NEWCOMERS please read before posting so we may assist you in your move (Lexington: apartments, renting)

[coleymicks]

Hello! My husband and I along with our 2 young boys are interested in relocated to Kentucky from NY. It's a long story...but i have friends who relocated and another set of friends relocating this month. I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on the economy/job opportunities. My husband is in the labor union and his job is pretty secure. I was wondering how the union jobs were holding up in kentucky. If work is plentiful or not? Thank you!

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by coleymicks

Hello! My husband and I along with our 2 young boys are interested in relocated to Kentucky from NY. It's a long story...but i have friends who relocated and another set of friends relocating this month. I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on the economy/job opportunities. My husband is in the labor union and his job is pretty secure. I was wondering how the union jobs were holding up in kentucky. If work is plentiful or not? Thank you!

First, lets get something straight. Louisville is MUUUUUUUCH different than KY. Its only KY by a technicality really. So will you be moving to the Louisville metro area? If so, the economy is decent, much better than some of the big cities harder hit by the real estate and market crisis. Please be more specific and we can help you.

[colonelsmiley75]

Louisville is much the same as the rest of Kentucky. Not really that much difference. People around Louisville like to put themselves on a pedestal concerning the rest of their state. Its pretty much all the same when you consider the poor educational system, the fact that the state is broke, the drug issues, health issues, etc.

All this talk about Louisville being such a great place to live is absolute nonsense. Its not the worst place to live as I've been to just about every major city in this country. Let's just say that a rural county outlying Louisville or in Indiana would be better. Too much daily nonsense to want to live in Louisville proper. The jobs are increasingly poor. The economy locally is shot. The entire city is in a state of disrepair especially anything west of Bardstown Road. You can tell in the mentality of the people that things arent going well.

Its not just the national economy that is doing poorly right now. Its locally and it has been going on for years. When Louisville started losing its industrial and manufacturing base, the city took a real downhill dive. They haven't replaced those jobs with business jobs, professional jobs, etc. So instead what they replaced things with is a lot of retail, service, and lower wage jobs. That is the fact. But a lot of Louisvillians are going to tell you how great it is here. I've never lived anywhere that has such a massive poverty problem and that includes some rural areas that were just devoid of income.

The city in many areas is increasingly run down and a lot of drug and crime issues. Outside of the East End most of it is going in the hole. Sad but true. When people refer to Louisville people as being cliquish, they are correct. I have had many friends who have lived here and left and basically they have the same feeling. So don't let them fool you that Louisville is the end all be all of the USA.

[cstdkd]

I don't want to get off track here, but I don't think that's fair. First, while I have nothing against the rest of the state, Louisville is pretty different, especially the more urban parts.

You cite Louisville's negatives like economy and poor job replacement after manufacturing left - but then why would a nearby county be any better? They've all dealt with that, too.

Also, to say that "anything west of Bardstown Road" is in "disrepair" sounds to me like a stereotype and just as "cliquish" as anything else. I'm don't claim to be an expert on the whole city, and I know that certain areas are better than others. But to say that two-thirds of Jefferson County is "going in the hole" is to me a gross exaggeration.

[jewaldo]

Our daughter and grandchildren live off Rt64 Hurshborne exit, and we would like to relocate in the Mount Washington Area, outside of Louisville. We are retired, no children left at home, and when we can sell our house in Illinois, want to rent a duplex in Mount Washington. What does this area offer as I think we would be close to our daughter & the grandchildren in J. Town school dist. What do you think? Good plan or not.

[JeanneEleven]

Would this be an unwise area to rent for a single female?

[colonelsmiley75]

Louisville is not that much different than the rest of KY. Trust me, I've lived here a good number of years and have been all over KY. Sure, you are going to have a more urban environment but in KY that means you're moving from a small town to a small city. Which is what Louisville is. There is a pronounced difference between Northern Kentucky and Louisville.

I've lived mostly in the Kentuckiana area for most of my life. There is a significant difference in many factors between Indiana and Kentucky. One being taxes. The next being educational systems. Schools in Kentucky are horrid to say the least and you can usually tell based on a vast amount of people that can't put together intelligent discourse and comments. Its usually the white ghetto type of language that ends up being used because they can't put together a decent sentence.

As far as things being west of Bardstown Road being a hole, its pretty obvious that that is where the urban ghetto starts. Newburg is one of the most violent and crime infested areas of the city outside the west end. It is just west of Bardstown Road and south of the Watterson. One could say its bounded by Bardstown, Produce Road, Fegenbush, and Poplar Level. Its a rough area and lots of shooting occur there.

Going further west you have the Preston Hwy corridor which is run down and mostly dumpy all the way down from downtown most of the way to at least the Outer Loop. Strip malls, run down buildings, trashy streets. It is what it is. There has been a wide amount of crime in that area because of an influx of illegal aliens including MS 13 members. Going further west you have South Louisville/Taylor Blvd/ which is another rough area with a high crime rate. That can also be said around Beechmont area as well. None of which are fit for raising a family.

Dixie Hwy is a mixed bag. Valley and PRP have potential but expect to run into the hilljack types out there. Same goes for Fairdale and Auburndale. Nice areas but the white trash elements keep things from being as nice as they could. A lot of meth labs in that area been busted over the past few years. Shively including Crums Lane and Rockford Lane has went bad over the years. Crime, violence, thefts, people being harassed including old people.

A close friend of mine had her parents moved out of the area near Churchill Downs because of the people that were living down there. The type of people that harass people and run their mouth at old people. That area is a stay away from place. Anything west of I 65 could be said that for all the way to the river. Louisville is close to setting a record for murders this year. Its nowhere close to Chicago or NY or LA. But its getting pretty significant considering it wasn't too many years ago that there might have been 30 in a year. Its more like 70 or 80 now.

Mt. Washington is a decent area but its also in Bullitt County which is not the City of Louisville. A lot of family people are moving out there and it will continue. Bullitt County is really two counties, the east is nicer and the west is more like Shepherdsville. Not exactly the nicest of places.

As far as anyone wanting to live between 2nd and 46th streets, good luck to you. Its not a good area at all. A lot of murders, muggings, theft, loitering, criminal mindsets. Its long been the ghetto of Louisville since the 70s. Its never going to change other than the floodwalls failing and it getting washed away. There is no committment to cleaning up those places so its obvious it will never change. Its the New Orleans section of Louisville where trash floats across the streets, alleys are filled with beer bottles, and there is no respect for the law or basic order. Not all people over there are that way but a good percentage of them make it hell for the rest.

[colonelsmiley75]

If you're considering a move to the Louisville area definitely consider most areas east of Bardstown Road or over in Floyd County or Clark County Indiana. I currently live a stones throw from the Jefferson/Bullitt Co line and frankly I wouldn't consider this area again. The East End of Louisville is nice but a bit pricey. However, you do get what you pay for and in Louisville, East is generally better for quality of communities. Don't go too far out otherwise you run into Shelbyville which has a high percentage of illegal aliens and even some gang members out there.

Places like Prospect, St. Matthews, Hurstbourne, J Town, Fern Creek, Mt. Washington, NE Louisville, etc are very good areas. You will find a nice variety of things to do, stores, shops, and accessiblity to anywhere in the city. A better urban environment much like what one would find in other midwestern cities. The East End compares favorably to places like Mason, Ohio, Sharonville, OH, Carmel, IN, Fisher, IN, etc. If you're willing to deal with the urban environment, those places are the type of place you want to live and where you can at least sleep rather well at night. Much better than living on the West End of Louisville, East Side of Indy, or Over the Rhine in Cincy.

[JeanneEleven]

Thanks for all the input. I am here and I am figuring it out. Everything anybody said is accurate, as far as I can tell. I love the way streets change their names three or more times. Making my adjustment interesting. People have been super-nice.

[jbmill3]

This is a tremendously helpful forum... I've been reading (silently) for a few months. But I recently received a job offer, so suddenly we're more serious. I'm looking to move with my wife and two children (ages 1 and 3). We're coming from Boston. Answers to the stock questions:

-Where you are working: Downtown.

-How much you are willing to spend on housing: $300-$500k.

-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate: As short as possible. 15-25 minutes, I guess.

-If you have kids: Private school or public school? That will depend on where we live, I suppose. We'd have to see what private and public options were available, and check our budget and go from there. I'm aware of the (generally poor) reputation of the Jefferson county district. Oldham county is attractive for the schools, but we're going to be very unhappy in tract suburbs, so that's likely not for us.

-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight? We love the neighborhood we're in now, in Boston (Jamaica Plain, in case anyone is familiar with it), so I'll describe that. Walkable neighborhoods, by which I mean both (1) streets designed for pedestrians and (2) destinations to which pedestrians might want to walk (shops, restaurants, playgrounds). Lots of families. Lots of diversity (a broad mix of incomes, ethnicities, lifestyles). A mix of families, yuppies and hippies, basically.

-Community amenities important to you: a Catholic church within walking distance. Other families with children. Smiles on faces. A sense of community in the neighborhood. Also, the things I mentioned above: playgrounds, restaurants, etc. within walking distance. Good schools nearby.

-Pie or cake? Not nearly enough information. Meringue pie is terrible. Most fruit pies beat most cakes. But a good carrot cake beats almost any pie, as does cheesecake. Except carrot cake and cheesecake both lose to pumpkin pie, which might be the best food in the world.

Any advice is appreciated.