Louisville Kentucky

Her View

Louisville - Caywood's perspective

Louisville: a city that has officially stolen the title for my #1 place to move to, at least of the visits we've stopped at so far. I cannot say enough awesome things about this city! Louisville got added to our list solely because I wanted to consider moving back to somewhere in Kentucky. And I'm so glad I did!

We got in to Louisville right after 5pm and went directly to check out the Nulu area. Originating from the phrase "New Louisville," Nulu was created in the East Market District of Louisville to revitalize the city and show the strong emphasis that this city has on local food, artists, musicians. This area is home to the greenest commercial building in the state of Kentucky, as well as many restaurants offering organic menus, tens of local art galleries, really unique bars, and historic restoration projects.

We walked around the four blocks known as Nulu, went in a couple of shops, beer stores, etc. Immediately we met some awesome people, including a local named Chelsea who gave us the low-down on the city and her love for it. Seriously-such a sweet gal. She took 30 minutes out of her time to give us her opinion of the city, tell us about some local bands, some good neighborhoods to check out, and even suggested a bar to go to that night to check out a good band. This city has tons of live music, and even has a Facebook page that tells you what live music is going on each night, how much cover is, where, and what time. So cool.

(Check out the Facebook page Louisville MUSICulture)

After walking around downtown and already deciding that there is a huge possibility that this is the city for me, we decided to drive around to check out some of the nearby neighborhoods. *Caywood falls in love even more.* Just 5 minutes from downtown (a bike ride) we found some great houses that could work for us. Some with back yards, adorable front porches, people walking and biking everywhere.

We learned that Louisville has the phrase that we've heard of Austin and Asheville - "Keep Louisville Weird." I hate that we now know three cities with the same slogan; however, this slogan works for me. These three cities have something in common that I feel is a necessity for the city I move to - hyper focus on local fresh food, local live music everywhere, recycle bins easily accessible, lots of bikers and walkers, and so much more! I think it's safe to say Louisville has stolen my heart.

His View

Louisville - Feliks' perspective

Another town that really surprised me. My expectations weren’t really high for Louisville, but then again I’ve never really heard a whole lot about it. Downtown was the first place we went, and while it wasn’t as enormous as some of the previous cities, it did have a metropolis feeling about it. We picked up a map of downtown, which included Nulu, their newly renovated area of shops and restaurants. While the area still had some empty buildings, you could definitely see a booming neighborhood. Lots of cool shops and local restaurants. I especially liked that there were no chains in all of Nulu.

We stopped at Gifthorse and met a very informative young lady who gave us a rundown of the city. Her explanation and recommendations got me excited to see the nightlife and some of the neighborhoods around Louisville. We drove around for about an hour through little suburbs and residential neighborhoods. We came across the coolest street, Bardstown Road, which was almost a never-ending street of local bars, restaurants, shops, and random local businesses. I would say the local businesses to national chains ratio was 10 to 1. I loved the street and everything on it, and the area itself seemed very lively and energetic.

We spent the evening at Decca in Nulu with our newly made friend Chelsea from Gifthorse. The downstairs of Decca was small and intimate. And while the band was less than 30 feet away from me, it was a perfect little getaway. I have to say - the strangers that we met in Louisville have been some of the most friendly and engaging people we’ve come across so far. I got some more good advice and insight on Louisville and the growth of the city from a local named Kristin, who has pretty much been there all her life.

Overall, I’m glad that Louisville was on our list of places to live. It is a fantastic town that seems to be up and coming. Parking was easy and the roads were okay. There were some rough spots. Some one ways, but decently organized.

PS - Try the burgoo. It was delicious!

Caywood and Chelsea at Decca	Caywood, Chelsea, and Feliks at Decc
Feliks and Caywood at Decca	Kentucky bourbon
Garage Bar - light up ping pong!	Kentucky Burgoo @ Against the Grain
Garage Bar	Locally made utility sign table
"Nulu" (downtown Louisville)	In Downtown Louisville