Relocating to Louisville Area (Bardstown, La Grange: for sale, insurance, houses)

[jknapieralski]

My family and I currently live in Houston Texas and are more than likely going to be relocating to the Louisville area within the next month and are hoping to get some information regarding living in Kentucky/Louisville and finding housing.

I have read through the various postings about Louisville housing and it appears that the consensus is that Oldham County is the place to be, although I am not sure we can find something in our price range in that area. I am outlining our housing requirements below.

Note: Travel to work is not an issue (can't possibly be as bad as traveling in Houston)

Requirements:
Excellent Schools - excellent preschools as well
Suburban area - close to grocery, fast food, gas, malls, dining, etc
Planned Community/Subdivision - must have community activities (i.e. block parties, neighbor get togethers, etc), playground, park, pool, sidewalks and streetlights
Family friendly neighborhood - lots of kids our daughter's ages (3yrs and 5yrs)
Nice size yards (under 1 acre) but houses not too close together
Homes around the $225,000-$250,000 range
4 bedrooms, 2+ baths, Basement, 2+ car garage

Also, if anyone can provide any other information regarding living in Kentucky that we may need to know, we would greatly appreciate it. When we moved to Texas we were not prepared for the high property taxes, high insurance costs and higher city/state sales tax. These items were considerably higher than we were paying in Indianapolis, IN (we lived in the suburb of Fishers).

Thanks in advance for all responses.

[tomocox]

Yes, you have described Oldham County to a Tee. There are several neighborhoods/subdivisions that fit your criteria. I have 3 in mind immediately. You won't find anyone place that is 100% but I recommend you make a criteria scorecard of what you desire and score the various communities as a round of golf.

[bw87a]

i'm thinking norton commons would be great, although not in oldham county. it is a planned new urbanism development in eastern jefferson county (very near oldham county) that has many many planned community events, great schools in the area and great schools planned within the development itself. norton commons is very family friendly, pedestrian oriented, and very sustainable for the future. it is very close to all the great shopping areas of east louisville and a growing corridor as well to even more shopping. it has superb access to I-71 into downtown louisville and is also practically within walking distance if you actually wanted to walk, to a bustling medical complex in east louisville. check it out!

http://www.nortoncommons.com/

[Cattknap]

Originally Posted by bw87a

i'm thinking norton commons would be great, although not in oldham county. it is a planned new urbanism development in eastern jefferson county (very near oldham county) that has many many planned community events, great schools in the area and great schools planned within the development itself. norton commons is very family friendly, pedestrian oriented, and very sustainable for the future. it is very close to all the great shopping areas of east louisville and a growing corridor as well to even more shopping. it has superb access to I-71 into downtown louisville and is also practically within walking distance if you actually wanted to walk, to a bustling medical complex in east louisville. check it out!

Welcome to Norton Commons, a Traditional Neighborhood Development in Prospect, Kentucky

Norton Commons is expensive (the cheapest 4 bedroom house for sale listed on Semonin is $499,000) - no yards and houses crammed right next to each other - I can't imagine raising a family there.

I'm not sure where there is a planned community with houses not close together with the all the amenities the poster lists in the price range stated. Tom would know.

Oldham County is your best bet but you are going to travel some to get to the malls and shopping and all the amenties you list.

[jknapieralski]

Thanks everyone for your responses. We did look at Norton Commons and yes, it is too expensive. A planned community is not a necessity. We just want a subdivision in which our kids will have lots of other kids to play with and in which everyone is open and friendly. We will be moving to an area where we won't know anyone so making new friends for both my husband and I as well as our kids is important. We would really like a neighborhood that does have a club house/pool/park/playground though. Those places are always good for meeting new people.

Is everything in Oldham County REALLY far away from everything? ie shopping, malls, dinning, etc? We just want to be able to make a quick 5-10 minute trip to the grocery or gas station or to get a quick bite to eat or soda without it taking 20 mins. I have no problem with spending 15 to 20 minutes to get to a mall or nice restaurant.

[Cattknap]

There are definitely services in Oldham County - and they are building more. You can find plenty in 5 to 10 minutes depending on where you live. There are lots of Mom and Pop type stores, which I really like but there are nice grocery stores, WalMart, lots of gas stations, doctors, drug stores, garden centers, restaurants, insurance companies, library, post offices, fast food, etc. You can get to more comprehensive shopping in 15 minutes or less (there are two nice malls that aren't too far away). The City of La Grange is darling and has lots of community events and some cute shops and restaurants. You need to call a good realtor who will show you around the county - it is beautiful there.

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by jknapieralski

Is everything in Oldham County REALLY far away from everything? ie shopping, malls, dinning, etc? We just want to be able to make a quick 5-10 minute trip to the grocery or gas station or to get a quick bite to eat or soda without it taking 20 mins. I have no problem with spending 15 to 20 minutes to get to a mall or nice restaurant.

NO

Kroger, Walmart, & Save-a-lot in LaGrange provide excellent weekly grocery services. Crestwood Supermarket is a great old fashioned grocery, with more Kroger's truly within eyesight of the county line at Forest Springs and in Prospect. Meijers is 6 miles from my home in Crestwood. Costco is 5 miles for monthly shopping. Gas at Costco is nearly always 10-15 cents below most places anyway.

Exit 22 has all the fast foods as it is the first major stop out of Louisville on I-71. While there is not a large choice of table cloth restaurants in Oldham, the Summit has Stoney River, Mitchell's Fish, and more. With a budding star coming on strong next to Costco.

You'll find several $ 10-15.00 themed entree eateries, and a few deli-shops in addition to all the traditional Arby's, Burger Kings, etc.

[Cattknap]

Tom - you know Oldham County so well - you should make a great guide for any newcomers.

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by Cattknap

Tom - you know Oldham County so well - you should make a great guide for any newcomers.

Thank you.... I work very hard to know all the Louisville area.

[Peter1948]

To the OP, I think you will like Oldham County, but it may be more rual than the Houston suburbs you are used to. Louisville does not yet have an "edge" city in its sprawlburbs. Ie, there is no Woodlands or Sugarland here. Oldham County will remind you of some rural stop off the interstate about 60 miles north of downtown Houston.

Depending on where you live in Oldham County, you could be up to 30 minutes away from the closest department store. As Tom said, however, The area around the NE part of I-265 will look like the suburbs of Houston you are probably more familiar with, even though its considered the "city" of Louisville. The Summit is a decent lifestyle center mall, and has most your basic stores for men and women, with the exception of a nice department store. Also get this--Louisville is easily 10 times safer than Houston and many families actually live in the city. I think Oldham County sounds great for you, but I wouldn't rule out other parts of the metro area, specifically the northeast part of Jefferson County. Also, you may be suprised that some of the in town neighborhoods, like in Senca Gardens or off the Canons Lane exit of I-64 are super nice, very well maintained, and chock full of families. In fact, I think the Senca Gardens area off Bardstown near Taylorsville would be a much better investment to build equity, and it is safe and full of families while being much more central to everything. If you are considering private school, this would be my DEFINITE choice. If you are considering public school and want to live in Jefferson, you need to check the address of the home to see what cluster of schools it is assigned to.