I asked the wrong questions - sorry! (Lexington, Louisville: real estate, insurance)

[AuntieKolohe]

Instead of asking about Glaskow, I'd like some recommendations of places that are great for my husband and I who are both retired?

We now live in Mount Shasta, California, but we're looking to move to Kentucky.

We're not "big city" people - as a matter of fact we are a quiet couple that enjoy the outdoors by sitting outside enjoying the forest, mountains and sky. We are also home owners looking to purchase a home as well.

Thank you so much in advance to any retirees that can give me an insight to being a retiree in Kentucky!

Frankie

[turkeydance]

might want to consider living closer to a major medical center.
as retirees, those doctor's trips can be a "haul" from back in the hills.
for example: the MRI trailer is only "in town" twice a month.
maybe between Louisville and Cincinnati?

[kygman]

Have you considered western Kentucky? Several years ago, Murray and the Kentucky Lake area were ranked the #1 place to retire in the country. Murray is about 18 miles from Kentucky Lake, the largest man made lake (by acreage) east of the Mississippi River. If you're looking for some awesome places to sit and watch the forest and sky, you should check out the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, 170,000 acres of nothing but nature. No stores, homes, restaurants, etc. Just the Nature Center and Visitor's Center describing how the LBL came to be. https://www.landbetweenthelakes.us/
There's a state park overlooking the Mississippi River, Columbus Belmont State Park, that was the scene of a civil war battlefield. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columb...ont_State_Park My parents and some other couples used to drive from Mayfield, where I live to sit in the shelter at Columbus Belmont, have a picnic, and watch the sun set across the river in Missouri. Being retirees ( like my wife and I) if you want a good hospital close by there are several good ones, with cardiac care in western Ky. Murray and Mayfield have very good hospitals and Paducah has two. I wouldn't hesitate to go to any of them for any medical problem, emergency or not.
Only thing not on your list is mountains. Sorry! lol I've always said there are 120 counties in Kentucky so there should be something for everybody in at least one of them. Hope you find what you're looking for!

[AuntieKolohe]

Oh thank you so much, everything you've mentioned sounds exactly what we're looking for. And having a hospital close by is even better!

I don't care about the mountains actually, just a quiet place to live in the beauty of Kentucky would be perfect. Funny, I've never been to Kentucky. My husband and I are born and raised on 'Oahu, Hawaii - then relocated to California for jobs since the Hawaii job market was horrible at the time - but as odd as it might sound, my heart has always been in Kentucky and I don't know why. So now that we're retired, well, it's as good a time as any to sell our home and relocate to where my heart has always been!

Do you have any recommendations for a real estate agent? I'd love to talk to one that was recommended other than just picking one out on a site.

Thank you so very much again,
Frankie

[marino760]

KY has a lot of wonderful cities and towns throughout the state that are very nice potential retirement destinations. It just depends on what you personally like. Do a lot of research and visit.
Personally, I like hills and mountains so I'm gravitating towards the eastern half. One thing I've done that helps me keep up with what's happening in a specific small town I may be interested in retiring to is subscribing to the local paper. It arrives once a week in the mail and tells me all about what's happening there, including weather, crime (the little there is, is almost always petty), new business opening up and so on. The cost is $35 per year for the subscription and I love reading it.
Take a couple of weeks or so and drive around the state, enjoy the wonderful food and people. There are also some lovely resort state parks with great amenities, hiking trails, and natural beauty. The last time I was in KY I stayed one night at Blues Lick State Park which is NE of Lexington, and was the location of one of the last battles of the Revolutionary War and had an awesome time. The lodge was super nice, clean and had a good restaurant as well.
The roads I've traveled have been very clean, safe and beautiful. It will give you a good idea of where you will want to eventually settle down. https://kentuckystateparks.reserveam...Y&parkId=91917

[kygman]

Frankie, I couldn't help you much on the realtor part. Haven't had to house look for over 10 years. I have some friends who retired and moved here from New York several years ago and love it. She was originally from this area.
One thing I forgot if you look around the Murray, Ky. area. Murray is home to Murray State University ( murraystate.edu ) so there are plenty of shows, art exhibits, etc. Paducah is home to the National Quilting Museum and they host a quilt show twice a year that brings in thousands of people from around the world. I've seen some awesome quilts there, but I stay away from Paducah during Quilt week. lol https://quiltmuseum.org/

[CraigCreek]

Take a look at the smaller towns which encircle Lexington at a ten to thirty-five mile distance. All are lovely, many have historic downtowns and friendly people, while advanced health care and various other amenities are readily available in nearby Lexington.

In addition, Lexington is home to the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University, and has a lot of cultural activities and attractions. The north side of Lexington is famous for its thoroughbred horse farms, many of which are open for visitors by appointment. The Kentucky (state) Horse Park is also just outside of town - it was home to the World Equestrian Games a few years ago. COL is a bit higher here than in the surrounding smaller towns, from which access to Lexington is not difficult.

This is the Inner Bluegrass, with scenic rolling meadows and a rich history. You can get your mountain-fix only 45 minutes down I-75 from south Lexington, in Berea, where "the mountains meet the (outer) Bluegrass", with the northwesternmost ridges of the Cumberlands just east and south of town.

There are also a number of large lakes within easy distance of Lexington, for boating, fishing, swimming and other watersports: Lake Cumberland, Herrington Lake, and Cave Run Lake. Each has their own character.

Come spend a little time here, and look for online videos of the Bluegrass ahead of time, to get a better idea of what Kentucky is like. Make your wish-list, then figure out where you're likely to find most of what is on it.

[AuntieKolohe]

Another question I have is about tornadoes.

I apologize for my ignorance. I can tell you a lot about earthquakes, but I have zero knowledge about tornadoes.

Do they threaten KY a lot? And if so is tornado home insurance expensive?

Earthquake insurance here costs an arm and a leg.

[CraigCreek]

Tornados are rare, though tornado watches are not unusual, often during unsettled spring or fall weather when temperatures are changing rapidly. But watches are issued several hours prior to an actual threat most of the time, so residents know to keep an eye on the sky and an ear on the radio. Kentucky is not considered to be part of Tornado Alley.

But - it's a good idea to have a safe place in your house in mind and be prepared to take shelter there if necessary. Mine is under my basement steps, next to an outside wall but well away from windows. I keep a chair and a flashlight there, and if bad storms are forecast, turn the basement lights on ahead of time and make sure bottled water is nearby.

Usually tornados only last a few minutes in one place - they move on rapidly, and they do not always touch the ground, in fact, if a tornado is reported overhead and doesn't touch down, no harm will be done on the ground.

While Kentucky was very hard hit by a huge series of deadly tornados in April, 1974, nothing of that magnitude has ever occurred in Kentucky before or since, though tornados touch down somewhere in Kentucky annually.

I don't know of anyone who has specific tornado insurance, but many policies cover damage due to weather. Flood coverage is different, of course, but flooding isn't usually associated with tornadoes.

Hope this and my previous response to your queries help.

[kygman]

This has been a rough season for tornadoes this year. Last weekend we had four touch down Friday and six on Sunday. There was significant damage around the Kentucky Dam area, closing the state park and doing major damage to a resort marina not far away. All EF-1s. Thankfully no fatalities. One in southern Illinois when a tree fell on a car. Last major tornado around Mayfield was 4 years ago and it passed north of town. But we've also had several severe thunderstorms the past couple weeks. One with 60-80 MPH wind gusts. About all you can do is get to a safe spot. Ours is the inner hallway or a closet near it.
Plus with all the historic rains in this part of the country, all the rivers are flooding. Parts of Illinois and Missouri, along the Mississippi River, have roads under water and people being evacuated from their homes. We have rains that cause the rivers to flood every year, but never this bad. Not trying to scare you off weather wise. But this much of it all is a rarity.

Back in 1990 a man in New Mexico predicted a 50/50 chance of a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault, which isn't far from here. Even though he didn't have a very good track record on predictions, people started panicking and, on the day it was supposed to happen, some coal miners in western Ky., where I used to live, called in sick so they wouldn't be underground if and when it hit. It didn't hit. But a lot of people found out they couldn't get earthquake insurance. I had some friends who were told by their insurance agents that, if their house collapsed, they better hoped it caught fire too. Then the fire coverage would cover it.

Seriously, we have a few severe storms hit each year, but it's nothing you probably haven't seen already. One thing you may have to get used to in Kentucky is the humidity. We have some days in the summer with heat index over 100.