Fort Knox?

[Chim Chiminy]

What can you tell me about Fort Knox and the surrounding area?

We were all set for DH to go to Boston (AMED recruiting), but looks like there has been yet another flub in the plans.

Options he has been given now are Syracuse, Ft.Meade, and Fort Knox. Oh, and Beckley WV?

He is most keen on the Fort Knox assignment.

Let me know the good, bad and the ugly. He already told me that the area surrounding the actual base is a craptown.

Thanks!!

 

[kehouse]

we have a business in radcliff, the town closest to ft. knox. there isnt alot to do there, not many stores or entertainment, or restaurants (unless you really like mexican or asian. lol.) but its not to far to go to elizabethtown or louisville. we live in rineyville (15 minutes away) and it is beautiful. radcliff is starting to build up some, hoping for brac. i have lived in ky all my life, can't imagine any place better. elizabethtown is only 15-20 minutes away. very nice place, has some old historic areas, and has really grown in the last several years. it has a small mall, jc penny, sears, gap, belks. kolhs is being built!!!
i guess it really depends on if you are a homebody, or like to go out alot. we get alot of military to retire here, because they like the area, and the cost of living is alot better here. most people are really friendly and helpful. if you have any specific questions just ask.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

Well, he called today to tell me paperwork has been submitted for Ft.Knox....

I want to hear about the schools, where are good places to live for families---we have a teenager and a 2nd grader.
We like a quiet town, but want to be within thirty/forty minutes of good shopping and fun stuff to do.
What are home prices like? How is the weather throughout the year?
Medical care? Dental?
Is it hard getting dental care? Here in Maine there is a shortage of dentists so we wait, and wait, and wait----literally for months.

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

just wondering i f anyone knows about ft. rukka??????in alabama. my s.i.l. will be going for training there from fort hood,tx. just wondering whats around that are to. i believe him,my daughter and baby grandson will be moving there. otherwise he might of had to go back to iraq again, he just got home late , around halloween,so its only been 6mo..we were a little curious. thanks

 

[lovemygoofy]

I live about 90 mins from Knox at Ft Campbell. Ft Knox is a training post for AIT students(I think AIT,might be basic). I have heard that because decent housing in that area is on short supply, housing is a tad expensive but I don't think it can be that bad. Probably thinking 150s for housing if you buy. I have also heard that rental houses are in short supply but could be different when the PCS season happens.

The taxes aren't too bad compared to other states and you will be close to Nashville or Louisville when you want a big city taste. I know that Knox also has a great DOD school because they battle Campbell every year for #1 in this region.

I don't know about the medical care. I imagine you will have to drive into Elizabethtown for a dentist but I don't know the supply and the same with the medical care. Knox is litterally just in the middle of some country, but it's very pretty.

 

[lovemygoofy]

just wondering i f anyone knows about ft. rukka??????in alabama. my s.i.l. will be going for training there from fort hood,tx. just wondering whats around that are to. i believe him,my daughter and baby grandson will be moving there. otherwise he might of had to go back to iraq again, he just got home late , around halloween,so its only been 6mo..we were a little curious. thanks

If your son is going for training to Ft Rucker, I don't know if your daughter would get to go. It would depend on how long his training is but I still not sure about flight school TDYs. Ft Rucker is pretty close to the beach and a military town for the most part but housing is affordable.

I hope that someone else who knows more about avaiation can chime in because I hadn't heard that going to flight school or any other training there would be allowed to bring along the family. I know that they can go visit him on long weekend or he can drive and meet them in the middle somewhere. I'm sorry I wasn't more help.

 

[Melisa1]

just wondering i f anyone knows about ft. rukka??????in alabama. my s.i.l. will be going for training there from fort hood,tx. just wondering whats around that are to. i believe him,my daughter and baby grandson will be moving there. otherwise he might of had to go back to iraq again, he just got home late , around halloween,so its only been 6mo..we were a little curious. thanks

I have a friend who's husband is going through flight school at Ft Rucker and he brought his family along.

 

[kehouse]

ok, lets see if this post works. i've tried two other times.
the weather here is up and down quite a bit this time of year. but the winters arent usually to bad. right now it is in the 60's and the grass has gotten very green and the trees are all budding out, great time to see the state.
we have several dentist in the area, should'nt be to hard to get in to one.
schools- depends on where you decide to live, my kids went to catholic schools for elementary and middle schools. the high schools are big rivals. which one of those to choose would depend on what your kids are interested in, some have ffa and horticulture courses and some schools have other things.
home prices are ok, depends on what price range your looking for. i have a friend who has a home for sale here for 300,000. very nice, big house. she moved to florida and got a house for the same price, but about half the size. we have been seeing alot of new houses going up in the last couple of years, should be a buyers market. we work with several home builders and they say the are holding on to houses longer than usual.
hope that helps some.

 

[wannabatwdw]

Hi Chim Chimminy,
My husband is retired Military and we live in Louisville. We keep all of our Medical Care at Ft. Knox and have always been treated great and well satisfied. My cousin retired recently as an Elementary School principal on post and he always enjoyed it there, he started as a teacher. You probably have it but here is a site for post information.. http://www.knox.army.mil/newcomer.htm . There are a lot of things to do around Ft. Knox, Otter Creek is a large park nearby http://www.louisvilleky.gov/MetroParks/parks/ottercreek/ and they offer things throughout the year. I live in Louisville which is about 40 to 45 minutes from Ft. Knox. We have 3 major malls, http://www.mallstmatthews.com/html/index12.asp , http://www.oxmoorcenter.com/html/index12.asp , http://www.shopjefferson-mall.com/shop/jefferson.nsf and a beautiful outdoor mall http://www.thesummitonline.com/louisville/index.html Louisville also has a lot of free events throughout the year, in April we have a lot of pre-Derby events Thunder over Louisville, supposedly the Worlds Largest Fireworks display it is on the river and is simocast to music, parades, mini marathons, steamboat races, hot air balloon races and much more http://www.louisvilleky.gov/CommunityRelations/ http://www.louisvilleky.gov/CommunityRelations/IWantTo/ViewAprilEvents.htm Louisville is my hometown. I hope you like it here and if you need any information feel free to ask. I find most Kentuckians are very friendly.

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

Hi ChimChimminy,
I live in South Eastern KY and love it here, we could have better shopping and dining but then we would have to deal with traffic! Louisville is a great place there are lots of things to do and very friendly people. Fort Knox is actually in a great place because you can go to work/school in very little travel time but if you want to go out to a nice restraunt/shopping it is only a short drive. I will have to admit when I read your letter and you asked about dental care I laughed out loud until I continued to read that there is a shortage of Dentist in Maine. KY gets a lot of bad PR about no teeth, shoes, etc.. I think you will love Fort Knox area.

 

[madge]

Well, he called today to tell me paperwork has been submitted for Ft.Knox....

I answered a couple of your questions vis PM, but here's what I can tell you after reading this post

You have a some choices, as far as where to live. Hardin County (Radcliff, Vine Grove, Elizabethtown), Jefferson County (Louisville), Bullitt County (Shepherdsville), or Meade County (Brandenburg). I have several military mom friends in my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group, and many of them live in Elizabethtown. Outside of Louisville, Elizabethtown is the largest city in the area - approx. 24,000 people. Definitely small town living, though. We love it here. There is a small mall, Target , Super WalMart, Best Buy, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, etc. The better shopping is in Louisville, Bowling Green, Lexington, or Nashville... but we aren't hurting here, LOL. Restaurants are mainly chains - Red Lobster, Rafferty's, O'Charley's Chik-Fil-A, Panera, etc.

I think the medical care is good here, as are dentists. Some of the practices aren't taking new patients right now, but I think that's probably true of any small town. If you move to E'town, and want some specifics (mainly about who to avoid), just let me know. The proximity to Louisville & Nashville are good, in the event you need something specialized. We take our DD to a pediatric ENT in Louisville, and she had her ear tubes done at Kosair's Children's Hosptial.

Schools? I know absolutely nothing about any of the schools outside of Hardin County. I won't even pretend to. LOL. Overall, the schools in this area are good. Some score higher than others in the state testing, but overall, the schools are good. There is a lot of rivalry between the school districts, about which is better... I have children in both school systems (E'town City and Hardin Co.) and honestly, they each have their good and bad points. What activities are you children interested in?

The Hardin County school system has 11 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and 3 high schools. http://www.hardin.k12.ky.us/schools.htm

Elizabethtown Independent Schools have 2 elementary schools, one middle, and one high school. http://www.etown.k12.ky.us/

One other thing about schools - there is a Christian school, a Lutheran school, and a Catholic school. They are all preschool -8th grade only. There is no Catholic high school in Hardin County.

Housing prices are good, from what I've been told. We haven't bought a house since 2000. LOL. There are lots of new developments sprouting up all over the place, mainly in anticipation of the BRAC realignment. Many of these developments are located in between Ft. Knox and Elizabethtown. My advice to you is do your homework on the schools, and after you decide which schools you like, search for homes in those areas. Do you have a realtor yet?

FWIW, we prefer living in Elizabethtown to Louisville - don't get me wrong, we love to visit Louisville (my husband works there). But, we love the small town life that we have in Hardin County.

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

hi again. well my daughter and 13 month old grandson were home visiting for the last 2 weeks. they actuallty left today. they had a 1000 a.m. flight out of boston, and into Alabama.yep , they have left Fort hood, Tx. and now are at fort rucka, alabama. she called and said the flight went well and that the house is very nice.oh yeah, they are on the army base housing. she was a little tired, so she will fill me in more tomorrow. she said its kinda way out in a quiet area, where as at fort hood, just down the street were a million hotels and restaurants. i hope its nicethere for them. it was GREAT to have them home, the Baby is walking really good now. he just got tubes in his ears, but hes doing great. we had so much fun...........missing them already. but anyways, sorry for rambling........ hopefully we will be able to visit during the summer, i know it will be HOT.............thanks for letting me ramble.................by for now.