Moving to KY from CA (Lexington, Louisville: real estate, low crime, houses)

[CynHunt]

We are seriously planning a move to the Lexington area. We are very involved in horses, showjumping, and hope to find a horse farm in the Bluegrass region.
Everyone, when they hear we are contemplating this move, tells us we will hate it because it is so hot and humid.
Well, it's hot here too, we can get triple digits, and though it is usually dry heat, when there is a monsoon condition, it can get humid here as well.
So, I welcome any comments and insights into the seasons you have. I think KY is a beautiful place.

[lexingtongal]

Today the humidity is hovering around 80%. The good thing about the weather here though is the humdity usually doesn't last for more than a few days at a time. That is until August. It can be hot and humid but nowhere like Florida or Georgia.

[CynHunt]

Thanks for the reply.
If humidity is the worst thing we will encounter, then we are in good shape. And there are only a few hot months.
S. Cal can have 90+ degree heatwaves in December.
I look forward to experiencing seasons! And the green!

[desiree253]

I relocated to KY from Cali back in 1991 and never regretted it one day! It does have humidity, the hottest being in August, but it's nothing unbearable, and the other 10 to 11 months out of the year, make it something well worth "suffering" through for a week or two during the summer!
Just about everyone has AC in the houses, so if your vehicle has AC, you'll have no problems as far as heat/humidity. It's sort of cool the first time you experience 80 degrees at 9 pm and watching the "fire-flies" or "lightening bugs" that are all over the yards in summer! Fun for the kids too!

[lovintexas]

In order, I'm going to talk about: Why not to move to Lexington, why you should consider Danville, and why you should REALLY consider metro Louisville.

I personally am not a big fan of the Lexington area. The school system is not that good, the traffic system was last adequate in 1975, drivers don't know how to yield, most of the people I meet are snooty, and the suburban communities (Nicholasville, Lawrenceburg, Winchester, Georgetown, etc.) are basically dumps. The ONLY place in central KY I would recommend is Danville.

Danville is nice, small town living, and only 35 miles SW of Lexington. The housing costs and property taxes are the lowest of any central KY community of 15,000+. It's a very nice and clean community with decent, hard-working people, three colleges, three state historic sites, one of America's most thriving small town arts communities, decent shopping--you basically never HAVE to leave town unless you have to.

My preference is the "obtuse angle" that consists of the south and east Louisville Metro area. I define that as Hardin County north of the parkways, Bullitt County (except Shepherdsville,) Jefferson County (outside of the urban service area,) Oldham County and Shelby County. The cost of living here is still substantially less than other metro areas even in Kentucky, the highway system is decent, the job market is growing (especially in Hardin and Bullitt,) and there are good public and private schools (Jefferson and Oldham.) Public schools in the Louisville Metro rank better statewide and nationally than do schools in Lexington, Owensboro, Northern KY, and other metros.

Louisville is Kentucky's most thriving metro area. It's no Las Vegas, but it beats the socks off of Lexington, too. Anywhere in Louisville you live will put you within 5-10 minutes of Wal-Mart and Kroger and 10-20 minutes of Lowe's, Home Depot, Applebee's, O'Charley's, etc. Don't forget to check out Bardstown Road (The Highlands and Original Highlands,) Crescent Hill, Clifton, and other great neighborhoods that make Louisville, Louisville. If you don't want neighbors, you might be thinking, "Louisville is not the largest city in the world, but it might still be crowded enough." I understand, the Louisville-Elizabethtown Metro area has 1.4 million people. But don't be fooled. Out in the knob areas of Hardin County and south and east Bullitt County, as well as the gently rolling limestone hills of north and east Shelby County (Bagdad, Cropper, Cedarmore areas,) you will find relatively low-cost land or country houses with few neighbors.

But, no matter where in the metro you live, from the most rural to most urban areas, you'll still be less than one hour from Downtown Louisville, unless traffic is horrible, which it seldom is (at least compared to other large cities around the country.)

So, in summary:
AREAS TO CONSIDER:
1. Hardin County (except Radcliff/Ft. Knox,)
2. Bullitt County (except Shepherdsville,)
3. Jefferson County (outside urban service, or roughly east of National Turnpike and outside I-264,)
4. Shelby County,
5. Oldham County,
6. Danville/Boyle County, and
7. Some nice areas in west KY maybe worth considering are Murray and Cadiz.

[nlschr0]

Originally Posted by lovintexas

I personally am not a big fan of the Lexington area. The school system is not that good, the traffic system was last adequate in 1975, drivers don't know how to yield, most of the people I meet are snooty, and the suburban communities (Nicholasville, Lawrenceburg, Winchester, Georgetown, etc.) are basically dumps. The ONLY place in central KY I would recommend is Danville.

Those are some pretty broad statements about a very large group of areas. There are some great schools in Fayette County, and some not very good schools as well. Like Jefferson County, the school district is very large has schools that score across the board.

I agree that the roads and traffic system in Lexington have not kept up with the growth. I'm looking forward to the changes that the county is making in prep for 2010 Eq Games and hoping that it relieves some of the congestion issues.

I also wouldn't consider the outlying areas to be dumps. Personally, I think that the downtown Georgetown area, with its historic main st and neighborhoods near the college, is very quaint and well used. There has been a lot of growth in all of these areas lately, and there are the unfortunate tracts of big-box shopping and Wal-mart epidemics, but there are plenty of nice neighborhoods and pastoral charm around. There is more of a small-town feel and agricultural influence, and you sometimes get the feeling that Jeff Foxworthy might have used some of the areas to create his redneck jokes, but I wouldn't consider that much different than the areas you mentioned.

[CynHunt]

Thanks for the input everyone. As we are looking for a horse farm, we naturally thought of the Bluegrass region. But we are definitely looking around Louisville as well.

[Toria]

Originally Posted by lovintexas

I personally am not a big fan of the Lexington area. The school system is not that good, the traffic system was last adequate in 1975, drivers don't know how to yield, most of the people I meet are snooty, and the suburban communities (Nicholasville, Lawrenceburg, Winchester, Georgetown, etc.) are basically dumps. The ONLY place in central KY I would recommend is Danville.

hmmm, not my impression of the Lexington area at all...I haven't met any "snooty" people, quite the contrary. If you think people don't drive well here, you ought to try some other parts of the country (ever been to Boston?) My understanding about the schools is that (like anywhere) there are some very good ones, and some not so good ones - why would that be surprising? While Danville is very nice, so is Georgetown, and other surrounding towns. The scenery of Bourbon and Woodford counties can't be beat. And, she was looking for a horse farm....while there's lots of nice areas that might work for her, what better area than greater Lexington (and the hunter/jumper scene is WAY more active than other parts of the state!)

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by CynHunt

Thanks for the input everyone. As we are looking for a horse farm, we naturally thought of the Bluegrass region. But we are definitely looking around Louisville as well.

Louisville has suburban and surrounding rural areas located in the bluegrass region. Generally, this region stretches from Louisville to Lexington and points a bit north. Its all around a beautiful area. Living closer to Louisville will put you much closer to more amenities without the hassles of big city life, but then again, some people do not like Louisville and prefer Lexington, which is quite a bit smaller.

[LauraBrueggman2]

Breckinridge county Kentucky is the best place to live as far as people, low taxes, low crime, low prices on real estate. We only drive 20 minutes to town and have everything we need there. People are friendly and it is much better here than our past Florida life.