Up for a challenge? What's left after unsafe zips and flood plains? (Louisville: house)

[Windwalker]

I'm trying to overlay all the fabulous info you extremely helpful folks are full of in order to determine:

• what the unsafe areas are--basically west of 65 and north of I-265, right?
• where the flood plains are. I was in Louisville for a conference during that huge flood of the late '90's and couldn't get out that weekend. I never want to have to clean up after a flood or even water in my basement. What should be ruled out, then?

So what's left? And of that, where would be a house for about 100-150k with some land around it for breathing room?

[censusdata]

Actually, some parts of the South End are very safe and upper middle class- the crime gets really bad North of I-264 (Watterson X-Way). The South End is very flood prone, though, since the land is extremely flat and low lying. The East End is all above the flood plain by over 100 feet, which is why it is the most affluent area

Here are some NOAA photos from Louisville during the 1997 flood.







Falmouth KY during the same flood. Here is near where one of my sisters live. She almost bought a house in Falmouth, but fortunatly bought something on a hill
Photo from Cinci Enquirer

[missymomof3]

I remember that dang flood. My area was spared for the most part but Okolona and Fairdale got it pretty bad.

[censusdata]

Has for specific properties, you should use this link (LOJIC - Home Page), it will show you whether it's in a flood plain, fire protection district, etc.

I don't think a good sized house for $150,000 should be a problem, even in the more affluent area of town. There are some affordable older neighborhoods on the east which were built in the 1940s w/ HUGE yards (1/4 an acre+) that are now surrounded by new developments. There is also a lot of new subdivisions going up all over the city

[tomocox]

LOJIC - Home Page all you need to know about floods, floodplains, & so much more of Jefferson County

[frankmaraschino]

Socio-economically, the city was built according to where it would flood and where it wouldn't. The well-to-do got the more valuable land, to the east of downtown in the "Highlands" and beyond, and the poor people got the lowlands, in the west and southwest parts of the city.

While I-65 is a pretty good rule of thumb regarding safety, not everywhere east of 65 is a good area and not everywhere west of 65 is bad. Old Louisville is west of I-65 and most of it is more or less safe. Not as safe as Prospect or St. Matthews, but more or less safe. And I think downtown is a lot safer than most downtowns in urban America, and it's west of 65. And Smoketown is east of 65. Not an area I'd want my kids running around at night.

[Windwalker]

Yes, it was in 1997.

Socio-economically, the city was built according to where it would flood and where it wouldn't. The well-to-do got the more valuable land, to the east of downtown in the "Highlands" and beyond, and the poor people got the lowlands, in the west and southwest parts of the city.

And what else is new? Isn't that the way it is in every city?

[frankmaraschino]

Originally Posted by Windwalker

And what else is new? Isn't that the way it is in every city?

Pretty much.

[tomocox]

Actually, Louisville built where it flooded first. The Highlands, Crescent Hill and eastward are all relatively new developments. Old Louisville was built in the flats while Crescent Hill was just a suburb.

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by tomocox

Actually, Louisville built where it flooded first. The Highlands, Crescent Hill and eastward are all relatively new developments. Old Louisville was built in the flats while Crescent Hill was just a suburb.

Not really true...Much of Crescent Hill was built at the same time as Old Louisville. The ORIGINAL part of the city was actually the CBD downtown as well as Portland and the West End. The Highlands, Old Louisville, and Crescent Hill developed as "streetcar" suburbs for the well to do starting around the turn of the twentieth century. You would be hard pressed to find a home in Old Louisville built prior to the late 1880's...the same is true of the Highlands and Crescent Hill. The most magnificent home in the Highlands IMO is the original one, built at the corner of Transit Ave and Cherokee Road (oh, and Transit has been known as Grinstead Drive for decades ) Incidentally, there were also wealthy streetcar burbs in the west end and south end....Parkland and Beechmont are two great examples. Historically, the west end was a very nice area until the white flight of the 1950's and 60's.