Possible relocation to Kentucky. Where to live near Harrodsburg? (Lexington: houses, neighborhoods)

[Kandy]

We are looking at a possible move to to KY. Where is the best place to live within driving distance to Harrodsburg? We are looking for good schools, housing 200k-300k, and things to do. I'm currently looking at Nicholasville and Lawrenceburg. Are there other cities we should consider? Is there any reason not to consider the two locations I listed? Thank you ~K~

[kab0906]

The drive from Nicholasville to Harrodsburg is dreadful, especially in the winter. US 68 is a windy 2 lane road and not good for commuting.

Lawrenceburg isn't too far. Danville is closer.

Why Harrodsburg?

[PONYPULR]

And why not live in Harrodsburg? Am I missing something?

[kab0906]

No, I was just wondering why there. Job? Family?

[Kandy]

Possible opportunity in Harrodsburg. The schools are rated fairly low there, and i want a little bigger city. Also, we are not churchy people and I saw a mention that Lawrenceburg may not be a good fit because of that. This opportunity may or may not happen. I'm just trying to educate myself on the area -just in case.

[Mr. In-Between]

Check out Danville. We're only 10 minutes from Harrodsburg. I don't know about the schools here, but they might be better than those in Harrodsburg. Judging by the teenagers I meet here, I probably wouldn't get my hopes up, but being a larger town, it might have somewhat better schools. There's an absolutely excellent liberal arts college here, so that may help raise the standards more than some of the other smaller towns. I wouldn't say Danville's "big," but it's bigger than Harrodsburg. Not sure how "big" you need to feel "bigger" to you.

I have to warn you - I'm not sure where you're coming from, but wherever it is, chances are you're going to meet with a lot of disappointments in your search for good schools. I've never attended school here, but based on the number of people I interact with every day who did, I'm not impressed with the outcomes. I lived most of my life in an area with excellent school systems, and I'll just say I never really appreciated how good they were until I moved to Kentucky. This is a state where it's not unheard of to hear people speaking openly about the dangers of education. I've even seen that sentiment expressed in posts on this board, in fact. I wouldn't let that keep me from making the move, but you might want to at least take a moment to reflect on what that says about the culture here, and the degree to which education is prioritized in such a place. Good luck with your move, though.

Oh, and as for Lawrenceburg - funny you should mention that. I just drove through there today on my way to Indiana, and found myself noticing once again what a hotbed of evangelical religion it seems to be. Thing is, there's a lot of that in Danville, too, although not to the same apparent degree as Lawrenceburg. Not being religious myself, it's something I notice a lot, but I seldom find myself feeling uncomfortable with it. They just do their thing, and I do mine. It's something where you may not have much in common with a lot of your neighbors, but they're not exactly going to spray paint scripture graffiti on the front of your house in the middle of the night. They seem content to let us burn on our own if we so choose.

[kab0906]

Kentucky is churchy. It is possible to not be churchy in Ky but people will ask and they will judge you for it.

You won't find great education in most of ky. I sent mine to private school.

[xxmagex]

I would also suggest Danville. I have not had children in the school system there, but I have heard that Danville city schools are good. Danville is also a town that I am not adverse to trumpeting the advantages of. If I was moving to somewhere else in Kentucky, it would be at the top of the list.

[Kandy]

Thank you. I'm taking a closer look at Danville and I like what I see.

[Mr. In-Between]

I'm not sure how big of a family you have, but 200 - 300K should buy you one heck of a lot of house in Danville. I have no way of knowing what you're accustomed to, or what the market is wherever you are, but you'll have a lot of pleasant options in that price range. If you don't mind living a few miles out of town, you can find some great little country places, or if you'd rather live in town, there are some charming old houses in good neighborhoods, near the library and the college campus. If and when you get down to it, and start dreaming about specific properties, feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to give you my impression of whatever neighborhoods they happen to be in.

Also, I'm driving back to Danville from Indiana tomorrow, and as I drive between Harrodsburg and Danville, I'll make a mental note of the for-sale signs on the Danville end of that stretch of road. Just to get a sense of what the housing market looks like.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you - I don't like living in Kentucky, and I particularly don't like Danville at all. But that's probably just me, and my personal preferences, because a lot of other people really love it. I'll keep my personal feelings to myself, rather than spoil the discussion, but if it comes through in what I say (or if I seem comparatively lukewarm in my recommendations), you should at least know the reason I seem neutral or restrained. It's not necessarily that it's a bad place; I just don't happen to care for it. If someone else wants to move here, and is looking for information on the area, I'm really happy to help and share whatever I know. And I promise to be as objective as possible!

One other plus for Danville is that it's very well-situated geographically. It's at the junction of two major US highways (127 and 150), and you're only 45 minutes from Lexington, maybe an hour 20 from Louisville, an hour and a half from Daniel Boone National Forest, and 3 hours from Nashville. There are hundreds of small towns scattered all across Kentucky that are similar to Danville, but a lot less accessible to the larger cities. With the geographic challenges such as the hilly terrain and the river gorge, they don't really build very many unnecessary roads. There are places where you need to backtrack 20 miles to the west and then 20 miles back east again just to go 5 or 10 miles north, but not in Danville. Here, it's a much straighter shot to just about anywhere you want to go. If you've got kids, and you want to get them to some bigger-city cultural events, that will matter.