Long-term stable and safe neighborhood around $120K? (Louisville, Frankfort: foreclosures, crime)

[censusdata]

TC, you try to act like everything inside I-264 is like Taylor Blvd. In reality some neighborhoods continuely go downhill while others constantly rejuvenate.

Name me ONE neighborhood in the old city limits east of I-65 that has significantly declined since 1960. I can't think of ONE, and many are much better places now than they were in 1980.

The only reason you realitors hate safe, affordable areas is because when people move there instead of some $250,000 house in Oldham County it means less money lining your pockets. The way you get someone to move to Oldham County when they can't afford it is by fear mongering, which in the US usually means a fear of possibly having Black neighbors, aka Afro-phobia.

[Momandboys]

Hello,

Thank you everyone for your replies. From time to time, I will ask more questions as I pursue my dream of owning a home.

I did call Dupont Manual today. It is open to everyone in Jefferson County; it is not done by a lottery system. The students that are picked have very high grades. Currently, they offer school bus service for every student, so I do not have to be in "biking distance."

Every state should offer this! This is fabulous! This is not how it is in California, and most good schools are only those who live in expensive areas. My area doesn't even offer school buses! (I homeschool)

The one thing that was sad is that junior colleges in Kentucky charge so much...($120 per hour...Ca is $20 per credit.) But that is manageable and a long way off!

Any other insight is always appreciated!

Thanks

[K. Dunn]

Now STX, Censusdata, and Tomocox, you three are the best feeds and info on this Louisville site. Let's not get off on a tangent. Censusdata, I have noticed a trend lately from you bashing anyone who doesn't agree with you, and I commented previously to one of your bashing of families who attempt to leave an area "with thugs" as you put it, for the safety of their children, and I see you throw in your "white flight" comment again here. The STX vs Tomocox opposing views is usual great since you both obviously like your inner or outer circle areas, good too see the best from both sides. On this particular thread though, Tomocox never bashed the urban area that was being referred too, nor was he advocating for her to think about looking out in Oldham County, that price point would not work, he was just being open and honest and realistic to the areas he knows of. No racism was being broadcast either, so don't throw inflamatory statements out there for no reason. STX being a moderator, you should have nipped that one in the bud immediately.

Momandboys, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. I too plan on moving soon to the area with my wife and two girls. I would worry openly about the Jefferson County [mandated] move to bus children all around and up to 60 minutes away from where you live to evenly distribute races and people of color. I find that racist on it's own merit. If a family saves and moves to an area to better there families safety and schools, but then finds out that there children might be taken to another school much farther away to make some quota, I would be furious!

[Momandboys]

HI Kenn,

I think there may be some confusion of my excitement of school bus service to Dupont Manual. I have no idea what they are doing in regular schools (I homeschool my boys), but, I have been searching high and low for a small city that has a quality public university, hopefully a qualilty community college, and a great public/magnet highschool.

Good school systems seem to be tied into expensive real estate and that is corrupt. Neither should the lack of good real estate be the basis for getting into a great school.

What should be basis for who attends the quality schools? Not real estate! The answer is very high grades combined with demonstration of (the students) giving to the community via good manners, community service and grades. This was the original basis to be an Olympian, and this should be our basis for our children's schools.

Thanks for listening!

[nlschr0]

I think one of the novelties of the Jefferson County school system is that it is one huge school system (both in geographic coverage and population size). And because it is county-wide, it covers an extremely diverse area, one that has large differences in race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc.

To be fair, JCPS is trying to find a way to equalize the system like you mentioned momandboys. Their current plan does open up the possibility of a wide range of schools to all students, instead of relying on geographic location in a neighborhood schools system. In reality, what that means is that a child in a low-income, predominantly African-American neighborhood in the west end is not "stuck" at their local, failing school simply because that is where they live. The downside is that you can't guarantee where your child will attend school simply by looking at school districts and neighborhoods when you purchase or rent a home - instead you will be given a "cluster" of schools that will include a wide range of schools all over the city. Part of this downside is that every school has a specific range of a minimum and maximum number of students that can come from the local area/demographic group, and the rest have to be bused in or out across the city. For these students, who will most likely be chosen randomly, it means long bus rides, lack of local community and support, and a limited ability for true choice in designating a school. Although grades, performance, etc are a criteria for entrance to many magnet programs, it is not considered in most cases of busing that are based purely on race, income, and SES, which is where a lot of criticism is focused.

Personally, especially as a teacher, I see the biggest advantage to JCPS's system when you enter the high schools, where the magnet system/free choice program seems to be well-paired with the chance of getting into a neighborhood school if you prefer it. As a parent of an elementary student, however, I would be wary of living in JCPS's district without a distinct back-up plan for private schools if the situation warranted and our child was one of the children selected for busing across town.

[K. Dunn]

Excellently said Nischr0! Thanks for that! That is my biggest fear for my own children that I may not be able to control what school and area they would be going to, and I would not be able to afford private school as a back-up, nor do I feel I should have too. That is not exceptable for me as a parent.

That is why I concur with Tomocox regarding the enchantment of Oldham County, when a school district in it's entirety is rated excellent through-out and you don't have to worry about your children being bussed an hour away [worst case scenario], then you feel comfortable locating yourself in an area like Oldham. Now like I mentioned before, obviously if someone was single, married without children, or the kids have moved out of the house already, none of those concerns are warranted, and it might be nice to be closer to "civilization" with all of it's amnenities and culture.

Of course there are those who have been ingrained in a community for a very long time and are comfortable with it. That is good! I just hope there kids aren't moved to another school, I would be furious at that, especially if my children or myself had gone in the past to the same schools! It has nothing to do with race, I like a multi-cultural climate, especially for my kids, I just don't believe the way Jefferson County is doing it is the answer.

I want to work nearby both my home and my children's school in case of an emergency or accident. What about the added fuel cost of moving all these children around to fill a district's quota? The extra wear and tear on the busses with added maintenance costs? The increased emissions from those busses? One problem causes another.

Sounds like Jefferson county just needs to offer more low-income housing percentages in some of those nicer areas to spread it around. But of course there are always those who would fight that too now aren't there? Especially those phobic on certain issues, and think it's always "Black or White" eh? Also sounds like Jefferson County should just ante up and shape up those schools in a social-economic deprived area, then they wouldn't have this problem. Easier said than done I know, but still possible with county/city/sponsors help.

So bottom line, if one is new to an area, and you have a choice, and can afford a preferred area, I say go for it. Obviously for some Oldham County is too pricey, and areas in Jefferson county are much more affordable. Plus to that same person, the area is probably better than where they are coming from anyway, that is why they are looking in the first place! All a matter of opinion and very subjective, that is what this forum is all about, to help, and broadcast different views. Nuff said.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by K. Dunn

Now STX, Censusdata, and Tomocox, you three are the best feeds and info on this Louisville site. Let's not get off on a tangent. Censusdata, I have noticed a trend lately from you bashing anyone who doesn't agree with you, and I commented previously to one of your bashing of families who attempt to leave an area "with thugs" as you put it, for the safety of their children, and I see you throw in your "white flight" comment again here. The STX vs Tomocox opposing views is usual great since you both obviously like your inner or outer circle areas, good too see the best from both sides. On this particular thread though, Tomocox never bashed the urban area that was being referred too, nor was he advocating for her to think about looking out in Oldham County, that price point would not work, he was just being open and honest and realistic to the areas he knows of. No racism was being broadcast either, so don't throw inflamatory statements out there for no reason. STX being a moderator, you should have nipped that one in the bud immediately.

Momandboys, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. I too plan on moving soon to the area with my wife and two girls. I would worry openly about the Jefferson County [mandated] move to bus children all around and up to 60 minutes away from where you live to evenly distribute races and people of color. I find that racist on it's own merit. If a family saves and moves to an area to better there families safety and schools, but then finds out that there children might be taken to another school much farther away to make some quota, I would be furious!

I think the dichotomy us three display help keep things interesting here. There has and never will be personal attacks accepted on this site.

[censusdata]

I agree with Tom about school busing being the wrong answer. I think all children should only have to attend ONE school K-12 that is no more than 2 miles away from their home. A better solution would be cash incentives for students in under performing schools to graduate (maybe $1500)

In urban counties, the issue of busing isn't always about bad schools, but people's children having to switch schools and leave their friends behind. My family moved into a house in Lexington in the mid 1990s that was sold by a family was moving 1 MILE away to keep their daughter from having to switch schools as a 2nd grader - that is an absurd system.

[tomocox]

First of all, I am sorry that STX is blind to personal attacks as I suffered earlier in this thread. To in anyway suggest that I am racist is a very disgraceful personal attack that I have asked to be stopped many times over by more than one writer on this forum.

Secondly, in an earlier reply, it was suggested that schools should not be based on real estate value. Unfortunately, it is the value of real estate that determines the taxes received by a school district. It is extremely unfair to dumb-down a school or transport an above average student to a below average school just to diversify. It is wrong to spend millions of dollars on foreign oil to transport children when those same millions can be used to improve local schools. It is wrong to think that a minority number of minority children will benefit by being minorities in a majority school.

Third, we must find a way to have zero tolerance when it comes to bad discipline. When a child misbehaves, that child detracts from the opportunities for other students to learn. It is wrong to allow unresponsible parents to not be a part of their childs education.

[nlschr0]

census - unfortunately I think that redistricting is pretty common in any growing school district. As neighborhoods grow (and others decline), school boundaries have to be fluid over time to accommodate changing population sizes and distributions. So in reality, if you are in a larger district with at least several schools, there is no way to guarantee that the local school that was used when you bought a house will be the same for the entire period that you live there.

However, redistricting is much different than busing, and to me, the chance of redistricting is much easier to plan for as a parent, whereas the cross-county busing plans with several clusters of possible schools leaves much more to the unknown.