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My girlfriend and I are looking into relocating after we get married. We want to get away from city life (traffic, crime rates and so on) and settle in a smaller community. We want a safe, friendly place to settle down and start our family. Where we live has had a rash of shootings and unfriendly people and we really want to get out of here.
As per Sticky Thread
-Where you are working: She wants to open her own bakery. I will probably end up working there, or try to find a job dealing with computer graphics.
-How much you are willing to spend on housing: Both of us are out of college (read "broke"). Ideally, we'd like to get a large plot of land (5+ acres) and build, but I don't know how realistic this is.
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate: Not more than half an hour.
-If you have kids: Private school or public school?: No kids yet, but planning on a large family. We would really prefer public, but still want our children to have a good education. Private is an absolute last resort.
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight?: We want small town/rural in a friendly neighborhood with low crime rates.
-Community amenities important to you: Good public schools. A Lutheran Church is a plus.
-Pie or cake?: Actually, my girlfriend wants to design and make wedding cakes, but I won't say no to pie either
I don't know how realistic our criteria is, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
My girlfriend and I are looking into relocating after we get married. We want to get away from city life (traffic, crime rates and so on) and settle in a smaller community. We want a safe, friendly place to settle down and start our family. Where we live has had a rash of shootings and unfriendly people and we really want to get out of here.
As per Sticky Thread
-Where you are working: She wants to open her own bakery. I will probably end up working there, or try to find a job dealing with computer graphics.
-How much you are willing to spend on housing: Both of us are out of college (read "broke"). Ideally, we'd like to get a large plot of land (5+ acres) and build, but I don't know how realistic this is.
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate: Not more than half an hour.
-If you have kids: Private school or public school?: No kids yet, but planning on a large family. We would really prefer public, but still want our children to have a good education. Private is an absolute last resort.
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight?: We want small town/rural in a friendly neighborhood with low crime rates.
-Community amenities important to you: Good public schools. A Lutheran Church is a plus.
-Pie or cake?: Actually, my girlfriend wants to design and make wedding cakes, but I won't say no to pie either
I don't know how realistic our criteria is, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Thanks for your help. It really means a lot!
pH
I hope you get to live out your dreams! You have started by doing the right thing. You are asking questions and doing your market research.
I won't tell you where, but I will encourage you to take your time, set realistic goals, plan your work and work your plan.
You have an excellent chance if you work at it. Love your spouse, love your work, and love your children, but never love your children more than you love your spouse, for if you love your spouse to the point of giving your life for them, your children will always be loved, you work will always be good, and life will treat you well.
My girlfriend and I are looking into relocating after we get married. We want to get away from city life (traffic, crime rates and so on) and settle in a smaller community. We want a safe, friendly place to settle down and start our family. Where we live has had a rash of shootings and unfriendly people and we really want to get out of here.
As per Sticky Thread
-Where you are working: She wants to open her own bakery. I will probably end up working there, or try to find a job dealing with computer graphics.
-How much you are willing to spend on housing: Both of us are out of college (read "broke"). Ideally, we'd like to get a large plot of land (5+ acres) and build, but I don't know how realistic this is.
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate: Not more than half an hour.
-If you have kids: Private school or public school?: No kids yet, but planning on a large family. We would really prefer public, but still want our children to have a good education. Private is an absolute last resort.
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight?: We want small town/rural in a friendly neighborhood with low crime rates.
-Community amenities important to you: Good public schools. A Lutheran Church is a plus.
-Pie or cake?: Actually, my girlfriend wants to design and make wedding cakes, but I won't say no to pie either
I don't know how realistic our criteria is, but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Thanks for your help. It really means a lot!
pH
Hmmm...a small Kentucky community with an abundance of cheap land, low crime, less scruffy people, low cost of living, decent job market (for small businesses and IT alike), kinda rural, low commute time, and close to a Lutheran church, eh?
My list for you, in order of preference:
(1) Northern Kentucky. Crestview Hills, Union, Walton, and Burlington are all very nice, safe, clean, growing communities with great public schools. They're very suburban and yet still feel like small towns (for now). Very close to Cincinnati, only 1 hr. 15 min. to Lexington and Louisville, and the state's strongest job market. I've met a lot of friendly people from NKY myself. There's still a lot of open land in the southern parts of Boone, Kenton, and Campbell Counties.
(2) Louisville area. Jefferson Co. won't offer cheap land by Kentucky standards, but I'd definitely gravitate toward Oldham County or Elizabethtown. Louisville is Kentucky's second-best job market and the COL is comparable to NKY.
(3) Owensboro area. Particularly, Daviess, Hancock, and McLean Cos. All three counties have great public schools, probably the lowest COL in Kentucky west of I-65, and are very clean and safe. However, the job markets leaves something to be desired.
What I wouldn't be so quick to recommend:
(1) The Lexington area, which is very popular among Kentuckians. Fayette Co., despite being home to a city of 280,000, is still about 50% rural. You can find a lot of open land there, and can probably even find some nice deals in extreme NW or SE Fayette. However, even the best public schools in Lex. (i.e., Dunbar, Lafayette) are still crappy compared to the best of NKY and Lou. Not to mention, the job market is much smaller and weaker, despite the low unemployment rate, and is strongly based on connections (read: UofK or Transylvania graduates.) The suburban areas are also rather "rednecky" and have mediocre public schools at best.
-----"both of us are out of college (read broke)---
I don't know how it is possible to --open her own bakery--------and for you to------ get a latge plot of land----without $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
People who are encouraging you are not being realistic.
You will --both--need some money to relocate anywhere in the United States and small town Kentucky is not an exception.
(2) Louisville area. Jefferson Co. won't offer cheap land by Kentucky standards, but I'd definitely gravitate toward Oldham County or Elizabethtown. Louisville is Kentucky's second-best job market and the COL is comparable to NKY.
Ding ding! I think we have a winner. I would definitely recommend Elizabethtown, KY. I live 30 minutes away from E-Town (when I'm not at school, of course.) It's a relatively small community (about 24,000) with quite a bit to do. It should fit most of your criteria.
Of course, you could always move to my hometown, Clarkson. We have about 900 people, and we recently got our first stoplight I mean if you're looking for cheap housing, it can be found there. Good public schools, too...but I don't know about a Lutheran Church. I'm sure Elizabethtown (or E-Town, as we call it) has some.
-----"both of us are out of college (read broke)---
I don't know how it is possible to --open her own bakery--------and for you to------ get a latge plot of land----without $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
People who are encouraging you are not being realistic.
You will --both--need some money to relocate anywhere in the United States and small town Kentucky is not an exception.
"Broke" was a joke and a statement that most of our income is currently paying off loans. The criteria is idealized as we know that we cannot have everything.
We both know that it will take money to get us where we are going. We are well aware that small town Kentucky still functions on a capitalist system as does the rest of the country.
This is merely research for when we can move. We are both working and saving up. We have to wait 2 more years anyways because she wants to get married in her church.
Yes, money (or lack thereof) is an issue for us. Being complete idiots not so much. Thank you for your concern.
On a nicer note: Elizabethtown is definitely an option. Thank you to all replies!
Last edited by virtualpH; 11-16-2008 at 04:40 PM..
Reason: adding nice comment at end
Cynthiana is my hometown. I'm not into football but they have an OK-good high school football team, but they LOVE their program. The high school marching band program used to be very successful, but with the current director (he doesn't get along with the students or their parents), things have gone downhill. There isn't much industry in the town, and the community as a whole is sort of open-minded. (just not enough for me) The best thing that Cynthiana has going for it is that it's a very peaceful little town (pop est 6,000 in Harrison County), a lot of retired people live there.
Kristie
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You *could* try Cynthiana
