Anyone familiar with Lexington or Louisville, KY?
 

I'm looking to move out of northeast Ohio in the next 6 months or so and will be taking a drive to to Kentucky next weekend to scout around.

Both sound reasonably nice on paper, but if anyone has advice on what areas to check into, or general information on the economy, weather, people, etc, it would be appreciated

When you visit Louisville, stop by Lynn's Paradise Cafe. Have a bloody mary and a big breakfast. You can thank me later.

What part of NE Ohio are you moving from?

very familiar with Lexington...my daughters live there...what do you want to know about?

Well, ages and pix would be a good start.

Anything off the top of your head in general. Job market? Home (land) prices? Weather? And with this being my first trip there, what sections of the city should I start in. It seems quite a bit larger geographically then Louisville. I'll probably commute in from quite a bit outside, so what highways are clogged/always under construction.


:D

Will try to, thanks.

A suburb of Akron. Leaving due to huge taxes, bad weather, and being in a particular location that is growing in population all to fast for my tastes.

Where in Louisville is this, I might be able to convince my friends to head over there? I'm going to be there to see a Bats game on my second annual summer baseball trip...seeing two Indians games, a Reds game, and a Bats game.

http://www.lynnsparadisecafe.com/find.html

I'm not joking around, either. This place serves an unbelievable breakfast.

Which suburb? I'm in Copley and couldn't agree more.

Stow. When one looks at all the factors I mentioned for leaving, you'd think people would be flocking out of our area, yet they are moving in like crazy.

I know Louisville really well, I live 30 miles north of it.

And trust Quiksand, Lynn's Paradise Cafe is worth the stop.

Another of my favorites is Yang Kee Noodle outside of Oxmoor Mall. Great food and pretty cheap.

As far as living there, depends on what you want. Louisville is a small-big city that thinks it can play with the big boys. 20 years ago Lexington, Indy, and Nashville were all smaller. They have all since passed it up in size. It's not a bad little place, if you want a decent sized place with a smaller town feel. I prefer Indy personally, but Louisville's not bad.
The major knock is education. Jefferson County Schools are constantly issuing out emergency licenses to people that really aren't trained as teachers. Kentucky is one of the worst states when it comes to education.
From what I know about it, Lexington is more progressive than Louisville.

I was going to say if you were from Youngstown who cares, anywhere is better than there.

Seriously though, I like both towns. However, Lexington seems to be a little nicer, but also a little slower, if you know what I mean.

Any last minute suggestions? I'm working on finalizing traavel plans this afternoon.

well, I'm not sure if you are set on Kentucky or not, but right across the river from Louisville on the Indiana side are some nice suburbs. Sellersburg has some new subdivisions and is far enough away from the city centre that it feels like a small town but everything you need is withing 5 miles of you.

Floyds Knobs (yeah, funny name) is the rich district in Indiana.

In Louisville, drive down Bardstown Rd. It's the trendy side of Louisville. Most of the better parts of town lie on the East side. Avoid the West side at all costs, some sections are dangerous even during the daytime (high crime rate per capita there) Downtown is trying to revive, I hear 4th Street is a hot night spot.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions about Louisville.

I wish I could help more, but I think you would get the best idea driving around. Lexington has been a nice enough place to live the last couple of years. For a smaller capital city(basically a capital city, Frankfort is right outside the city)/college town it works out pretty well. Lots of natural beauty surrounds this region, the city is planned out better than most so traffic isn't a big problem, and you are just a little over an hour away from both Cincy and Louisville. There are lots of good housing choices inside and outside the city for just about any price range. If you want a more laidback smaller urban area Lexington is the better bet, but if you are looking for something with a decent sized city around you, and rather not do that hour+ drive too often, Louisville is a better choice.

Certainly not settled on anything just yet. This is the first of a few trips I'll be taking in the next 6 months. One thing I am sure about, however, is I do not want live in a newly developed suburbs. 10 acres and some woods for me :). Crestwood made the CNN finals for best places to live, so I'll stop there on my way home.

Based on the AAA tour book, many of the good restaurants were located on Bardstown Rd., so I'll be checking that out. All of the adjoining towns seemed much nicer on the east to, so I'll be wary of the west.


I'll actually be staying in Frankfort on the first night. Their chamber of commerce sent a nice booklet as well. I'll spend some time checking out the area between Lexington and Frankfort, as that should provide maximum job opportunities. Any suggestions for what areas of Lexington itself to check out the most or avoid (SW, NW, SE, SW....)?