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Hello, my mother and I are seriously thinking about relocating to Kentucky. We have lived in and around South Florida all of our lives. The cost of living is getting expensive and over crowded here in South Florida! (Which brings more crime! Big concern for us!)
I have a brother who lives in Elizabethtown and he loves it! He relocated in 2008, fell in love, got remarried and had a child! (His older daughter lives in IN and that's one of the reasons he left Florida.)
Anyway, my father passed 5 months ago and mom and I have been talking about moving to be closer to my brother. I find E-Town charming and people are so friendly. I know my way around pretty well. When my brother first relocated to KY, he lived in Radcliff. I am familiar with Rad, E-Town, Rineyville, etc. But I am concerned that my options for work might be limited. (I work in Healthcare) I figured that the Louisville area might be a better option. On the other hand, my brother is in E-Town. And it would be nice to be closer to each other.
Mom and I enjoy going out to dinner on occasion, theater, shows, etc. (culture) Thought that maybe Louisville would be a bit more culturally diverse. Anyway this is the breakdown of what we are looking for:
Employment: I work in the Healthcare Industry
Commute: No more than 20 minutes drive (30 minutes tops! I do understand traffic )
Housing: Like the Small City feel! Looking to buy a house in the range of $200,000 to $250,000
Community Amenities: Church (Catholic preferred), Whole Foods, Farmers Market, Dining, Art & Music Festivals, Shopping, Theater (Plays, concerts, etc.) Cinema....Basically some things to do on the weekend to unwind.
Also I have a small dog and it would be nice to take him to a park to run around and socialize!
I don't have a child, but have a young niece who spends summers with us, so family friendly fun not too far away.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,480,204 times
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Etown is safe and has a decent amount of shopping, it is much nicer than the areas around Ft Knox like Radcliff. East Louisville would have a lot more big city amenities like whole foods, good restaurants, arts, and live music. Louisville obviously isn't as diverse as Miami but there's enough diversity here to have some good ethnic restaurants. Overall crime is pretty low, violent crime is heavily concentrated west of downtown.
Healthcare is one job field where you can live almost anywhere. There would be a lot more options in Louisville but Etown would have some jobs too.
Hello, my mother and I are seriously thinking about relocating to Kentucky. We have lived in and around South Florida all of our lives. The cost of living is getting expensive and over crowded here in South Florida! (Which brings more crime! Big concern for us!)
I have a brother who lives in Elizabethtown and he loves it! He relocated in 2008, fell in love, got remarried and had a child! (His older daughter lives in IN and that's one of the reasons he left Florida.)
Anyway, my father passed 5 months ago and mom and I have been talking about moving to be closer to my brother. I find E-Town charming and people are so friendly. I know my way around pretty well. When my brother first relocated to KY, he lived in Radcliff. I am familiar with Rad, E-Town, Rineyville, etc. But I am concerned that my options for work might be limited. (I work in Healthcare) I figured that the Louisville area might be a better option. On the other hand, my brother is in E-Town. And it would be nice to be closer to each other.
Mom and I enjoy going out to dinner on occasion, theater, shows, etc. (culture) Thought that maybe Louisville would be a bit more culturally diverse. Anyway this is the breakdown of what we are looking for:
Employment: I work in the Healthcare Industry
Commute: No more than 20 minutes drive (30 minutes tops! I do understand traffic )
Housing: Like the Small City feel! Looking to buy a house in the range of $200,000 to $250,000
Community Amenities: Church (Catholic preferred), Whole Foods, Farmers Market, Dining, Art & Music Festivals, Shopping, Theater (Plays, concerts, etc.) Cinema....Basically some things to do on the weekend to unwind.
Also I have a small dog and it would be nice to take him to a park to run around and socialize!
I don't have a child, but have a young niece who spends summers with us, so family friendly fun not too far away.
Any tips would help thanks!
Louisville fits your needs much better. Specifically, I picture you in a bungalow in St Matthews. Just a few mins to Whole Foods and malls....Louisville is a HEAVILY Catholic city. Maybe even more so per capita than Latin Miami, and that is saying a lot. Alot of this is Louisville's Irish and German (and Italian to lesser degree) immigrant heritage from the 19th century.
Louisville is SUBSTANTIALLY more culturally diverse than Etown. I am not sure how many locals know how diverse Louisville is....there are large vietnamese, mexican, guatemalan, cuban, bosnian, sudanese, burmese, somali populations. And there are decent amounts of just about everyone else, chinese, russian, even some puerto rican (but nothing like Florida). Of course Miami is like an international melting pot. Louisville is much more "white/black" yet I would say about 10-15% of the population is now "something else."
St Matthews is close enough suburb to explore what a great city Louisville is...Frankfort Ave, Bardstown Rd, Nulu, even the burgeoning areas along the river like around Jeffersonville IN, the Big Four Bridge, and New Albany. Louisville has great arts, theatre, gallery hops, top rated art shows, and music festivals. If anything, it is a very festive city.
I think Louisville would definitely be what you look for. Just be aware that 2-3 months of the year is some pretty cold stuff. I think February is the worst. 27 and snowing today. But I prefer that to 95 and smoldering heat. Louisville has an equal 4 months in every season, with winter trending more towards the shorter end of things, maybe 3 months.
Not to mention, it is just a "hot" city with lots of growth right now....here is some recent press
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,748,461 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ames Mo93
Hello, my mother and I are seriously thinking about relocating to Kentucky. We have lived in and around South Florida all of our lives. The cost of living is getting expensive and over crowded here in South Florida! (Which brings more crime! Big concern for us!)
I have a brother who lives in Elizabethtown and he loves it! He relocated in 2008, fell in love, got remarried and had a child! (His older daughter lives in IN and that's one of the reasons he left Florida.)
Anyway, my father passed 5 months ago and mom and I have been talking about moving to be closer to my brother. I find E-Town charming and people are so friendly. I know my way around pretty well. When my brother first relocated to KY, he lived in Radcliff. I am familiar with Rad, E-Town, Rineyville, etc. But I am concerned that my options for work might be limited. (I work in Healthcare) I figured that the Louisville area might be a better option. On the other hand, my brother is in E-Town. And it would be nice to be closer to each other.
Mom and I enjoy going out to dinner on occasion, theater, shows, etc. (culture) Thought that maybe Louisville would be a bit more culturally diverse. Anyway this is the breakdown of what we are looking for:
Employment: I work in the Healthcare Industry
Commute: No more than 20 minutes drive (30 minutes tops! I do understand traffic )
Housing: Like the Small City feel! Looking to buy a house in the range of $200,000 to $250,000
Community Amenities: Church (Catholic preferred), Whole Foods, Farmers Market, Dining, Art & Music Festivals, Shopping, Theater (Plays, concerts, etc.) Cinema....Basically some things to do on the weekend to unwind.
Also I have a small dog and it would be nice to take him to a park to run around and socialize!
I don't have a child, but have a young niece who spends summers with us, so family friendly fun not too far away.
Any tips would help thanks!
Louisville is about 45-55 minutes from E-Town. Many commute between the two, so living in Louisville would definitely give you an edge in jobs but you could definitely visit your brother easily. I think you would like the St Matthews area since it has a lot of the amenities you are looking for extremely close.
Louisville imo would be the overall better choice. More restaurants, shopping, and definitely a big job market in the healthcare field. And as other have said, E-Town is a short 45 minute drive from most of Louisville. With a budget of $200-$250K, you're in good shape to live in all good areas of Louisville.
St.Mathews is a good area with all the things you'd like to have around you. The East End in general is a great place to be
Etown is safe and has a decent amount of shopping, it is much nicer than the areas around Ft Knox like Radcliff. East Louisville would have a lot more big city amenities like whole foods, good restaurants, arts, and live music. Louisville obviously isn't as diverse as Miami but there's enough diversity here to have some good ethnic restaurants. Overall crime is pretty low, violent crime is heavily concentrated west of downtown.
Healthcare is one job field where you can live almost anywhere. There would be a lot more options in Louisville but Etown would have some jobs too.
Thanks so much for the info! We were actually checking into the idea of St. Matthew's. My brother had taken us to the Cheesecake Factory at the mall and we liked the area. We are planning on seriously looking around there this summer. Also I heard of an area call La Grange that is supposed to be nice as well? What about a place called PeeWee Valley....?
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,480,204 times
Reputation: 12187
LaGrange and Pewee Valley are in the more rural county (Oldham Co) that is just outside the affluent part of East Louisville. Very nice area known for great public schools, it feels more rural. Most housing stock is in rural subdivisions but not far from shopping and restaurants in Jefferson Co.
Thank you everyone for your advice. It was all very helpful! Feeling nervous and apprehensive about the idea of moving sometimes. It's a very BIG step! Don't like the cold weather. (Brother says I will get used to it, but driving through it is what makes me nervous! I am sure I will get hang of it.
Here in Florida we live in a gated 24 hour security community. Do they have those in Louisville area? If not, we figure that crime is definitely less than here plus we have a little dog and he is a Chihuahua that thinks he is a Pitbull!
Thank you everyone for your advice. It was all very helpful! Feeling nervous and apprehensive about the idea of moving sometimes. It's a very BIG step! Don't like the cold weather. (Brother says I will get used to it, but driving through it is what makes me nervous! I am sure I will get hang of it.
Here in Florida we live in a gated 24 hour security community. Do they have those in Louisville area? If not, we figure that crime is definitely less than here plus we have a little dog and he is a Chihuahua that thinks he is a Pitbull!
Gated communities are a Florida thing. The only gated places here I know of are for the 1%. We lived in Orlando and can agree on the crime issues. The movers we used to go from one rental to another ended up stealing my credit card number and bought themselves flights on Spirit Airlines (at least they were frugal traveling thieves).
Crime on the east end is very minimal and is more limited to petty crime (like, don't leave stuff in your car if you park outside and close your garage door) if it happens at all.
Driving in snow/ice sucks - you might get used to it, but it doesn't make it any less nerve wracking. Kentucky is not flat, so you need a front/AWD car with good snow tires to be confident in winter driving. I'm fortunate that my company is still based in Orlando and let me move around, now working from home. However, on days where it snows heavily, the city seems to be really good about getting the roads cleared, so that by the next day, it's pretty easy to get around again. You just have to plan a little bit to ensure you've got a good stock of food in the home just in case it's a few days before you can get back out - most people don't plan well, so the day before a forecasted snowstorm the grocery stores are usually packed.
My wife was born in Miami and raised north of West Palm in a gated community and she's handling the winter here just fine - she just avoids driving in the snow and really likes how friendly people are here as well.
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Florida to Kentucky
I am sure I will get hang of it. 
