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I don't want you people to think that I was trying to pick on Teebird, but there were some things in his comments that just rub me the wrong way.
I am a lifelong native of Lexington (57 years). I grew up in the Woodland Park area (two blocks from the state Senate majority leader at the time), my siblings and I helped give Morton and Henry Clay the reputation that my children are now continuing to elevate. I didn't(and still don't) live in the best neighborhood (or the worst) and I cant' tell someone that I don't really know anything about to live just like I do or would like to. Not everyone likes or can afford the type of house that I like, or can live in the side of town that I like.
From reading teebird's posts, he seems to direct newcomers to the most affluent parts of a general area(The 40509 zipcode has more than Hamburg, all the new residential in Jessamine County is on one acre lots). In case you haven't seen it the Nicholasville City Limits are at the Fayette County Line, and that new development will look just like us. He dismisses Bryan Station High School as a low quality school, even though two of the last three former mayor's graduated from there and went on to become very well to do citizens. He depicts the north side of town as "crime ridden" and I believe he means "the blue collar type", but he hasn't learned of the "white collar type" of the landlords, or the benign neglect of the property barons. Some of it just blocks away from some of the wealthiest families in Lexington. He states that traffic in Lexington is bad for a town this size, but the compares it to cities three and four times the size (If you don't know where you're going--leave early, if you do know--don't wait to the last minute to leave). And driving aggressively is a sure fire way to get behind a local that doesn't care that you're in a hurry (if you climb my bumper--I'm slowing down).
Before you people start to crucify me, let me say that I probably felt the same way when I was that age and my own 19 y.o. son says the same "broad brush" things, until I get him to think about how much actual experience that he can draw on. What I want to see is a more balanced dispensation of the qualities that Lexington has to offer, especially when we know so little about our neighbors who haven't moved here yet.
Not at all. I would just say that when you see information you disagree with, provide a response. If someone says "Bryan Station is a bad high school" you can say "I think Bryan Station is a good school because ...". And not only will the people "out there" learn from this, but we all learn from the debate as well.
If I say something, and I've been here ... well, not quite 5 months, then you can jump in and say "I've been here 57 years" and I'm sure your post will carry a lot more weight than mine; or maybe people want to see what it's like for a newcomer, or a high school junior, or whatever the case. We just all have different information that we are providing. There's not one person here who has the answers (well, several of you pretty much do, but that's not my point) - we just all provide a piece of the picture based on our own perspectives and experiences.
Have to run ... sleepy child ...
PS - I spend a lot more time on the DC boards and there it gets really heated and people can be very sweeping, dismissive and insulting.
OK time out. My opinions on Bryan Station come from people who have gone to BSHS and from people who live around there. I just happen to know a number of current students who have told me countless stories of things that go on around there. I'm guessing you're referring to BSHS about 15 to 20 years ago when yes it was a great school, but from what I've seen and heard, it's gone down hill. Ok so I'm a bit partial to the south side of town. I apparently don't know how to word my thoughts to your liking but those thoughts and opinions are my own. The things I know about Jessamine County come from family friends who live in Jessamine County and I heard about the one acre things from a family who lives there. and yes I'm aware that not everyone can afford a house in Ashland Park. I may be 17, but I'm not stupid. I live two blocks away from Delaware Ave. and about six or seven blocks from Loudon Avenue. I'm not the rich kind who lives in a three million dollar home on Lakewood Drive. My traffic advice is just from many personal experiences of getting on Nicholasville Road at 5 PM and sitting for long periods of time. What other city of Lexington's size is comparable? You tell me. I can only compare Nicholasville Road to larger cities. Basically when I give advice or information I assume the person asking is middle class who can afford a good house for about $300,000. So now I'm the incompetent teen am I? Obviously a person who has lived here for 57 years would know everything about younger life around town (what goes on in schools, people at schools, quality of schools) because remember, schools can change.
I would like to say that I am a big teebird fan. He is very smart, knowledgeable, and personally helpful and generous. I would have never thought he was so young, except that he said so. Oh yes, and I'm hoping in 20 years he'll appoint me Secretary of State or one of those good posts.
o I really just used Bryan Station as an example. I think one small thing I have learned about the schools here is that their reputations can change gradually or even relatively quickly. I've also learned that schools with problems can have some redeeming attributes. But in making these observations, I'm not trying to perpetuate the discussion of any particular schools.
o my main request (to the original poster) is that we don't resort to any personal attacks. We can challenge information, data, etc. We can disagree. But it's not personal.
Again, over on the Northern Virginia board, there are some posters who constantly attack a county where I lived and there are a couple of us who have to constantly jump in and counter these attacks. In all honesty, I didn't really love living in that county - it was just way too far out (geographically) from DC, but I just see that the information they are providing is far too sweeping. But ... somehow it all stays pretty amicable, all things considered.
Teebird, I never said that you were stupid, nor did I say that you were incompetent. I do say that you have the naivety of youth, the lack of experience to realize that you are taking someone else's(or a groups') opinion and freely giving it out as fact. It is normal to assume that "everyone here is the same as I am. Why else would they be here?"
The houses where you live and Ashland Park are not that dissimilar in price or quality. The houses in Jessamine County of an equivalent value, would be on a larger lot. Maybe as much as one acre. I just don't think that you should direct someone(assumed to desire a $300,000 house) toward a $600,000 or better neighborhood(Hamburg).
I know where you live, my brother just bought a house one block from you. A military retirement buys a lot more here than he had in the northeast. Even so, what he wanted and what I thought he wanted in a house were very different.
As to comparisons, ANY other city of Lexington's size is comparable. The biggest mistake that we can make is to compare ourselves to Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis or even worse Atlanta or Houston. Those cities don't come close. As I keep telling my wife, if I wanted to live in a bigger city, then I'd move there. I have spent the majority of my career trying to make the growth here not look like everywhere else.
Teebird, your opinions are valued. I only want to give out balanced information and try to keep our bias from showing.
OK, I'm still not comfortable here. This is not personal. We all have bias. We all come from somewhere, live somewhere, and are influenced by our experiences. If someone has a specific disagreement with a specific statement, then make a counterstatement. It is not our business that teebird is [young] any more than it is anyone's business that I'm not young (but not old either). It is for the posters to give a price range or not to give a price range (on the dc boards, most people won't answer without a price range, just because it makes such a huge difference). Newcomers also want to know what others perceive to be really nice, prestigious neighborhoods. I would want someone to tell me. Realtors aren't really allowed to be that frank with us. Have to run out the door now ...
I'm not comfortable with this either. Everyone should feel free to express their own opinions (isn't that the purpose of this board)?
I'm sure people have made assumptions about me too. I actually graduated from Bryan Station (albeit many years ago) and it wasn't a good school then either. I don't think it has changed that much. The thing I did like about it, and that I think prepared me for the real world, was the diversity of the student population. There were inner city kids, blue collar kids (of which I was one), white collar kids, wealthy horse farm kids, etc. You get the picture. However, academically it did not prepare me for college. I took the highest level classes that were offered and never took a book home my junior or senior years. I had mostly A's with an occasional B. When I had an appointment with my guidance counselor to discuss what to take at UK he wanted to discuss how cute my outfit was! So much for any guidance! When I got to UK I had no study skills and struggled for a long time.
I have friends with kids in the Spanish immersion program at BSH and from what they tell me, outside of the magnet program, things have remained pretty much the same as when I was there. If you look at the disaggregated scores for BSH there is a huge achievement gap between the kids districted for BSH and the magnet kids.
I grew up off of Bryan Station Road in a lower middle class neighborhood. It was rough then it is rough now. I have also lived in Cardinal Valley, Kenwick, Stonewall, and now Ashland Park. I think I have a pretty open mind but there are just some areas of town that aren't as desirable as others.
cartomanlex2 - I think you have some very valid points about things in general here on this site. I can't comment on anyone's posts as I don't follow any posters in particular. I have read posts that make some very broad statements about things like the north side. There are some very nice neighborhoods on the north side - older and newer. The thing that makes Lexington unique is that you can have a neighborhood with $500,000 homes tucked a couple of streets away from a neighborhood of $50,000 homes with apts close by. Lexington and most of its schools are diverse and I think that's a blessing. It's one of the things I've appreciated by living my life here and raising two children here.
Lexgal - I graduated from Bryan Station too! I was back in '80 - long time ago!
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