Looking at London, KY and immediate area (Lexington, Louisville: insurance, low crime)

[rrbillnjeni@netzero.net]

Freezer
My wife and I have spent a lot of time the last few months looking in this area. We are currently living in sw Fl. and we hate it. The HS graduation rate in London is in the high 70's and of those 65% go on to college. The first thing the locals talk about is how good the schools are locally. I actually looked at the Corbin HS football coaches house as it is on the market, and he said London is more child and family oriented than Corbin. I have purchased 8+ acres for about 13k an acre in the Cold Hill area. This area is very nice with many large homes and the best grade school locally but I must say all my research shows the schools are above average.. There are alot of profesionals that live in this area and commute to Lexington daily to work. I myselfwork in the ER and have several job opportunities locally. However like you I am always looking to find out more.

[lil donna]

We have lived in London for 3 years and are ready to leave...We are from the Chicago suburbs and this area just doesn't have enough for us to do.

I will start with the good:

-My daughter has gotten an excellent education at Bush Elementary
-House prices are cheap! Property taxes are cheap!
-People are generally nice
-Very low crime- you read about meth labs in the paper but don't actually see them or the crime
-Libraries are very nice.
-Laurel Lake is a nice area

Now the bad (from my viewpoint):
-Town is about 20 years behind the times (but they are trying to move up to the 21st century)
-Everyone smokes and could care less if it bothers you
-People do not have manners- Littering is huge here
-Religion is a daily aspect here - You have the long haired, long skirted women with no makeup cults, then the Baptists who want to "Save" you. Every activity (soccer, etc) is put on hold on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings because of Church
- Very little to do here- nearest mall is 1 hour and 20 minutes away in Lexington or 2 hours in Knoxville. We have season passes to Dollywood and do that about once a month.
-People have their 'church families' or their own families and will not include you if you are not part of their group
-There are a lot of people living off the government here-mentally disabled
-There is a diverse group of people here-very very poor, poor, wealthy, good ole boys, mountain folk

I guess that is enough. If you are interested, I'd suggest coming to London on a Saturday- go to Flealand during the day & go to Walmart at night- these are the types of people you will see and interact with on a daily basis. If you can handle that, you will want to live here.

[J.Hibbard]

I live in London KY for about 3 years. I used to live in Mass. At first you will have the culture shock of you life but after about a week or two it gets better. There are a few realy nice playgrounds in the aria. The school systems that I know of are good. I have 2 sisters in high school and there are doing realy good as grades and they have mad some great friends. I have a 4 yr old brother who is getting ready to go for a half year of preschool at the Camp Ground school. From what I understand It is a realy good elementary school, as are a few of the other schools in the aria. As for living in different arias I recomend finding a house In a nice quiet aria.Like somewere on Rt80, RT229, or on a side road of of thoes 2 Rts. I used to live near the city of london, traffic wasnt all that great and unless you like living on the edge of the road or living in town, it isnt realy a good place to live. We live off of Rt229 its nice and quiet not to much traffic and you can find some good houses off the road with nice big yards. I would also look into some coldasacks (circle drives) they have a lot of nice houses, they are quiet, the houses are not to close together, you tend to have a nice yard and you wont be living off of a main road for the most part. Maby look into living near Levi Jackson state park they have some nice houses in the aria and it is a realy nice and quiet aria. Hope some of this info helped.

[scalfhr]

Check out removed. This could be what you're looking for.

[OldHomeChicago]

My daughter and I moved first to Corbin/Keavy, KY., from Chicago 2 years ago.

I do not recommend that you move anywhere close to Keavy. I lived there for 6 months and I can tell you first hand the drug problem is very bad there. Meth labs are found there on a regular basis. The people that live there are very backwoods kind of people,(remember the movie Deliverance, very similar). The whole 6 months i lived in Keavy I was tormented by the neighbors daily asking to borrow food, or use my phone, (I was the only person with a phone on the whole block evidently), asking if we could give them a ride somewhere, jumpstart thier cars, (we evidently had the only working automobiles on the block also). There is a small little subdivision just before you get into Keavy that has newer looking homes and seemed to be pretty quiet and peaceful.

Corbin, KY. is a nice place for the most part. I met and worked with some very nice people. I am a Nursing student and I attend school in Corbin at Baptist Regional Hospital. All of the people that I have met and gotten to know have been wonderful. There are some seedy areas in Corbin but the town is growing fast. If you chose the area carefully, I think you would be happy there. Corbin is also notorious for not allowing blacks to live there. This was the first thing I noticed right away after we moved there. Being from Chicago I am used to seeing blacks and hispanics everywhere. I questioned some of my co-workers about this and I was told I would not see blacks in Corbin and I never have in 2 years.

This whole area is a big part of the Bible Belt. Families are very big on attending church, (mostly Baptist or Penticostal). I am actually happy to see more churches than bars here. My daughter actually met and is going to marry a man born and raised in Corbin Thanksgiving weekend.

I live in London now. I moved here after my awful experience in Keavy. I absolutely love London. The people are wonderful and warm and will do anything in thier power to lend a hand when needed. My Mother and Stepfather also moved and retired here to the London area from Chicago and they couldn't be happier here.

I can't tell you much about the grammar schools. My daughter graduated from high school just before we moved here. But the high schools I do hear a lot about. I don't have statistics to quote, but I can tell you that I have not met one high school drop out here yet. Most of my daughters friends that she met here are all high school graduates and are either currently attending college or plan to in the immediate future. My daughter attends Eastern Kentucky University, which has a satellite campus in Corbin. This is a excelent state school and most high school graduates from the area start college there. EKU and Somerset College have some of the highest pass rates on the first try for the National Board Exams for Nursing. This is not an easy accomplishment. This whole area of Kentucky is very supportive of the young population progressing in thier college education. The area has several private Christian colleges and access to several state and community colleges via satelite campuses.

The cost of living in this area is very low. I can comfortably afford my own place here. If I were still in Chicago I would probably be living with my sister right now because I could have never been able to afford my own place there. The cost of living in Chicago is sky high. My sister is even considering selling her house and moving to London. This area of Kentucky has the second lowest utility costs in the country. I did my research before I moved here.

A lot of the jobs in the area are low pay, but not all of them. London has several new companies that have moved here and I think the income potential will improve steadily over time. The increase in traffic is evidence of that. It is nearly impossible to get on highway 25 in town without waiting 10 minutes to merge into traffic. I have had to find side roads to get around traffic during the weekdays.

I still have family in Chicago and they are always trying to talk me into moving back north. I keep turning them down. I love it here and I am very happy. I have no plans soon of returning to the rat race in Chicago.

[devinhog]

Did you decide to move to this area?

[rbryant]

I guess I'm late to this thread, but I thought I would add my ten cents. I moved to London four years ago from Louisville when I married my wife. There is some culture shock going from Louisville to SE Kentucky, but I have adapted in some ways. FWIW, this is my list of positives followed by negatives.

1. Cost of housing is decent. We bought a nice "starter" home in Laurel Trace subdivison for less than 115,000. Property taxes are also affordable.
2. Education is above average considering the region of KY. However, elementary schools in Laurel county range from excellent to so-so. The best elementary school, in my opinion, is Cold Hill.
3. Crime is VERY low. As a previous poster wrote, there are meth lab busts, but I think its a matter of staying out of the wrong areas. After you have lived here a while, you will know which areas are seedy and so on. Overall, most of the crime here is limited to drug trafficking. I will, however, mention that counties east of here (Clay county) have significant drug problems and murders.
4. Most people are friendly and genuine. Despite being a vibrant city, Louisville has its share of snobby and arrogant people....you really won't find that here in laurel county.
5. Healthcare is surprisingly good for the areas. Baptist Regional in Corbin is a fine hospital. The hospital in London (Marymount) is old and decrepit...but there are plans to break ground on a new facility.
6. Outdoor recreational opportunties are very good. I like to hike, so having the Daniel Boone National Forest just a few miles from my house is pretty cool. Sheltowee Trace is a long distance hiking trail that traverses the entire DBNF, there are some very scenic sections in Laurel co. Cumberland Falls is great for hiking, rafting, or just a weekend getaway. If you ever get tired of the local offerings there is always Big South Fork NRRA (on the KY/TN) border, Great Smoky Mountains (about three hours away) and Cumberland Gap.
And now for the not so good

1. Social opportunities are lacking. This has been mentioned before, but it bear repeating. Most social interactions are formed at church or at Little League games. Although I can't speak for every subdivision, but our neighborhood is very non social. I see my neighbors coming and going and that's about it. Most people's lives here revolve around work, family and church. Don't be surprised if you move here and never form any sort of relationship with your neighbor. The friendships I have formed here have been strictly through work...so it's difficult to meet people here (I think).
2. Local government is pretty much the good ole boy network. I won't mention names, but there are very prominent families here that will get bailed out of any situation. School board is pretty much the same, I think new members are actually recycles.
4. Unless you are really ready for small town life, you will get bored at some point..I gurantee that. There are a few nice restaurants with bars (Shilohs, The Depot in Corbin), but alcohol is sorta frowned upon down here by churches. There is always the bowling alley and I'm struggling at this point to find anything else to write about in regards to entertainment.
5. The weather here is OK..but that's about it. Don't expect snowy winters,as the past several have been warm and wild. Summers are somewhat hot and humid. Spring storms seem to be a little more severe down here in southern KY. Seems like we average several Tornado Warnings a year. In fact, my wife's apartment was hit by one back in 2001.
All in all, it's a decent place to live, you could do worse, but also quite a bit better. The area, believe it or not, is one of the fastest growing areas of KY. There are tentative plans to bring Interstate 66 through here..so growth will be even more explosive.

[NatHat]

I visit london often, and as such I can tell you it is not the worst place in this "great commonwealth". The biggest factor on if you and yours could actually enjoy life there would pertain to you hobbies. If the familly likes the outdoors you are in luck. There are three great state parks in the area. If you lean more toward culture arts and such then you can hop on I75 and head to lexington and cinncy. If you happen to be into yardsales and flee markets the weekly outdoor/indoor flea market in london is one of the better in the state, also every year in october there are the court day festivles in Mt.Sterling and in mid august there is the great 127 corridor yard sale (boasted as the largest in the world). As for economy of the region rember that the whole of western ky is a coal mine and as such the rich are very rich and the poor are doubly so. The only middle class are the people whom have decided to move into the area. Stay off the mountain backroads at night and don't ever look in the back of other peoples trucks, you'll be okay. Oh and if you pull up to an old "contry stor" and a fella in bib overalls and a straw hat addresses you as "hey city" save your self a butt kickin' and get back in the car.... lol

[nalabama]

Okay, I got the "contry stor" part, but what's the deal with the "...mountain backroads at night and don't ever look in the back of other peoples trucks..."? Thanks.

[rbryant]

Originally Posted by NatHat

I visit london often, and as such I can tell you it is not the worst place in this "great commonwealth". The biggest factor on if you and yours could actually enjoy life there would pertain to you hobbies. If the familly likes the outdoors you are in luck. There are three great state parks in the area. If you lean more toward culture arts and such then you can hop on I75 and head to lexington and cinncy. If you happen to be into yardsales and flee markets the weekly outdoor/indoor flea market in london is one of the better in the state, also every year in october there are the court day festivles in Mt.Sterling and in mid august there is the great 127 corridor yard sale (boasted as the largest in the world). As for economy of the region rember that the whole of western ky is a coal mine and as such the rich are very rich and the poor are doubly so. The only middle class are the people whom have decided to move into the area. Stay off the mountain backroads at night and don't ever look in the back of other peoples trucks, you'll be okay. Oh and if you pull up to an old "contry stor" and a fella in bib overalls and a straw hat addresses you as "hey city" save your self a butt kickin' and get back in the car.... lol

London is in Eastern Kentucky..not western KY. We are at least 2 hours away from Mt Sterling. US 127 is towards Harrodsburg and Lawrenceburg..doesnt run close to here at all. There is actually a decent size middle class in the London-Corbin area. The only mountain backroads I know of are in clay, leslie counties and in the southeastern counties (harlan, bell).