need your take on Lexington (Louisville, Middletown: best school, college, camping)

[aquadejoe]

I have gotten some great input and advice from the Louisville thread but now am looking to get some info/input on the Lexington area. My husband and I will be visiting both Louisville and Lexington in June for possible relocation within 2 years. We are a young family (in our early 30's) with kids under 5 years old. We LOVE the outdoors (hiking, fishing , camping, walking our dogs), want great schools, affordable housing ($200,000 range)and generally a laid back feel with access to good food, good library, farmer's market, live music once in awhile . . . and so I am wondering if Lex would be worth checking out. Louisville sounds great but I am wondering if it is just too big for us. Seems Louisville is very similar to Cinci ( I may be wrong just my opinion so don't beat me up over that)so we are left feeling like Lexington might be a better fit. What is the overall vibe here? Lots of parks like Louisville? More than just a college town? Good place for couple in their early 30's to meet others with young kids who like to camp, bike and be outside as much as possible? Cities that you find comparable to Lex in your opinion?

[LEXpert]

Well, Louisville clearly has more options. It is more of a city, while Lexington is a big town. I am sure there will be lots of comments about Lex not having the entertainment, culture, activities, etc that Lou does. Louisville doesn't have that much compared to say, Chicago or Los Angeles! It really all comes down to balancing all you want verses all you don't want. All I know is that I have lived here for 25 years and love it. I too have young children and find that it is a nice, safe place to raise a family.

[easydoesit]

Originally Posted by aquadejoe

I have gotten some great input and advice from the Louisville thread but now am looking to get some info/input on the Lexington area. My husband and I will be visiting both Louisville and Lexington in June for possible relocation within 2 years. We are a young family (in our early 30's) with kids under 5 years old. We LOVE the outdoors (hiking, fishing , camping, walking our dogs), want great schools, affordable housing ($200,000 range)and generally a laid back feel with access to good food, good library, farmer's market, live music once in awhile . . . and so I am wondering if Lex would be worth checking out. Louisville sounds great but I am wondering if it is just too big for us. Seems Louisville is very similar to Cinci ( I may be wrong just my opinion so don't beat me up over that)so we are left feeling like Lexington might be a better fit. What is the overall vibe here? Lots of parks like Louisville? More than just a college town? Good place for couple in their early 30's to meet others with young kids who like to camp, bike and be outside as much as possible? Cities that you find comparable to Lex in your opinion?

Sort of agree with Lexpert. It really comes down to what you want to take on in terms of population and size.

My view to some of your questions:

What is the overall vibe here?
I believe it is more conservative than L'ville, less progressive
Less of a "hip" vibe if you will, a tad bland in some respects
Just my experience (very subjective here) but I have had more snooty people encounters in Lex - still think Lex is a pretty friendly place, just more bad experiences

Lots of parks like Louisville?
Not as good as L'ville's parks (really hard to match a park designed by the same guy that did Central Park)
I would rate the big parks as so-so, nothing special - Shilito's open space now seems to be overrun with disc golfers

More than just a college town?
College system in Lex (UK) is a bigger part of a smaller metro so it certainly is plays a bigger role and is more pronounced
It's enough to say if college towns are not your thing I am not sure you will like it

Good place for couple in their early 30's to meet others with young kids who like to camp, bike and be outside as much as possible?
Great place to raise a family which IMO is a major attraction to people looking to move to Lex or who have moved to Lex (add in affordable housing, low cost of living & decent weather)
Also a safe place

Lex, aside from the college population, seems to have a lot of young married couples so I am sure you will be able to find a click there

I live in L'ville but previously lived in Lex 20+ yrs and grew up there
L'ville gets my nod as a city and overall experience but as I have mentioned before some of my closest friends/fam are in Lex so I still have a place for it in my heart despite my what might be perceived as a so-so rating (honest maybe?).

[mdawg]

I agree with lexpert and easydoesit, and will add Lexington has pretty bad traffic for a city its size. If you are worried about Louisville being too big, I would look into one of the towns on the outer edges of the city like Simpsonville, Goshen, Middletown, Prospect, Pewee Valley, Crestwood, or Anchorage. These places are either semi-rural or on the outer edges of suburbia and living in these places will not feel like you are in the middle of a large city. All at the same time you have the convenience of the city. Lexington has better access to the mountains and Daniel Boone National Forest than Louisville. Lexington IMO has a better public school system than Louisville.

[easydoesit]

Originally Posted by mdawg

I agree with lexpert and easydoesit, and will add Lexington has pretty bad traffic for a city its size. If you are worried about Louisville being too big, I would look into one of the towns on the outer edges of the city like Simpsonville, Goshen, Middletown, Prospect, Pewee Valley, Crestwood, or Anchorage. These places are either semi-rural or on the outer edges of suburbia and living in these places will not feel like you are in the middle of a large city. All at the same time you have the convenience of the city. Lexington has better access to the mountains and Daniel Boone National Forest than Louisville. Lexington IMO has a better public school system than Louisville.

Crestwood was Money mags top choice for surrounding area next to L'ville to live and raise a family

[aquadejoe]

fantastic input. It looks like the consensus is that Lex schools are better overall? What about these outlying areas of Louisville you spoke of? good schools there? what school system is that?

[mdawg]

Originally Posted by aquadejoe

fantastic input. It looks like the consensus is that Lex schools are better overall? What about these outlying areas of Louisville you spoke of? good schools there? what school system is that?

Anchorage has its own public school, even though it is in Jefferson Co. You will be paying very high taxes there because of that, but the school is fantastic. Simpsonville is in Shelby Co., and I do not know that much about their schools. Goshen, Crestwood, Pewee Valley, and 1/2 of Prospect are in Oldham Co., and the Oldham Co. school system is definitely the best school system in the area, besides maybe Anchorage's. Middletown and the other 1/2 of Prospect are in the Jefferson Co. school system, which can be dicey.

[easydoesit]

Originally Posted by aquadejoe

fantastic input. It looks like the consensus is that Lex schools are better overall? What about these outlying areas of Louisville you spoke of? good schools there? what school system is that?

I would say Lex schools are better overall with Oldham county (outlying area) next to Louisville 2nd

[lexingtongal]

CommerceLexington.com - BLUEGRASS RANKINGS (http://commercelexington.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=35&url_article_id=186& url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2 - broken link)

[UKUKUK]

Originally Posted by easydoesit

I would say Lex schools are better overall with Oldham county (outlying area) next to Louisville 2nd

With LexCath, LCA, Dunbar, Henry Clay, and Tate's Creek's advanced programs, they produce a LOT of engineering majors at UK.

Just something I've noticed.

Don't send your kids to Bryan Station.