How do you divide up Lex into sides of town? (Lexington: crime, house)

[censusdata]

Seems like it isn't as well defined as Louisville is, but there is definately sides of town in Lexington.

Traditionally I've heard it broken up into North vs South, with US 60 being roughly the dividing line. Personally I tend to view Lexington as being divided up into quadrants. US 60 is still a divider but so is Newtown Pike and US 27.

Part of the reason I like quadrants vs North/South is because the Leestown Road corridor is way more affluent than in the past while the NE corridor is stagnant and the SE is flat out declining. Hamburg has added a lot of retail, but the crime over there is still much higher than in SW Lex.

Anyway, what do you all think?

[LEXpert]

I'd agree with that. In fact, that is how it is divided on the local MLS for house hunting. When I moved here in 1985, it was pretty much the North and South thing you mentioned, but it seems that Leestown rd/Main St./Richmond Road was the dividing line.

I also remember when SE Lex was THE place to be. Funny how things change. There are still a lot of nice neighborhoods out there though, and I think the oldest parts of Gainesway are starting to improve. I've been shocked at what some of the fixed up ones have been bringing lately.

Good thread.....hope many more comment.

[cab591]

I like to divide it like a pie. From downtown, cut along the main roads going out. New Circle can also be thrown into the division (inside vs outside).

For example, one could say that between Harrodsburg Road and Versailles Road, outside of New Circle is a very nice place to live for middle and upper class families.

Quadrants work too -- Southeast (Tates Creek, Chevy Chase -- older homes, pricier), Southwest (Beaumont, Firebrook, Dogwood Trace, Gardenside -- good middle class area), Northwest (Cardinal Valley, Meadowthrope -- cheaper, but not exactly bad), and Northeast (lets not mention this area).

[censusdata]

Ok here's my ideas

Option 1:
North: everything north of US 60
West: South of US 60, West of US 27
East: South of US 60, East of US 27

Option 2:
West: North of US 68 - inside KY 4 -, South of US 421
South: South of 68 and US 25/421
East: North of US 25/421, South of KY 57
North: North of KY 421 and KY 57

Option 3: (the beforementioned quads)
SW: South of US 60, West of US 27
SE: South of US 60, East of US 27
NW: North of US 60, West of KY 922
NE: North of US 60, East of KY 922.

[KerryB]

I dont like the idea of using new highways & big roads as some kind of key for determining boundaries. I think that's a pretty generic way of looking at things & sorta takes away from significance of neighborhoods & how they shaped/formed the city itself.

The problem is "Lexington" is now the entire county of Fayette. That doesn't help when trying to determine these things because it just lumps everything into one giant pot. So naturally the next way of thinking about it is to use roads. Roads are just arteries, not boundary determiners.

Consolidation is something that is still a relatively new thing. So I like to use the pre-consolidation maps of cities that break them down into smaller chunks. Makes a much better determination of stuff like this instead of just one giant area (which includes everything from walkable urban areas to farm-like areas) calling itself a "city".

Anyone got a pre-consolidation map of the area??

[censusdata]

I don't think merger effected sides of town much because there was little urban areas outside the city limits anyway. It happened in 1973 when Fayette County only had 175,000 residents then. Nearly half of Lexington has been built since merger.