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It's funny...Owensboro is the third largest city in KY, but Bowling Green is the third most important city.
The city planning of Owensboro is pretty bad. The city is all spread out and does not feel "urban" at all. The nightlife is just ok for a city its size, and besides BBQ (which is damn good by the way) there aren't that many other good restaurants.
You all hit the nail on the head about owensboro. The eye of the hurricane is the best I've heard yet. There is no doubt it is a nice place to raise a family but as one of the previous posts said they will leave...see what they have been missing and not come back again. Every one of my wifes friends (who grew up in owensboro) has not returned. Her cousins left to go to UK and remained in lexington after graduation. Time has passed owensboro by just like the interstate. The city needs to quite resisting change and look at the potential they have to flourish. The first thing to do is get that airport off it's death bed...with an active airport comes more buisness and so forth. Northern kentucky and the cincinnatti area boomed as a result of the international airport. It's a different demographic but the benefits can be the same. I heard the town just slamed a proposed entertainment area that was to be built saying that it should be downtown instead...my question is where? Next to the soy factory or the run down hotel. It's a dying downtown that people seem content with.
Not much in Owensboro. It has the potential for greatness, but it has not been tapped into. The region's leaders aren't as motivated as those in Bowling Green in attracting economic growth. The 4-laning of US 231 all the way to I-64 in Indiana will help tremendously, as will the removal of tolls from the Audubon and Natcher Parkways. But until a real interstate highway is built to Owensboro--and eastern Kentucky does not continue to get a disproportional allocation of highway dollars from Louisville, Lexington, Covington, and Owensboro--then it will be at a disadvantage. I'm not sure a new airport will help much, there is already a decent amount of new industry next to the airport along Carter Road, and the airport is certainly a culprit of that growth.
Aside from Carter Road and the new Home Depot on Frederica St., the city looks essentially the same as it did in 1990 when I was in preschool! Sad.
Most of the economic comments have been pretty accurate about the Big O! However, living in Owensboro is not as dismal as it may seem. I have lived in Bowling Green, Evansville, Lexington and other towns in the area to name a few. Each presents its share of problems, but you really can't compare any of them, not even Lexington, to any truly large city like Louisville or Cincinatti.
Owensboro is great for family. The birth of our daughter brought us back here. However, we have not missed out. The Friday After 5 series is great. Toasting the sunset as it sets over the Ohio with a nice cold beverage and good music and equally good people would be a hit anywhere. The Riverpark Center, which no one mentioned, brings Broadway shows to us on a regular basis. We have our own theater and dance companies not to mention a symphony, a small science museum, and an art museum. No it isn't the High Museum in ATL, but I saw my first original O'Keefe there.
As for the night life, the Blind Parrot and the Boiler Room often provide good live music on the weekends, the drinks are cheap by big-city standards, and the outdoor patios at both are fun. Food extends beyond the typical Applebee's; you just need to know where it is. The Famous Bistro downtown, Nikos on 54, and Mt. Fuji on Frederica are fabulous. You can get great authentic Greek, Mediterranean, and Japanese at each respectively. An additional boost is the comparatively low prices and extraordinary friendly service.
Owensboro is an insider's town. Most of the fun and action happens with good friends and families at each others homes, weddings, etc. However, even if you are an outsider, take a venture to one of the local bars and it won't be long before someone strikes up a conversation. You just may find yourself having a great time with great people from all walks of the economic spectrum, as Owensboro natives openly talk to "new" people. That can be said in your larger cities.
PS: Go to Moonlite to stuff your face at a wonderful buffet; President Clinton did. Go to Old Hickory for the best BBQ.
I moved from Louisville, Ky 12/2006, and I don't care at all for Owensboro. In my opinion there is hardley anything to do here, and there is 1 movie theatre with no discounts, a very small mall, and just not a whole lot for kids to do. I feel that alot of the people here are very rude. I moved here because my family is here, and now I have 2 children in school. 1 in high school, and the other in middle school, so it's hard to move them again. I would prefer to leave here, and never come back. There is no reason to stay here. The Executive Inn is the only place here that you could actually see concerts, and the city couldn't even keep it open. It went Bankrupt. They don't want to do anything to build this city up. They are gonna build a new hospital, and hotel, and do some work on a park. How about a convention center, or some place to hold concerts, and activities that will actually bring people to this city, and give it money. I just hate it here. A good restaurant for anyone visiting or that's interested is The Briarpatch. It really is very good. As far as them having the best barbeque in the world, Sorry I don't feel that way.
Last edited by chriskeasha; 10-11-2008 at 08:27 AM..
Reason: mispelled word
I moved from Louisville, Ky 12/2006, and I don't care at all for Owensboro. In my opinion there is hardley anything to do here, and there is 1 movie theatre with no discounts, a very small mall, and just not a whole lot for kids to do. I feel that alot of the people here are very rude. I moved here because my family is here, and now I have 2 children in school. 1 in high school, and the other in middle school, so it's hard to move them again. I would prefer to leave here, and never come back. There is no reason to stay here. The Executive Inn is the only place here that you could actually see concerts, and the city couldn't even keep it open. It went Bankrupt. They don't want to do anything to build this city up. They are gonna build a new hospital, and hotel, and do some work on a park. How about a convention center, or some place to hold concerts, and activities that will actually bring people to this city, and give it money. I just hate it here. A good restaurant for anyone visiting or that's interested is The Briarpatch. It really is very good. As far as them having the best barbeque in the world, Sorry I don't feel that way.
Not trying to be ugly but why did you move there without finding these things out first?
I think something that surprises people about this state is that being a 'large' city doesn't necasarily mean there are tons of things to do.
BUT - when you have lived here asll your life and have friends and family - it doesn't really matter. Like - what you don't know won't hurt you', or 'how can you know what you are missing if you have never had it' .
That doesn't make Owensboro a bad place to live, it just means people have found solutions to how to spend their time, and many have been doing it for generations.
My family is originally from Henry Co. - north toward Cincy. It is exactly one hour in either direction to major shopping, so you compromise and go to LaGrnage, where ther are restaraunts and a Walmart. No, nothing spectacular, but a quaint little place to be with rich history like many towns in Kentucky.
I live in a tiny town which would be missed if you blinked, even though we have an exit from I-65 (woowhoo!). In order to shop, we go to Elizabethtown 15 mins., or to Louisville 30 to 40 mins. depending on where you are headed. We have just gotten used to it.
I cannot imagine, although it is probably nice - not having to drive to get something from a store (other than the dollar store which we have only had for a few years).
I think it boils down to what you have grown up with, become accustomed to and been exposed to. People who want a road 'more' traveled generally end up in Lexington or Louisville, but those longing for a little slower pace end up in the way out suburbs, country, whatever you want to call it.
I have been to Owensboro many times , and I have wondered what they do too, as they have farther tp travel than I. It's called "get everything you need while you are out 'cause we won't be back til next week!"
I do have to add, as far as the younger crowd is concerned, it is tough. Not much to do does result in cruising (when I was growing up we had our friends headlights memorized in Bardstown so we could spot them as we drove around the courthouse), but as long as they do not bother anything I see no harm in it. There will always be rotten apples who cause trouble, but it seems most small towns try to police themselves (usually), and the kids can't get away with much because everybody knows their parents. The culture shock is sad, however, when they finally hit the big city and find it hard to function. They do adjust, OR, they get what they went for and wind up back home - living the life they were raised on.
First off the hotel I stayed in was the executive inn...(owensboro's claim to fame I hear) and was not impressed. The place looked like it was out of the 70's and the decor seemed the same.
Your're dead on about the Executive Inn. I've stayed there several times for meetings. The first time was in the 70's and the last time was in 2004. It didn't really change between those dates. The best thing about it the last time I stayed was in the Karakoe bar, well one of the waitresses was the best thing .
There is a pretty big time gap between the last post and this one but I just stumbled on the site and forum. Having been born in Owensboro in the 50's, grew up there, graduated from Owensboro Sr. High, I can relate to a LOT of what has been posted here. I am a perfect example of a person who grew up there, left to go to school and never moved back. My wife and I still had a lot of family there, (parents mainly and my wife has a couple of sisters there still), so we often would go back for visits. I still am there at least once a month and sometimes more.
My Dad grew up just east of Owensboro in Hancock County. He was born in 1918 and during his youth, Owensboro was certainly the BIG city. Others have mentioned other places. I have lived in Tulsa Oklahoma and Wichita Kansas, both comperable in size to Louisville. I now live in Memphis Tennessee, the 17th largest city in the US with Shelby County the 44 largest county having close to 900,000. The metro area which encompasses West Memphis Arkansas and Southaven Mississippi and neighboring Tennessee counties is well over a million. I said all that to put the following into perspective.
Like I said, I grew up in Owensboro. As a kid and teenager, I couldn't WAIT to get out of the back woods, nothing to do, no excitement hick town. NOW? Well Owensboro doesn't really look too bad. You want crime? Come to Memphis. Depending on which national survey you read, we are always in the top 5 for murder, rape car jacking and other violent crimes as well as property crimes such as burglary, home invasion and auto theft. It is so bad that often murders and other similiar crimes are not front page or the lead story on the evening news. I often think it would be nice to go back somewhere you aren't always on the watch to make sure you don't become the next gang initiation victim.
On the other hand, Owensboro does need to be more forward thinking. When I grew up there, there were several large employers, GE had two plants, Texas Gas, (before CSX bought them and essentially destroyed them), Jessup Steel had Green River Steel, (now just a rusting hulk on East US 60). But the leaders of Owensboro didn't want Owensboro to loose that "small town charm" and did little to encourage outside investment and involvement. They never actively encouraged airport growth or promoted air travel.
Depending on your personal beliefs, and I am NOT trying to get into that debate, but growth that involved things that could be seen as contrary to religious beliefs always met HEAVY opposition. I can remember for MANY years, nothing was open on Sunday in Owensboro except drug stores, a few small grocery stores and restaurants. Blue laws prevented any other retail outles from being open. If you wanted to shop on Sundays, you had to go to Evansville. The leaders finally realized how much revenue they were loosing to Evansville because regardless of the blue laws, people were going to shop, if not in Owensboro, then somewhere else.
The same was true when it came to issues for liquor by the drink on Sundays. People who saw a very viable source of revenue in the visitor and convention industry knew that if restaurants and places like the Executive Inn convention center were to attract large conventions, they were going to have to get passed that.
But, like others, the area of interest for me had no future in Owensboro. I personally am in aviation. Again, the airport at Owensboro was never a priority for the leaders of that town. When I left to go to school, I knew I would never be able to have a real future in my chosen field in my home town.
Owensboro has been and always will be IMHO, a town with a small town mentality, not interested in growth. The latest numbers I can find actually show that the population now is less than it was when I graduated from high school. Owensboro is not interested in growing and never will be.
People, you can't expect a city the size of Owensboro to have a bunch of fancy amenities. It's just not going to happen. That is a big DUH!! Good grief...
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No, you are right
