Moving to Kentucky: Louisville, new construction, cost of living, great schools, housing.

Sunshine03 · 03-23-2007, 12:08 PM

We are transferring to Louisville from the south side of Indianapolis (Greenwood area) in the next couple of months or so. From what research I've gathered, it looks as though it's best to stay east of I-65. With that in mind, we have been doing our house hunting online in the Sheperdsville and Mt. Washington areas, and some Oldham Co areas. We haven't had an opportunity yet to get down there and actually see these areas, so I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on Sheperdsville and the Mt. Washington area. I've read a lot online here and elsewhere about how great the Oldham Co school district is, however, for our price range, we would be looking at vinyl siding production neighbhoods there, whereas we could get all brick existing homes or new construction elsewhere. Based upon past experience, we prefer an existing neighborhood or new construction -brick, not vinyl. We have a three year old and another child due early May, so a place that is family friendly is important to us. We enjoy going to the zoo, libraries and parks, and dining out for recreation and of course a decent school district. I would appreciate any information on the above mentioned areas, particularly Sheperdsville or Mt. Washington. Any other affordable, family friendly, pleasant communities that you'd recommend are welcome as well. Thanks!

rbryant · 03-23-2007, 05:46 PM

I would recommend Mt Washington over Shepherdsville. For openers, Mt Washington is a little closer to Jefferson County (just down Bardstown Road). You may want to consider some of the neighborhoods in northern Bullitt county..Pioneer Village comes to mind. As far as Oldham county, the schools are great but housing is a little more expensive than what you would find in northern Bullitt County. You will pay quite a bit more for a newer brick home, there are some "slightly" older neighborhoods in Oldham that feature mostly brick homes. My parents live in Echo Valley...so that's one subdivison to consider as well as Briarwood and Lockwood. All three are are located in central Oldham county, in the Centerfield Elementary district...which is a very good school in itself. Good luck to you guys and welcome to Kentucky.

Peter1948 · 03-23-2007, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunshine03

We are transferring to Louisville from the south side of Indianapolis (Greenwood area) in the next couple of months or so. From what research I've gathered, it looks as though it's best to stay east of I-65. With that in mind, we have been doing our house hunting online in the Sheperdsville and Mt. Washington areas, and some Oldham Co areas. We haven't had an opportunity yet to get down there and actually see these areas, so I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on Sheperdsville and the Mt. Washington area. I've read a lot online here and elsewhere about how great the Oldham Co school district is, however, for our price range, we would be looking at vinyl siding production neighbhoods there, whereas we could get all brick existing homes or new construction elsewhere. Based upon past experience, we prefer an existing neighborhood or new construction -brick, not vinyl. We have a three year old and another child due early May, so a place that is family friendly is important to us. We enjoy going to the zoo, libraries and parks, and dining out for recreation and of course a decent school district. I would appreciate any information on the above mentioned areas, particularly Sheperdsville or Mt. Washington. Any other affordable, family friendly, pleasant communities that you'd recommend are welcome as well. Thanks!

The city of Louisville is a lot nicer than the city of Indy. You can get a nice suburban feel while living in the city of Louisville. That said, I think you would find the Highview, Fern Creek, Jeffersontown, and Okolona areas of Jefferson County to be more to your likely. All areas are affordable. If not, I would look first at Hillview and Pioneer Village in Bullitt County, Then Mount Washington. Shepherdsville isnt bad but lacks a lot of retail and services. I dont even think Bullit County has a Target or Lowes yet, but I am sure that will come soon enough. Overall, I think you will find Lville more enjoyable than Indy. Also, don't rule out the Indiana suburbs of Louisville. Clarksville, IN reminds me of Greenwood a lot and is within 5 minutes of downtown Louisville! You get a small town with access to anything you want in the big city.

Sunshine03 · 03-25-2007, 08:18 AM

Thank you both very much for your input! I agree, Sheperdsville and Mt. Washington might be a little too small for us compared to what we are used to around here. I do enjoy the convenience of having a Kroger, Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, etc close by. That said, I believe we will start focusing a little more on the J'town area as I have met some people here that know people or are from that area and have great things to say about it. I'm encouraged by the fact that anytime we've told anyone we are moving to L'ville, their response is always positive and everyone has nothing but great things to say about the city. Crime here in Indianapolis has gotten to the point where we were the top two of three stories the other day on Fox News and CNN. It's depressing and sad to see it happening to this great city. I know every town has its problems, but our crime level has skyrocketed in the past year and a half.

We are excited about moving, yet sad to leave Indy as our family is here and we have lived here our whole lives. We are looking forward to discovering all the L'ville and the surrounding areas have to offer. We currently have memberships to the Indy Zoo and visit downtown frequently for the Children's Museum and Canal Walk, which we will miss, but I'm sure there will be other things to do in Louisville. I've heard there is a great Science Museum and of course the L'ville Slugger museum, but can you shed light on other kid-friendly places to visit?

This might sound like a strange question, but I'm curious about how much your license plates run there. Here in IN the price of the tag is based upon the model and year of the car and we have about $650.00 worth of license plates to pay for each July. Is this how it's figured in KY? Just curious. One of many things that we'll have to learn, I'm sure!

Is there any particular schools in J'town that are above and beyond the rest? I have a daughter that will be starting pre-school soon and entering the public school system (would love to afford parochial, but don't think it'll happen) and am curious as to what you'd recommend if you are familiar at all with them.

Thank you so much again for your help. This is the first time I've ever moved to a new city so I'm trying not to go in blind!

rbryant · 03-25-2007, 11:55 AM

Jeffersontown is a good choice, in fact in an earlier post I named it as one of my top five choices. I think you will enjoy Louisville as there are plenty of kid friendly things to do. There is the Louisville Zoo, which has really seemed to grow in the past ten to fifteen years. There is also the Louisville Science Center which has its own IMAX theatre. Pretty much along Main Street there are museums. Located close to the Science Center are the Slugger Museum and the Frazier Arms Museum. The Frazier may be a little more adult oriented, but they do have live demonstrations (sword fighting etc.). They also just opened up the Muhammed Ali Center near the Main St district. During the spring/summer you could always go to Slugger Field for a Bats Game (they are a AAA team for the Cincinnati Reds). Also you can check out the Metro Park system, one of the newest parks is Waterfront Park which is stretched out along the Ohio River. When you get a chance you should check out louisville's web site, i think it's www.gotolouisville.com.
Regarding the schools....Jtown (that's what us Louisville natives call Jeffersontown) is located within the Jefferson County Public school system. To be honest with you, opinions vary on JCPS. In fact ask five people on here and you will probably get several different answers. I'm not sure if they still do it, but they use to "bus" kids to different schools. In other words, it's possible that instead of your child attending Jtown Elementary he/she could be attending a school somewhere in the south end. There is a fairly large system of catholic schools in Louisville...I think St Edward serves the Jtown area. I'm not sure about cost of tuition, but I would think it might be a bit pricy. Go to www.archlou.org (broken link) and scroll down under schools to get more info. If your kids are high school age, I'm pretty sure they would attend St Xavier or Trinity if you opted for the private school route.
I hope this info helps you all out, hopefully someone else can chime in about the JCPS busing deal.

Crew Chief · 03-31-2007, 10:02 PM

I deliver to stores in the Louisville area (from Ohio) and really like what I can see of the Louisville area. My only advice is that if you're considering Jeffersonville, New Albany or anywhere else in Southern Indiana, I'd drive into Louisville at the time you'd normally be leaving for work and coming home. Traffic from Southern Indiana can be murder across the JFK Bridge...