House on Bennett Ave and Versailles Rd (Lexington, Frankfort: 2015, rental)

[tymtymory]

Looking at renting temporarily and have found a house on the 800 block of Bennett Ave off of Versailles Rd. Any info on the neighborhood would be appreciated as we are moving from out of state. Crime, demographics, anything helps. Thanks.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.0474...8i6656!6m1!1e1

Also, you can click on the City Data Logo at the top (left)of the page and type in the zip code of Lexington that you are looking for in the search bar and they will give you information regarding that particular zip code...here is a link.

//www.city-data.com/zips/40508.html

[Crazee Cat Lady]

^That particular neighborhood may or may not be safe, I don't know...but there are some areas of Versailles Road that are riddled with crime.

[tymtymory]

What about the racial diversity of the area?

[CraigCreek]

Unless you are limited financially, keep looking. As noted, this is a sort of spotty neighborhood for petty crime, and is mostly low-income. Some good people there, of course.

Much of this area used to be occupied by large tobacco warehouses, most of which are gone or repurposed. It has never been mostly residential, and what residential areas there are were and remain lower-income and mostly blue-collar. The houses are quite modest and not always well-maintained, again, with exceptions.

There are several half-way houses and in-home private assisted living facilities for individuals with mental illness and/or other special needs on or near this part of Versailles Road, along with some light industry.

The area is racially diverse, with a lot of Hispanics living farther out Versailles Road, especially in the Cardinal Valley and Gardenside (Alexandria Drive) neighborhoods. Most of these people are young families and single young men.

Edited to add that 40508 is a very large zip code area, and includes other neighborhoods in addition to the area you are considering. Many of the black people who live in this zip code live north of Main Street, not close to Versailles Road. I also think the figures cited above on the Hispanic population in this area are quite low.

Hope this helps. Good luck finding your place in Lexington.

[tymtymory]

Thank you both for the information, it was very helpful. We are looking for something low in price because we are wanting to purchase a house in a year or so and hate to waste money on rent. We are blue collar working people so I am hoping we can make it work temporarily. The neighborhood we are looking at is an older neighborhood with working class people and is centrally located. I just don't want to move into a neighborhood where we are not welcome. Compared to Colorado rental costs everything in Lexington is cheap so it is hard to gauge what is good and bad.

[CraigCreek]

I drove past that intersection this afternoon, heading towards downtown Lexington on Versailles Road. There is a LOT of traffic on Versaillles Road at almost all hours of the day, since it's a major route out of downtown and ultimately leads to Frankfort (by way of Versailles, which is pronounced "Ver-SALES" locally, btw).

It's not a very attractive neighborhood - convenient for downtown, but otherwise - not somewhere I'd care to live, limited income or not. In your place, I'd certainly wait to see and examine the house you are considering, but I'd also look elsewhere as well. I think you can do better.

Have you looked at Idlehour, off Richmond Road? There are a number of modest rental houses there, and it is considerably better than the Bennett Avenue-Versailles Road area. You might also look at Bassett Avenue and the streets off Richmond Road while run parallel to it. Both of these neighborhoods are mostly blue collar, and while they have their share of issues, both are better than the Bennett Avenue area.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Well, welcome to Kentucky! (I don't blame you for not wanting to spend a lot of money on the rent, since you plan to buying soon). I think you should visit and check out the area and neighborhoods first, (that is always a good idea.) But I
think you will find that you will be welcome in most neighborhoods in the city. Again, it is always good to check it and the neighborhood out first though).
I have been to much of the US and I think the states in this area are some of the friendliest -at least that has been my experience. Lexington is a pretty diverse.
The people in Kentucky are pretty excepting of people different than them - did you know that this is one of the top
ten states that accepts and sponsors Refugee families?

Where refugees go in America - The Washington Post

[tymtymory]

We spent 2 weeks in the area in May and loved it. I went down Versailles road probably a dozen times (but of course did not know I would be looking at a rental in that area then), and I can tell you compared to metro Denver that Lexington is a very nice area. Where we are now it is insanely busy and over populated, our rush hour here is 24/7. There is always traffic and congestion no matter where you go or what time of day it is. I am working with an agent and he is going to check it out for us. Thanks for the welcome, we are really looking forward to moving out of Denver and into a more relaxed and less populated area.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

I have a cousin who lives in Colorado (Colorado Springs) and I think Colorado Springs and Aspen are gorgeous.
I have also been to Denver, but that was in the 1980's - so it might have changed a bit, lol.

Lexington was rated as one of the top ten cities in the U.S. (number 6)to raise a family
The 100 best places to raise kids - TODAY.com
^ crime and safety, education, economics, housing, cultural attractions, and health were the determining factors.

Also Lexington ranks as one of the top ten cities for quality of Life

The 10 Cities With The Highest Quality Of Life