You have to see the big picture
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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.
Eric | Mount Washington, KY