Anyone familiar with housing/schools in Lexington, Kentucky area?

17 years ago

My husband is seriously considering a job there and we need to make a decision. He is very resistant to change so this is extremely hard for us... we would be so grateful to anyone who can supply any information on the area.

We are coming from the rural Midwest (cold climate), a university town with population of about 130,000. A typical price for a 4 bedroom home of average quality (maybe somewhat dated and some updates needed) is about 250,000 here. New contruction for a 4 bedroom roughly 2000sq foot home would be $280,000 and up. From my research it looks like Lexington is slightly lower than that in terms of housing market??? What are the 'good' or 'not so good' neighborhoods?

Any info on school districts would also be appreciated. We are coming from one of the top public school districts in the nation so it is sometimes hard for me to compare realistically.

Thanks to anyone who can offer any suggestions. It is much appreciated!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

try_99
17 years ago
Kentucky's Schools and Districts

School Report Cards
ramen
17 years ago
Take my advice for what it's worth, which isn't alot. I've never lived there, but while we were dating, my now wife lived there for 3 years. I lived 2 hours away, and we would take turns visiting each other on the weekends.

Living in a university town will have it's obvious plusses and minuses. Younger average age of residents, more bars per capita (actually I believe I read once that Lexington is #1 in the nation with that), lots of on-going infrastructure improvements, etc.

From what I've seen, Lexington seems nicer than most university towns. I would be happy to raise a family there. I've not come across any "bad" neighborhoods. Some older, yes, but no neighborhoods that make me cringe as I drive through them.

3 areas I would suggest staying away from living in:

1) Near campus. This should be obvious, but parking can be insane, and all your normal campus issues prevail here.

2) Downtown, which is just north of campus. Downtown is a major nightlife spot in Lexington. Nice to go to on occasion, but with the noise and parking issues at night, it not ideal to live at.

3) Near the mall. There is only one mall in Lexington. There should be about four to support everyone trying to shop. It is on Nicholasville Road, just south of New Circle Road (Rt.4). Traffic there is horrendous. Around Christmas time there's no use trying to go down that road.

New Circle Road is a bit of a freeway for 75% of it. If you pick a neighborhood right off one of its exits, be wary of lots of fast food, gas stations, and traffic. But it is a convient way to get to most places in Lexington.

In general, the northern and western suberbs seems slightly nicer to me than the southern and eastern, but not by a ton.

I actually considered moving to Lexington, but was unable to find a job at all (Engineering). Industry is scarce, so if you are going to need to find a job as well, you may want to look into that before committing.

And if you like watching the news or listening to the radio, I hope you really, really enjoy hearing about UK basketball.... year-round. That's about all they ever talk about.
Related Discussions
Anyone familiar with this area of NY?
Q
Comments (9)
My company was moving there about 4 years ago. I chose not to move with them and found another job. What I heard from co-workers was sad. The house prices were higher than here (rochester, NY, so really everything is more expensive than here!) however the houses in all the counties you named were very badly maintained. Many co-workers opted for new-builds because at least you were getting more for you money. Some co-workers talked about walking through houses that had rugs that were worn away to the rug padding and these were houses in an expensive price range (about 300grand) The pricier counties do have better schools but of course, the distance to the city and transportation also impacts the cost. One thing you should check for when you buy a house is Radon. There is a lot of Radon in that area because of the rock. Not a big deal, but you need to be aware of it. Also, my experience was from a couple of years ago. The housing prices were pretty much at their highest. The market is a lot different now and I bet you can get a lot more for the money! -rj
...See More
Anyone familiar with Madison, WI market?
Q
Comments (26)
abc_123 - what area are you referring to that has 12 homes for sale by realtors & 1 FSBO? Curious to know. My gut is telling me to find a short term rental apt (3mos lease or so) with a mgmt company that'd be willing to go month-to-month at the end of the lease. Start looking in May when we move, and hope to have something to close on at the end of the lease term. If we don't find anything, then well, okay, just go month-to-month until we do. Unfortunately, my online searches haven't turned up any places as nice (or as large) as what we can buy and if I have found a nice rental, they're not dog friendly (2 big dogs makes renting a bit difficult). Have found one place that'll do short term w/ big dogs- just need to check it out and get availability. However, my gut is also telling me that I should take advantage of some time that I have off in March by visiting and starting to scope out neighborhoods, and starting to narrow down what my husband and I REALLY want/need in our next home. It'll make our search more efficient later. Regarding Kraft relocating, reorg-ing, etc...Every home buyer faces that sort of risk/situation, but in perhaps slightly different terms. Anyone can lose their job and need to relocate to get a new one, get sick and need to downsize, get pregnant (unplanned) and need to upsize, get a job opportunity they can't pass up. They all need to move and didn't plan on doing that so soon. It happens. Hopefully people aren't maxing out their incomes with their expenses and have a savings they can tap into if necessary. That's what I've done and wow, I'm thankful for that. Not exactly sure what would happen if I didn't have the savings to offset any loss I might face with selling my current home. But, we bought our house as "right" as we could at the time and now I have that job opportunity I can't pass up. :-)
...See More
small house: zoning, jobs, schools
Q
Comments (9)
Wow, you do have a tricky one. Unfortunately, it's most likely not going to easy to find a town within commuting distance of the kind of major city you are looking for where you can build such an "unusual" (ultra-green/chemical-free building is b*tch expensive) structure on that budget. Maybe Midwestern cities like St Louis or Kansas City where an hour out of the city you're dodging cows. (Or that was the case when I lived in central MO, although that was - man, I'm getting old - almost 15 years ago.) I can tell you it's pretty much Not Gonna Happen near Boston or NYC. I live an hour outside of Boston and a half-decent building lot by itself is almost your entire budget, forget your site work, bringing utilities in, etc., before even getting the house framed you're well over budget. But one phrase jumps out at me: "young scientists working in academia" - aren't there quite a few big universities that are NOT in major metro areas? Two that come to mind are University of Wisconsin in Madison WI and Purdue University in West Lafayette IN (which is far enough "out there" that cheap land/homes should be feasible). Consider private schools as an option for your children as well - this may open up some more locations where the jobs are available, the land is available, the neighborhoods are to your liking, but the schools aren't quite up to par. I do have to ask, though, have you considered an older existing house with minimal restoration/modernization? Materials 75-100 years old would have done all their offgassing decades ago, and the materials used would have been less likely to offgas in the first place anyway - no plastics, no plywood and particleboard, etc. Then you can do the needed restoration using safe materials. There are lovely houses in the suburbs and exurbs of Midwestern cities that would be WELL within your budget even accounting for some immediate restoration costs. I think you do have one idea that is totally erroneous - most Americans don't have anyone to help them out with down payments either!
...See More
Harvest Home -- Familiar to Anyone?
Q
Comments (3)
It's a long read. I'm not sure it was a good idea to bundle all three of her 'memoirs' together. It's called "Lark Rise to Candleford". It sure made me miss my Mom! I loved her bedtime stories about growing up on the farm. Her mother was a city girl, but the family left NYC for the healthier countryside. It was a wide spot in the road in RI called Little Foster. I don't think it exists anymore. I have a few photos of the farm. It was just a tiny wooden building; pump in the yard; wood stove in the kitchen; lean-to for the pig; chicken house for some banties and RI Reds. Grandma learned to shoot a rifle to keep the hawks off the chickens. Grandpa farmed a little but was also on the road as a 'Watkins Man'. He had the first Ford in the area. Mom was an only child, with just her Collie, "Beauty" for companionship until she started school -- in a one room schoolhouse down the road. I have a poto of her at the churn, with her grandmother sitting in the background, clay pipe in hand. Her grandmother and uncle died of TB and were buried there before Mom was six. Her mother, uncle and grandmother emigrated from Scotland -- even before there was an Ellis Island. My grandfather's people came before the Revolutionary War. Her happy years on the farm came to an end when she was early teens. I was an adult before I understood Grandma's eplanation of why they left the farm and moved back to the city. She said, "The bulls were getting over the fences." I think they didn't return to the city until after the flu epidemic of 1918. I don't remember my mother talking about that event at all. Harvest was hard work, getting in the hay and corn. Farmers would get together, going from farm to farm in teams to bring in the harvest. Rain was always a concern. It was never certain if there would be 'enough' either. When everyone's field was cleared there would be a celebration, a feast not unlike our 'Thanksgiving'. It seems more meaningful when you've been out there actually doing the 'gathering' and doing it communally. Everything at the feast was home-made, even the music (and the spirits).
...See More
akkw
Original Author
17 years ago
This is very, very helpful... thank you SO much!

Thankfully I like basketball.... just not sure how much I like Kentucky, never having been there for any length of time. It sounds nice though.
PRO
acdesignsky
17 years ago
I went to UK, lived there for a couple of years, and then moved back for a year after I was married. It's been about 9 yrs since I've lived there and new construction was going like crazy when we moved. My best friend grew up there and her extended family still lives there.
Get any preconceived notions of KY of of your mind. It's pretty much a typical college town. Lots of highly educated people, arts and restaurants, great shopping, and ,of course you can't beat Spring time in KY. Between basketball and horses, there are events going on every night.
Schools overall are very good. The area most desirable is near the Henry Clay estate. Older homes built from 1920-1960 or so. The land there is pricey and pretty much completely developed. Houses are more expensive per sf, but the schools system and excellent resale value make up for it. I wouldn't live near campus. Great old houses, but as a former student I can tell you there was no respect granted to working people and/or kids. Once you get more than 3 blocks from main campus that changes. I don't know as much about newer construction though.
It's a great town and we'd move back in a heartbeat. We've lived in much larger cities all over the South and Northeast and it's by far my favorite place.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lexington MLS
akkw
Original Author
17 years ago
Terrific info angc, thank you SO much! I am getting excited about this opportunity!

Anyone familiar with housing/schools in Lexington, Kentucky area?

Comments (5)

try_99

ramen

Related Discussions

akkw
Original Author

acdesignsky

akkw
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Anyone familiar with housing/schools in Lexington, Kentucky area?

Comments (5)

try_99

ramen

Related Discussions

akkwOriginal Author

acdesignsky

akkwOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

akkw
Original Author

akkw
Original Author