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I know this is the L'ville forum, but I just wanted to see what people would say about the comparison. We currently live in Nashville and are planning on moving to KY very soon, but we can't decide between L'ville and Lex.
What are the pros and cons of Louisville over Lexington?
I know this is the L'ville forum, but I just wanted to see what people would say about the comparison. We currently live in Nashville and are planning on moving to KY very soon, but we can't decide between L'ville and Lex.
What are the pros and cons of Louisville over Lexington?
This has been debated time and again, but they are not in the same league. Would you move to TN and ask about the difference between Nashville and Knoxville? Well, that is the spread between Louisville and Lex and its actually probably bigger than that.
Louisville is much bigger, more urban, more amenities, better parks, the river, better shopping, culture, and especially better restaurants and nightlife for those out of college.
Lexington, is small, well kept, better educated, and is a college town. It has less large Fortune 1000 companies and big employers, but UK is the major employer all around. Lexington's advantage are the public schools are slightly better, and it is a clean and well maintained town with slightly less crime. However, Louisville has true suburbs with better public schools...there is nothing in Lexington metro area like Oldham County. However, Lexington's private schools cannot compare to Louisville's private and parochial schools like St. Xavier, Trinity, Sacred Heart, Collegiate, etc. Lexington actually has worse traffic than Louisville because there are no major freeways in the city, only a couple which pass around it.
There's KY...and then there's Louisville. Not to say that is good or bad. Different strokes for different folks, but I would highly rfecommend visiting both cities before assuming, its KY, it's KY's "major" cities, so they must be similar. It couldnt be further from the truth IMO. Lexington and Louisville are both great cities, but offer different vibes. Comparing them is like comparing Knox to Nashville....there is not much comparison except for two things. One, both cities are full of some of the friendliest people I have met and I have visited or lived in 80% of the nation's largest metro areas. Two, both cities love their Cards and Cats sports, and to a degree, horse racing and bourbon.
I lived in both a consirable amount of time. I went to UK. I have a place in my heart for Lexington.
You'll definitely find people who feel passionately about living where they do in both cities. However, I'd highly recommend Louisville over Lexington. Stx is right about public schools, and that is definitely Lexington's edge. However, in terms of private education, quality of life, things to do, general cityscape, job opportunities, diversity in communities, the road system, and ammenities, Louisville is a better place to live.
My general feeling is that Lexington is a great college town. If you have connections there, you can definitely be happy. Land value is generally higher in Lex. Everything in Lexington is basically inside a circle, conveniently called New Circle Road. This causes congestion and makes it frustrating to get around. It can take 15 minutes to make it 3 miles in rush hour (as there are few roads in and of downtown) with no expressways.
The flipside, is that inside the circle, things are generally well kept. The neighborhoods are nice (with exceptions). The university is the center of the city, everything else is built around UK. If you like college towns, Lexington definitely has that feel.
Louisville is a very suburban city, but the downtown is being revitalized. There is a lot planned and being built, and there is a real feleing of things changing and progressing. Downtown Louisville has gone from spot for barge yards smoke stacks to a relatively happening place in the past 15 years.
Louisville has more unique restaurants, more places to shop, more concerts, more plays, etc. I don't want to make it seem like Louisville is an urban utopia because it's not. It is, however, a good place to raise a family, work, and have fun when you want to. And really, you can get the same out of Lexington. It's just a matter of preference.
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