I need your input please! (Bowling Green, Paducah: skatepark, crime rates, Home Depot)

[aquadejoe]

Trying to get a general sense of the areas in Kentucky so I need your posts. I saw that according to one article, the 3 best college towns in Kentucky (I am interested in relocating my family to a college town to raise our kids) are Berea, Bowling Green and Murray. What is your opinion of these three? I'm in health care and my husband is in the restaurant industry. We love the outdoors and would love to have everyday access to hiking, camping, fishing and trails/parks to walk our dogs. We would also like some basics like Target, a movie theatre, good schools and activities for our kids like a good library, a local pool, sports, community center or things along those lines. We will be visiting Kentucky in June and would like to know if any of these locals are worth checking out.

[UKUKUK]

Out of those three, Bowling Green.

Berea and Murray are tiny hamlets with next to nothing within.

[aquadejoe]

could you tell me a little bit about Bowling Green then?

[kentuckydad95]

Let's see if I can answer your question with a little more substance than that of UKUKUK.

I will tell you about Murray, since I live there. First off, I know nothing about Berea and haven't been to BG for years, but I am sure others will answer about them.

Murray is in the far western part of Kentucky and has a population of around 17,000 and a university with a little over 10,000 students. Murray State has some of the highest average ACT scores in the state and are always ranked high in US News and Kiplingers. Murray has one of the lowest crime rates in the state and below average for the nation and is ranked in the 100 Best Communities For Young People. It is a safe, caring community that RARELY ever even see's a major crime committed.

It said you are in healthcare and the Murray Hospital is completing a new expansion that will double the size of the hospital. Your husband is in restaurants and for a town the size of Murray, we have quite a few and need even more eateries.

Murray has two parks that offer plenty of outdoor activities. There is the Bee Creek soccer complex, an amphitheater, a huge public swimming complex that has three pools, an indoor community theater, several playgrounds, four walking/hiking trails, a new dog park, frisbee golf, picnic areas, basketball courts, several softball and baseball fields, batting cages and a skatepark that is to be constructed this year.

We do not have a Target, but have your usual Lowe's, Big Lots, Walmart, Krogers, JCPenny, Sears, etc and several other chain and mom and pop stores. There is the Cheri Theatre that has seven screens, stadium seating, digital sound and have a screen that can show digital 3-D, ie: you can see "Avatar" in 3-D currently. Murray has a fairly large public library located near the historic downtown section and if you can't find what you need there, the university has three more libraries. There is also a community center and a local transit system. As for schools, there are two public schools and one private school. The best public school is the Murray Independent school district. They have one of the highest graduation rates and test scores in the entire state. Being a Murray alumnus, I know first hand that the teachers care and do everything they can to help you succeed. The schools all offer every extra curricular activity you can think of, including successful sports teams to balance the successful academic side.

As far as activities, there are several. With the university being here, they bring in several concerts, conventions, shows, etc. They also have a very successful basketball team that plays Division I NCAA athletics and makes for an exciting outing. And as for outdoor activities...WOW!!! Murray is a 15-20 minute drive from the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. It is 170,000 acres of water, fishing, woods, camping, hiking, biking, horseback riding, hunting, etc. The two lakes on either side of LBL are Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Combined they have 220,000 acres of lake. LBL also features Elk and Bison prairies, a planetarium, nature station, bald eagle watching, and the Homeplace 1880's. The Homeplace is a small community as it would have looked like in the 1800's. Very educational and fun. Anything you can think of for outdoor fun can be done at LBL.

Murray also has a very low cost of living, has NO local income tax, low utility rates, and friendly people. It's also safe. Sure, we are not a big city. Heck, our tallest building is only 10 stories...lol, but we are the fastest growing city in the Jackson Purchase area of Kentucky for a reason. Anymore questions, I can answer them. Here are a few links to check out.

Murray-Calloway County, Kentucky Parks and Recreation: Park Info, Calendar, Events, Disc Golf

Cheri Theatres - Bring Hollywood to Murray

Americas Promise Alliance - 100 Best Communities Past Winners (http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/Community-Action/100-Best-Communities/Past-Winners.aspx - broken link)

Land Between The Lakes | HOME (http://www.lbl.org/Home.html - broken link)

Murray, Kentucky - MyMurray.com

Murray Kentucky available industrial sites, buildings and economic development incentive information.

Murray Kentucky Convention and Visitor's Bureau is your Calloway County and Kentucky Lake area source for lodging listings, dining listings, event listings, attraction listings and more. Murray Kentucky is home to Freedom Fest, Squealing on the Squar

CityofMurray

Welcome to Murray Life Magazine, of Murray, Kentucky and Calloway County, the premiere publication and information resource for Western Kentucky, the Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley area, hosting articles of local events, dining guides, community inte

[kygman]

I just talk about what I know. Never have been one to run down a place I haven't been to in a while. Murray is a growing town. There are 2 main parks in town (I'm getting this from Murray, Kentucky - MyMurray.com ). Central Park has a professional grade frisbee golf course, batting cages, hiking trails, and 4 baseball diamonds, plus a community theater. I grew up in Mayfield, about 18 miles from Murray. While living in Mayfield and Murray, I fished farm ponds. There is a watershed about 5 miles southwest of Murray that was great for bass and catfish. But you'll also be about 20 miles from Kentucky Lake the largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi River. On the other side of Ky. Lake is the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (Land Between The Lakes | HOME) . There are around 200 miles of hiking trails and abandoned roads. There is also a bike trail, campgrounds, as well as primitive camping, and hunting and fishing.
Murray has a great hospital. Somebody the other day here on C-D is considering moving to the Murray area and said there were no jobs open at the Murray hospital. There is also a good hospital in Mayfield (Jackson Purchase Medical Center - Home Page) and 2 in Paducah (Lourdes and westernbaptist > Homepage), which is about 47 miles and 4 lane all the way from Murray.
As far as the restaurant industry, out of curiosity I went to the yellow pages section of yahoo and looked up restaurants in Murray. It says there are 64 in Murray. That covers everything from Applebee's to Cracker Barrel, to quite a few locals.
On the City of Murray web site I saw where the population of Murray has increased the last few years. From 1980 to 2000 the population only increased about 700. The increase from 2000 till 2008 is about 1500.
I won't say anything bad about Berea or Bowling Green for two reasons. I don't know that much about either place. I've been to Bowling Green a couple times but it's been several years. The other reason is something I was taught a long time ago. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Where ever you go I hope you have a good safe trip checking it all out.
I had clicked on edit to change something but then I read Kentuckydad's comments and think he said it all! Kentuckydad, isn't the there a pool inside the athletic complex for people to use?
Read on the MSU site that Outdoor Life Magazine named Murray State a top ten university for students who love to hunt and fish. http://www.murraystate.edu/academics/hshs/wts/rec/index.htm (broken link) Scroll to the bottom.

[dixiegirl7]

I live in Bowling Green so maybe I can help you out with that one. Bowling Green/Warren County has a population of around 104,000 people. We are home to Western Kentucky University which has about 18,0000 students but still has the feel of a smaller college. We have two school system, Bowling Green Independent Schools and Warren County Schools. Bowling Green is a very multicultural for a city of it's size due to being an international refuge city, having the university with quite a few international students and professors, and having quite a bit of industry. The high school my son went to had something like eleven languages spoken there. Bowling Green still has a rural feel to it even though it has grown a lot in the last 20 years. We have tons of restaurants, a large mall, and every big box store that exists...Target, 2 Super Walmarts, Kmart, Best Buy, Kohl's, Lowes, Home Depot, Sam's Club and many more. We have two hospitals, one is the largest hospital in southcentral Kentucky. Bowling Green is also about an hour from downtown Nashville for anything you can't find here. Nashville has a lot of hospitals and healthcare that people here do commute to for jobs. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask.