What are some of the best places to live in the country (most bang for the buck)?

Oldman answered 3 months ago …

Actually, the-middle-of-nowhere may be a wonderful site: I moved from NYC to Louisville, KY 30+ years ago. I rented for 3 yeqrs and then bought a small house about 11 miles East of the Downtown area, in a suburb that had been founded by George Rogers Clark in the early 1700's.

At the time, it was like moving to a third-world country...there was one Korean restaraunt and two Chinese places where they burned flour to make brown sauce instead of using soy bean paste.

Over the next 20 years, Louisville, KY became a UPS hub (it's within 800 miles of 2/3 of the U.S. population); it developed a great Medical center, and has attracted a huge number of professionals in Medicine and Engineering, who have created an extremely well-funded and diversified international dining and cultural scene. It's the home of the Presbyterian church, and the Southern Baptist Seminary, so the number of Korean groceries and eateries have blossomed, while the barbeque, and country cured or smoked pork is really terrific. Its cost of living is about 40% of that in NYC.

The city population is only about 350 K: home to Churchill Downs (KY Derby), and the Norton, Bingham and other "old-money" families, such as the Belknaps and the Brown-Forman distillery owners- support a repertory theatre that's tops, a bluegrass festival that's tops, and a wonderful ballet, orchestra and museum.

It's the gateway to the South, with a terrific variety of crafts, earthenware and sports (Muhammad Ali & Louisville Slugger)...BUT>>>

There' are only two months of the year when the weather is great...and no one can tell what those two months are. Extreme temperature ranges from 15 below in winter (although many years I mowed every three days, including XMas and New Years), to 95+ humid heat in summer.

If you do live there, you need a basement to go to when tornadoes may occur...and they did in 1974 and 1998.

The Downtown is nice, with the markets, eateries, theatres, Humana's HQ, Medical-Research center (9 blocks x 9 blocks with a Trauma Level 1 and 4 helicopter services, including heart transplants, hand transplants, artificial hearts, and special Children's hospital for kids from all over the world) and people are very polite, compared to NY or SoFla, they're not "entitled".

The 5 county Metropolitan Statistical population is about 1.3 million; it includes two counties of S. Indiana..., and there are plenty of cobblestoned historical neighborhoods, renovated industrial lofts or just plain old farmhouses...+ mega developments of modern homes to the East and South.

South of the city is the GE Hotpoint Appliance center, East is the Ford F-150 Truck plant and there are two circular by-pass highways to route traffic around the core. The roads are superb, kept up by a coal-severance tax; the local drink is Bourbon, and there's still some old distilleries in town and just South.

It's a nice place to raise a family, and there are plenty of places that are retirement & assisted living facilities at the other age range.

They still know how to bake bread (real stuff, not the c--p from the zombie chains), cook in at least 8 cuisines besides mid-America (Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Hindu, Korean, Russian and Ukrainian, French and German ... wealthy professionals have created aisles of their ethnic foods in the major supermarkets... e.g. one can buy fresh turmeric rhizomes and green curry leaves, all year round, besides confit d'oieau, and bauernbrot, home-made goat cheese and home-grown lamb, fantastic pizza, and fresh pastas, and spices from all countries) (There's a Russian and Israeli grocery about 4 miles from the Bosnian Deli, which is two blocks from the Korean grocery and a half-mile from the Hmong [Vietnamese] supermarket).

Until about 1990, the central slaughter house processed a lot of hogs and steers. The local news still gives the feed-lot prices, so meat prices tend to be constrained by a real knowledge of "what it costs").

Many still keep cattle and, of course, horses (Bluegrass region is 40 miles East around Frankfort, KY), and occasionally some get loose in the I 64 -I 71 spaghetti junction. But, It's a nice mix of country, city and suburban life, in the 'teacup that hangs' from the "Falls of the Ohio".

They have periodic "ethnic festivals' all summer long + the usual arts and crafts fairs (the premier one being the October 'Saint James Square Art Festival', now in its 50th+ year with > 800 exhibitors from all over the country), and lots of places to visit (the original KFC kitchens) and etc.

State income taxes have reasonable allowances and rates, unlike those in N.Y., and property taxes are about 1/5 of those in NYC. In some cases, pensions from other states' emplyees plans aren't taxed at all.

It's not a place for those who have allergies...because the air is filled with pollen and mold spores, due to the proximity of forests and the Ohio river. The soil is heavy clay, over obsidian and limestone (some of the caves in the limestone run under the towns and the most famous ones are 20 miles South -Mammoth Caves). The outcropping of Oil-shale from Indiana and up through Ohio also permits oil and gas-drilling, but the coal mining region is at the Eastern mountainous area near PA and WVa.

Just South of the city is Fort Knox, where they do practice artillery training...and there's Fort Campbell, with its rapid deployment groups further South near the Land-Between-the -Lakes at the border of TN., and the Jack Daniels distillery.

It's about 700 miles West of NYC, and takes about 10 hrs to drive there, most of which is consumed by traffic on the NJ-PA Turnpike and at Cincy, Ohio. Ohio's speed laws are very-well enforced. There are plenty of downtown hotels and price ranges, and one can find the typical motor inns around the city area. If you're interested, drive out and stay a few days and look around.