Tell me about different sections of Louisville, please! (Lexington, Covington: apartment, rental)

[Ucandoit]

I was thinking that there was a website that told about the neighborhoods, the outer areas of Louisville. I get very lost there, and it gets frustrating even with a good map. I missed sheperdsville, and all these towns you guys talk about. Are they essentially towns of there own? Please help me understand.
I really don't know where to start looking, for an apt? for a house? I go to craigslist, and the rental websites and have no clue what kind of neighborhood they are in.
When I visited last year I saw numerous homes that had several apts in them, but were in busy areas or kind of half/nice half not. I like to be walking distance away from some kind of excitement......coffee shops bookstores and the like, is bardstown rd the only place for this kind of thing? or is there more of that in these outer communities. I think that road is neat but I get dizzy driving thru there......it is so much to see, not to mention the abundance of old historical homes. I would never get sick of seeing those homes thats for sure. I can hardly drive down the street w/o wanting to jump out of the car and stare at a house.....It is phenomenal, truly I have been to charleston, and savannah and I am pretty much convinced that louisville has more of the older housing, maybe not. Anyhow I also noticed that very quickly the roads and the homes get kind of shady. I guess every city has shady looking areas.
Whew didn't know I was going to write a book! Any comments or feedback you can give me on these little areas outside of the city with the same amenities/and of course in neat areas of the city proper. Any comments of areas to rent or buy in? Please no street names, I won't know where they are? Maybe a few zips, or county!

[censusdata]

IMO the best small towns outside Louisville are by far Shelbyville and LaGrange. There is no town in Bullitt or Spencer Cos that has any feel of Main Street America. Shepherdsville is a complete dump

[johnsonkk]

Before the city merger, there were 90+ odd little towns within the Louisville that had their council, police forces, etc. After the merger, everyone still refers to these locations by their former (and still correct) name. It provides some community espirt de corps but confuses everyone visiting. It's not that the Highlands will ever be compared with NY's Queens.

You're best bet is to find a local Louisville friend or get one of those large fold-out maps and start looking at the town names and compare with the areas of town that you're interested in. I think every large folding map will still have the old town names on it. I'm sure when you see apartment listings for areas in Germantown, that you aren't thinking NE of the Louisville campus. If anyone has any other ideas to help outsiders, I'm sure they'll chime in.

[tomocox]

In a recent thread, a writer listed all the important features and criteria they felt important living well. One of those features was "no tornadoes". Nearly every responder told the OP that he would have to change states as all of Kentucky was subject to tornadoes. Point is, tell this forum what you are looking for and there will be plenty of intelligence for your mission. Beware, there might be some goofy stuff too, but for the most part, just sit down and tell us what you need, you'll find it here.

[Gimme3steps]

Originally Posted by censusdata

IMO the best small towns outside Louisville are by far Shelbyville and LaGrange. There is no town in Bullitt or Spencer Cos that has any feel of Main Street America. Shepherdsville is a complete dump

Obviously, you don't get out much.

[johnsonkk]

Originally Posted by Gimme3steps

Obviously, you don't get out much.

If you've been on here for a while, you realize some people have to always provide personal digs and the majority ignore the ignorant comments.

[Ucandoit]

Like I said I know Bardstown Rd is a really neat area to hang out in. So I was wondering if there are more of these areas in the surrounding communities of Louisville and I used these cities.....Shepherdsville, and LaGrange as an example. Since I learned at one time they were more or less their own, do they have similar areas to Bardstown Rd in Louisville proper.........Or are they more or less just outlying areas of Louisville w/o mainstreets of their own. Looking at the map they just run into one another but I didn't know if they kind of have their own identity or characteristics. Like I said I was there last year but spent more time getting lost than I did finding things even with a good map.......lol. It wasn't easy for me to find things at all.
Thank You

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Ucandoit

Like I said I know Bardstown Rd is a really neat area to hang out in. So I was wondering if there are more of these areas in the surrounding communities of Louisville and I used these cities.....Shepherdsville, and LaGrange as an example. Since I learned at one time they were more or less their own, do they have similar areas to Bardstown Rd in Louisville proper.........Or are they more or less just outlying areas of Louisville w/o mainstreets of their own. Looking at the map they just run into one another but I didn't know if they kind of have their own identity or characteristics. Like I said I was there last year but spent more time getting lost than I did finding things even with a good map.......lol. It wasn't easy for me to find things at all.
Thank You

In short, the answer is no. Bardstown Rd is a dense, "big city" nabe that is so unique that it cannot be replicated. The density, nightlife and activity, is only compared to similar hoods in much larger cities, and other happnening college towns, from Austin to Chicago. For example, I have not found an area of Indianpolis or Nashville even remotely as cool as Bardstown Rd. That said, that is not the only urban corridor in Louisville. based on what you are saying, I think you would really like Frankfort avenue and most of the streets that intersect it. Also try Lexington Road, especially where it meets Shelbyville, Breckenridge, and Chenoweth.

Downtown, Louisville has several interesting streets, including fourth, main, and market. Old Louisville is one mile south of downtown and has great diversity and historic urban architecture, and Germantown is a working class Bardstown Road, with lots of hipsters mixed in. Please search my posts to find out more.

As far as outlying suburbs having walkable urban centers, the answer is basically no. La Grange has a VERY small main street with about two blocks of shops, and is kinda cute, but not to functional. It is a bedroom exurb of Louisville, so it really does not have a separate identity as you say. Parts of Middlwtown and Anchorage have a little walkable areas, but not much.

The most walkable suburbs of Louisville are actually in Indiana. Jeffersonville leads the way with its spring street corridor, which is very cute and quaint:

Jeffersonville, Indiana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Although it is a suburb of Lousiville just 5 minutes from downtown, it still feels like a small town in ways. Downtown New Albany is worth checking out too, and it is up and coming in parts, although needs lots of work compared to Jeffersonville.

Either way, I am not sure what "sketchy" areas you found yourself in, but Louisville does not really have many. Almost anywere outsidethe West End you will be perfectly safe and fine, so I really would not worry much about safety. From where are you moving? Have you ever lived in a top 50 metro area?

[Topo]

Hi, wow thanks that was very well answered for me, you did a good job.....!!!
Well, I moved to the Knoxville area but would like to get closer to home and maybe mixed in with a little more midwestern people. I was originally from WI and still have family there.. I very much miss the feel of the midwestern atmosphere....and maybe hoping to run into a few! Please, southerners take no offense to this. This seems to be a halfway point for me, and more affordable than this area. I don't have to worry about employment, with my job I can go just about anywhere.
Thanks so much for the great info!
Oh, if you don't mind I am thinking alternative is Northern Ky near Cincinnati. Is there really a comparison? I do know that the there are spectacular older homes in both. If am correct the Louisville area is more affordable and more midwesternish......no? Since you were so knowledgeable I thought maybe you could help with this. Sorry to take up so much of your time!

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Topo

Hi, wow thanks that was very well answered for me, you did a good job.....!!!
Well, I moved to the Knoxville area but would like to get closer to home and maybe mixed in with a little more midwestern people. I was originally from WI and still have family there.. I very much miss the feel of the midwestern atmosphere....and maybe hoping to run into a few! Please, southerners take no offense to this. This seems to be a halfway point for me, and more affordable than this area. I don't have to worry about employment, with my job I can go just about anywhere.
Thanks so much for the great info!
Oh, if you don't mind I am thinking alternative is Northern Ky near Cincinnati. Is there really a comparison? I do know that the there are spectacular older homes in both. If am correct the Louisville area is more affordable and more midwesternish......no? Since you were so knowledgeable I thought maybe you could help with this. Sorry to take up so much of your time!

NKY is not its own entity, despite what many will say. It must be considered as a subneighborhood of Cincinnati, and it is very Midwestern in character, perhaps more so than Louisville. It is also more conservative, less progressive, and more run down, including Cincinnati. That said, there are some wonderful urban nabes and the Nati may be dangerous in parts but it does have pro sports and slightly better shopping.

I much prefer Louisville: it is growing faster, is more progressive, more democratic, a touch warmer, and has less traffic. I don't think Cincinnati offers much more except for more crime. Culturally and restaurant wise, I give Louisville the nod, but only slightly. That said, there are some nice urban areas in NKY, especially parts of Covington, specifically, Main Strasse. I also like Mt Adams and Hyde Park in the Natti. Other than that, I find the city much more run down than what I see in Louisville, and mch less navigable, being as it is a much larger metro: Louisville is 1.3 million to over 2 million in Cincinnati.