Great Place to Live - 12/27/2022

I've lived in Louisville for 68 years it's one of the best cities to live in. The worse thing about Louisville is how much it has grown. Crime has increased in downtown due to growth. There's over 1 million people in the Kentuckyana area, as we refer to this area. I live in the Jeffersontown area, it's a real nice neighborhood I love it. We have our own Mayor and police department, our city has about 30,000 people, great place to live.

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Go somewhere else - 10/2/2021

I spent a day in Louisville as a tourist. Horrible. Nothing to see. Kind of decrepited. I wished I'd skipped it

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LOUI??VILLE - 8/25/2021

Love/miss Louisville! Not to big, not to small. JUST PERFECT! ??

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A Lifetime Louisvillian Looking for a Way Out - 6/23/2021

I've basically lived here all of my life, except for 7 years. With that said, family is what keeps me here, not my desires. The last few years, this city has gotten worse than ever with crime and a liberal mindset. City maintenance has gotten worse, and the pride of living in the Derby City has waned. I never dreamed that in my neighborhood, the one I've lived in for 29 years, there would be gun violence happening. This once cozy city full of southern hospitality is now has one of the highest personal property crime rates in the USA. And, an exponentially increasing murder rate over the last few years. One thing that has also struck me about Louisville -- the racism is extreme. I think it is fed by the media and a couple of community organizers who believe that every black's death was intentionally motivated and orchestrated by white people. Black on black murders are somehow overlooked in that equation, though. Our mayor paid $12M of taxpayer money to the family of Breonna Taylor without consulting any of the city's leadership; he just wrote the check. Although her death was tragic and wrong, she was no angel as the media portrayed her. She was fired as a EMT for stealing NARCAN. She was handling drug money for criminals. My grandmaw used to say, "If you lie with dirty dogs, you gonna get fleas". Now, please... I'm not excusing LMPD's actions in this situation, but I do blame the media for not telling many of the details about her past. Why do I go into the details? Because this entire story has given a black eye to our city and people are leaving... in droves. Our city needs new leadership, and a more conservative promise for tomorrow.

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Small Town Feel, Big City Amenities - 3/3/2020

Louisville has been my lifelong home and it's a great place to live. I'd really prefer to give it 4.5 stars because no place is perfect but Louisville has pretty much everything the big cities have but with a hometown, family feel. I recommend it highly!

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Area is a great place to live. - 10/13/2019

I moved to Louisville area (I work there and live about 30 minutes away) about 4 years ago, so I'm completely neutral and have no skin in the game. I've lived in New England, St. Louis area, southern Nevada, Colorado Springs, and a few places in between. Basically all over the map, and I'm pleasantly surprised with my experience living in northern KY. For starters, I'm doing the same profession with essentially same job title as I was in Colorado (which is fast becoming a ridiculously expensive place to live), and after 3 years I'm earning 29% more, about 75% more if you include overtime. Needless to say, that alone improves the quality of one's life a whole bunch! The weather is fantastic here, you get a true 4-season climate. Heat is oppressive for a couple months in the summer, but spring and fall are simply gorgeous (barring a drought, heat wave, cold snap, etc.) and you can do activities comfortably outside for 9-10 months out of the year. Winter is fairly mild-- it does get butt kicking cold at times, but generally it's just dreary cold weather, with a few decent days thrown in here and there. You definitely don't move here for the winters, but they're not intolerable by any means! Folks that complain about the weather haven't lived many places-- there are always trade-offs for a given climate, but KY is a great compromise that gives you 4 unique, decent seasons. The people are generally friendly though I notice they're not the most social and tend to hang out in their own cliques. I can't call them unaccepting of new people, but I've certainly had a more difficult time making close friendships here than I have elsewhere. I've typically made friends at work where I spend the most time with people, or my Chatty-Cathy wife meets people at school events and such, but it's still difficult to get to know people more than skin deep-- they stick to their own social circles. You will rarely find a transplant here. But I find they're all generally good people! Hard working honest people, just trying to survive and earn a living. I would argue people here have more common sense that other places I've lived. They are down to earth people, you don't find a lot of pretentiousness here! Not bad, just different compared to other places I've lived. I've never had any issues with crime, though I don't spend a great deal of time in Louisville other than when I'm at work. I work in an older, poorer neighborhood, I wouldn't leave my car unlocked overnight there, but we've never had any break-ins or any issues at all with theft. I live in a small town about 30 minutes away, and it's an area where we don't lock our car doors at night, leave to go shopping and don't have to worry if you locked the front door. Going to Louisville for events, shopping, etc. has always been a good experience. Yes, they do put cleaning crews on the streets from March to May for the KY derby, you hardly ever see them the rest of the year. Education has been wonderful so far for our 4 kids. You get back what you put in. You will get a lousy education just like you will anywhere else if you expect the school to do all the work and don't actively participate in your kids' education. There are plenty of after school programs, ours always have extra-cirricular events they can attend year round. There are talented and gifted programs for kids at a higher level, for example our 6th grader is going on a 3-day trip to the KY state capital to learn the government, legislation, and they will ultimately write a bill / debate issues they want to see become law. Education has absolutely been above average for us. For me, Louisville was a perfect size city, a compromise between things to do / see, and congestion. I grew up in small towns and prefer that lifestyle, but work opportunities are easier to come by in the mid-large cities. KY in itself is a beautiful state. We are also close to a few major cities, so you can always go and experience something different if you so choose. I regularly go to concerts in Cincinnati, day trip to Nashville, weekend getaway to St. Louis, things like that. Or you can have an awesome time just driving around and exploring the beautiful KY countryside (best in spring or fall). The commutes here are interesting. I encounter the fastest drivers that I've seen anywhere, mixed with some reckless drivers, white-knuckling 20-under-the-limit types, oblivious gawking-at-the-cellphone drivers, it's quite a mix. My own commute is a dream though, Dixie highway to Gene Synder, off the highway near I-65. Hardly ever gets backed up and if you go-with-the-flow you're typically doing 15-20 over the limit. Just avoid the right hand lane, that's where all the grandmas are going 20-under! There are hardly *ever* cops on the road enforcing traffic laws, in my experience. That's a wonderful thing if you like to speed, as I do, but it can be a bad thing as you will come across bad actors that drive extremely aggressively with impunity. I just never get bothered by police, I mean I see them around, but they aren't hiding in the bushes, or on top of the overpass, ready to hand you a $200 ticket for going 5-over. I like that. That's how it's been for my commute personally, at least. All-in-all, great place to raise a family and very glad I moved here! I would probably have a different opinion if I lived right smack in the middle of Louisville, but I say go outside the city a bit and you'll be impressed!

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Dirty and Shady City - 8/9/2019

Louisville is a town with pockets of charm, pockets of class, and large swaths of poverty and crime. The air is polluted so bad there is an app for phones now called “Smell my Air Louisville” where you can report off smells from all the factories. The traffic is terrible, and the crossing the river to Indiana will cost you an ungodly amount of tools each way. The summers are The spring is warm and wet with a plethora of alergens, summer is hot and wet with lots of mold, fall is less wet with constant temperature swings, and the winter is bone cold and wet with a lot of ice and a rare snow.

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You have to see the big picture - 7/31/2019

I have lived in Louisville for a little over 2 years now and during this time I have established a very strong opinion of what this place is really about. Before moving here I spent 12 years living in South Florida. Coming to Louisville was a decision I made in order to escape increasing rent prices and overwhelming cost of living that made me live paycheck to paycheck. When I arrived here I didn't know anybody nor did I have any family. I carried with me a load of credit card debt and my bank savings were not going to last for more than a month. Within the first 2 weeks of being here, I rented a pretty spacious home and landed a more than decent job. Two years later I have cut my credit card debt to less than half, I paid off outstanding collection bills and am about to pay off my car loan as well. I managed all that working one job and paying rent and a whole bunch of bills. This is a working town. Most people who end up coming here have a similar situation like the one I just described above. Louisville is a place where people without fancy college degrees come to find good job opportunities. There is work everywhere. All around the city you will see now hiring signs and for the cost of living here, the jobs actually pay very well. If anyone ever tells you that they came to Louisville and could't find work they are lying. If you can't get a job here then you are either not trying at all or your just retarded. Simple as that. If you are living in an apartment caged like a mouse, working two jobs just to make ends meet you need to leave that place and come to Louisville asap. Now having said that let me tell you what this town is not about. If you come here thinking you will have a great social life, having fun and hanging out with friends, you will fail. People here are not into that at all. It's very hard to make friends here and most do not like going out their house at all. People here are lazy and complacent. Most have been born and raised in Louisville or a surrounding town and have never seen anything else besides here. This city is surprisingly cliquish for it's size. As a matter of fact Louisville is the 29th most populated city in America and in case you are wondering it tops places like Sacramento, Raleigh and Miami. However it is an industrial city by all means. UPS is one of the largest employers and then you have Ford motors and a bunch of other manufacturing companies as well. There is a great deal of restaurants and bars to go out to but if you are the type that likes to go out often you will probably see everything there is within your first year here. The real beauty of Louisville is the parks it offers. Large amounts of land in and around the city have been assigned to parks and recreation, and the best thing is that you never have to pay to get in. Just from the top of my head I can think of 10 enormous parks within city limits for walking, hiking cycling, canoeing. If you enjoy the outdoors as much as I do you will never get bored. Unfortunately the residents of Louisville are not very active. For the most part obesity, unhealthy eating and smoking will define the culture. Especially the last one, if you are not a big fan of you will have to get used to it and really quick that is. I had quit smoking for 5 years before I got here and I got back to it in Louisville. This place is like trying to contain alcoholics in a Liquor store. It will never work. Tobacco is a big thing in the state of Kentucky and sadly so is cancer. The state ranks among the highest in cancer related deaths. If you have kids and you care about their education you might want to consider placing them in a private school. Public education here is a nightmare and since the state is constantly out of money this issue will not get any better soon. The housing market is another thing out of control here. There has been a huge increase in real estate demand in this city and the house prices have gone off the roof. It's not as bad as other places yet but considering the fact that I see a lot of out of state vehicles on the road, mainly California, who knows what can happen. Now that I mentioned that, all of you people coming from liberal states get your sh*t straight you are coming to a heavily republican leaning community. Louisville might be a small exception because it has it's fair share of Democrats but the state, forget about it. Kentucky is very conservative, guns and religion are the law of the land. Overall I would say it's an ok place to live and raise a family as long as you don't get bothered by minor issues, none of which can be life altering. You can even use it as a stepping stone to get your life together before moving on, that works too. In the end I believe that Louisville and the state of Kentucky in general are seriously underrated. This place deserves more attention and not all the bad criticism that it has been getting from everyone who thinks this is a flyover state. It is not. Play your cards right and you can have a life others only dream of and without having to spend an arm and a leg.

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Louisville Should Be Properly Called Lou-Evil - 10/18/2018

Former Louisville resident lived in East End and South End over a several year period. Lou-evil isn't much of a city when it comes for quality of life issues much less economic issues. You're better off to have moved to Dayton which has its own set of problems just like its neighbor Springfield. That being said, if I had a choice from living in Dayton-Springfield and environs versus moving to Lou-Evil I would happily move to Ohio in a heartbeat compared to the diseased backwoods that is called Louisville, Kentucky. I've never seen a place so devoid of people with no common sense, an inability to interact socially and with so much pretentiousness and narcissism. It's quite a pathetic and sad scene. I lived in Louisville for five years after a job transfer moved me there because my previous employment was ending due to economic pressures. It's probably the most redneck/white trash large city in the country with the mentality and inability to process common sense things to boot. It's funny that you mention Louisville not being very good drivers and I can say after living there five years and being hit by idiots behind the wheel they are some of the worst drivers I've ever seen and I've been to 40 out of the 50 states. Even worse is that every morning when its rush hour there are already several accidents already in progress to block up everything on the Interstates like 65, 264, 64 and 71 not to mention major corridors like Dixie Highway better known as Dixie Dieway because of the number of accidents and deaths. As a cyclist, they try to promote Loubilly as being a cyclists dream with bike lanes. However, its actually a death trap to be riding around Louisville on bikes on congested side roads and heavily traveled 2 lane roads which aren't built for sharing. It's actually seriously gambling with your life due to the poor road construction and quality of the roads. Also the fact that their bike lanes are on congested and narrow roads where there isn't a lot of leeway between cars and the bike lanes. Its asking for trouble and despite all of their talk the only way Loubilly will be a cycling city is by widening roads and building proper bike paths to keep the cyclists of the roads with the massively ignorant driving public in Louisville. Friendly in Louisville? Now that's the funniest thing I've seen about Louisville commonly which should be called Lou Billy or Possum Billy City a take of Possibility City which Louisville tried to brand itself as. We did the entire trying to involve ourselves into churches, community organizations, friendly groups, etc and I've never seen a place that is the size of Louisville aka Loubilly that is as a closed society. Strangely enough, people in Louisville act a lot like those in eastern areas of the US that tend to be somewhat closed to outsiders as if you're going to get one over on them. Or you're actually a threat to their little cliques and personal biases because you bring an outside perspective. The laughable thing about Louisville is this idea that its such a friendly place and everyone is so welcoming. Totally laughable, its as if these people haven't been taught basic common sense, basic decency, values, morals and being decent to your fellow humans. Even more disgusting is the habits of the Louisville population that its one of the more dirty cities around this part of the country minus some urban ghetto areas that obviously no one cares about cleaning up. The roadsides around Louisville look like someone emptied out the trash from their vehicles and people regularly leave their cigarette butts in parking lots, roadsides, major intersections and no one bothers to clean it up. Even better is Louisville's obvious urban dumping problem where everyone thinks its perfectly ok to leave their trash everywhere including at the parks and festivals instead of disposing of such rubbish in trash cans provided by the city and festival organizers. Thunder Over Louisville is a big cause of this type of white trash behavior and lack of people picking up after themselves. The same could be said for various music festivals and community events. The next laughable thing is that the fathers of Louisville running the city make sure from March 15th until May the 5th or so to have the city cleaned up along the thoroughfares and roadways because of the public nature of the Kentucky Derby and its various festivals. Even better is that they go gung ho about cleaning up the city in March, April and May. All the while the streets are filled with food wrappers, plastic cups, beer cans and bottles and trash just about everywhere for the other 9 months of the year. One year when Muhammad Ali a Louisville native passed away they had to organize a massive cleanup of the city within a few days because it was June and the city already looked trashy which would have looked bad on the national TV news programs covering his funeral. Job wise in Louisville is also laughable because be prepared to get paid about 30 percent below the market rate for a job in any other comparably priced US city like Indianapolis, Columbus, Dayton, St. Louis, Nashville, Cincy or just about anywhere else that doesn't have a high cost of living say Boston, NYC, DC, SF, LA, etc. Louisville employers aren't really interested in getting educated and intelligent employees based on qualifications and experience. Its more about who you know or who you are related to in your chosen field. In my opinion in many cases a big waste of time and resources applying for jobs that are promoted out on the Internet or even internally because they are filled by sycophants and yes men. Not because the qualifications are actually investigated. Another laughable thing is that Louisville employers will often take someone who is experienced and educated and then try to put them in a low wage position that should be filled by an entry level employee without the intelligence and experience that exists in the more professional employee. So if you're a business professional, technical guru or someone highly educated because your family and life dictated that education and values were important stay away from Louisville. Louisville is the type of community that likes to talk big about their economy, jobs and overall quality of life. But the truth is that the quality of life in Louisville is far below what you would find in suburban America especially in the northern states and even a few Southern locations. Lou-Evil is the type of city that talks big and delivers very little. From the fact that the schools in Louisville are far below the quality of neighboring states especially from the North makes you want to better the educational level for your children elsewhere. You're doing them a major disservice by sending them to most schools in Louisville. Especially when the latest JCPS school district stats in Louisville is that only 54 percent of 12th graders can read and write at a 12th grade level of proficiency. Even worse is that in Louisville as well as the Commonwealth of Kentucky the schools are even worse at teaching math and science to the point that even 8th graders are only proficient at grade level around 35 to 40 percent both for math and science. This is common not only in the schools of Louisville but also across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Let's also point out that Kentucky ranks 41st in the country in general K to 12 education as well as 47th in educational attainment which means that education and even post-secondary education is not valued past high school. Not that it is all that valued by most parents in elementary, middle and high school either. Which is why Kentucky as a state is one of the 4 poorest states in the country and has been since 1939. In fact, Kentucky has been 44th or lower in personal income as a state per person since 1939. In 2018, they are currently 47th in personal income, 47th in family income and 47th in median income. The only states that are worse than Kentucky are West Virginia, Arkansas and Mississippi when it comes to education and incomes. Add in the fact that Kentucky is also ranked regularly as the worst ran state in the country when it comes to governance and government operation. One of the worst when it comes to government corruption and public officials involved in corrupt practices. Not to mention a burgeoning criminal class in Kentucky where the crime rate is skyrocketing and the prison population is skyrocketing as well and its not just drug issues like the rest of the country. Let's also examine that Kentucky ranks highly in elder abuse, animal abuse and child abuse being if not the worst state in all three categories regularly in the top 4 or 5 states in these sordid categories. The statistics are out there for public consumption. All one has to do is look up various Kentucky statistics and see what a true mess the Commonwealth of Kentucky truly is. Not to mention that Louisville for being a mid sized US metro area is about 25 percent below on the wage scale and has massive problems with chronic homelessness and poverty issues even exceeding many other US metro areas. This isn't temporary poverty caused by a temporary job loss of which someone gets a new job in a few months. Instead, its pervasive that this poverty exists in Louisville because of the massive numbers of low wage jobs that exist in a city that always talks about being a rising metro area. It's so laughable but don't be like the zombies of Kentucky and Louisville and do your research, I could comment more on these various issues but the time is late after midnight and I have to earn a living tomorrow in my more Northernly location because Louisville is someplace that anyone with any common sense and quality of life standards should totally avoid. So try out other neighboring cities and especially their suburbs. Even cities like Atlanta with crime and traffic problems have long passed up Louisville. The same goes for cities like Nashville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati suburbs, Columbus, Charlotte, etc. Louisville isn't the end all be all of society.

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no safe driving nor cycling - 8/24/2018

loo-vll was my home for all of 2016, thanks to a desired job transfer. for a small city compared to so many large ones i've lived in (l.a., atlanta, houston), it sure has a lot of traffic congestion. one can bet on a bad wreck on the watterson expwy @breckenridge just about every day @evening rush hour. how did the wrecked cars get into the positions that i saw them in when i crawled on by? folks not desirous to make friends; i only knew the first name of 1 person in the entire apartment building the whole year that i lived there-and i'm hardly shy. they went out of their way to avoid contact-it was weird. no bicycle trails to speak of; i'm quite the cycling enthusiast, but once i started to work from home, i blew this steamy hot dump to move to dayton, oh the cycling trail mecca of the u.s.!

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Austin's mentally ill inbred cousin - 2/22/2018

Let’s get the cons over with first as they are pretty brutal. Then I’ll brighten you up with some of the pros. Ready? Let’s go. Let's start with the biggest issue in this town. Race relations. The racial tensions are off the charts. The lower class black community is as openly racist and aggressive to whites as a polar bear is aggressive to, well, anything. If you are white, don't get stuck in a black-owned neighborhood or you'll get lynched. And that's not a joke. I'm dead serious. The whites are racist but generally won't admit it. The asians are racist and trust no one. Latinos all huddle together. And immigrants have entire neighborhoods to themselves and don’t venture far. You get the point. Everyone sticks to their own kind and is untrusting of other races. BIG time. The neighborhood segregation by race is stark. Some parts of town claim "diversity", but its a forced effort to say the least. And even in those areas the tensions are through the roof. And deteriorating. What makes things worse is that talking about it is impossible. The liberals in Louisville claim they are not racist, and refuse to admit that blacks are racist. Now, what if I told you every liberal I've ever known here would sh*t their pants if caught in the worst parts of the West-end of Louisville. Their fear of lower-class blacks is as primal and huge as their fear of, say, death itself. Because they know that's what they should expect if caught in certain parts of town, or stuck like a deer in headlights affronted by the wrong group of people. Yet it has never occurred to them that blacks can be racist. Everyone here is racist and nobody will admit it. Yes, everyone here is CRAZY. As someone else here has stated, the professional services here in general are a living nightmare. This goes for doctors, accountants, lawyers, HVAC, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, or any other professional service you might utilize. Most of the professionals described hate their jobs, hate their clients, and hate you for calling them. Did you know that Louisville was ranked the 3rd unhappiest city in the country? Yep, we ranked higher than Detroit (which was 5th). Suicide rates: high. Crime rates (violent and property): high. Schools: abysmal. Divorced: a VERY high 13.65%, versus for example a more normal 8.2% in Chicago and 10.2% in Atlanta. Prepare for all of your worst driving nightmares to come true. Your road rage will just slowly turn into a quiet zen of anger over time. And that simmering ocean of anger that you keep contained inside of you becomes your daily existence. We all go 20 over the speed limit. You only get pulled over if going *more* than 20 over the speed limit. Selfish drivers, aggressive drivers, reckless drivers, creeping slow terrified drivers, oblivious drivers... take them all, mix them up, and set them all loose at the same time on Louisville's woefully inadequate highways and roadways, and you have the insane circus that is your daily commute. What a wonderful way to start your morning. Heroin use is huge here. Crack and meth of course has a huge fanbase as well. But probably the biggest is prescription drugs. Some areas favor Heroin. Others crack and meth. But prescription drug abuse here is pretty much universal. Most people born in Louisville have never lived anywhere else, so it's all they know. The people they went to high school with? Yep, those are still their friends. That's not a bad thing, you say? Well this is what it translates to: If you move here from somewhere else you will have an impossible time making real friends. Everyone here is part of a "clique", and cliques aren't open to new people. Sure, you'll find some nice people who will "sponsor" you within their personal clique and invite you to an event or two. But when you get there you'll see that the invite was an act of charity, everyone else there has been a part of that clique for life (or close to it), and you are NOT wanted. And there's no way to become a real part of that clique. You can only have pity invites on occasion to various different clique events by nice people. But then even your sponsor will see the error in their ways. Of COURSE the clique wasn't going to accept you. You need to have accumulated years and years of crazy *ss stories and memories with these people for them to ever give a single hoot about you. You don't have that with them? Get lost. And this goes for all races, all cultures, all people in Louisville. This next paragraph is a con for the guys. The women of Louisville are less attractive on average than their male counterparts. This is likely similar to brain-drain, except beauty-drain. The truly beautiful women learn they can leave and have a bigger and better life elsewhere. You know, catch bigger fish. And they do. And to make matters worse, there is no shortage of fit or attractive men. This means a woman who is a “6” can *easily* obtain a guy who is an “8”. But a guy who is a “6”? Prepare to only be able to get a girl who is a 3 or 4. Ouch. Prepare for eternal frustration. But for the women reading this, you can enjoy riding the c*ck carousel well until your 40’s. Just don’t expect any of those c*cks to care about you in this town, ‘cause they won’t. Why? Because the women are spoiled by having a large pool of horny men and so don’t stay loyal. In turn the men are resentful and distrusting of the women and will just use them for sex. Throw in the clique nature of Louisvillians and you get very short-lived relationships that really amount to no more than desperation. It’s a very, VERY toxic dating scene here. Trust me. Lastly, let’s talk about the climate. The humidity in Louisville is enough to drive you away. When temps reach 100 in July combined with said humidity, outside activities are no longer an option unless you are lucky enough to know someone with a swimming pool or you go to a nearby lake (about an hour drive). This isn’t the same as 100 degrees out West where the humidity is low. That heat is quite tolerable. The air will stagnate because we are in a valley. The air stagnation, crazy humidity, and high summer temps combine to create a bad situation. At these times the air quality alerts stay in the danger zone for 2 out of every 3 days in high summer. The kind of alerts where they advise people to not go outside for any more than 10 minutes. Not that you’d want to. The city handles snow pretty well, but the drivers not so much. Every day it snows all schools close. If there is a forecast for snow there is a huge run at all groceries and everything flies off the shelves. Snow and wet roads induces complete panic in the drivers of Louisville. If you are a northerner, prepare for the bizarre that is the Louisville general public. Here are the pros: The police force here in Louisville is OUTSTANDING. And if you think about it, it makes sense. Every year Louisville hosts the Kentucky Derby, as well as all of the festivities that go along with it, including Thunder Over Louisville which is one of the biggest fireworks shows in the world. During this time of year (April - May) Louisville receives hundreds of thousands of visitors, many of which are celebrities and millionaires wanting to enjoy the massive party. And over a million people push their way into downtown all at once for Thunder Over Louisville. To achieve all of this without hiccups, violence, etc., requires a highly disciplined and organized police force. And that is exactly what Louisville has. The men and women in uniform here are incredibly responsive, organized, disciplined, courteous and professional. They won’t bother you unless you really deserve it. A lot of this comes with the high racial tensions in this town, coupled with a general hostility towards police officers in some cities throughout the nation. The police here know how to keep a very positive public image, and understand the importance of doing so in these times. Louisville has many fantastic parks. Really, they are outstanding. And they are packed full on any given warm sunny day. Louisville works hard to be “cool”. And this has it’s real perks. The cool snobs will say that this city is a lot like Austin, TX. Of course, if it wasn’t for the extreme clique nature of Louisville, along with the hard-line and deteriorating racial environment, that statement could have had some truth to it. If you want to compare us to Austin, it would be fair to say we are Austin’s deeply mentally ill inbred cousin. Lot’s of cool here. But we’re pretty much insane. The city works hard to keep entertainment going strong throughout the year, and they do a very good job of it. There are free concerts in the summer, festivals, traditional and not-so traditional parades, etc. There are enough venues with enough bookings to satisfy most anyone’s taste. Basketball is big here (UK vs UofL), and so is golf, but not so much many other sports. Although there is a really cool skateboard/bike park downtown with half and full pipes, etc. If you enjoy nature you’ll need to drive to see the good stuff. But, fortunately, you don’t have to drive far. The Red River Gorge (or, “the gorge”) is a top destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Mammoth Cave is not a far drive. And when you get out of Louisville the beautiful green rolling hills and sunsets will fill your gas tank back up if you get what I mean. Kentucky is not an ugly state. It is full of natural beauty. Sure, it’s a more humble beauty than, say, out West. But if you just get in the car and drive out into the countryside in almost any direction for an hour, you will be happy you did. There are plenty of jobs to go around. So if you are looking for work, you can find work here in many different sectors. Health, technology, (some) finance, insurance, entertainment, education, manufacturing, and more are here to stay. Yes, the tech sector is dated but has plenty of jobs. The restaurant and hospitality industry here is always going strong. Low housing costs is obviously a major perk. But be careful… remember when I said that professional services (HVAC, plumbing, etc.) are miserable to work with? Prepare for all of the money you save to be pirated by every company you run across. Seriously, nearly all companies here will rob you. You have to learn how to handle them or you WILL be con’ed. Spring time and Fall are the times to enjoy Louisville. These are great times to enjoy the city. Especially with the festivities in April and May. This is when the weather is very pleasurable and EVERYONE is outside. You’d be crazy not to be, because Spring and Fall in Louisville are pretty short, and the other two seasons are long and unbearable. Finally, I’d like to say that the people of Louisville, although absurdly racist, cliquey, selfish, and backwards… can actually be a ton of fun. You just have to get in with a clique and… voila! You’ll find yourself surrounded by very caring, awesome people and you’ll have a sh*t ton of fun. I’m serious. If you can finally “make it” into the scene, which is damn near impossible, you will be greatly rewarded. But don’t mess up once you’ve made it. A clique will turn on you real quick if something is done to damage your reputation in the group. Then you’re screwed and back to being all alone in a city that doesn’t care about you. In summary: I definitely recommend visiting, especially in the Spring. It’s a wonderful place to visit, be entertained, and enjoy during that time. I do not recommend moving here if you have better choices. If you do move here, it’s not the worst city in the world. But prepare for a lot of selfishness. If you come here young (20 years old?) and have an infectious personality, you’ll be getting in early enough to get into some cliques and you’ll do great. ESPECIALLY if you do the restaurant industry. Past the age of 30, people here become shut-ins.

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snobs - 4/18/2017

Well, I wrote a post for Louisville earlier, but I'm not sure if it posted. So if this post sounds like another post I did, it's because I didn't think my first review got posted. So I will apologize for that. I would like to comment that Phil's post is absolutely true and I appreciate his candor. Louisville is very racist and there is a lot of social pressure to maintain this racism. When I lived there during my high school years and young adulthood, I was often ignored or excluded, because I was Asian. My impression is that anybody who is not white is treated this way. I have heard a couple of mumblings from different persons in Louisville that Asian people are there to take advantage of welfare or funding programs. My parents have never accepted any welfare or any kind of free money. Even though my brother is disabled and could qualify for disability funding, my parents never thought of applying for or accepting any type of funding for my brother. All my parents ever did was work. To tell you honestly, I think people just start these rumors just to have an excuse to shun or look down on other races and this is due to social pressure. If you are a white person seen associating too much with persons of another race, you may be excluded in different social circles, as well. Also, there is a great deal of competitiveness in this town. People are continuously sizing you up on your socio-economic status and who you know, so they can decide how to treat you. Also, people get jealous, so you may be talked down to, as well, if you have too much going for you. I have been asked before who my mother and father are. Basically, this question is to help the person determine if you come from old money, so that individual will know if he/she should even be seen associating with you.

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Favorite Place to Live - 3/22/2017

I've lived in a lot of cities and small towns up and down the East Coast and in the Mid-West. Louisville is my favorite by far, although as with anything, you get more from a place, the more you put into it. Louisville is affordable and the people are polite. There is a small-town feel; everyone knows everyone, so don't gossip ever. The drivers are mostly polite. Downtown, people make eye contact and nod or say hi. Be fore-warned, the first question from a native is "where did you go high school", not "what church do you go to". There are almost no professional sports, but the local college teams are great and well supported, and there are annual marathons and mini-marathons often. The Louisville Orchestra and Louisville Ballet are popular. Residents support local restaurants, but don't ask for fried chicken unless you want a weird look and an invitation to Sunday dinner at Grandma's. There are more live theaters here than anywhere I've lived. The live music scene is terrific, lots for free if you pay attention. Music, food and art festivals are held almost every weekend between the two-week Derby Festival and mid-November. By the way, don't plan on getting any work done during Derby, last weekend in April-first weekend in May, it's like the week between Christmas and New Year's here. Architecture ranges from every time period from the 1790's on. There are whole neighborhoods representing different time periods and economic classes from high-Victorian to shotgun houses; City Hall is French Empire, the courthouse is Greek Revival, cast-iron front buildings dominate Main and Market Streets, interspersed with a few post-modernism office buildings. Again, you get from a place what you put in. Join clubs, volunteer, and get involved for a better experience.

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Small Town Feel, Big City Amenities - 3/1/2017

Louisville truly has everything! From all the seasons to every kind of cuisine you could want... Louisville has it. Great cost of living, plenty to do, friendly people, it's a great place to raise a family.

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bad bad - 1/11/2017

Beware self centered city , They hate all transplants. Very behind on everything ambiance sucks. Beware!

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The Only People Who Love it Here Have Never Lived - 8/15/2016

The people here are some of the dumbest I've ever met. Which is not shocking as this is the worst school system in the known universe. No one is able to drive. I had on opinion of Indiana until I moved here from Wake County NC. They think they are the south but it's a very midwestern city. They are also very ignorant and backwards. It is also SO racist here and the people think that it's totally normal. If I didn't have to live here for the next 5 years I wouldn't.

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Louisville is the worst! - 10/2/2015

I moved here 5 years ago and I hate it. People here are stupid, rude, pathetic losers. I can't believe how bad it is. They would rather kill each other than learn how to drive. I see dumb moves every single time I leave the house. It's gotten so bad I have tried to get my employer to let me work from home. Speaking of employers, the pay is bad, no yearly reviews or raises and in 2015 I'm working on a DOS based system. The crime rate is high and I have been screwed by almost every business I have gone to. No one here, including doctors, knows what compassion, warm hearted, respectful and being considerate means. They kill animals, including my cats, with no remorse. I have seen more accidents in five years than over 40 years in Milwaukee. People don't know how to use their directionals or know when to use their headlights. They also go thru red lights all the time. I know doctors that are handing out pain med to patients who are not sick. This place should be wiped off the map. It is truly one of the worst places ever!

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Louisville is Great: If You Have Never Left - 9/29/2015

These comments got me thrown off of City Data forever. In my naiveté, I thought differences of opinion were tolerated and even appreciated on these types of sites. I guess George Orwell and Aldous Huxley knew what they were talking about. Try to read this post with some objectivity. I know how defensive folks from Louisville get about any criticism posed towards the city. However, remember without any critical analysis, a city never progresses. In addition, in order to truly evaluate a place, you need to have spent some time living elsewhere. If you have resided in Louisville your whole life, were educated nearby, and have all your connections in this one place, you are unable to objectify what life is like in this city. I am compelled to move back to Louisville for financial reasons that are too convoluted to describe. I have allowed myself 6 months to a year back before I launch myself to a more salubrious environment, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I know the Louisville protectors will exclaim, "Get out now!" Yet, hold your vitriol until you address my extensive reasons for disliking your city of Louisville, Kentucky. I believe I can be objective having lived in New York City, Washington D.C., Madison, Wisconsin, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati. Reasons for Disliking Louisville: 1. The sorry infrastructure causes problems familiar to a third world country. I wondered why so many homes have personal generators. When there is a simple rainstorm, the electricity will go out. It happens all the time. It is reminiscent of the Caribbean and Mexico. Flooding is a constant issue along the Ohio River. This doesn't happen on the Cincinnati side of the Ohio River. Why can't Louisville utilize engineering that has been around for more then a century to alleviate the issue? Oh, be prepared for cable and Internet service to be interrupted when there is a rainstorm. Remember, Louisville is in the Caribbean and you must be patient. The roads and highways were constructed with no forethought. Thus, there are traffic jams when there isn't enough population to cause any traffic backup. The traffic lights aren't timed and they hang from flimsy cross street wiring. The traffic lights also malfunction often during storms. 2. The poor educational system creates a huge intellectual gap. This will drive folks here up the wall, but many people are very poorly educated. Their speaking, writing, and analytical skills are sub par. This fact causes numerous problems. Folks do not communicate well and they have difficulty-understanding nuance. Services are poorly done and explanations have to be repeated constantly. As a result, there is a complete lack of excellence emulating from Louisville. The buildings are poorly constructed. The efficiency of everything is compromised. The electricians, plumbers, HVAC, IT developers, teachers, attorneys, physicians, etc. for the most part are not intellectually in tune, and are behind in what they know. Although you will never get anyone in Louisville to admit it, the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky are not stellar academic institutions and rank in the bottom, nationally, in most areas. 3. There is a lack of class mobility in the city that effects class relations. The lower classes are angry at the upper classes, and the upper classes have disdain for the lower classes. Socio-economic lines are entrenched, and they do not mix. This also effects race relations, which are poor. Racism and ethnic myopia are very rampant in Louisville. Since we live in a fairly affluent community, tradesmen see nothing wrong in over charging us. When I asked a particular plumber about the ridiculous charges, he said, "Hey look where you live, you can afford it. Louisville also has an established oligarchy that controls the city politically and economically. 4. Louisville is very parochial. People want to know what high school you attended and what sub-division you live in, in order to place you on a "scale of importance." By the way, this city loves sub-divisions. Homogeny, in all its forms, is respected and worshipped. Homes, by and large, look alike and try not to swerve from the norm. The homes are built for size and not for any sense of style or aesthetics. Modern architecture is hard to find and does not go over well. The city tries not to control development. It is almost like the Wild West, as structures arise with no sense of the surroundings or urban scape. Its supposedly "Bohemian" area, known as the Highlands, is a hodgepodge of parking lots, tattoo parlors, antique stores, music clubs, fast food joints and restaurants and lounges. Its walkability is nil, since there is no urban planning. You try and walk it, but used car lots and broken sidewalks do not make it easy or pleasant. 5. The people living in Louisville are not warm. They are genteel and polite, but this is more because of a lack of directness and candor. Politeness can veil what is real, as in a Tennessee Williams play. However, talking behind someone's back is considered fair play. I am a hugger and tend to be an emotional man due to my ethnic New York upbringing. Just try and hug a man in Louisville. The dudes jump out of their skin. Louisville is a very conservative community and does not like expressions of emotion or passion. Even the LGBT community is conservative. Flamboyance often is not tolerated in the city. Making friends, if you do not fit the norm or if you did not grow up here, is almost impossible. 6. There is a large military presence in the city. It is perceptible by the way certain folks interact with you. There are many military posts in Kentucky and Louisville’s HR departments favor folks who served in the armed forces. This is all fine and dandy if you want an abrupt, impersonal, ambiance in your life. It is not for me personally. Abstractions are not handled well, and there is a militaristic affect that permeates certain arenas. It is not my cup of tea as a person who appreciates intellectualism, culture, and the arts. Military folks can be highly intelligent, but that would not include much discourse or an enjoyment of a cafe style of life. 7. Louisville is an ugly city. Except for Main Street near the 21 C Hotel, the urban development is non-existent. Downtown is a ghost town at night, except for the homage to the generic called "Fourth Street Live." I once asked the bartender where all the cool people at the bar hang out. Her response was, "other cities." 8. I grow tired of what I call the "Louisville Stare." If you confront someone for doing something wrong or stupid, instead of responding intelligently, folks often will just stare at you wordlessly. I'll just give you a few examples: a. My Mailman told me that I should be careful of all the Mexicans that might drive around the neighborhood. I said, "Do you mean all Mexicans are people to be wary about?" He stared at me for several minutes and then got into his truck and drove off. b. The lawn service I hired kept driving over a wet valley with newly sodded grass planted. When I pointed this out for the third time, the dude took off his protective earmuffs and brought the dangling cigarette away from his mouth and just stared at me. After several minutes he rode off. c. When I pointed out to my plumber that the newly built shower was not draining due to the lack of an incline, he just stared for a few minutes walked out never to be heard of again. 9. The dining scene is touted by everyone from Louisville. I have no idea what they are comparing the dining scene to. It's doesn't compare to New York, Austin, Cincinnati, Denver, Portland, Minneapolis, San Diego etc. I guess it's good compared to Lexington and Frankfort. However, there is no "real" Italian restaurant, one ersatz French restaurant, and most of the chefs trained at Sullivan University and cook the same "Southern" style of food. How many grits and fried chicken can you eat? Even the restaurants in Nulu are very pedestrian compared to other cities with the population of Louisville. 10. The most interesting folks I have met in the city are Baptist ministers. They are willing to converse philosophically and have some degree of critical analysis in their beliefs. However, as I have mentioned to them, there is a Christian "holier than now" ambiance within the city and surrounding areas. This self-righteousness can get very ugly. 11. While the "Actor's Theater" is well respected nationally, regional theater in the Louisville area is very "home spun." The art scene is non-existent except for the 21 C hotel. If you like crafty stuff, the city is good The music scene is okay if you like the Blues, and Southern Rock. There is very little jazz, opera, and superlative classical available. Dance is non-existent for both ballet and modern except for what tours nationally. There is no sidewalk cafe scene where people can sit, drink, talk and wile away the hours in a European manner. That does not exist in Louisville. The culture is not Midwest. It is more of an amalgam of Appalachia and the South. Thus, the city does not have a Midwest work ethic. Lunch hours stretch out and a three-day weekend often becomes a four-day weekend. Time is flexible and if work starts at 8:00 AM, people will stagger in late. 12. I could go on and on, but I do have to do some work. The question may be asked that there is no city that would meet my needs outside of a major metropolis. That's not true. Here is a short list: AUSTIN DENVER PORTLAND SEATTLE VANCOUVER SAN DIEGO MINNEAPOLIS MILWAUKEE PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO (It is larger, I know) MIAMI BOSTON NEW ORLEANS CINCINNATI SANTA FE

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Not For Me - 9/29/2015

The Louisville area is the most urbane and cultured in Kentucky. That is where any sense of urbanity ends. It is representative of the artistic and intellectual repression of Appalacia, and as a result, the city is myopic, parochial, xenophobic, and sadly chauvinistic. To the naive folks who grew up here, Louisville is their "Athens," and would not care to reside anywhere else. However, if you are a person who has "ventured over the wall," and has experienced any city on either coast, Louisville is backward and representative of America during the 1930s with an entrenched oligarchy and little class mobility. While a fun city to visit, especially during Derby season, living here is an utter nightmare for a transient resident with any sensibilities and culture.

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dupo - 7/1/2015

Dupo illinois is a small railroad town next to saintlouis mo population about four thousand

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