Land Between the Lakes (Murray, Paris: sales, crime, houses)

[Jim Mac]

I've yet to visit this area, but have a couple questions. Is the area between the 2 lakes all forest? All I have is an atlas and can't tell. We're thinking of retiring in Murray or Paris, TN. in the future. They both sound very nice from what I've read, with Paris being a little warmer in the winter(which is good). If anyone has been to both areas, can you compare then as far as cost of living, crime, weather, etc? I love to fish by the way. Thanks.

[kygman]

First of all, Murray and Paris are only about 20 miles apart so the weather won't be that much different. As far as any information about Paris, I haven't been through there since my high school days in the 70s. lol You can find information on Murray at Murray, Kentucky - MyMurray.com . A couple differences between Ky. and Tenn. is Ky sales tax is 6% and Tennessee's is 9 1/2%, and Kentucky doesn't tax food (grocery items, not things like fast food, soft drinks, etc). But Tennessee has no state income tax.

The deal about the Land Between the Lakes is there are no businesses or bill boards anywhere. When the TVA took over and moved all the families out, the agreement was that there wouldn't be any commercial interest in the LBL and, if there was, these families would be able to claim there family land. My wife's family was one of those. Her family cemetery is still there and we have homecoming every May at the cemetery. When you drive down the Trace (the highway running through the LBL) you will see nothing but woods. There are things to see here though, starting at the buffalo range and the Homeplace on the Tennessee side all the way to the canal connecting the 2 lakes at the northern end. Speaking of the Homeplace, this is a small farm set up the way it was in 1850. If you go there and notice the corn crib, that belonged to my wife's great uncle and was moved to this "display". The Nature Center has kind of a miniature zoo, having most of the animals you would find in the LBL. My son took my grandkids there Monday and loved it! Everybody on here knows I could keep talking about the LBL all day. I live in Cadiz, 10 miles east of Lake Barkley. You can see what there is to do at Land Between The Lakes . As far as fishing, I hope the fish like you better than they do me. lol When you get to the LBL website, go to See & Do at the top and go down to Fishing. There you can get a weekly fishing report for the area. There's a lot of history in this area. Like I said, I could keep going about the area but I'll shut up for now. Drop me a note if I can help you find any other information.

[Jim Mac]

Thanks. I didn't realize the 2 towns were only 20 miles apart. Other than the 2 HUGE lakes, does either town have more smaller lakes close to town?

[kygman]

Originally Posted by Jim Mac

Thanks. I didn't realize the 2 towns were only 20 miles apart. Other than the 2 HUGE lakes, does either town have more smaller lakes close to town?

Murray is about 35 miles from Cadiz. Everything having to do with water around either town is on a branch of either Kentucky or Barkley Lakes. The city park in Cadiz is on the Little River, which branches off Barkley. A lot of the western side of Trigg County (Cadiz) is along Lake Barkley and there are several nice houses and neighborhoods all on the lake.

[kentuckydad95]

Trust me, you will want NOTHING to do with Paris, TN. Murray is not the greatest town in the world, but from living here since 1980, I can tell you that it's night and day between the two towns.

[Jim Mac]

Originally Posted by kentuckydad95

Trust me, you will want NOTHING to do with Paris, TN. Murray is not the greatest town in the world, but from living here since 1980, I can tell you that it's night and day between the two towns.

Can you explain what you mean?

[kentuckydad95]

Originally Posted by Jim Mac

Can you explain what you mean?

The crime in Paris is higher, less restaurants, less shopping, less activities, higher taxes, inferior healthcare, etc. Even the general look of Paris is "scummy" compared to Murray. Like I said, Murray is not the best in the world, but it's excels a lot higher than Paris, TN.

[Jim Mac]

Originally Posted by kentuckydad95

The crime in Paris is higher, less restaurants, less shopping, less activities, higher taxes, inferior healthcare, etc. Even the general look of Paris is "scummy" compared to Murray. Like I said, Murray is not the best in the world, but it's excels a lot higher than Paris, TN.

Wow. I guess all the "expert" articles I've read recommending Paris are wrong. They do recommend Murray too though. That's how I found out about these 2 towns.

[kentuckydad95]

Originally Posted by Jim Mac

Wow. I guess all the "expert" articles I've read recommending Paris are wrong. They do recommend Murray too though. That's how I found out about these 2 towns.

My advice is to visit both towns for a day each, explore each and determine for yourself. The choice will be clearcut.

[kygman]

My dad says west Kentucky is interesting. Where else can you eat breakfast then drive to Moscow, Mexico, Cuba, AND Paris, and be back home a little after lunch? lol