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Hello,

My wife and I are considering moving to the area surrounding the Red to climb. My wife works in Rehab therapy and she has found jobs in a few towns within an hour or two drive to the RRG (according to mapquest). Some of the towns with job openings are Lancaster, Beattville, Salyersville, Winchester, and Lexington. We have an eleven month old son and are hoping for something on the quieter side.

I'd appreciate any input anyone has about living in the aforementioned towns/cities, or possible suggestions for other places that would be worth looking into.

Thanks,

-Keith

What kind of therapist? I considered taking a management position at the facility in Beattyville. Nice facility, but my family isn't ready to turn loose of me yet, and I really didn't check out the housing availability.

Beattyville would be the closest, and Lancaster and Salyersville would be a bit more drive, but still all are doable.

if you're used to big cities, lexington would probably seem pretty calm & quiet.

We live at Torrent, which is kinda in the middle of the red. So, here are some thing to think about.

It just depends on your priorities. Is living 10 minutes or less from climbing worth more then living an hour plus to a decent sized town with more options for dinner then fast food. We love living here, but at the same time, miss being able to walk to a few places to eat, just run down the block to Kroger, hit a coffee shop, boulder at ray and michelle's etc. There are big time trade off's involved. That said, we like it here. Thinking about buying a place next spring, since you can still get pretty good prices on a bit of land and a house around here, but Lexington is quite a bit more (though still not bad, nationally speaking).

Beattyville is closest to climbing, but it is a hella small town, you are a pretty good drive to the nearest grocery store until they rebuild the one the burnt down last spring. Otherwise, a couple fast food places, a mexican place, and the purple cow.

Winchester is an OK sized town, full sized walmart, some good food, etc. About 45 minutes to climbing

Lexington is a full sized town, about an hour and a bit to the climbing, but you have plenty of stuff to do. Maybe better schools, at least more options for schools.

Saylersville and Lancaster aren't really worth moving to, as far as being close to climbing.

I would try to spend a bit of time down here at a cabin or something, just to get a feel for the drive times. My advice would be to think about Winchester, esp. if you can get a place in the country between winchester and the park way - would put you right around 30 minutes to climbing, but only 30 to town, 45 to lex.

Are the schools the area surrounding the red bad? I don't know for sure, but I would suspect they are not great. And I doubt there are many private schools...

Beattyville is in one of the poorest counties in the nation too. If you are expecting to make a lot of money then you might be mistaken. With that being said the cost of living is really low too. My former boss was from there and he commuted to Eastern Ky. University daily and earned an income near the 35 grand a year range which put him in the high earners of that community. I think, if I remember correctly, the median income for a family in that community was around 19k a year.

Lancaster is a small, but old town. I think it is the second oldest established town in Ky. It would be more than an hours drive to the Red from there. Probably an hour and half dive if you are used to driving on curvy backroads. Add 15 minutes if you are not.

There might be jobs in Richmond, which has all the amenities of a small city, but is 45 minutes from the southern region (Motherload) and about an hour from Funk Rock in the Red proper. There are private schools in Richmond and EKU is there too. There is a small climbing community here too. So there are partners around with woodys in the garages. EKU has a climbing wall too.

I lived in Jackson, Ky for 3 years (app 30 to the Lode).
I was great living close to the Red and optimizing climbing, but you have no peer group other than seeing climbers at the cliff. Local residents are great people, really kind, very warm, but not culturally of the same background that you may be coming from (unless you are coming from Eastern KY).
The distances to anything are a consideration. Schools suck beyond belief. Peer groups for your child will be suspect. Just different expectations for children exist with many families in Eastern Ky.
Winchester, Richmond, Stanton, Irvine, Campton, Jackson, all are within a reasonable short commute to facilitate daily climbing. They have all of the above mentioned negatives.
On the positives, I lived an ascetic, monastic existance, with great trail running, kick ass road biking, climbing 4 days a week, but I was a bachelor at the time.
Land is cheap.
Good luck

Richmond is an outstanding city. It's a smallish city that is growing like crazy. It has a sound nightlife and is near Berea, which has an extraordinary folksy community. And it's a half hour from Lexington. Over the years when i've been disgusted with Lexington's size I've considered it. But I work in Frankfort so it makes no sense.

I agree with lurkist about it being a good place if you're single and childless. And he's right about the people and peer groups. Don't expect anyone to understand the outdoor lifestyle.

If you're trying to raise kids it really sucks. Hence the reason we moved 1200 miles west. I grew up in Powell County and the truth of it is that there really aren't many opportunities and your kids will grow up with people who think riding around and around town and doing drugs and getting pregnant are the norm.

Just to be close to climbing isn't worth it.

Lexington is the beacon of education and intelligence in eastern kentucky. Wander too far from there and you'll be surrounded by rednecks.