Bowling Green/ Western Kentucky (Lexington, Louisville: 2013, insurance, job market)

[california_leavin]

Ive thought of moving to Tennessee but I cant rule out Kentucky ether. How is Bowling Green snow wise in the winter? From City Data it says it averages 4'' in January. Is the snow egnough to need tire chains/ winter tires? Would Bowling Green be any cooler in summer than Chattanooga Tn?

Also how are jobs in Bowling green. I've heard Bowling green is a college town. But college town doesnt always have to mean a liberal town. What other towns in the west part of Kentucky should I put on my list for my next trip east? I know I didnt feel comfortable in the east part of Kentucky, but the west part of Kentucky the folks were very kind there.

Also whats the average water table I've been searching the internet like crazy I come up everything but how far you have to drill to find water.

[alicewray]

Originally Posted by california_leavin

Also whats the average water table I've been searching the internet like crazy I come up everything but how far you have to drill to find water.

I grew up in Western Ky with both city and rural experience, so I can speak to the water issue. Short answer: it's not a big deal. Not like California at least. In towns, there's city water. Rural places, most places are old, parts of larger allotments originally. Ask a neighbor, if there's not already a well.

You have more issues with flooding generally. Buy flood insurance, make sure you have some elevation from the flood plain, even if it's just a creek.

[kygman]

No need for any tire chains very often around here. I salted and plowed state highways for over 25 years. I wasn't close to the Bowling Green area. I was up along the Ohio river across from the Illinois/Indiana line. But the snows aren't that bad in this part of the state. Once in a great while we'll get a good traffic stopping snow storm. I never have used any special snow tires. I have the same tires year round. The only trouble you'll have driving on snow and ice, and it's probably the same anywhere, is watching out for the idiots out there who think they are the only ones who know how to drive on it.

[elevationnation]

Was born and raised in BG. Snow isn't an issue, but schools will shut down if you get an inch of snow. Well at least that was how it was in the early 90's. I would have to say BG is head and shoulders more liberal now than it was back when I was in highschool in the mid and late 90's. The city has changed a bit, and I still have most of my family there. So I would say BG is a bit more quieter than Chatt, but Chatt does have a lot of appeal for different reasons.

[california_leavin]

Ive made it to clarksville Tennessee, so far its too big of a city, Im thinking of checking out bowling green, and Glasgow, do you all have some info on Glasgow? I visited Hopkinsville today I liked it there but reading tornadohistoryproject that its tornado alley, it seems bowling green and Glasgow are safer from that. How about russelville? can you get to a hardware store within 20 miles?

[Wardendresden]

Originally Posted by california_leavin

Ive made it to clarksville Tennessee, so far its too big of a city, Im thinking of checking out bowling green, and Glasgow, do you all have some info on Glasgow? I visited Hopkinsville today I liked it there but reading tornadohistoryproject that its tornado alley, it seems bowling green and Glasgow are safer from that. How about russelville? can you get to a hardware store within 20 miles?

If you worried a lot about earthquakes in California, then you might be justified in worrying about tornadoes in Kentucky. Earthquakes actually affect a much larger area than an individual tornado. When I lived in Kentucky (17 years) I had them hit near me, saw one pass directly overhead but not on the ground, and saw the damage they can cause. They are still less scary than earthquakes I was in (Okinawa--twice) or typhoons (Okinawa--seven times) or hurricanes (Alabama-one).

But ruling an area out because there may be a tornado or two--it's like boarding an airplane--every so often one is going down--but you don't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

If western Kentucky is appealing, just about any small town will have a hardware store within a half an hour.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by california_leavin

Ive thought of moving to Tennessee but I cant rule out Kentucky ether. How is Bowling Green snow wise in the winter? From City Data it says it averages 4'' in January. Is the snow egnough to need tire chains/ winter tires? Would Bowling Green be any cooler in summer than Chattanooga Tn?

Also how are jobs in Bowling green. I've heard Bowling green is a college town. But college town doesnt always have to mean a liberal town. What other towns in the west part of Kentucky should I put on my list for my next trip east? I know I didnt feel comfortable in the east part of Kentucky, but the west part of Kentucky the folks were very kind there.

Also whats the average water table I've been searching the internet like crazy I come up everything but how far you have to drill to find water.

Oh, the irony. I was born in western Kentucky but now live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

To answer your questions in order:

- It seldom snows enough to even think about chains. If you have a 4x4/AWD vehicle and/or you weigh the back end of your vehicle down with sandbags, you will be fine. 4-14" of snow per winter is standard for Kentucky and only once every 8-12 years will there be enough snow to justify chains. (We do have sleet and freezing rain intermittently, though, but even then we only have huge ice storms every 8-12 years or so.) In the event of snow or ice, Kentucky does a lackluster job of treating its highways, anyway, at least compared to the northern counterparts in Indiana and Ohio, so you'll probably be staying at the house.

- BG would be comparable in temp to Chattanooga year-round, maybe a few degrees cooler. Remember, Chattanooga is on a higher elevation due to its location in Appalachia.

- Job market in Kentucky altogether sucks. Honestly, it's worse than California; it's just that you have to contend with the high cost of living to live in the state's major job centers of the Bay Area, L.A., and Orange Co. However, your probability in Kentucky will be much higher in BG since Warren County has held a comparatively low unemployment rate throughout this bad economy. Look into living in suburban/exurban areas around Louisville and Lexington, too, and searching for jobs within those cities, which even then are bite-sized cities compared to California's.

- As far as western Kentucky, check out (1) Murray (college town), (2) Paducah (regional commerce center), (3) Mayfield (near Murray and Paducah), (4) Henderson (proximity to Evansville, IN), and (5) Owensboro (colleges/Evansville). My personal favorite out of all these is Owensboro; the newly redeveloped riverfront is great and new life is coming back to a beautiful old downtown. Henderson is cool because of the walkability and even serenity of its downtown area.

- Stay AWAY from eastern Kentucky.

- How far do you have to drill to find water? Huh? It ain't the Central Valley. Trust me, every po-dunk nook and cranny in rural-most western Kentucky will have running, clean water. Very, very few people have to drive to town to fill up the tanks for their cisterns.

- I know little about Glasgow, except that it is, like BG, close to Mammoth Cave National Park and Barren River Lake.

Having said all this, Tennessee is a better deal as a state when you consider quality of life, scenery (which I think is slightly nicer), property values, and property taxes. I might choose Tennessee if I were you.

[kygman]

Well, I had a big post proving a lot of EclecticEars post wrong, then I happened to check the date of the post he was replying to. 9/28/2012. I imagine is well situated somewhere in the area he was checking on.

But, Ears, on your idea that the job market in Kentucky sucks, check out the Kentucky Economic Outlook.
https://www.chase.com/online/commerc...t/Kentucky.pdf
Look at the "key message" on each page. Page 2 "Kentucky is forecast to grow faster than the national economy in 2013." Page 3 "The strength of the motor vehicle industry now is a plus for the state." Page 4 "Bankruptcies are coming back down slowly, but remain a little high. Financial strains built up during the recession, but the improving economy is relieving pressure on local businesses."
There are 17 pages to check out the messages. Not saying everything is rosy for Kentucky but it's looking a lot better.
Murray was just chosen by 2 German automotive supply companies as a town for one of their new plants. 120 jobs plus all the construction workers to build the plant. You might choose Tennessee (or California), but I will always choose Kentucky.

[california_leavin]

went up and visited bowling green today, i like it up there, for now i have my heart set on tennessee, but western kentucky would make a great place for me to retire someday. i really enjoyed franklin kentucky, very pretty part of this country.

[kygman]

Murray, Ky and the Kentucky Lake area have been rated among top places in the US to retire several times. Might want to check it out sometime.