Visiting in a few weeks.... (Paducah, Paris: hotels, houses, purchase)

[boxer_lover]

Hi all! I'm from Chicago, and my boyfriend and I will be visiting in a few weeks. We're looking to see what land costs as he will be retiring in 7 years and we want to move there when this happens. We do have some questions.

About visiting
What's there to do near the Paducah area? Where are the best places to stay? Does any hotel have outdoor swimming pools???

About living
1. We're looking for the near-perfect place....and we picked Kentucky ...but seriously, we're not sure what part. We are considering heading toward the Paducah area.
2. We're looking to purchase between 5 & 10 acres to build a house on in 7 yrs.
3. We're NOT interested in cultural diversity, if you get my drift. Nothing against anybody, but that's just how we feel.
4. We'd like to know if and how Kentucky taxes pension funds. I thought I read about some pension tax forgiveness or whatever, up to $41,000? Something like that...does that make sense?
5. What about property taxes? Houses, cars, etc? An acquaintance told me her father moved to Arkansas and was charged a yearly tax on every vehicle they owned. What about city stickers, plate stickers, etc? BASICALLY, I'd like to know about all financial aspects of living in Kentucky.

If anyone can provide some information, that would be GREAT!!!

Thanks much.

[gimme it]

I don't get your drift. Please clarify. Thank you.

[nalabama]

Here's the best post I could find on Paducah, by watchmanonthewall, dated 10-16-2006:

Paducah is hemmed in on all sides by suburbs. If you add the populations of all the suburbs up you'll discover the population is in the 60k range. Paducah is the primary medical and retail center for far West Ky., Southern ILL', and S.E. Mo. The daytime population swells to probably 100k easy. Paducah, I promise you, is very urban. Two major hospitals, a symphony, a law school, a horse track, a casino located on the Ill' side of the river, and every chain store known to mankind. In addition it is a major convention venue. Every night you will find someone in the realm of Willie Nelson or Bill Cosby at the Executive Inn. It is also one of the largest river ports in middle america. It has so many art galleries it's known as the Paris of America. It is the Headquarters of the World Quilters Society and they have a world class museum downtown. It has a Federal Court. It even has it's own magazine, "Paducah Style". Are you starting to get it? It may not be New York, but it's sure not Mayberry.

As regards pensions, from Kentucky Rvised Statutes, Chapter 145.010:

2. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2005, exclude up to
forty-one thousand one hundred ten dollars ($41,110) of total
distributions from pension plans, annuity contracts, profit-sharing plans,
retirement plans, or employee savings plans.

Paducah's Real Property taxes are laid out in some detail at City of Paducah - Tax Information (http://paducahky.gov/city/finance/tax_information.php - broken link)

Detailed tax info regarding McCracken County is online at http://revenue.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9...teBook5207.pdf.

You should be able to pull up extensive info regarding Paducah's hotels/motels at any of the online travel sites. I'll bet some of them have swimming pools.

[rnc76]

[quote=boxer_lover;1085021]Hi all! I'm from Chicago, and my boyfriend and
3. We're NOT interested in cultural diversity, if you get my drift. Nothing against anybody, but that's just how we feel.
[quote]

So you want basically only white people where you are moving to, is that your "drift"?

[gotide4]

don't believe all the hype about paducah...it is certainly not the urban mecca as touted in the above post. The part that really made me laugh was when it was referred to as the paris of america. If you mean applebees and kfc as cultural. It is considered urban because it has more than one traffic light. There's nothing to do there proven by bragging about hitting a casino on the river for a good time...and don't forget about the quilts...a real blast and cultural experience. The people here are arrogant for no reason and claim to be all southern but in reality it is about as midwest as it gets. The schools are lousy and western ky in general is very blue collar and industrial. Look into northern kentucky. You can be in a town that has a country feel but only be 15 minutes from cincinnati. The schools are phenomenal, it is very white collar; there is endless things to do as well as any type of dining or shopping you could want. You are onlt one hour from the beauty of lexington and the horse farms, one hour from louisville, and an hor and a half from indianapolis. Its got the suburbs, the country living if you want...you can't go wrong. Wky people live in a bubble as the world moves on and they don't...the sad part is it is a source of pride for them...read a little about owensboro and you will see what I mean. The executive inn is another funny comment. They were great in the seventies but haven't changed a bit...look them up online...they are dumps and haven't changed with the times; just like western kentucky . I may sound harsh but everything I said is true...but it may be the place for you judging by your diversity comment...it doesn't sound like your views have changed in decades either...that's sad