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I'm considering a move to Louisville from Philadelphia. I've applied for a position at the University of Louisville and am coming to campus in a few weeks, but I'm most worried about leaving my 98 walk score/99 bike score home in the city. I really do not want to live in the suburbs after experiencing a nearly car-free lifestyle. Who knows, I may not even get the job ....but if I do, I want to have my ducks in a row.
So, onward to the questions.
-Where you are working: Belknap Campus of University of Louisville (if the stars align)
-How much you are willing to spend on housing: Not sure if I would want to rent (something small, put my stuff in storage) or buy. For starters, I'd like to keep my housing costs no higher than the $1000-1500 range.
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate: My rule here was 30 minutes or less, no car (and I have that--a 30 min walk or 20 min subway). I guess if I *must* use my car, 15-20 min?
-If you have kids: Private school or public school? No kids. Single, late 40's female.... so I don't particularly want to be surrounded by college kids. (low crime rate would be nice, too, of course)
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight? What I love about where I live in Philly is that it feels like a 'neighborhood' but is only blocks away from restaurants, shops, doctors, dentists, gyms, etc. Love the historic architecture of the city (live in a renovated 1851 brick row house); I walk through the bustling part of the city to work. Having said that, I'm not averse to sparkly new housing as long as it has character. I prefer locally owned restaurants and shops to chains. Walking distance to a fast food chain is my idea of hell, not heaven! From what I've been reading there are a few neighborhoods that might come close to fitting my wish list in Louisville? (The Highlands? Crescent Hill? But are there certain parts of those neighborhoods that I should focus on? Or other neighborhoods?)
-Community amenities important to you: I currently shop at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods (so, I guess I'll take grocery and drug store chains!). I like having coffee shops and restaurants (especially if there are vegan choices, or at least vegetarian). Cat-friendly (have a trio--indoor only). Yoga studio would be great. Gosh, I'm sounding pretty 'alternative', but I think I'm a pretty mainstream liberal.
-Pie or cake? As long as it's vegan, I'm down for either!
Suggestions? I got some great advice on City-Data for my move to Philly....I'm betting you Louisville experts will be equally helpful!
Nowhere is really as walkable as philadelphia. There is very little attached housing and not a ton of apartment buildings so it's not as dense. Any one neighbourhood will have sort of one of what you need, grocery, drugstore, etc and will be able to walk to, but plenty of restaurants and bars. Old louisville has a lot of students but also many professionals and older peoples but more petty crime than the highlands. Nulu and downtown are nice and may be worth looking into, though there is no real grocery yet and it is definitely sort of in the beginning stages of being a bustling downtown. Both are probably not much more than 30-45 minutes on bike and much less in a car. First link may turn into something interesting, though now it is mostly the basics, but a "upscale" grocery is meant to be there by like 2018 as part of a big Omni hotel boondogle.
As far as specific neighborhoods in the highlands the only real cross town service is via eastern parkway which is nice so living around that part of it would be most convenient for taking the bus to UofL. Crescent hill and clifton are definetly nice and walkable in the Louisville sort of way, but a bike ride would be over five miles at best and publc transport would take a while with a tranfer so a car might be best.
1000-1500 will get you a nice place anywhere you want to be though.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Louisville offers several very nice urban neighborhoods that have lots of local restaurants of all sorts, walkability, and progressive vibe. The largest is the Highlands, which extends along Bardstown Rd from Broadway to Douglas Loop (over 3 miles long). It is about 4 miles from Belknap Campus along a narrow 4 lane road with terrible curb drop-offs, so it's rarely used for biking despite being in a high cycling area. You can take neighborhood streets that run parallel to Eastern Pky (like Texas Ave). Taking a bus from the Highlands to U of L would be safest though. Further from campus is Clifton / Crescent Hill which is also very nice for urban lovers, it has a bit less amount of everything than the Highlands.
The neighborhood just north of campus is a very large Victorian mansion area with some great living options for cheap but there are a lot less restaurants than the Highlands.
I'm considering a move to Louisville from Philadelphia. I've applied for a position at the University of Louisville and am coming to campus in a few weeks, but I'm most worried about leaving my 98 walk score/99 bike score home in the city. I really do not want to live in the suburbs after experiencing a nearly car-free lifestyle. Who knows, I may not even get the job ....but if I do, I want to have my ducks in a row.
So, onward to the questions.
-Where you are working: Belknap Campus of University of Louisville (if the stars align)
-How much you are willing to spend on housing: Not sure if I would want to rent (something small, put my stuff in storage) or buy. For starters, I'd like to keep my housing costs no higher than the $1000-1500 range.
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate: My rule here was 30 minutes or less, no car (and I have that--a 30 min walk or 20 min subway). I guess if I *must* use my car, 15-20 min?
-If you have kids: Private school or public school? No kids. Single, late 40's female.... so I don't particularly want to be surrounded by college kids. (low crime rate would be nice, too, of course)
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight? What I love about where I live in Philly is that it feels like a 'neighborhood' but is only blocks away from restaurants, shops, doctors, dentists, gyms, etc. Love the historic architecture of the city (live in a renovated 1851 brick row house); I walk through the bustling part of the city to work. Having said that, I'm not averse to sparkly new housing as long as it has character. I prefer locally owned restaurants and shops to chains. Walking distance to a fast food chain is my idea of hell, not heaven! From what I've been reading there are a few neighborhoods that might come close to fitting my wish list in Louisville? (The Highlands? Crescent Hill? But are there certain parts of those neighborhoods that I should focus on? Or other neighborhoods?)
-Community amenities important to you: I currently shop at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods (so, I guess I'll take grocery and drug store chains!). I like having coffee shops and restaurants (especially if there are vegan choices, or at least vegetarian). Cat-friendly (have a trio--indoor only). Yoga studio would be great. Gosh, I'm sounding pretty 'alternative', but I think I'm a pretty mainstream liberal.
-Pie or cake? As long as it's vegan, I'm down for either!
Suggestions? I got some great advice on City-Data for my move to Philly....I'm betting you Louisville experts will be equally helpful!
Thanks in advance ....
Louisville will surprise you in a good way. everything Philly has, with the exception of major pro sports and subways (and even then Louisville has minor league pro baseball and soccer), can be found in Louisville.
What are you interests? bars restaurants?shopping? movies? outdoors?
Most of central dt (CBD) is office towers that clear out after 5 pm. It has gotten better, and weekends, Yum Center event nights, and certain convention weeks are always busy, but we are not talking a big city pedestrian active downtown.
As far as urban vitality, I would look at:
1. Highlands
2. Crescent Hill/St Matthews
3. Clifton
4. Old Louisville
5 Downtown
6. Nulu
7. Germantown
8. Beechmont
9. downtown New Albany, IN
10. downtown Jeffersonville, IN
Choices 7-10 are very cheap housing options that still have great restaurants and a few good indie shops around but are definitely "developing" urban areas.
With regards to downtown and specifically high rise/mid rise living, no local player does it better than these guys:
CITY Properties Group - What's Available
(Whiskey Row Lofts and Guthrie-Coke are great rehabbed buildings)
This is also a new area:
WaterSide at RiverPark Place
It is close to Clifton, yet feels peaceful, beautiful and isolated although it is less than 10 mins by car to anywhere fun in the city inside the I264 loop.
Finally, join this networking group:
New2Lou
Get online, get on meetup.com, join groups, go to coffee shops, join a church, join a dating website, and just get out and meet folks. Louisville is a great city!
Cool historic flat in a neighborhood that will remind you of a southern Philly a far as density. It is also a 10-15 min walk or 5 min bike ride to UofL.
The downsides are some occasional petty crime, and much less walkable retail. There is however a few good restaurants and several corner stores and small markets. The nearest large and nice grocery would be a 7 minute drive
The above is located on one of the most beautiful streets in America. It would rent for 4 grand or more in any major city. In Louisville it is yours for 1200. A little nicer part of the same neighborhood, Old Louisville, which is the Victorian Mansion area north of campus. Very socioeconomically and racially diverse area.
Downtown proper is a good option because it is the only area which has consistent, reliable, and frequent bus service, along with Old Louisville and Bardstown Rd. Downtown has 5-6 main districts. The above unit is a nice midrise, in the still developing theatre district. Grab lunch at Safier, see a show at the Palace Theatre, have dinner at Theatre Square Marketplace, and walk down to Meta and 8up for some nice cocktails and a lounge vibe.
310 at Nulu is in an increasingly walkable area. There are art galleries, eateries, antiques, and what have you. The first Friday of the month the art gallery hops are fun, I believe there is an art cinema club, and there are some cool little furniture and accessory shops and even a couple small clothing boutiques.
Have breakfast at Toast, coffee and a cookie at Please and Thank You, Lunch at Ghyslain, dinner at Harvest, and a drink on the patio at Decca. Stop in Why Louisville and Red Tree to shop for some furniture.
Residential and very quiet, yet still at least somewhat walkable. Germantown will remind you of an old Philly hood with southern style. There are still old school corner bars mixed in with new hipster neighbors.
Have a breakfast donut at Nord's, Coffee at Sunergo's, lunch at Four Pegs, dinner at Eiderdwown, and a nightcap drink at Nachbar or cocktail at the Cure Lounge or a dance party at with your students at Zanzabar
Highlands:
This is the city's marquee urban nabe. You cannot go wrong here. It is the most 24 hour and it has walkable movie, grocery, clothes and furniture shopping in additional to more coffee shops, restaurants, and bars than you can imagine.
A bit further away from your job and not really conducive to transit. Yet, it is only a 15 and maybe 20 minute ride during traffic drive. The "downtown" of St Matthews is very walkable, but does not have a vibrant pedestrian feel because Shelbyville Road, where it meets Chenoweth and Lexington Rds, is VERY busy.
That said, you CAN walk to Whole Foods and Trader Joes in this area, it is just that you will walk along a very suburban looking road for about 20 minutes to get there.
Jeffersonville, IN
Also a surprisingly walkable little downtown area. Yet, it definitely feels like its own "small town" mayberry
Kind of its own area. Not really walkable yet it is a really pretty area on a park. Some more nearby restaurants and such should come but it may be 5-10 years out before it is its own community.
Peter is a great advocate for the city of Louisville; you'll do well by his recommendations, but I'd like to add my 2 cents.
You indicated a desire for walkability to and from work, as well as socially. Louisville simply doesn't offer that to the same degree as a major city. In addition, the bus system isn't really used by anyone other than those below the middle class. It's quite honestly still a very car driven community.
I personally would prefer the Highlands for walkability on the social level, but you'd have to be closer to Eastern Parkway in order to walk to U of L in a reasonable amount of time. The immediate area around campus isn't really where you'd likely prefer to live, and a car is a must for anything else Peter mentioned with the exception of Old Louisville - and as much as I respect Peter's posts, I have to disagree with him that it's a viable option for you, and he actually gave the reasons why.
If you get to the point where you're getting close to or expecting an offer, I'd suggest commuting up to Newark and taking a direct flight down to Louisville and checking out the areas for yourself.
Peter - I'm going to be visiting 6/6-6/13 and I'm going to hunt around some of the hoods that you've claimed have changed so significantly over the last 5+ years. You've gotten me really curious about Portland, because I've only known it as a crack neighborhood.
As someone who grew up in Louisville and graduated from UofL and now lives in Philly... if you are worried about leaving the walkability and bikability of Philly you need to understand that you are entering another world. There is nothing here that even resembles Center City, South Philly, Fishtown, or Northern Liberties.
Louisville is a great place to live though. It has a ton of locally owned shops and resturants (mainly in the Highlands and Cresant Hill/St. Matthews). If you rent with your budget, you are going to have more space in your apartment/house than you know what to do with after coming from Philly.
The Highlands has lots of historic architecture as does Old Louisville. Architecturally, think Cedar Park/University City or Mount Airy with huge (by Philly standards) yards. Old Louisville will be your best bet if you want to walk/bike/bus to UofL. However, compared to say Cedar Park in Philly there are very, very few choices on bars/resturants/daily errand places.
With the Highlands, think of a busier version of Mt. Airy/Germantown, most retail will be on a strip similar to Germantown Rd.
The Highlands may have enough amenities to allow you to stay car free but it will be difficult. You will have an hour walk to UofL. You can take TARC over but be aware, TARC will make you long for SEPTA. The 29 bus goes from the Highlands to UofL without needing a transfer and takes 30 min to get from Bardstown Road and . It only comes every half hour during rush hour. At off peak times it comes even more infrequently.
Also be aware that Louisville doesn't have a fraction of the walkability Philly has. You are probably going to want a car. As someone who loves being car free... I can't imagine surviving without a car in Louisville. The good news is that there is free parking everywhere if you're willing to walk three or four blocks and Louisville has basically zero traffic.
I'm not sure if you've considered biking. UofL and the Highlands are only about a 25 min ride away. Just be aware that although there are some bike lanes (and even a bike share downtown) this isn't going to be like the system in Philly. There are very few lanes and cars will not show you the same respect they do in Philly.
I'd strongly recommend against living downtown. It has improved the last few years but it is a ghost town after work hours outside of 2 or 3 streets. Everyone drives and is able to park a few feet from their destination because of the massive amounts of surface parking lots. There are literally more people walking through a Center City block at 3 AM than there are a downtown Louisville block on weekends or weekdays after 6.
NULU is a gentrifying area just East of downtown with some neat resturants/bars/art galleries, but it's not a place you can get your necessities without a car and is probably to far for a bus commute. Same with Clifton (with Clifton again think Mt. Airy).
Despite all this I think you'll enjoy your time in Louisville. Be aware that you're in for a lifestyle change and that you're most likely going to have to give up something (commuting w/o a car vs. having things nearby to walk to) and you should have no problem enjoying all the wonderful things about the city. Look into Old Louisville, the Highlands/Taylor Park/Cherokee Triangle/Willow Park area, or maybe even Germantown.
Louisville will surprise you in a good way. everything Philly has, with the exception of major pro sports and subways (and even then Louisville has minor league pro baseball and soccer), can be found in Louisville.
What are you interests? bars restaurants?shopping? movies? outdoors?
Most of central dt (CBD) is office towers that clear out after 5 pm. It has gotten better, and weekends, Yum Center event nights, and certain convention weeks are always busy, but we are not talking a big city pedestrian active downtown.
As far as urban vitality, I would look at:
1. Highlands
2. Crescent Hill/St Matthews
3. Clifton
4. Old Louisville
5 Downtown
6. Nulu
7. Germantown
8. Beechmont
9. downtown New Albany, IN
10. downtown Jeffersonville, IN
Choices 7-10 are very cheap housing options that still have great restaurants and a few good indie shops around but are definitely "developing" urban areas.
With regards to downtown and specifically high rise/mid rise living, no local player does it better than these guys:
CITY Properties Group - What's Available
(Whiskey Row Lofts and Guthrie-Coke are great rehabbed buildings)
This is also a new area:
WaterSide at RiverPark Place
It is close to Clifton, yet feels peaceful, beautiful and isolated although it is less than 10 mins by car to anywhere fun in the city inside the I264 loop.
Finally, join this networking group:
New2Lou
Get online, get on meetup.com, join groups, go to coffee shops, join a church, join a dating website, and just get out and meet folks. Louisville is a great city!
Downtown New Albany and Downtown Jeffersonville wouldn't work if she really prefers to walk or bike. Crossing the bridge isn't a good idea. People die on 2nd street bridge a little too often since people don't pay attention and that's a high traffic bridge.
You indicated a desire for walkability to and from work, as well as socially. Louisville simply doesn't offer that to the same degree as a major city. In addition, the bus system isn't really used by anyone other than those below the middle class. It's quite honestly still a very car driven community
Servo Miff..you posted the above..I am also someone that is considering moving to Louisville from a much larger, walkable city. I have been on the Louisville buses ony a couple times... Though I didnt ask anyone their income there were folks that looked like they were "abve" middle class..whatever that means. Though driving may be the easiest way to get around..walking/biking/busing is much better for the environment and also often the pocketbook. I wish more people would try it..we are not all poor people on the bus!
Also it says you live in SF so I am wondering how often you have been on the Louisville buses Try it..you may like it!
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....but if I do, I want to have my ducks in a row.
