Moving from SE Florida to KY (Louisville, St. Matthews: how much, new house, neighborhood)

[Tminutes]

My intro:
Good Morning!
We are looking to relocate with hubby's work (in zip 40299) from Southeast Florida.

-Where you are working
Zip 40299
-How much you are willing to spend on housing
up to 325K

-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate
45 minutes

-If you have kids: Private school or public school?
3 sons currently attend a private Catholic school in Florida. Would really appreciate any suggestions regarding a good Catholic school nearby

-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for:
Small town? I currently live in a suburb of 55K people.

-Community amenities important to you
Can't think of any right now...it is 1:42 a.m.

-Pie or cake?
Cake

We will probably be moving in time for sons to attend school in the Fall. Suggestions on a Catholic elementary school would be greatly appreciated.

Also, this may sound silly but I need suggestions as to what type of winter clothes are needed....seeing that our 'winter' is 40 degrees for one night and 80 the next, I believe I am ill-equipped for KY winters. What type of jacket/parka do you need? How many? I went online and there are 'bibs', longjohns, AAUGHH...thanks for any help

[tomocox]

Lots of good questions. We put two sons through Catholic schools in the St. Matthews area. If you have $ 325,000 home budget, you can pretty well run the spectrum of homes in the Louisville Metropolitan area. You can have a lovely home with land or a luxurious home without land for example.

As far as winter in Kentucky, that will be a personal matter as winter arrives. You may tolerate cold very well, and another member of your family not. There is plenty of time to shop for winter-wear, but it will be a great conversational topic while searching for a home.

Now, back to the schools. I can talk intelligently about Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Our Lady of Lourds, St. Patricks, St Al's in PeWee Valley, etc. You'll have some great choices as far as Catholic High Schools which nearly all of the area's schools are boys or girls segregated.

A good rule of thumb which I can live with very well: Live in Jefferson County, go parochial/private. Live in Oldham County, go public.

[Tminutes]

thanks!
I am currently concentrating in Oldham county.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Tminutes

thanks!
I am currently concentrating in Oldham county.

Absolutely no reason to concentrate in Oldham, especially if you are going for Catholic schools. All the best schools are in Jefferson for Catholic schools. Louisville is a major city but it does not have the heavily developed "edge" counties like most large metro areas.

Do yourself a favor and look all over the metro...this includes southern Indiana. I would not count the older, walkable areas of the city where the quality of life cannot be matched in many cities IMO. I have seen very few cities with an area like the highlands that is walkable, urban, nice, single and family oriented all in one with beautiful tree lined streets and historic parks--all at cheap prices by national standards.

[bbkennedy]

There are plenty of wonderful "exurbs" or bedroom communities that have terrific private schools. In the lower to mid $300's you can even have a relatively new house in a community with its own pool. Oldham Co. is certainly an option but another area that may fit your needs well is the eastern Jefferson Co. & western Shelby Co. area. where St. Patricks school is a major draw. You'll have many choices at your price point. One question that comes to mind is if liquidity is much of a concern (e.g. for resale). If so, the closer to town, the parks, and the interstates, the better. If it's not, then you can have a lot of house for the money outside the I-265 loop.

[tomocox]

My rule of thumb... If you must have parochial/private schools, you can live in Jefferson County, but if you want the same quality of education as a parochial/private offers simply by purchasing a home in the right place, then Oldham County is for Kentucky, Sellersburg, Charlestown, and other sites in S. Indiana. Nothing else will compare.

[Tminutes]

Right now my son attends a catholic private school due to how crappy our public school system is (primarily the "I pay your salary with my taxes, so you will do what I say" attitude from the parents. FCAT is another major problem, but I won't get into that.
My aversion to Jefferson County is that it would lock/force us to Private schools. So there is no "what if I can't afford it later on" scenario--which is why we bought the house we are in now; the schools the kids are zoned for are of the best in this county.

[bbkennedy]

As far as elementary Catholic schools, St. Patrick is not far and it is excellent and very popular. If you'd like a list of houses in your price range near St. Patrick email or give me a ring. Good luck with your move.

[mdawg]

I would recommend St. Aloysius and St. Patrick. Both draw from eastern Jeff. Co. and Oldham Co., with St. Al's being right over the border in Oldham Co. in Pewee Valley. Do not let the price of Catholic schools deter you from looking into them and living in Jeff. Co. Many, if not all the grade schools, and virtually all the high schools will offer some kind of tuition assistance if needed. In fact, last time I checked, which was a few years ago, Trinity High School (one of the most popular all boys Catholic high schools) provided tuition assistance to 1/3 of its students, and even more are given scholarships for getting high entrance exam scores. (I am a graduate of Trinity). The only problem with Catholic and private schools in Louisville is that most do not provide busing. (I believe St. Pats does), but other than that, the Catholic schools here provide an outstanding education. I agree with tomocox, if you live in Jeff. Co., send your kids to private schools, if you live in Oldham, send them to public, especially for high school. But with that said, I would look in the eastern part of Jeff. Co.. If you like having quick access to interstates, shopping, restaurants, museums, downtown, great parks, etc., than I would recommend Jefferson Co. You will also have a greater housing selection here as far as urban, suburban, new, old, large lot, small lot, walkable areas, etc.