Some areas are great while nearby areas are more working class (main issues are less kept up houses and property crime, not muggings etc). You can't go wrong south of Elm st or east of Vincennes St or anywhere along 265

Clarksville - south of Brown Station Way is older neighborhoods. Has a lot of nice older homes, though few places to eat or shop.
- north of Veterans Pky is one of the most affluent areas of S IN. Tons of shopping and near Lapping Park

Jeffersonville
Great little downtown. Nearby areas range from pretty nice to lower income, all areas south of a line from Main and Market to 10th and I-65 are in a flood plain. Outer areas of J'ville are nice and suburban. Near and outside of Allison Ln is 100% a great area. The new bridge is being built in this area near Utica IN and a huge industrial park is being built that will employ 20k+ within a couple years (not a typo). Home values could soar and I except tons of new shopping and restaurants

PARKS
A former RR bridge btw L'ville and J'ville over the Ohio River was retrofitted for pedestrians last year. it connects each waterfront and is awesome. It's lit up at night, morphing from one color to another.

The best city park by far is Lapping Park in Clarksville. It is a gem and has lots of nature trails. Sam Pedin Park in NA has a paved walking loop. NA is building a new park with miles of hiking SW of town off Budd Rd. It's still under construction. Some nice state parks are nearby that have hiking and camping - Deam Lake near Borden and Charlestown State Park. IN state parks have an entrance fee. If you plan on going a lot get a year long pass. Louisville has one of the best park systems in the nation as well
Thank you so much!!!![/quote]

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by CraigCreek

Admins., can this be moved, please?? Thanks...

Moved... (I am really trying to get it correct this time )

[Ryno25]

1. Taxes are about the same in Indiana and Kentucky. I know plenty who have lived in Kentucky and moved to Indiana and vice versa and said there wasn't much difference with taxes.
2. The further East into Louisville the better. Stay away from the west end and most of the southwest end. South end overall is a little bit sketchy but there are plenty of diamonds in the rough. Downtown Louisville around Broadway isn't the greatest but it's mostly pick pocketing and stealing around there. Most of the violent crime is in the west end.
3. Oh yeah bridge traffic is bad enough with the current bridges project. It was never great to begin with, hopefully with two additional bridges in the next couple of years, it will ease traffic concerns.
4. Winter is very bi polar in Louisville. One day you will be walking in the part while wearing shorts. The next day we get 8 inches of snow.
5. New Albany has greatly improved the last couple of years. N.A used to have drug problems but it seems like these problems have moved over to Clarksville. New Albany has some nice houses and sights. Closer to Floyds Knobs is great but expensive. I do recommend visiting around Floyds Knobs sometime, it's picturesque. Clarksville has it's nice parts and its ghetto parts. Seems like drug problems are increasing in spots. Jeffersonville is quite nice. Probably features the best homes in southern Indiana. New Albany and J Ville have the best suburban feel to them.

[BurnInTheMil]

Floyd's Knobs is a great place. Plus they have really great schools.It's a bit further out and doesn't really have a downtown or anything at all.

New Albany is where i live. As someone else said, certain parts are great and others a lre somewhat ran down. Main St, and Spring St are both great. Especially by the old mansions and Victorian homes. New Albany has a good downtown, waterfront, and restaurants. Plus the Sherman Minton bridge never has traffic heading to Louisville and its a short 10-15min.drive to Downtown.

Personally, I don't like Jeffersonville. It does have a decent little downtown. However, IMO Jeffersonville is getting worse and worse when it comes to crime, being ran down,etc... My opinion though.

[censusdata]

Jeffersonville is a great option for suburban living, like a 1970s ranch house. Spring St and the riverside mansions are cool but the rest of the area around I-65 is pretty run down and the older part of the city lacks the nicer Victorian houses that Gen X and Y covet. Most older housing stock is small 2 room bungalows. As a perspective home buyer I avoid anything that would require FEMA flood insurance and the entire old part of town is in the flood plain. (Basically anything from the corner of Main and Market to the Stansifer Ave exit. But again the outer areas are very nice and posed to grow from the 20k new jobs coming to Port of Indiana

[tteeddzz]

Ryno is right on. Bridge commute is horrible, work where you live would be best, stay on one side. Tolls will wreck you in the end, that is if you stay to exp them. S Indiana has a heroine epidemic, which has brought an aids epidemic, yes I just said that. Heroine users will steal anything, if you're not around so. Laws for oxycontin have tightened and only resort is the cheaper H. Much more culturally diverse in Lville, you can just feel the difference when you cross the bridge. Not that it's bad, but def different vibe. What type of work will depend on where. One thing, only for a few months in the winter, an adv of Indiana in winter is you are a few minutes closer to a bunny mountain of Paoli Peaks. An ice sheet but def a great time. PM me if you have any question

[McDougal66]

I definitely have to chime in on New Albany too. Moved here at the beginning of the year. It's definitely on a strong upswing, especially in the older urban neighborhoods and downtown. We just couldn't justify paying over twice as much for a home in an apples-to-apples neighborhood in Louisville. The properties really are a steal here.

Like censusdata and others have said, New Albany (older part) has some streets speckled throughout where many homes are in disrepair, but move over a street and all the homes are very nice, mostly older bungalows or cape cods. A good mix of residents too- working class, young professionals, and older people who have lived in the neighborhood for decades. That's something I don't find as much of on the Louisville side. Generally, you're going to find more consistently nice streets near downtown NA, east of Vincennes St, and particularly in the old neighborhoods in the east between Silver St and Silver Creek. Most homes appear to be built in the 1920s and 1930s. Take a drive down Elm St from I 64 to as far east as it goes, and you'll get a good feel for the urban part of NA.

The restaurants in NA are top-notch. Definitely on par with many on the other side of the river, and even many of those have branched out into NA. you can see that they put a lot of revenue back into the city infrastructure. There is a new city pool opening this summer, and a skate park and complex as well. The mayor and city government really seem to care about the quality of life in NA.

I think NA and Jeffersonville have different vibes overall. Jeff is also on a big upswing from all the new jobs being created there and revitalization, but it still feels like more of an extension of Louisville in a way. NA feels more like grassroots growth, with a lot of pride in the local businesses, a huge farmer's market etc.

Good luck.

[McDougal66]

Originally Posted by tteeddzz

Ryno is right on. Bridge commute is horrible, work where you live would be best, stay on one side. Tolls will wreck you in the end, that is if you stay to exp them. S Indiana has a heroine epidemic, which has brought an aids epidemic, yes I just said that. Heroine users will steal anything, if you're not around so. Laws for oxycontin have tightened and only resort is the cheaper H. Much more culturally diverse in Lville, you can just feel the difference when you cross the bridge. Not that it's bad, but def different vibe. What type of work will depend on where. One thing, only for a few months in the winter, an adv of Indiana in winter is you are a few minutes closer to a bunny mountain of Paoli Peaks. An ice sheet but def a great time. PM me if you have any question

Sorry, but I live in New Albany, and have yet to see heroin addicts invading the city and infecting people, wreaking havoc. lol. That's absolutely ridiculous.