Looking for advice for an area to move in or around Lexington with kids (Louisville: hardwood floors)

[Anabear]

Hello,


I am sure this has been asked a bunch and I tried looking through old posts with not many good results. My family is looking to relocate to the Lexington are next summer most likely. We are moving from Michigan/Ohio, and I have family in the Paris area and Richmond. We have a nurse and an IT person, so for work we would need to be in Lexington I am assuming. We have 4 kids from High School down to preschool, so we want to be in a moderate size school that rates well.


The big catch is that we really also want a few acres. We want the small town feel and not have neighbors on top of us, without being way out in the country. I had looked at some of the surrounding areas and the schools don't seem to rate to well, especially Paris and Carlisle. Lexington seems to have several schools that are rated great. Does anyone have any suggestions. Where we are living now is a very small school district that isn't rated that great either, and we just moved our daughter to the High School out of District to attend a little bigger school with better ratings. Is that an option if you are on the outskirts of Lexington?


Our home info would probably be in the $200-260 range? I have seen some really nice homes with acreage but way out of our price range. Can you find a great school and some land in this area?

[CraigCreek]

Because of zoning regulations designed to help preserve our unique bluegrass region, you will not be able to purchase small rural acreage in Fayette County, unless you can find such a property that is grandfathered in.

As you noted, your budget is not sufficient for larger properties., although you could purchase a nice house in a good neighborhood in Lexington for that amount - check out Southland, for example: safe area, good schools, walking distance of shopping, churches, parks, easy access to UK, etc., and nicely maintained '50s ranches and Cape Cods with hardwood floors, fireplaces, mature trees, and good-sized back yards that would allow for fruit trees, vegetable gardens, and perhaps chickens (legal in Lexington). However, you can still find small plots in the surrounding counties.

In your place, I'd look at Woodford County (Versailles and Midway) - land near the Kentucky River is less costly than land on the east side of Woodford County, which is predominated by pristine, manicured thoroughbred horse farms.

Madison County might be another option - look for land near Berea, although land costs are increasing due to the attractiveness of this area and charm of Berea ("the arts and crafts capitol of Kentucky")itself. Berea College is the heart of the community, and offers much for Bereans to enjoy.

[Anabear]

I feel we are having a really hard time researching due to our many "wants". My parents just moved about half an hour outside of Paris. I have some family in Berea and Richmond, but that is a little further out from Lexington than I want to be I think. We also want to be about an hour from a zoo, whether Louisville or Cincinnati. But, we don't don't want to more than 45-60 minutes from my parents.


We just want good medium size schools for the kids, not a tiny rural school and as much acreage as we could afford to get! We have live in Toledo, OH for almost 10 years, and just moved across the border in MI, but still work around the Toledo area. We love going to the Zoo with the family, and we have a kid that is a Zoo Teen, so that is why the Zoo has to be drivable for us frequently as well.


I realized recently when I started looking in Lexington that I couldn't find any larger lots except for massive horse farms, and that explains why. I didn't realize the regulations on the zoning until reading a few other posts.

[CraigCreek]

Have you looked in Georgetown/Scott County? Decent schools, available hilly wooden land to the north, just over an hour to the Cincinnati Zoo, and Georgetown is about half an hour's driving distance of Paris and Lexington. Many people from Georgetown commute to Lexington for work.

Georgetown and Scott County have experienced rapid growth due to the Toyota assembly plant, but are still less costly than Lexington/Fayette County. Look around Stamping Ground or Sadieville for rural land.

There are few "tiny rural schools" left in Central Kentucky - consolidation took care of that. There may be substantial school bus rides as a result, however.

You may need to prioritize your want list, as it does not appear that the desirable distances you cite and your budget can include everything you hope for - it's geographically impossible in Central Kentucky. But if you can stretch those desired distances by fifteen minutes or so, however, you will get a lot more.

[Anabear]

Thanks for the input CraigCreek. I did look into Georgetown before, and my parents mentioned that being a good medium maybe. I think I have been hung up on trying to be in Lexington so I haven't looked much outside. Georgetown does look like a nice area, and they have a lot of schools it seems that are scored pretty well.


I did find several houses with acreage pop up in Sadieville, but the schools don't seem to be rated nearly as well. This is always a struggle schools vs housing. Would you say the the majority of Georgetown is subdivisions then, it sounds like you mentioned just the northern area finding some land.

[CraigCreek]

Georgetown is a very old small town with a wide variety of housing. It grew a lot when Toyota came to town about twenty years ago, so there are subdivisions which were built around then. Land to the south is likely to be more costly, as it's Inner Bluegrass. The hillier, less fertile, wooded rural areas to the north are less expensive. You can find open land in all directions - but land to the north is less expensive. I am not sure about zoning regulations such as exist in Fayette County (Georgetown is in Scott County, if you want to do some research).

I-75 will take you to Lexington from Georgetown very quickly.