Relocating from Northern IN to Jeffersonville/Louisville Area (Lexington, Covington: where to stay, apartment complexes)

[stephanie1695]

Hi there! We will be moving to the Louisville area at the end of July from Fort Wayne, IN. My husband is employed and we are relocating for his job. We are early 30's, 2 girls ages 12 & 4. I have an LLC photography business in Indiana that I would prefer not to have to change at this point for tax reasons since this is happening so quickly. We are looking at the Jeffersonville area or any point close to Louisville that is still in Indiana.
We have around $900 per month to rent a home, we really prefer a house, not a duplex or townhouse. I found a few on Craigslist, but know nothing of the area, some pointers as to where to stay away from, or what will work well for a young family would be much appreciated.
Looking for info on the area, particularly which middle school is best suited for a bright girl who is musically gifted.
Local attractions/stores/things to do?

Thank you!
Stephanie

[tomocox]

Stephanie,

Welcome to the Sunny Side of Louisville! As I share with everyone looking to rent, live as close to squalor as your family can stand. There is nothing beneficial to renting other than a roof over your head. I am not saying that you should buy, yet. I am saying save your money invest it wisely and you'll be able to buy or lease even better.

If I were you, I'd definitely be looking in the Memphis/Sellersburg/Charlestown area's. Good schools, easy to Louisville, and of course, still in Indiana.

Best wishes to you and yours!

[Msradell]

A lot will depend on where your husband will be working. At least for the next few years trying to cross from Indiana to Kentucky for the commute is going to be a major pain because of all the bridge construction downtown. After that the commute will be easy but there is going to be a toll on the bridges, except for the I 64 bridge going to New Albany. Transferring your LLC to a Kentucky 1 is extremely easy and probably would only cost about $100 or so at the most. You can basically do most of an online. I certainly wouldn't let that alone be the determining factor where you end up living.

[stephanie1695]

His job requires travel, he will be working all over southern Indiana and Louisville. Tolls will be paid by his employer.
My llc, drivers licenses, plates, gun permits, insurance, taxes, and a myriad of other things factor into our decision to stay in Indiana for the next year while we are getting accustomed to the area.
Any input anyone has on Jeffersonville or Clarksville would be greatly appreciated as we're coming down for a week on June 30th to look for a rental.

[Msradell]

The choice between Jeffersonville and Clarksville will depend greatly on what type of area you like to live in. Clarksville is your typical urban area with malls and lots of traffic. Jeffersonville is more of a small city with shops and lots of areas you can walk in for exercise, it also connects directly to Louisville with a new walking bridge across the Ohio River. At least for us they would be much debate, Jeffersonville would deftly be where we looked. You may also want to consider looking in New Albany. It's got the small cities feel much like Jeffersonville but it's downtown area has had a lot of major revitalization with many new restaurants.

[censusdata]

I am in the process of moving to New Albany from Louisville since my wife and her family live over there while I have only sporadic contact with my family. The benefits are lower taxes (property tax is one third to half lower than Louisville), cheaper houses for the same type of area, and everything being close together. All 3 cities over there are kind of like a checker board with good and bad.

New Albany has more of it's own feel, a larger downtown area (would be the largest downtown in KY outside L'ville, Lexington, or Covington/ Newport), growing arts/ restaurant scene, and it's off the less busy bridge (though to some parts of NA the Kennedy Bridge is still closer). Other than along Bono Rd (public housing) it's mostly a safe city. Clarksville's downtown was razed after the 1937 flood. It has tons of shopping but IMO the least desirable housing of the 3. Not bad but no great areas and a lot of so so apartment complexes. Jeffersonville has gritty areas along 8th St Road and near its small but quaint main street (Spring St). The northeastern area of J'ville will benefit big time from the East End bridge, which would make it a 10 minute drive to tons of high end jobs/ shopping in NE Louisville.

If you like urban I'd recommend the Silver Street corridor in New Albany. Suburban I'd say Charlestown Rd or outer parts of State Street in NA, or Jeffersonville along I-265 and IN 62. Further out everything's pretty nice. Floyds Knobs is affluent, every thing else is country bumpkin

[stephanie1695]

We're looking for more country/suburban. We will be in Jeffersonville next week to look for housing, schools etc. I'm not finding too much online and of course we want to get a feel for the area first. I've heard some bad things about New Albany, so thank you for giving another side!

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by stephanie1695

We're looking for more country/suburban. We will be in Jeffersonville next week to look for housing, schools etc. I'm not finding too much online and of course we want to get a feel for the area first. I've heard some bad things about New Albany, so thank you for giving another side!

New Albany is a GREAT area, especially suburban Floyds Knobs. Very pretty hill country and downtown New Albany has really seen a huge renaissance with just so much going on for an area its size. These areas of southern Indiana are effectively inner ring neighborhoods of Louisville...they are tantamount to Highlands or St Matthews, just with a different feel.

[censusdata]

Really anything further out of I-265 in Indiana is nice. If prefer a more rural school district look outside any of the Big 3 cities. Floyd Central and Silver Creek (Sellersburg) schools are well reputed. In Indiana you can actually send your child to any school as long as you provide transit. You could live in one of the Big 3 and drive your child to a school you like better.

Floyds Knobs is nice and a quite affluent. Sellersburg is middle class and blue collar. Haven't been to Henryville since the tornado, not sure what's left. Borden is country bumpkin. At the gas station last week there were as many tractors, motorcycles, and classic cars fueling up as regular vehicles. I haven't been around Charlestown or Utica enough to give advice, though they will massively benefit from the East End Bridge opening in 2016

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

New Albany is a GREAT area, especially suburban Floyds Knobs. Very pretty hill country and downtown New Albany has really seen a huge renaissance with just so much going on for an area its size. These areas of southern Indiana are effectively inner ring neighborhoods of Louisville...they are tantamount to Highlands or St Matthews, just with a different feel.

Overall urban Southern Indiana is most similar to the South End of Louisville, given it's moderate to upper middle class incomes but lower percent of college graduates. Main exception would be Floyds Knobs, outer Charlestown Rd, and outer parts of Jeffersonville which are quite affluent The area I'm buying a house in New Albany has a similar feel to Audubon Park, with a mix of middle class and very affluent areas built in the 1940s to 1970s. Downtown NA and points to the east along Spring / SIlver Street are starting to gentrify and are similar to Old Louisville or Germantown / Schnitzelburg. There are a scattering of good local shops / restaurants now but nothing like the Highlands.

Crime tends to be spread out in the Big 3. Worst areas are...

- middle part of State St in NA, near a huge public housing complex on Bono Rd
- apartments along Eastern BLvd in C'ville (they like to leave a graffiti covered closed gas station right off I-65 LOL)
- along 10th Street Road in the middle of Jeffersonville

The Big 3 average maybe 10 or fewer murders per year with a combined population of 130,000.