where's the treasure????? (Lexington, Hopkinsville, Richmond: fit in, houses, find a job)
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ok I must admit, there is no utopia or treasured place to live but here's what I am looking for. I think Kentucky will be close to ideal. Looking for an area to live that is rural.... but not isolated. having a few acres between neighbors is fine. Right now I live 5 feet from our neighbors : (
Also need to be less than an hour from a library and grocery store. I like the country or woods. Love wildlife, fishing with hubby, flea markets, farmers markets, antiques and thrift stores. But I do not necessarily have to have them too close. Also, looking for a old home under 75k.........
if this place exists let me know. My hubby will need to find a job, but I have faith in him.
thanks!
It's all here, abundantly...except possibly that nice old house at that low price. We have lots of nice old houses, but few at low prices (except by comparison with other areas, perhaps...).
How many bedrooms and bathrooms are you looking for? Are you and your husband handy at minor repairs and painting? Would a fixer-upper be something you'd consider? Do you hope to have a vegetable garden and perhaps fruit trees (maybe to help off-set housing costs?)
Do you prefer mountains or rolling countryside? Any kids? What sort of work would your husband consider? Are you considering working outside the home yourself? Is proximity to health care and good schools a major concern or just something desirable?
Let us know a bit more about your dream place, and you'll get more informative responses.
OK in regards to area, I feel Eastern KY would be more ideal. I like mountain or foresty areas. My husband is a welder, has worked in the field for many years. No worry about proximity to schools. As for myself I have many good work skills in the office or medical field. My dream place........... a farmhouse, no problem with tlc. Our present house needed much tlc and love, we worked wonders with it. looking for 2 or more bedrooms , love vegatable gardens and gardening in general. would even consider living in a farming area. Just want a bit more quietness and affordability than what we have now in the Northeast, I am a country girl at heart and really find it stressful and unfitting being in the hub of urban society. I am friendly and helpful to all my neighbors. I feelI could fit in well just about anywhere. I have been researching areas to live the past 2 years. The main focus is my husbands career as a welder. Kentucky sounds just to be the right place to make our future home. Just now trying to get an idea locationwise the areas that would best suit our lifestyle. Quiet rural or semi/rural. 1 hr or less from library,walmart antiques or thrift stores. homes spaced well apart by at least 1 acre..........
Too bad you're looking towards eastern Kentucky. I live in Cadiz, western part of the state. There is a company here that makes the trailer part of tractor trailers that has been hiring welders. Antique shops? We have 6 on Main Street. We have 2 large lakes nearby. One is the largest man made, by acreage, east of the Mississippi River. In between the lakes in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area , 170,000 acres of nothing but nature. No homes, no stores, just campgrounds, hiking and biking trails and a lotta nature. The population for Trigg County in the 2010 census is only 14,000 people. There are plenty of homes with quite a bit of privacy around them. And, for your gardening, there is a Farmer's Market downtown twice a week. Hopkinsville, about 18 miles east, has 2 Farmer's Markets. I know one of them is twice a week but not sure about the other. There is a very good library in Cadiz. My wife likes the bigger one in Hopkinsville. She has been working in geneology for 40+ years and could stay all day in the geneology section of the Hopkinsville library.
Jenny Stuart Hospital in Hopkinsville is a very good hospital. We have a hospital here with a good staff but, like any small town, it's more of a "band aid station".
I keep mentioning Hopkinsville, that's the "hub" for the area. Walmart is there, Kmart, the Goodwill just opened a HUGE new thrift store. We're a little over an hour from Nashville, Tn.
Eastern Kentucky's mountains are undeniably lovely (where mountaintop removal hasn't destroyed them, that is...), but the economy isn't in good shape at all. Your husband would have more opportunities in other parts of the state, more than likely, unless you settle on the edge of the mountains and he is willing to commute.
Berea might work well - it's on the very western edge of the mountains and is only 45 minutes from Lexington, about fifteen minutes from Richmond. It has all the amenities you're seeking, though land values and housing costs are on the rise there. Berea is in Madison County but is very close to both Jackson, Estill, and Rockcastle Counties, which would widen your consideration-range a good deal.
And as noted, Western Kentucky has many attractions and is scenic as well. A compromise might be the Knobs area, which runs in a large semi-circle south and west of the Outer Bluegrass. There are wooded "knobs" with rich open valleys in between, and nearby towns include Danville, Lancaster, and Stanford. There are others as well. Danville is the most prosperous and has more amenities than most.
Other wooded and hilly land runs in a narrow band along both sides of the Kentucky River in the Palisades area. The Palisades are 300 foot tall limestone cliffs which line the river thoughout much of its run through Central Kentucky. Topography in this area is rugged, with a wide variety of wildlife and plantlife. It's very scenic and has been proposed for a new state park. Private property comes on the market from time to time in this area, and acreage tends to be cheaper than that closer to Lexington and the Inner Bluegrass.
All of Kentucky is subject to tornadoes, but it's rare for them to touch down, and even rarer for them to be severe. If you live here or plan to move here, get a battery-and-handcrank operated weather radio, a couple of good flashlights, a two or three day supply of bottled water, and determine your "safe place": the lowest place in your house, generally, or if you lack a basement or storm cellar (storm cellars are rare in Ky), a small enclosed area such as a closet or windowless bathroom near the center of your house. If you have a basement, beneath the basement steps is usually a very strongly constructed and relatively safe place to wait out the storm.
Tornado watches are usually issued well in advance of any warnings, so if your area is under a watch, just keep the radio and/or television on and get your "storm kit" items in place. Make sure all family members are aware of the forecast, and have a designated meeting place if you're scattered during the day. Most Kentucky communities have loud storm sirens which come on when a tornado is sighted - they're loud enough to wake you up in the middle of the night so you can get to safety.
If your house lacks central closets and a basement, get into the bathtub and put pillows over your head and a heavy blanket over the rest of you. It's also a good idea to don sturdy enclosed shoes if you have time when a warning is issued. Perhaps keeping an extra pair of shoes in your safe place would be wise.
But really...tornadoes are rare here and much more common elsewhere. Kentucky isn't really Tornado Alley (maybe Tornado Trail or Pathway, though...).
Too bad you're looking towards eastern Kentucky. I live in Cadiz, western part of the state. There is a company here that makes the trailer part of tractor trailers that has been hiring welders. Antique shops? We have 6 on Main Street. We have 2 large lakes nearby. One is the largest man made, by acreage, east of the Mississippi River. In between the lakes in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area , 170,000 acres of nothing but nature. No homes, no stores, just campgrounds, hiking and biking trails and a lotta nature. The population for Trigg County in the 2010 census is only 14,000 people. There are plenty of homes with quite a bit of privacy around them. And, for your gardening, there is a Farmer's Market downtown twice a week. Hopkinsville, about 18 miles east, has 2 Farmer's Markets. I know one of them is twice a week but not sure about the other. There is a very good library in Cadiz. My wife likes the bigger one in Hopkinsville. She has been working in geneology for 40+ years and could stay all day in the geneology section of the Hopkinsville library.
Jenny Stuart Hospital in Hopkinsville is a very good hospital. We have a hospital here with a good staff but, like any small town, it's more of a "band aid station".
I keep mentioning Hopkinsville, that's the "hub" for the area. Walmart is there, Kmart, the Goodwill just opened a HUGE new thrift store. We're a little over an hour from Nashville, Tn.
Agree. Western KY has PLENTY to do outdoors (people there eat, sleep, fish and hunt) + pretty decent opportunities for welding. Given a choice between the 2 ends of the state, I'll take the western portion every day of the week so I'm partial.
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tornadoes
