Lexington Kentucky - Model Evaluation

Our first stop on the walkabout will be Lexington. Our current plans have us staying only one night, and based on the results of my Decision Apprentice evaluation model, that is the right amount of time. Lexington fails to meet our criteria, and we only plan on spending several days in locations with high potential as a future home (or a family member to visit).

Based on my Internet research, Lexington fails to meet two of our five high level requirements: the climate is not mild enough (the winters are too cold) and there are not enough job opportunities for us. The full tree looks like this:

Lexington KY

• ●Lexington KY is a good choice for our next home.
• ●AND [1 of 5] : Lexington KY has a good climate.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : Lexington KY has moderate winters.
• ●OR [1 of 2] : The number of days each year at or below freezing should be 10 or less.
• ●False
• ●OR [2 of 2] : The average winter temperature should be at least 10 degrees warmer than Hudson OH.
• ●False
• ●AND [2 of 2] : Lexington KY has a good balance of sunshine and summer heat.
• ●OR [1 of 2] : Lexington KY has moderate summers but not a lot of sunshine.
• ●True
• ●OR [2 of 2] : Lexington KY has lots of sunshine but hot summers.
• ●False
• ●AND [2 of 5] : Lexington KY has an affordable cost of living.
• ●AND [1 of 4] : Lexington KY has health insurance available for less than $1500 a month.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 4] : Lexington KY has lower taxes than Hudson OH.
• ●True
• ●AND [3 of 4] : Lexington KY has a lower cost of living index than Hudson OH.
• ●True
• ●AND [4 of 4] : Lexington KY has good housing for less than $800,000.
• ●True
• 1671-Red-House-.pdf (Documents)
• 181-Water-Works.pdf (Documents)
• 252-North-Broad.pdf (Documents)
• 302-High-Street.pdf (Documents)
• 635-Jones-Lane-.pdf (Documents)
• ●AND [3 of 5] : Lexington KY has good work opportunities.
• ●OR [1 of 2] : Lexington KY has good fulltime work opportunities.
• ●False
• ●OR [2 of 2] : Lexington KY has good freelance work opportunities.
• ●False
• ●AND [4 of 5] : Lexington KY provides a good quality of life.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : Lexington KY can provide a healthy lifestyle.
• ●OR [1 of 2] : Lexington KY has neighborhoods that provide a walkable urban lifestyle.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : Lexington KY has at least one neighborhood with a walkscore greater than 90.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 2] : The neighborhood with a walkscore greater than 90 has a crime rate no greater than 125% of the national average.
• ●True
• ●OR [2 of 2] : Lexington KY has areas with affordable nature 'compounds'.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 2] : Lexington KY can provide an inspirational lifestyle.
• ●OR [1 of 3] : Lexington KY has a high quality university.
• ●True
• uk_Map.jpg (Pictures)
• university of kentucky.jpg (Pictures)
• ●OR [2 of 3] : Lexington KY has cultural diversity.
• ●False
• ●OR [3 of 3] : Lexington KY has beautiful scenery and views.
• ●False
• ●AND [5 of 5] : Lexington KY has good accessibility.
• ●AND [1 of 2] : Lexington KY is within 2 hours of a major airport.
• ●True
• ●AND [2 of 2] : Lexington KY is within 30 minutes of high quality hospitals.
• ●True
• hospitals.jpg (Pictures)

Unfortunately, in this blog post you are unable to view either the notes or the attachments that explain the red/false and green/true assessments I've made on each point. In the actual application, all of this is saved and readily available as documentation for each item in the model.

Lexington has a lot going for it - it is affordable, it has a good university (University of Kentucky), and it has some great walkable neighborhoods with nice housing. Unfortunately, it is a little too cold and a little too small to find work. If we find, as we travel, that no location passes our 'test' and revisions/compromises are necessary, Lexington may merit a second look.

Of couse, a lot also depends on how we feel about a place once we actually see it; as wonderful as the Internet is, there is no substitute for real life exploration. That is why a walkabout is necessary! We will visit, take pictures, and we will be more efficient at this because of the research we've done in advance. I now know the walkable neighborhoods we would like to explore, and given we plan on spending only one night, efficiency is essential.