Lexington? (Louisville, Owensboro, Bowling Green: rent, crime rate, house)

[richntee]

Hello everyone,
We currently live in florida and we are thinking of moving to KY. Was orig looking at western KY areas like Murray, paducah... but I was worried about Fire ants eventually infesting these southern areas (one of my kids is allergic to the stings of these horrible ants) so now i'm thinking of lexington. would appreciate any info on this area. Looks like more of a suburb than city, I like the idea of malls and movie theaters ... being so close. Are there any small towns close by this area? What are the good and bad areas?
thanks Rich

[Toria]

no fire ants in this area.! Lexington is a city with a small town feel. Lots of small towns surround it, so it depends on what you are looking for. Danville to the southwest is a great area, Georgetown (northwest) is booming right now, too. Paris (northeast) is filled with horse farms and some of the prettiest scenery around; in fact the entire Bluegrass region is gorgeous!

Cynthiana, Carlisle, Paris, Georgetown, Frankfort, Versailles, Lawrenceburg, Harrodsburg, Danville/Perryville, Richmond, Berea, Stanford, Lancaster , Winchester- all are considered part of the Bluegrass and most are fairly small towns or cities....ought to give you a starting point, anyways.

[mortgageguyKY]

Hi richntee,

I relocated to just outside Lexington in July 2005 and I love it. I highly recommend Paris myself...We're only 20 minutes from extensive shopping at Lexington's Hamburg Pavilion and yet surrounded by picturesque countryside with affordable homes & affordable taxes. My family has felt right at home in just over a year living in Paris...We have friends we've met here who have come from California, Indiana, Illinois, etc. Of course, you can tell what I do from my username so if you are relocating to anywhere in Kentucky I'd be happy to assist you.

[Atheena]

Hello Lexington! I'm new in this forum I'm not sure where to go for my question but anyway,we just moved here and thinking of builing a swimming pool. any suggestion who should we get that does quality swimming pool job but reasonable price? thank You!

[kab0906]

First you'll need to check with zoning and see if it's even allowed for your property.

[PONYPULR]

We're planning on a pool in the near future and was told that Geddes Pools was the one to call!! Happy swimming!

[Fizzy Bear]

Has any one seen the Turtle Man in Kentucky? Just curious.

[R_S_G]

Murray and Paducah are completely different worlds from Lexington. What size city are you looking to move to? They are all beautiful in their own ways. Lexington is a bigger city (in respect to Murray or Paducah) so if the city is what you are looking for you will love Lexington. If you are looking for small town with abundance of outdoor activities I would got to Murray or Paducah. If you would like a place in between I would consider Bowling Green, KY. You can "get away" from the city easily in Lexington, but it is more difficult to get to a bigger city from Paducah or Murray.

I look at it this way.. Lexington population 305,000 people (approximately) it's about 1 hour drive to Louisville (pop. 253,000) so you have another big city close by. Like I said it's easy to hop on the interstate and get out of Lexington and enjoy multiple small towns and outdoors activities.

Paducah Murray area (grouping them together they're similar) Paducah pop. 25,000, and about 2 hours to Nashville pop. 610,000. Murray pop. 18,000 and about 2 hours from Nashville. With Murray and Paducah you have plenty of hunting, fishing, camping, etc. Land Between the Lakes (a.k.a LBL) is beautiful. You will be enjoying small town living and have a bigger city close by for occasional shopping trips etc, but if you or your family needs state of the art healthcare Murray or Paducah aren't for you. Also, Nashville is fun, but it's the only "real" city close by.

Then there's Bowling Green, pop. 61,000, which is where we have chosen to live. We moved here 4 years ago from a small town in Pennsylvania. We visited Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green multiple times before we settled on Bowling Green. (We didn't have Paducah as an option due to my husbands career, no opportunity for him, and there wasn't healthcare that compared to what I was used to in Pittsburgh for me.) Louisville and Lexington were just too much city for us to live there full time. Bowling Green is a happy medium. Our city is growing like crazy. Our crime rate is low, housing is affordable, and everything you need is right here. It's family oriented and people are friendly. It's a college town, and a relocation city for foreign refugees. They college kids stay near the university and don't cause too much trouble. The refugee population mostly live in clumps close to the university as well. We have a "wrong side of the tracks" (bad area) like most cities do. The trouble stays down there and it's easily to live in Bowling Green and not even know we have a "bad" part. When I say "bad" it's not bad compared to Louisville's crime, we don't come close. You aren't going to get shot, but you may get stuff stolen from your porch or your car. Just stay away and you won't have an issue.
In BG you are only about 2 hours from Louisville, and Lexington, Murray, and Paducah (+20 min). You are only an hour from Nashville (to the south) and Owensboro (to the north). BG has plenty of public parks, rivers, creeks, camping, etc. They have free concerts on the square (downtown) all summer and plenty of festivals, flea markets, and antiques malls. We have 2 hospitals, and some really great healthcare.
BG is affordable. Income tax is a little high, but everything else is a little low. We rent a 3,000 square foot house on 7 acres, with a creek, and a garage just outside of city limits for only $900/month. Air conditioning in the summer will cost you more than heating in the winter, similar to the way to live now in Florida (I would imagine). I may be a little bias to BG, but we love it here. We love Louisville and Lexington too, but BG is home!

Also, the ants. Not an issue here. Hope this helps!