Browsing of possiably moving to Kentucky. What should I know? Gun laws? Areas to avoid? Looking for at least 1+ acre 3+ bed, under 300k. Whats weather like? Jobs? Are tornados state wide? Im looking for any info you may have. Thanks in advance

Is it because of the armed leftists? Our antifa/left folks here are weak. Strong in numbers in the two largest cities: Louisville and Lexington.
All joking aside, regardless of your reasons KY is a great place to live!

You have only 2 "major" cities: Louisville, and Lexington. They are within a couple hours of each other. Gorgeous mountains to the east. Ohio river to the north. Covington is a small city in the north but it's right under Cincinatti.


KY is a constitutional open carry state. Straightforward licensing process for concealed carry and KY honors all other states' CC licenses. Having a loaded gun in your glove box (or any OEM compartment) is not considered concealed carry. Local governments can't make individual gun laws, only the KY legislature has so for the most part, what's in our statutes is the only gun laws.  Go to the KY forum on OpenCarry.org for a comprehensive explanation on gun laws. Several members here are regulars over on that forum.


You have TONS of options for that. Under $300k you can find a home just outside of Louisville/Lexington with 3 bedrooms and an acre. The closer you get to the downtown areas of these cities the more the price skyrockets (homes just 10mi from the city line go to a $1mil real quick. Northeast parts of Louisville, around smaller cities like LaGrange and Crestwood, you can have a few acers and 3 bedrooms for about $200k. It's only about a 40min drive to downtown from there. Inside Louisville $200k will get you a 2-story house with about 1/2-1 acre in the southern parts.
Stay away from the areas to the west side of the I-65 highway. Actually, use this crime mapping tool to see what kind of crimes are in what areas and how often.
https://www.crimemapping.com/map/agency/211



Weather is crazy. We can have 70 degrees one day and snow the next. It was 75 and sunny on monday and now we have rain and 50-60 degree weather. Summers don't really get above 100.
I don't think I have ever experienced a tornado. Wouldn't say they are state wide. We get some strong winds all across the state though. The Appalacian mountains get some good snow.

Jobs in Louisville are growing. IT, healthcare, and HVAC are in fairly regular demand. There are lots of really nice neighborhoods with lots of large houses, so there has to be some work. New homes in the East side of town are being built, as are luxury apartments all over town. I think out by the interstates of I-71 and I-265 you have apartments going for $800/mo for a 2-bd 700sqft and homes going for about $250k for 2 story, 4bd, and full basement, maybe on a 1/2ac lot.



KY and our neighboring northern state of IN are dealing with a heroin epidemic. It's state-wide. Last year was a record number of homicides in Louisville, most were isolated to certain neighborhoods and drug/gang-related.

Agree with most of what was said above...

Yes a tornado can hit anywhere in the state but it not real common and even less likely to hit you (unless you live in a trailer park )

Gun laws are pretty good all around. NFA has no further restrictions.

Weather is quick to change. We usually get some single digit nights in the winter but not many. Humidity in the summer sucks. It may be 90 degrees but the humidity makes it ugly. Lakes help resolve this problem though.

For 300K you can get a pretty nice rural farm. My parents bought 65 acres, a house and multiple barns for 365 2 years ago 15 minutes out of Richmond. If you can stay out of LOU, LEX, and N KY a little bit, you can get quite a bit for that amount.

From Arizona myself, been here for 14 years now. Love it. Live in Berea South of Lexington. Further away from Lexington the cheaper. Really depending on what kind of job you are looking for. Weather is crazy, I do miss Arizona weather.... Would love getting out more but it is nice I like like the scenery. Hunting is great also.
People are great, gun laws are the best just like Arizona. I have nfa items and no problem around here. I also have my own company for teaching ccdw classes.
Again depending on what your wanting to do is where you go.
Tornadoes could happen anywhere, been really close to a few since being here but Berea seems to be lucky, bad weather usually ends up north or south of us or passes us up. But we do get the occasional thunderstorms pretty bad, and snow.