Moving to Louisville (Jeffersontown, Okolona, St. Matthews: best neighborhood, apartment, insurance)

[Salamina]

Moving to Louisville, have one child and she is having hard time with the move. What would be the best neighborhood for my family to relocate And for my daughter to have interaction with other kids as well as for us to make new friends. Also, would like to know

1) is there a Hispanic community including professionals that I could reach out to?
2) keep hearing that income taxes in Louisville are 4th highest in the us? Is that true?

Thnxs

[Oldhag1]

Originally Posted by Salamina

Moving to Louisville, have one child and she is having hard time with the move. What would be the best neighborhood for my family to relocate And for my daughter to have interaction with other kids as well as for us to make new friends. Also, would like to know

1) is there a Hispanic community including professionals that I could reach out to?
2) keep hearing that income taxes in Louisville are 4th highest in the us? Is that true?

Thnxs

Louisville is a HUGE city, currently the 16th largest in the nation in population and one of the largest in land mass. The definition of best place to move depends on what you are looking for. There are quite a few predominantly Hispanic areas, if that is what you are looking for.

As to the bold: There is a huge BUT.... in that answer.

Louisville's high income tax rates are a combination of the Kentucky income tax, about 6 percent, and local "occupational license fees. The license fees, which fund Metro government, TARC and Jefferson County Public Schools, add up to 2.2 percent of pay for those who live and work in Jefferson County. They are even higher, up to a total of 3.7 percent, for workers in Louisville/Jefferson County areas of Jeffersontown, St. Matthews, Shively and West Buechel, which charge their own license fees.

Kentucky cities have become heavily reliant on local income/occupation taxes because the state has major constraints on how local governments can raise money. The primary reason is that Louisville income/occupation taxes have gone up so much is because Louisville property taxes have declined for decades. Matter of fact, those living in Louisville's urban services district (the old city limits) now pay metro government about 35 percent less than they would under the property tax rate from 1978; and suburban residents 42 percent less. In 1979, during an era of high inflation, Kentucky passed a law designed to curb the year-to-year growth in property taxes, which resulted in a long-term "erosion" of the tax base.

While city and county governments can increase the rates back up, elected officials don't because of political pressure. Jefferson County has not raised property tax rates in decades. Plus, even the Jefferson County Board of Education has been raising rates starting in the early 2000s, the school district rate is still 19 percent lower than in the late 1970s.

This is all a very long, drawn out way of saying the income taxes are higher than average but property taxes, and the cost of housing in general, are much lower than average. In other words, it's a trade-off.

[Salamina]

Wow, great explanation. It sounds very messy tax situation.

We are moving from DC/Maryland area where housing is absolutely crazy expensive which affect QOL of all of us not to mention the traffic and taxes in Maryland which are very high as well. My question remains though, do we include those taxes at the end of the year when we file our taxes so we can get something back?

Also, we had hard time making close friends in this area due to the same issues, everybody just work here and not much time to socialized; Is it easier to make friends over there?

[Stymie13]

Originally Posted by Salamina

Wow, great explanation. It sounds very messy tax situation.

We are moving from DC/Maryland area where housing is absolutely crazy expensive which affect QOL of all of us not to mention the traffic and taxes in Maryland which are very high as well. My question remains though, do we include those taxes at the end of the year when we file our taxes so we can get something back?

Also, we had hard time making close friends in this area due to the same issues, everybody just work here and not much time to socialized; Is it easier to make friends over there?

Schools are all magnets now. I'd suggest the east end, from st matts to prospect.

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by Salamina

Moving to Louisville, have one child and she is having hard time with the move. What would be the best neighborhood for my family to relocate And for my daughter to have interaction with other kids as well as for us to make new friends. Also, would like to know

1) is there a Hispanic community including professionals that I could reach out to?
2) keep hearing that income taxes in Louisville are 4th highest in the us? Is that true?

Thnxs

Since another poster covered the tax questions I'll handle question #1. Louisville has a decent sized Hispanic population though quite a bit less than the national average. Most are working class people who moved here from southern Mexico or Central America, we also have a smaller population of Cubans who tend to be upper class. The Hispanic population is quite spread out, areas with the highest concentration would be Clarksville IN, Shelbyville KY, Okolona, Hikes Point / east Jeffersontown, and Lyndon. Most schools in Jefferson Co and Shelby Co in KY or the urban schools in Indiana (New Albany, Clarksville, Jeffersonville) all have a sizeable Hispanic student body.


Do you have any idea where you will be working?


Are you looking for a house or apartment?


What is your budget?

[Salamina]

Thank you for your responses. This site is really helpful!

Potential offer to work for UOL hospital.
Budget would depend of the offer but up to 400k, 3-4 bed small comfortable house , new or renovated (not much of a handy man).
Prefer diverse area. We looked the highlands which we liked a lot
Prefer mix group of friends but having some close friends from where we are (Latin America) would help with the transitions.
Not much of a church goers.
One small dog.
Potential of working long hrs so would like area where family can have staff to do, activities, entertainment....etc.
big into healthy stuff including Gyms.

Appreciate your help as we still getting used to thebidea of moving to KY.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Salamina

Moving to Louisville, have one child and she is having hard time with the move. What would be the best neighborhood for my family to relocate And for my daughter to have interaction with other kids as well as for us to make new friends. Also, would like to know

1) is there a Hispanic community including professionals that I could reach out to?
2) keep hearing that income taxes in Louisville are 4th highest in the us? Is that true?

Thnxs

Taxes aren't that bad...they are probably more than TN, NC, FL, TX, etc. But we are not talking NYC or west coast taxes. Certainly not Chicago or big city taxes.

Taxes are moderate in Louisville and that is because the city is fairly liberal for middle america. That said, transportation, food, healthcare, insurance, property tax, and everything else are so low here, that it is probably a wash.

There are plenty of hispanics too.

https://www.nshmba.org/group/Louisville

A nice international professionals group in Louisville:

Greater Louisville International Professionals - A GLI Initiative

I had low expectations when I first discovered Louisville. I have lived all over the country and traveled to every major city, and I call it home. That says a lot.

That said, there are things that bother me, namely its location in the state of KY. The city would probably be a lot more economically successful in just about any other surrounding state with the exception of WV. The state of KY takes a dollar in taxes from EVERY Louisville resident and only gives back 66 cents to the city!

http://www.wave3.com/story/4084167/l...x-dollar-stick

The defenders of rural KY will come out to criticize me and defend their way of life...but KY gets its stereotypes from the rural parts of the state, and frankly, much of it is deserved...the obesity, cigarette smoking, cancer, poor health care...all of it comes from the rural areas, and what you have of it in Louisville are many folks who moved to Louisville from those areas.

That said, KY is probably the most naturally beautiful state I have lived in. And the people are really kind, generous, and especially outside the cities, extremely religious. And they LOVE basketball.

[Salamina]

Peter, thank you for your honest opinion.

I Did like the vibe of the city and I would probably have to go back with my family before we decide to move but it looks like a very pleasant city to live in. I would need a neighborhood with children since I only have one child and she is VERY social.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Salamina

Peter, thank you for your honest opinion.

I Did like the vibe of the city and I would probably have to go back with my family before we decide to move but it looks like a very pleasant city to live in. I would need a neighborhood with children since I only have one child and she is VERY social.

public or private schools?

Type in your address and look up the school associated with it:

https://apps.jefferson.kyschools.us/...oolfinder.aspx

My kids are in JCPS and it has been fine, but we live in an area where I was sure we would get the school we wanted. If we did not get the school we wanted, I was prepared to ante up to send my kids to a local private school.

There are some "horror" stories about JCPS school "bussing" and odd districting. In general, most people get the school that the finder above says on its address.

If the above system scares you, most choose Oldham County Schools, usually living in either Goshen or Crestwood. Or else Floyds Knobs system in Floyd County, IN.

[PiperGreene]

How old is your daughter? The Diaper Fairy Cottage and Mama's Hip in the Highlands both have active communities of families with young children. Mostly kindergarten and younger though.