I can't believe I might be moving to Louisville! (St. Matthews: houses, neighborhoods)

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by missymomof3

I have passed by the one on Eastern Parkway several times and that is a very pretty area!

indeed it is! The one in Crestwood is a beautifuk area cool.

[Capo]

I'll disagree with the other poster and say that Southern Indiana IS a nice and affordable place to live. If you are working downtown at HUMANA, it is even a BETTER place to live because you can hop on 2nd street bridge and bypass the traffic of I64 and I65.

I'm sure there are some bad areas, but hey, there are plenty in Louisville too. Everything will be less expensive in So Indiana - house, insurance, taxes, auto, etc. The only thing I can think of which is more is sales tax, which is an extra 1%. But you can easily buy in Louisville as well.

Definitely do consider So Indiana, it's a nice place.

[cobolt]

I don't think there is anything wrong with S Indiana either. Areas are not so desireable but it's that way anywhere. I like New Albanay and if I were working downtown, I would consider living there. But, you know, people say that Germantown is crime-ridden too.

[whitfdb]

If OP is still reading, I'll give my opinion.

I think 175k doesn't go as far as you may think, for a 4/2/2 home in pretty good shape in a pretty good neighborhood, I think 200-225k is more reasonable. I know this b/c I grew up in the Ville and just moved back about 18 mos ago and was looking for something similar. I ended up in the Lyndon area and bought for 195k, they were asking 205k. The good news is that with the housing slump, you could easily have a shot at getting a home asking 225k+ for under 200k.

If you don't mind a bit of a commute, Oldham County is great. It's slightly more country and you could possibly get more land for your $. Schools are very strong as well. As previous posters said, Lyndon is good and Middletown is great but you may have to pay 225k for a nice home. Anchorage is way out of your range, as would most neighborhoods directly east of Middletown, with the possible exception of Beckley. JTown is a nice area as well. Avoid Berrytown, many of the homes are run down. Be cautious with Indiana. There are some beautiful, hilly land with nice homes I would love to have. In your range, I feel you will have some difficulty finding a balance between affordability, distance, and quality of neighborhood.

So my choices would be Middletown, Lyndon, JTown, or Oldham County.

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by whitfdb

If OP is still reading, I'll give my opinion.

I think 175k doesn't go as far as you may think, for a 4/2/2 home in pretty good shape in a pretty good neighborhood, I think 200-225k is more reasonable. I know this b/c I grew up in the Ville and just moved back about 18 mos ago and was looking for something similar. I ended up in the Lyndon area and bought for 195k, they were asking 205k. The good news is that with the housing slump, you could easily have a shot at getting a home asking 225k+ for under 200k.

If you don't mind a bit of a commute, Oldham County is great. It's slightly more country and you could possibly get more land for your $. Schools are very strong as well. As previous posters said, Lyndon is good and Middletown is great but you may have to pay 225k for a nice home. Anchorage is way out of your range, as would most neighborhoods directly east of Middletown, with the possible exception of Beckley. JTown is a nice area as well. Avoid Berrytown, many of the homes are run down. Be cautious with Indiana. There are some beautiful, hilly land with nice homes I would love to have. In your range, I feel you will have some difficulty finding a balance between affordability, distance, and quality of neighborhood.

So my choices would be Middletown, Lyndon, JTown, or Oldham County.

What I find interesting about native Louisvillians is that they basically discount anywhere inside 264. The Highlands, Crescent Hill, St Matthews, even Clifton, are infinitely nicer than Lyndon. Old Louisville, downtown, Butchtertown, and Phoenix Hill are up and coming. And Germantown and Beechmont are very stable, safe, family friendly areas. In your price range, you should look strongly at the area on the maps known as Audubon Park. This is an immaculately kept, turn of the century streetcar suburb with well maintained homes. While Audubon Park proper may be out of your price range, some of the adjacent streets offer nice buys, for example, some of the streets that intersect Clarks Lane, and are very affordable. The nearby area of Lynnview is also a nice, stable, safe middle class area.

[mdawg]

Originally Posted by censusdata

Compared to the counties outside Lexington Oldham Co is very rural. In all of OC (population 60,000) there is 1 Kroger, 2 McDonalds, with NO other major retailers. In Jessamine County (population 45,000) there are 3 Krogers, 4 McDonalds, 1 Kohls, 1 Steak N Shake/ Panera Bread/ Red Robin/ Applesbees, and a Sam's Club and Cracker Barrel are under construction.

Don't get me wrong, Oldham Co is a very nice area - I'd take it over Jessamine Co myself, I just think it can't be described as anything other than rural/ exurban

i think the reason for this is that there are numerous shopping centers and restaurants very close to the jefferson co/oldham county line so they satisfy the demand in oldham county. the summit, springhurst, and old brownsboro crossing are all just minutes from oldham county. There are also 2 krogers i can think of off the top of my head that are less that 2 or 3 miles from the oldham county line.

[tigerlillydownunder]

Originally Posted by stx12499

What I find interesting about native Louisvillians is that they basically discount anywhere inside 264. The Highlands, Crescent Hill, St Matthews, even Clifton, are infinitely nicer than Lyndon. Old Louisville, downtown, Butchtertown, and Phoenix Hill are up and coming. And Germantown and Beechmont are very stable, safe, family friendly areas. In your price range, you should look strongly at the area on the maps known as Audubon Park. This is an immaculately kept, turn of the century streetcar suburb with well maintained homes. While Audubon Park proper may be out of your price range, some of the adjacent streets offer nice buys, for example, some of the streets that intersect Clarks Lane, and are very affordable. The nearby area of Lynnview is also a nice, stable, safe middle class area.

Agree, but if memory serves I think OP was looking for something that would not aggravate their childs allergies....I think a lot of us were suggesting the Louisville outskirts, away from city/smog-esque venues.......I think the 'Ohio Valley' is bad for it altogether though.....

Audubon Park is very nice....my mom knows people that have lived there for a long time, and they have always been happy in that area.

[whitfdb]

Originally Posted by stx12499

What I find interesting about native Louisvillians is that they basically discount anywhere inside 264. The Highlands, Crescent Hill, St Matthews, even Clifton, are infinitely nicer than Lyndon. Old Louisville, downtown, Butchtertown, and Phoenix Hill are up and coming. And Germantown and Beechmont are very stable, safe, family friendly areas. In your price range, you should look strongly at the area on the maps known as Audubon Park. This is an immaculately kept, turn of the century streetcar suburb with well maintained homes. While Audubon Park proper may be out of your price range, some of the adjacent streets offer nice buys, for example, some of the streets that intersect Clarks Lane, and are very affordable. The nearby area of Lynnview is also a nice, stable, safe middle class area.

Poster does make some good points. I primarily posted what I know that could help. I grew up in Middletown, live in the Lyndon are now and have worked in the Crestwood area. I would write off St. Matthews & Crescent Hill though. Unless you get an incredible deal, the house you will get in those areas will be significantly smaller than homes in other areas. Audubon Park is nice. Some of these places mentioned are fine, if you can find a comparable house in the same price range. My advice, don't completely ignore those areas in your search. If you do fall in love with a home there, though, do exhaustive research on your surroundings. Some neighborhoods in these areas can be substantially different than others, and for the nicest areas your $ doesn't go very far.

[wmac62]

First, I would encourage you to find another city to live in, however if you do choose to live in and around Louisville please do not move into the county!!! The taxes are high, the roads are poorly maintained, electricity is hit and miss,and LG&E has hiked their rates. Most all the schools are below national standards, busing kids all over town because of racial quotas (only two cities in the Nation to do this). Traffic is absolutely horrible for a city this size. It is the only city I know of its size that does not have a true by-pass around the city. There is no public transportation system. The Mayor is at odd with the Police Department. The parks are not maintained because of BUDGET CUTS!!! I think you wil be suprised coming from Utah. I have traveled and lived around the world because of my career and I would give Louisville the BIG "F". MOVE TO ODHAM COUNTY!!!!!!

[barberofdeville]

Craigs Creek sub division is nice and right now for between 150,000 and 220,000 you can get a nice house here. Great neihborhood. When you get to town ill give ya a free haircut and shave if you stop in. You will like louisville its like a small town only with the advantages of a bigger city. Very friendly for the most part compared to other city's. As far as traffic ive lived or been to just about everywhere and its not bad here. In high traffic maybe 45 minutes from one side to the other. Lots of restaurants. The Highlands is nice but for a family with kids would reccomend Out hwy 22 just past gene snyder. Tom Sawyer park is out here and is very nice and plenty of shopping. 20-30 minutes to downtown. No bums, no trash and you can find reasonable prices. I have 2100 sq ft 2 story with unfinished Full basement and 2 car garage for $220,000 on a half acre lot in Craigs Creek and this is an area with prime real estate that tends to hold its value.