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I am married with 3 daughters (11th grade, 7th grade and 3rd grade). We currently live in Northern Virginia (just outside DC). My husband just took a job where he will telecommute and has been given the OK to move wherever we want (well in the continental US). We are sick of the traffic and the cost of living here so we are jumping at the chance to get out. We are looking for somewhere with a lower cost of living (we will have about $350k-$400k to spend on a home), is very family friendly, neighborhoods where kids play outside (here everyone is in daycare because it's so expensive that most have to have 2 incomes). We are an inter-racial couple. My husband's heritage is Indian (although he grew up in the Mid-West) and I'm caucasian. Some places this is much more of an issue that others. Obviously in the DC area that has not been an issue. I homeschool the girls but I would like to live somewhere with a good school system in case our homeschooling plans change and because good schools are better for housing values etc.
What do you think we'd like about Louisville? What do you think we wouldn't? I'd love any honest opinions pro and con. It's great that have the option to choose wherever we want but I'm starting to think too many options are just as bad as no options.
Thank you
This is a MAYBE............just depends on what you want, what can be provided in Lou, KY to meet your sensibilities. Honestly, I would look elsewhere.
What about Indianapolis? They are far more progressive and ahead of the curve than Lou, KY.
This is a MAYBE............just depends on what you want, what can be provided in Lou, KY to meet your sensibilities. Honestly, I would look elsewhere.
What about Indianapolis? They are far more progressive and ahead of the curve than Lou, KY.
Indianapolis more progressive and ahead of Louisville? hmmm.... It is nice we have such myriad opinions on CD. However, if you consider progressive landing the super bowl and major sporting events, then Indy is your town. If progressive means more white colllar jobs and suburbanization and chains, pick Indy. That is not to say Indy doesns't have liberals and progressives...it is just not in the same realm as the ville. Don't believe me? Ask some of the artists and progressives who moved from Indy to open progressive stores. Start by talking to the fine folks at Please and Thank You in Nulu.
However if you consider progressive liberal rights movements (see occupy Louisville is still standing), a large art and indie community, craft beer, the best restaurants between Chicago and New Orleans, and a love of community, history, neighborhoods, coffee culture, and festivals, then Louisville is your place.
Now it is true many cities have the above. The deal with Louisville is that it allows it much cheaper, with way less traffic, an even 4 seasons, and some of the friendliest and most accepting people I have met anywhere in the US. There is a reason I live in FL and still represent this board.
To the poster above, with all the unfounded untruths you say about Okolona, you leave out the large and growing Hispanic population in the area (there is a census tract out there with around 40% Hispanics) and other positive aspects of a (granted) very boring suburban area that exists in any mid sized, middle american city. If you don't believe Nashville and Indy and any other nearby city has an Okolona, you really do not underdstand cities or demographics.
Also, your posts about Germantown are well, just plain WRONG. Are bearded hipsters and suspender wearing PBR drinkers at Nachbar and Eiderdown "white trash?" I suggest you explore your city more before making sweeping generalizations, and frankly, very demeaning posts about broad areas. Germantown has a whole host of hip and trendy locales in addition to long time, old time traditions. Yuppies coincide with long time blue collar folks and even new immigrants and students in that area. I will let the posts stand for a bit to let you realize how ludicrous they are.
Are there some annoying rednecks in the Louisville area? Sure. But they are located in any city and I would sure rather live near a redneck than the criminals and thugs located in most cities. Few cities the size of Louisville allow a family to live cheaply, safely, and comfortably in the actual urban area.
Last edited by Peter1948; 01-10-2012 at 01:10 AM..
"trashy people". I live not far from Iroquois Park. Trashy people abound here. Fat, ugly women with 5 kids, guys with buzz cuts under their backwards worn baseball caps, beer guts, sports apparel, team logos, ...main thing is macho. White, southern, anti-intellectual, macho guys. The rule for hair seems to be: either shorter than half an inch or longer than ten inches. In summer they are more hilarious with their sports apparel shorts - just above the knees.
Now, ya gotta listen to them talk; done did, done went, they wuz, etc.
"Progressive", as a label applied to Louisville, must be painful. LEO was once thick (under Yarmouth), but has shrunk to a pamphlet, and isn't even local anymore. The 'leftist" columnists and cartoons have been slowly eliminated. A regular back page ad often advise couples to date by going to the gun range. All this because Louisville is not progressive, but conventional, religious, and conservative.
I know Louisville artists. They say that unusual art doesn't go well in Louisville, but they have connections to Chicago. Don't take my word for this - ask a Louisville artist.
But the wearers of rosey red, rah, rah Louisville stubbornly claim that Louisville has a 'vibrant arts scene'. It's so vibrant it can be easily overlooked. Where is this 'vibrant art scene"?
With exceptions, such as Old Louisville, the city's architecture is bland and boring. Some streets are outright ugly.
Yes, you can eat in various restaurants and drink locally brewed beer while you cheer for the Cats or Cards. But don't tell the people you're a liberal or have no religious affiliation.
Oh yes, then there's the Louisville media. I've heard that the Courier-Journal is a 'commie paper'. WHAS is probably the most listened to radio station in the area. They broadcast right wingers all day and night. To constantly remind Louisvillians that Obama and liberals are commies that hate America.
The Louisville area has only two bookstores! - two locations of Carmichael's and one Barnes & Noble. There are no bookstores south of the Watterson, none west of I-65.
Louisville is perfect for low educated types, Jesus people, gun freaks, and those who believe life is basketball and football.
Last edited by Visvaldis; 01-10-2012 at 02:24 PM..
Reason: bookstores.
Lexington is smaller than Louisville, but may have more to offer your family. I am assuming your husband is east Indian, rather than Native American: there is a very large east Indian population in Lexington, many of whom are affiliated with the University of Kentucky. They have an active social community but are also part of the community at large. It's unlikely your family would experience any discrimination due to their background.
Public schools are considerably better than those in Louisville, while there are also good private schools in Lexington plus an active group of homeschoolers. Traffic is less congested and rush hours are briefer here than in Louisville. Louisville takes the prize for museums and parks and more cultural activities, but Lexington still offers outstanding concerts of all kinds, a good choice of dramatic theatrical productions, and smaller museums of various kinds plus three outstanding historic house museums. The Lexington Public Library has grown considerably in recent decades, thanks to improved funding, and offers many activities for children, teens, and adults.
Lexington's surroundings are beautiful - this is the Heart of the Bluegrass, internationally known for its pastoral landscapes and thoroughbred horse farms. Lexington's air is less polluted than that of Louisville, as there is little or no heavy industry here.
Historic sites abound within an hour or two of Lexington: Shakertown, Boonesboro, Harrodsburg, Frankfort, Bardstown, Berea, Danville, and more. Lexington is only 45 minutes from the Cumberland Mountains of eastern and southeastern Kentucky, and little more than an hour from the outstandingly scenic Red River Gorge (look up these places if you are unfamiliar with them). During the warmer months, outdoor festivals of various kinds (music, crafts, history, etc.) can be found in the smaller communities all around Lexington as well as in Lexington itself.
Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky are located in Lexington, and provide much cultural enrichment. Then there's UK basketball - this is a very blue city. There are pools, gyms, roller and ice skating rinks, riding stables, tennis courts, hiking trails, and sports teams of all kinds for various ages. Boating and other watersports are available on the Kentucky River, which borders Fayette County, as well as at nearby Lake Herrington and much larger Lake Cumberland and Cave Run Lake.
There are numerous ethnic restaurants of various kinds in and around Lexington, along with those serving traditional Southern cooking and more citified dishes.
Lexington's housing costs are similar to Louisville, as is the general cost of living. Trade-off is in quality of life issues. Older neighborhoods which might interest you would include Ashland Park, Chevy Chase, Southland, and some of the newer neighborhoods on Lexington's southern and eastern outskirts.
Downside: winters can be gray and dreary here, with a severe ice storm thrown in about every five years for excitement. Late summer can be hot and humid (not as bad as in D.C., though). Fall color is beautiful but short-lived. Springs are lovely but erratic, with beautiful clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70s reverting to chilly rain and 30s and 40s within 48 hours or less. Not much happens here outside of UK basketball in January. Downtown has had numerous historic buildings destroys in the name of thus-far invisible "progress". Current crime appears to be drug-related, with lots of copper wiring thefts, some meth lab busts, some scary nighttime home invasions prior to Christmas, and a rash of drive-by shootings last fall, mostly in less than great neighborhoods, plus a current string of arson-caused car and apartment fires on the west side of town. But crime is worse in Louisville, as it's a larger city and has more gang-related violence, and the police, underfunded and understaffed as they presently are, are working on all of these situations.
So - in your place, I'd certainly add Lexington to your to-be-considered list. Good luck with your decision and your eventually move.
"trashy people". I live not far from Iroquois Park. Trashy people abound here. Fat, ugly women with 5 kids, guys with buzz cuts under their backwards worn baseball caps, beer guts, sports apparel, team logos, ...main thing is macho. White, southern, anti-intellectual, macho guys. The rule for hair seems to be: either shorter than half an inch or longer than ten inches. In summer they are more hilarious with their sports apparel shorts - just above the knees.
Now, ya gotta listen to them talk; done did, done went, they wuz, etc.
"Progressive", as a label applied to Louisville, must be painful. LEO was once thick (under Yarmouth), but has shrunk to a pamphlet, and isn't even local anymore. The 'leftist" columnists and cartoons have been slowly eliminated. A regular back page ad often advise couples to date by going to the gun range. All this because Louisville is not progressive, but conventional, religious, and conservative.
I know Louisville artists. They say that unusual art doesn't go well in Louisville, but they have connections to Chicago. Don't take my word for this - ask a Louisville artist.
But the wearers of rosey red, rah, rah Louisville stubbornly claim that Louisville has a 'vibrant arts scene'. It's so vibrant it can be easily overlooked. Where is this 'vibrant art scene"?
With exceptions, such as Old Louisville, the city's architecture is bland and boring. Some streets are outright ugly.
Yes, you can eat in various restaurants and drink locally brewed beer while you cheer for the Cats or Cards. But don't tell the people you're a liberal or have no religious affiliation.
Oh yes, then there's the Louisville media. I've heard that the Courier-Journal is a 'commie paper'. WHAS is probably the most listened to radio station in the area. They broadcast right wingers all day and night. To constantly remind Louisvillians that Obama and liberals are commies that hate America.
The Louisville area has only two bookstores! - two locations of Carmichael's and one Barnes & Noble. There are no bookstores south of the Watterson, none west of I-65.
Louisville is perfect for low educated types, Jesus people, gun freaks, and those who believe life is basketball and football.
Visvaldis, your constant Louisville-bashing is as ignorant as it is shrill and tiresome. If you hate this city as badly as you say you do, then put your money where your mouth is and get out. Please, go live in Chicago, participate in their forum, and stop dumping on us. Until then, I'm forced to conclude that someone who professes to be a progressive but chooses to live in what they describe as one of the most redneck parts of a city full of backwards rednecks is just a troll.
Visvaldis, your constant Louisville-bashing is as ignorant as it is shrill and tiresome. If you hate this city as badly as you say you do, then put your money where your mouth is and get out. Please, go live in Chicago, participate in their forum, and stop dumping on us. Until then, I'm forced to conclude that someone who professes to be a progressive but chooses to live in what they describe as one of the most redneck parts of a city full of backwards rednecks is just a troll.
Try something different - take an issue with the points I mentioned.
Try something different - take an issue with the points I mentioned.
Why should I? I've done it before, as have STX and others, and you don't change your tune. You constantly find fault with Louisville's arts scene because it compares poorly to that of cities seven times Louisville's size. There's a phrase for that: "No s***, Sherlock!" The OP is asking about Louisville precisely because it's a smaller city, and some things go along with being a smaller city. That Louisville's arts scene is better than other, similarly sized cities in this region doesn't seem to register with you. It's not Chicago, so it's crap.
While the C-J is solidly in the pocket of the Abramson-Beshear-Fischer-Yarmuth establishment, I'd hardly call it a commie paper. I do call it crap, but that has more to do with it being owned by Gannett than the political leanings of its editorial staff.
You neglect to mention that, besides WHAS, Louisville also supports not one, but THREE public radio stations, more than any other city I know of. And supports them at record financial levels, going by Louisville Public Media's recent support campaigns.
You don't mention Interfaith Paths for Peace, Earthsave Louisville, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, the Louisville Peace Action Committe, Kentucky Fairness, any of the dozens of other progressive community organizations, the large number of mainline, moderate-to-liberal churches and other religious groups in the city (one of which, the PCUSA, is headquartered and has a seminary here), the Forecastle Festival, Occupy Louisville...
This is Louisville, not Portland. But when you make the city out to be 1.3 million gun-toting, toothless, hatemongering rednecks, you do an injustice to the large number of progressive and moderate citizens who reside here, and you show yourself to be incapable either of seeing reality or acknowledging it when it doesn't fit the narrowminded, bigoted construct of "Louisville" you've created in your head. "Louisville sucks, and nobody can tell me different," is every bit as ignorant and arrogant as the "rah-rah" crowd you so love to hate on.
Actually, nevermind. I just found out Nickelback is coming to the YUM! Center, so I take it all back.
lmfao!
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