Lexington KY

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Help, please.

I have a job offer from a firm in Lexington Kentucky. I have been to visit, and gained that deep level of insight possible only after a 36-hour tour between two red-eyes, but I would like help from dopers who live or have lived in the area.

Is it fantabulous? Does it suck space rock? Will I be ground up in the dark of nght and used as fertilizer for that funky blue grass? Some questions in particular?

Will I find a pub that has Guiness on tap and live Irish folk at least occassionally?

Is there a music store where I can pick up used CDs by Moxy Fruvous, Phillip Glass, John McCutcheon and Glen Gould?

Is there a radio station I can turn to where I can hear strange alternative and folk music and never hear Madonna covering American Pie?

Is there a pizza joint that serves an honest-to-God, deep-dish, more cheese that Italy produces in a month pie?

Can I get good sushi that far from the coast?

Is there a theater in town that will plays movies which gross in their lifetimes less than MI2 grossed opening weekend?

Is there live theatre on a regular basis?

What is the ratio of hippie bumper stickers to confederate flags?

What are the odds I can have a long conversation with a stranger that discusses history and politics but not horses?

Are there three excellent sources for used books in town?

Just how cold does it REALLY get in the winter?

If you used to live in Lexington, but do not presently, would you go back if offered the chance?

Anything else that I really should know before contemplating this relocation.

Any and all help will be appreciated.

2

I spent a year there one month.

You’d better like horses, that’s all you’ll hear about.

It is THE sleepiest town of its size anywhere.

And everything is far away. Huge spreads cover big quadrants, and the only fast road is the big circle highway all around.

If you want experience, mine was bad. I never go back, even though I have family I visit in Murray Ky. and Louisville.

3

Resident of Lexington, Kentucky, here! Help (such that it is) is on the way! :slight_smile:

Yes. Lynagh’s Irish Pub.

Um, Old Fogie here, but there is a store called Cut Corner Records that should be able to help you!

Yep. There is an alternative station through UK called WRFL. I hear all manner of strange stuff coming from “all the way to the left” as they like to call themselves.

Not sure. There is a local perennial college hangout called Joe Bolognas (now located in a former Jewish Temple!) that’s got pretty good pizza. For the most fantabulous pizza, you’d have to mosey on over to Louisville and check out Impellizzeri’s. :smiley:

Hon, they sell it in the grocery store here. We’re not the last outpost of civilization! Partially due to the Toyota plant one county over, we have several topnotch Japanese restaurants.

You’ll be pleased to discover the Kentucky Theater, I’m sure.

We have several community theater groups. For repertoire theater, you’ll again have to travel west to see Actor’s Theater of Louisville. But you can tough it out with the likes of Shakespeare in the Park

It’s a college town, so hippies are plentiful. The biggest bumper-sticker war here is between “Growth Destroys Bluegrass Forever” and “Growth is Good.” Occasionally you’ll see “Growth is God.” yuk yuk. The Confederate Flag Element is here, but it can be successfully avoided.

Just give me a ring! :wink: Seriously, we commoners are not that versed in the horse business, so it’s not like it’s all-consuming.

I can think of two.

Well, it gets cold but not as cold as, say, International Falls, Minnesota. It gets cold; however, one of my goals each winter is to go the entire season without donning gloves. So you be the judge.

n/a since I live here now. But an awful lot of people come here to UK and never leave.

Traffic can be bad, but name me a place in this country where it’s not. We have had a merged city/county government since the early 70s and city services are good. It’s basically a small town that got big in the last 20 years (hence the growth war). It has Southern charm and lots of history (hometown of Mary Todd Lincoln). You can be out in the rural countryside within about 20 minutes of anywhere in the city. Thriving local music scene (which as I said before, as a semi-fuddyduddy – hey I’m a mom give me a break :wink: ) as far as I can see.

It’s a beautiful place to live, actually, and I like it quite a lot!

4

I grew up in Danville, which is 35 miles from Lexington. Lexington is, as you’ve gathered, not the biggest or most exciting place you ever saw. (Of course, Lexington was a large and diverse place compared to our little town! :)) I can second what Ellen said, although I haven’t been back for any length of time in four or five years. WRFL is a great station, or used to be. The weather, to my mind, is perfect, in that there are four distinct seasons. It gets cold enough in the winter to snow, but not often enough that you get sick of it. In the summer, it’s hot, but it’s not unbearable. And it actually rains there in the summer.

As for the problem of sprawl, I used to think Lexington was spread out until I moved to Columbia, South Carolina. Personally, I have never seen an urban area with a more poorly planned growth pattern or more trash real estate than we have here in Columbia. Not that every city doesn’t have some of that, but I will say that one good thing about Lexington is that you don’t have to go too far to be out in the country.

5

Thank you all. I am bumping this slightly in the hopes that I can learn even more before I must make my decision.

BTW, Ellen, I was not intending to imply any disdain for small towns or small town living. I was just trying to mention some things I find improve my quality of life and wondering whether they would be easily available in Lexington. The horse question was driven somewhat by the fact that the job I’m considering would be intimately connected to the thoroughbred industry.

6

Are you finally making the big career jump that has been in the works for years? I am impressed, good luck fitting in to those uniforms.

Stick to the rail, Spirit, stick to the rail!

pat

7

Spiritus, please email me if you’d like more information! I’d be glad to try and help you! You’ve got me all curious about the job you’re considering.

I know you weren’t knocking small-town living. I have a hard time thinking of Lex as a small town. I grew up in a place even smaller than D Marie! Barely 2,500 souls.

Interestingly, D Marie, I’m reading a book right now by a Danville obstetrician. It’s his first novel. I’m reviewing it for the paper, the Lexington Herald Leader. (Maybe you’ve already snooped around the paper, Spiritus.) If you’d like to read one of my already-published reviews, look here: 'Tis by Frank McCourt. Apologies for the shameless plug! :slight_smile:

8

Not becoming a jockey, Pat. I fear no owner would subject a valuable animal to such indignity. But, perhaps, working for the Jockey Club.

Or perhaps not. So many things still need to be decided.

9

Don’t forget to let us know what you decide! Good luck!