Ky or Tenn? (Louisville, Bowling Green, Hopkinsville: sales, homes, dorm)

[nived1964]

Hello,

We had been looking at KY, but found out that Tenn offers no Income tax.

So which one is better?

Both have nice home prices, great views, good lakes, similar in climate.

So what would have me pick one state over the other?

thanks


Dave

[nived1964]

Just to add some info on us.

Schools not a concern outside of a college for my son. Looking for comfort of living, not night life, good restaurants, good fishing, outdoor activities, home on a lake or river. Moderate weather, low cost of living.

Middle age couple looking to get out of the tax hole of wisconsin, my son will be looking at whatever state we go to for college.
Wife is a NP/RN so employement should not be an issue for her.

[missymomof3]

I like them both but since I live in Kentucky.. my vote goes for it We have all you ask for and if you have family in Wisconsin.... you'll be closer Kentucky is just a wonderful place and I think you will enjoy it.

[dixiegirl7]

Tennessee has no state income tax, but higher sales tax and depending on where you live some of the country and city taxes may be higher. Both states are similar in a lot of ways as far as climate and geography and I really love them both, but as Missy said, we live in Kentucky so of course we recommend it. Move to Bowling Green, then you will only be an hour from downtown Nashville and can enjoy both states.

[kygman]

Originally Posted by nived1964

Just to add some info on us.

Schools not a concern outside of a college for my son. Looking for comfort of living, not night life, good restaurants, good fishing, outdoor activities, home on a lake or river. Moderate weather, low cost of living.

Middle age couple looking to get out of the tax hole of wisconsin, my son will be looking at whatever state we go to for college.
Wife is a NP/RN so employement should not be an issue for her.

The western Kentucky area would be good. Murray State University (murraystate.edu ) is about 15 miles from the largest artificial lake, by surface area, east of the Mississippi River. Back to Murray State, the Kipplinger Personal Finance magazine, out of 500 public colleges around the country, has rated Murray State 54th for instate students and 52nd for out of state. "Judges reviewed quality of academics, admission rates, freshmen retention, average class size, graduation rates and average college debt after graduation." That's from the Murray State web site I mentioned. As far as good fishing and outdoor activities, Kentucky Lake is connected by a canal to Lake Barkley. In between is the 170,000 acre Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (Land Between The Lakes | HOME ). There's plenty of fishing, hunting, hiking, biking, camping, and sightseeing. On the LBL web site (click on skip movie), go to the recreation tab to see some of the things there are to do.

Now, if you or your wife are into antiques, drive over to Cadiz. Downtown Cadiz has 6 antique shops. If you like country ham, come to Cadiz the second week in October for the Country Ham Festival. make sure you get some of the 4000 lb country ham biscuit (listed in the Guinness Book of World Records). If you want to go to Nashville, Tenn., just get on I-24 outside Cadiz and you'll be there in a little over an hour. Go west on 24 and you're 55 miles from Paducah.

Several cities have their own web sites.
Cadiz, Ky. GoCadiz.com | Experience Life Naturally!
Murray, Ky. Murray, Kentucky - MyMurray.com
Paducah Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau If your wife likes quilts she'll have to check out the National Quilting Museum in Paducah.
Mayfield Mayfield Tourism This my hometown and, if you watched America's Got Talent, this is where Kevin Skinner is from.
Benton Marshall County Chamber of Commerce

You can also check out Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, and Land Between the Lakes

There is a lot of Civil War history in this area. Columbus-Belmont State Park overlooks the Mississippi River where the Confederates attempted to stretch a chain and anchor across the river to stop Union supply boats so they could sink them. Chain was too heavy to keep off the bottom. The huge anchor and a section of the chain is in the park for the kids to climb on.

Sorry for carrying on so much, but I've lived all my life (so far) in Kentucky. The way I look at it, if there's nothing wrong with the place, why move? I love it here. I haven't found harldy any place where you don't find friendly people who will stop and talk to you, even though you've never met. An older man I knew always waved at every car he passed on the road. Every other car he would look at me and say,"My daddy said it doesn't cost a damn dime to wave to people. More people should do it." lol Around here, people will wave as they go by you, whether you know them or not. You can walk down the sidewalk in a residential part of town and somebody will be sitting out on the porch and say hi. I grew up in small towns and that's the way I like it. Nothing wrong with the big cities. If you like bigger towns, more power to you! Hope you'll at least come to Kentucky and visit.

[nived1964]

Thanks for all the wonderful info.
We are finding more and more that our first choice of KY just may be it. Homes are not as expensive and there are more of them on lakes for us to look at.
We want the big city for the "stores", shopping, home/building supplies and for things to go and do, baseball, events, etc. However, we really like the sound and look of Murray. Not sure if there are any big box home supply stores there or near enough that it won't be a day trip to get things.
I have heard a lot of good about Murray state, and it would be great for my son to either be close to us or live with us.
We are REALLY interested in the Kentucky lake area. Just a wonderful area to explore. However the wife needs a good job in the healthcare field and currently the hospital in Murray has no openings for her.
Our plan is to come down and spend 2 weeks in the Murray area, 2 weeks in the Louisville/Lex area and possible 2 weeks near nashville this summer. We are hoping that 2 weeks will be enough to really see what area will work for us.
Coming from Wisc, we do not have a NHL team, however we do have the AHL and they are the farm team for the Nashville Preditors. Many of those players came through the Milw Admirals and having been a season ticket holder for many years, we got to know them very well. My wife worked for the hospital nearest the arena and nights she had to work and the game was on (in a nice way, if that is possible) would hope that one of the guys would get hurt. She over the years had worked on many of them in the ER. Having front row seats in the Admirals goal and then to see them on the ice at the glass made the guys take a double take when they would see her. They would put two and two together. We did team outings with them, had dinner with a few of them and on and on. OK.
Anyways, again thanks for the info and we hope to make the move in the next year.

Dave

[kygman]

When you get ready to come, you can schedule a college day for your son at Murray. He'll stay in a dorm room and be given a tour of the campus.
Not really sure what you're talking about with a "big box home supply store". If you're talking something like Lowe's, there's on in Murray.
For hospital jobs there are several good hospitals in the area. In Mayfield there is the Jackson Purchase Medical Center (Jackson Purchase Medical Center - Home Page). It's a little further away but still a short driving distance to your son's dorm room on grocery day (lol) is Jenny Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville (Homepage). Paducah has 2 good hospitals, Lourdes (Lourdes) and Western Baptist (westernbaptist > Homepage). Say she got a job at Lourdes and you're living near Murray, she'd have 4 lane all the way to the hospital. It's just off Exit 7 on I-24, about a 47 mile drive. Never guess I'm pulling for the western part of the state, would you? lol
Not much on hockey. But if I'm flipping through the channels and there's a good fight going on, I might stop and watch a while. lol Wish I could have been at Murray this past Tuesday to watch the Harlem Globetrotters.

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by nived1964

Thanks for all the wonderful info.
We are finding more and more that our first choice of KY just may be it. Homes are not as expensive and there are more of them on lakes for us to look at.
We want the big city for the "stores", shopping, home/building supplies and for things to go and do, baseball, events, etc. However, we really like the sound and look of Murray. Not sure if there are any big box home supply stores there or near enough that it won't be a day trip to get things.
I have heard a lot of good about Murray state, and it would be great for my son to either be close to us or live with us.
We are REALLY interested in the Kentucky lake area. Just a wonderful area to explore. However the wife needs a good job in the healthcare field and currently the hospital in Murray has no openings for her.
Our plan is to come down and spend 2 weeks in the Murray area, 2 weeks in the Louisville/Lex area and possible 2 weeks near nashville this summer. We are hoping that 2 weeks will be enough to really see what area will work for us.

Murray isnt a big city by any stretch of the imagination. Its quite the small town.

In this whole area, if I wanted "lake living" & close promiximity to a good sized city, I'd personally go with the lake areas outside of Knoxville. Around the Morristown/Sevierville area (just outside of Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge). I visit there a lot & its a nice & laid back country setting with some affordable lake homes/cabins. And Knoxville is a hop skip & jump away.

[kygman]

Originally Posted by KerryB

Murray isnt a big city by any stretch of the imagination. Its quite the small town.

I know a ton with a population of 17,000 isn't a big city but it's not exactly a bump in the road either. Murray has grown quite a bit in the last few years. Murray, Kentucky - MyMurray.com From 1980 to 2000 the population only grew 700. From 2000 to 2008 that number jumped up 2600. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but that's a big jump for small towns. Must be something good around to bring that many people in. Add to that the 10,000 students at Murray State. Most of them are not registered as a resident of the city of Murray.
Knoxville and the area close to the Smokies are nice places to go too. I'm not knocking it. I'm just telling about the area I know about and have lived all my life (so far).

[marmac]

I've been to TN and KY several times.

Spent a week at Pigeon Forge last month and really liked the Smokey Mountains.
However, I certainly wouldn't want to live near a tourist area.

There are nice areas around Knoxville, but if you get closer to the Smoky Mts it is a tourist area.

Nice place to visit, couldn't imagine living there.