Tell me about Paducah!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve got my first, real, honest-to-God interview in my field of choice in Paducah, KY tomorrow and I’m completely thrilled. I spoke with my hiring-coordinator-person on the phone yesterday and it sounds promising.
Of course, I wouldn’t be so naive as to believe I’ve already got the job…buuuuut…I’m optimistic.

Anyhoo, tell me about Paducah! I’ve read about a resurging art scene downtown, a decent music scene, museums and the Quilt People. What else do I need to know about Paducah? What’s the weather like? What’re the people like? It’s smack-dab between Kentucky, Indiana, Missourah, Illinois, Tennessee and Arkansas. Any good sports? Local colleges? Good neighborhoods/bad neighborhoods? Where can I find good apartment information? Places to eat? Bookstores? What are things that are convenient or inconvenient?

I’m intrigued by Paducah. Please tell me more!

2

Paducah is building a metro fiber-to-the-business network (designed by my company-Sigma Technologies) currently in order to attract (and keep) high tech firms. The backbones have all been designed and constructed such that they will be capable of carrying enough traffic to support Paducah’s future plans to expand that network to all residential structures.

3

So is the area growing? Things are exploding in the outlying counties around Nashville. Small towns are burgeoning with new developments. How is it in western Kentucky? Staying the same? Dying out?

4

Murray, KY (about an hour from Paducah) is where the university is. I was laid up with a fish-hooked eye in Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. They took real good care of me.

Oh…and you’re only about 7 hours from Chicago, should you need to make a break for it occasionally.

5

Irwin S. Cobb was from there!

6

I used to live there. In 1963.

7

Mention my name in Paducah–
It’s the greatest little town in the world!
I know the bigshots in their city hall–
They even got my picture on the Post Office wall!
So, mention my name in Paducah–
And if you ever get in a mess,
Just mention my name, I said, mention my name–
But please don’t give them my address!

8

The Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area is only about fifty miles away from Paducah I believe. They have elk and bison there which is just cool.

Other than that I don’t remember a lot. I was last there when I went to Murray State and I graduated in 1985.

9

I was last in Paducah about five or six years ago, so my impressions may be out-of-date. I remember it as a very quaint and quiet town, without any explosion of ugly subdivisions on the edges. There were some small, locally owned shops, cafes, and restraunts, though some nationwide chains looked as if they were starting to take over. Traffic was not a problem. Overall, the city was clean and well-kept. Parks and public buildings looked like they were kept in good order.

10

Thanks, Dopers. Land Between the Lakes is an excellent perk of the area my dad reminded me of today. I was there many moons ago as a young’n and had a wonderful experience.
It sounds like good experiences so far.

11

Wow, a question I’m actually qualified to answer!

Paducah is the largest city in the Purchase, and therefore actually has some stuff to be interested in.

Downtown is trying to rebuild after everything left when the mall was built on the other side of town. The floodwall has a series of murals that are really kinda interesting, and there’s also the Market House Theatre and the new Four Rivers Performing Arts Center.

The Quilt Show will bring a ridiculously large number of old ladies to town, none of whom are apparently capable of driving at a decent speed.

As far as food, you’ve got your assorted chain restaurants out by the mall, and some pretty good local places (and C.C. Cohen’s) closer to downtown. Whaler’s Catch is good if you like seafood.

Weather is usually as follows: hot and humid from May until September, nice in March-April (if a bit rainy) and October, and the winter alternates between cool and wet and cold but fairly dry. Rarely will you see snowfall of more than a couple of inches, and it will cancel school if it snows an inch.

Expanding a bit to the entire Purchase area, you’ve got Murray State University in Murray (about a half-hour or so away, depending on how fast you drive,) not much of anything of interest in Mayfield and the lakes in Marshall County.

Sports: high school basketball and football are the big ones, and pretty much everyone follows the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats. The Paducah Sun is usually only good for its sports coverage, so there’s that.

Just across the river from Paducah is Metropolis, IL, home of Superman and the annual Superman Festival.

If you have other questions, I’ll try to answer them.

12

And only 3 from St. Louis, if you don’t want to spend that much time on the road.

13

Practically the quilting capital of the US, if such a thing can be said to exist. Be prepared to see a lot of quilts.

14

Actually, not really except for during the Quilt Show. The rest of the year they get folded up and put in the closet, I guess.