Owensboro, KY (Henderson: university, living in, restaurants)

[kentuckyfriedquestions]

Hi, everyone, wanted to start a thread about Owensboro because I wasn't having much luck searching for info on it and was hoping people could help! I'm considering a move there, but I've never lived in Kentucky. So, in other words, I have a job and if I move there then I will also have a job, so you do not have to take into account "will I be able to find work" questions! It's strictly about living in Owensboro.

The first thing is that I looked on city-data and I see it's what I would consider to be a fairly big population of almost 60K. But for some reason the people I spoke to from my job say that it is "rural." Now, I get that, for example, as soon as you get towards the city limits it probably immediately turns into farms or undeveloped land, unlike a city like Chicago with a sprawling suburb, but is the actual city itself "rural"? If so, how does that work? What I mean is, let's say I was living in Owensboro proper. Would I be conscious that I was living in a rural area?

I also saw on city-data that it has a lot of chain restaurants and the "big box" stores. Are the chain restaurants all there are, or are there more varied dining options? I get that it's Owensboro and not LA, but for example if I wanted pizza are my options "Domino's or Pizza Hut" or are there any good local places? Or if I didn't want just a chain restaurant could I find Indian or sushi? (Sorry if that made anyone laugh or roll their eyes, but I figure a city of 60K could support some decent ethnic food! Again, I am aware that it is not LA!)

What is the local "flavor"? I've lived in some VERY small towns (smaller than Owensboro) that are essentially just pit stops along the road. So, the economy is very driven by, um, not tourism, but people passing by on their way to go somewhere else. That can be sort of depressing because it's a lot of truckers and people just getting gas. I've also lived in Rust Belt cities where the economy is very stagnant and really just revolves around like a processing plant located 10 miles out of town. But I've also lived in very vibrant small cities where people seem pretty happy to be there! Where does Owensboro fall?

How is the weather there? I like all four seasons. I'm actually a winter kind of person and enjoy the cold, but of course I recognize that Kentucky is in the South. But in general is the weather "hot for 9 months" or temperate or "humid all the time"?

As a sort of last thing, maybe tell me something about living in Kentucky that I should be prepared for that I might not think of!

Thanks to anyone who responds!

[censusdata]

Owensboro is a good place. Some people don't like it because it's not located off a major interstate and it doesn't have an overly charming downtown area. The city doesn't feel rural, it feels like most dense suburban areas but as soon as you leave it's corn fields or forest. It isn't dominated by one large employer but has a decent sized hospital, a private university, and a lot of factories. It has interesting local food, one of the only places where mutton is commonly barbecued.

[kygman]

I had an online friend say he has used yp.com to see what kind of restaurants and other stores in each town. Just playing around, I looked up pizza in Owensboro.

Pizza in Owensboro, Kentucky with Reviews & Ratings - YP.com

Might use this to check on box stores and other places you're curious about. I haven't been to Owensboro in 10-12 years or so.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

Filmed in owensboro


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olG9RZVKQG0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiJC5U_2i3o


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhjO-EHcBZw

[Crazee Cat Lady]

My friend use to live in Owensboro and I visited a lot - felt like suburbs where she lived.
Not rural at all....but it wouldn't take a long drive before you would be out in the rural areas of Kentucky.

[Empidonax]

I don't live in Owensboro, but stop over for a night or two every once in a while. I can't answer deep questions about what it's like to be a resident there, but I can say that the restaurant scene does go a bit beyond the usual chain venues. Most of the independent places do American-style food, BBQ, things like that. I always make a point of stopping at Moonlite BBQ, one of the places to get mutton bbq. There are a few Japanese/sushi places (including hibachi restaurants) and maybe a couple of other ethnic places, but not too much in that category. The larger city of Evansville is about 40 miles away, and there you'll find at least one Indian restaurant, several more Japanese places, Thai, and maybe a few others. The city of Henderson is also about 35-40 miles away, and though it doesn't have much of an ethnic food scene, it also has bbq restaurants (including mutton) and some other interesting independents. The historic section has a few vibrant restaurants with an edgy flair.

[veggienut]

It has it's rural areas which you see while driving and then goes into the city limits. They do have a gr-reat local pizza restaurant which even let me bring in my dog. It's called "Pizza Roma". They also have an upscale restaurant called "The Broken Egg", which is egg-cellent