Georgetown

Bradford Place is a serene neighborhood in Georgetown, Kentucky that marries small-town ambiance with a convenient location and a rich equestrian heritage. “There's definitely a Mayberry feel to the neighborhood. You really have all the convenience you could want without it being crazy busy,” says Dylan Marson, a communications director for Georgetown/Scott County tourism. Located right behind a shopping center on South Broadway Street, "Residents of Bradford Place are close enough to walk to full services of groceries, restaurants, shopping and even the Scott County Public Library," says Michael Prather, a local Realtor who was born and raised in Georgetown. Single-family homes in Bradford Place line the community's streets while just west of the neighborhood, McClelland Circle, Georgetown’s beltway connects residents with their surrounding communities. A bird's eye view of the area shows scenic Kentucky farmland extending beyond city limits, and the Kentucky Horse Park, just 4 miles down the road. Nearby, the Old Friends horse park, provides a dignified retirement for thoroughbreds, including former Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners. Heading east from Bradford Place, residents will also find locally-owned restaurants, independent boutiques, antique stores and art galleries in Georgetown's historic downtown area. The residential streets in Bradford Place – many named after luminary American authors - are quiet and winding. Dead ends and cul-de-sacs are standard, helping to reduce traffic so that kids and families can safely play outside. On an afternoon walks through Bradford Place, residents will find wide sidewalks passing by square, well-trimmed lawns, traditional homes decorated by ornamental river birch and cypress trees, and not much else besides the gentle sounds of birds singing and neighbors spending time in their backyards. While most homes were built between 2000 and 2010 and share common contemporary features like vinyl siding and brick facades, Bradford Place still offers a range of floor plans and price points for buyers of all backgrounds. The average sales price for Bradford Place is about $286,000, which is under the Lexington-area average by more than $50,000 dollars. "It's a great neighborhood for both starter homes and long-time owners. You get a lot more space and much newer homes than in surrounding areas, and for less money too," says Prather. Three-bedroom traditional homes with built-in garages, wide front porches and under 1,500 square feet tend to sell from about $175,000 to $280,000 dollars, while two-story, five-bedroom homes with up to 3,500 square feet cost anywhere from $300,000 to $470,000 dollars. Young learners can start their academic careers nearby at Southern Elementary School, which receives a B-minus rating from Niche and is home to about 500 prekindergarten to fifth grade students. Georgetown Middle has a C-minus on Niche and a student-to-teacher ratio of 14-1, ranking well below the national average of 17-1. At Great Crossing High School, which has a B-plus Niche grade, seniors with a cumulative GPA of 2.75 or higher can serve as teaching assistants throughout the school year to garner professional experience before heading out into the wider world. While unique, handcrafted goods like paintings, quilts or stained glass can be found in Georgetown's downtown area, Bradford Place residents are just a stone's throw from plenty of local and chain services right on South Broadway Street. For a quick meal close to home, folks can stop by Bojangles and Zaxby’s, or grab some freshly made Bruster’s Real Ice Cream. La Antigua Mexican Restaurant is a popular option for hearty, warm food and amply-sized margheritas, while Dave’s Blazin BBQ has outdoor seating and popular options like the smoked gouda sandwich or sliced brisket served with mac n' cheese. For groceries, Kroger Marketplace and ALDI are located right along the neighborhood’s southern tip, while retailers like CVS, Family Dollar, and AutoZone can also be found nearby for any day-to-day needs. Residents of Bradford Place are also close enough to walk to local options for outdoor recreation. Echoing shouts and cheers can often be heard at Marshall Park while little league players swing their hearts out on one of five baseball diamonds. After action-packed games, hungry visitors can chow down at the park's concession stand, or keep the fun going on the two soccer fields or sand volleyball courts. Another nearby option is Robert Lonnie Suffoletta Memorial Park and its Family Aquatic Center. Just south of Bradford Place, locals often walk or take a short drive to let their kids play at the playground, indoor batting cage and horseshoe pits, or get together with friends and family at the picnic shelter. "In the summer, the water park is always busy. They have water slides and a lazy river that little kids and families from the neighborhood love going to," says Prather. While young kids explore the splash pad, more adventurous swimmers can play in the deep end or wait in line to go down the five-story water slide. For something more immersed in nature, fishing is also popular along the Cane Run watershed south of U.S. Route 62, where anglers can pull beautiful largemouth bass out of the calm waters. Thanks to nearby major roads, it’s easy to get around Bradford Place. U.S. Route 62 cradles the neighborhood to the south, while U.S. Route 25 forms the eastern boundary. The Bluegrass RIDE bus system, which provides fare-free public transit, also has two stops in the area. Locals don’t have to go far for comprehensive medical care, either – Georgetown Community Hospital is less than a mile away. Whether working in the medical sector or at the Toyota Georgetown Assembly Plant, which is the world's largest Toyota manufacturing plant and located just northeast of Georgetown, most Bradford Place residents don't have to travel too far for their commutes. When traveling out of state, Lexington's Blue Grass Airport is the closest commercial option, offering service throughout the continental US. Bradford Place receives a CAP Index Crime Score of 3 out of 10, which is relatively low when compared to the national average of 4.

Georgetown, Kentucky, has changed significantly in the past 40 years. In 1986, Toyota built a manufacturing plant there, which was then and remains today its largest in the world. Thus, Georgetown’s population has quadrupled, from about 10,000 people in 1980 to an estimated 40,000 today. Though Georgetown also has a hospital, university, some distilleries and horse farms, its economy still primarily revolves around Toyota. “When Toyota came, other factories moved here, too. They supply Toyota,” says Scott County Schools’ District Athletic Director Daniel Wells, a lifelong resident of Georgetown. “Even if you don’t work at Toyota, it directly impacts our community in so many ways. Our community would be decimated without it - it supports so many things that happen in our community.” He repeatedly emphasizes that Georgetown welcomes its growth, that most people aren’t from the city – “At one point, we had more subdivisions being built than some neighboring counties had houses being built,” he says -- and they take pride in welcoming their new neighbors to the community. Indian Hills is an older, established neighborhood a mile south of the city’s charming old-school downtown. Buyers here can find anything from a 1960s ranch-style home to a 2024 new build in quiet subdivisions near restaurants, shops, city parks and public schools. Indian Hills has ranch-style homes built in the 1960s, brick townhouses built in the 1990s and new traditional vinyl-and-brick homes built in 2024. Prices in the neighborhood start around $200,000 for a two-bedroom townhouse and get as high as $350,000 for a newly built single-family home. Occasionally, apartments in the neighborhood are available for rent. The neighborhood’s housing market moves quickly, with homes selling after an average of 11 days, much less than the national average of 44. Homes here offer a much more affordable option for Lexington-area buyers, with an average home value about $50,000 less than the average for the metro area. Indian Hills has several family-owned businesses, including Dave’s Blazin BBQ, Bistro M and El Sarape. Dave’s Blazin BBQ serves a mix of barbecue staples and craft sandwiches, Bistro M is a Mediterranean deli, and El Sarape is a Mexican grocery store and fruteria serving dishes including tacos, burritos and tortas. A mile north, “Downtown still has a small-town feel to it,” Wells says. “There are a lot of local establishments to eat and shop. Galvin’s and Fava’s are longtime staples of our community.” Galvin’s is a modern American restaurant with 40 regional draft beers, and Fava’s is an old-school diner that’s served Southern-style breakfast, lunch and dinner since 1910. For groceries, residents can shop at Kroger or ALDI, 2 miles south. Georgetown’s biggest annual event is its Festival of the Horse, a three-day celebration of Kentucky horse culture. The event includes live music, vendor booths and an annual Grand Parade of Horses, where horses of all breeds walk down Main Street. In addition to the Festival of the Horse, “There are a couple of 5Ks. The parks department has all the parades – Halloween, Christmas, all that jazz,” Wells says. “The parks department also runs a chili cookoff downtown. It’s a huge event.” “Our school system has about 10,000 students and some of the newest schools in Kentucky,” Wells says. Some parents can walk their children to Garth Elementary, the neighborhood’s assigned public school with a B rating on Niche. Many can also walk to the neighborhood middle school, Georgetown Middle, which has a B-minus on Niche. All students in the neighborhood attend the B-rated Great Crossing High School, which opened in August 2019 with a $90 million campus, a nearly 300,000-square-foot building that includes a shared learning space between every four classrooms and a hydraulic orchestra pit in its auditorium. Indian Hills is about a mile west of Georgetown College, a private Christian university and first Baptist college west of the Appalachians. “We have a small college, Georgetown College,” Wells says. “It’s around about a thousand students. It’s a great addition to our community. It was founded by Elijah Craig, who invented bourbon whiskey in downtown Georgetown. He was also a Baptist minister, so I’m not sure how that worked out.” To learn more about Elijah Craig and the history of bourbon, residents can visit the Buffalo Springs Distillery 9 miles northwest in Stamping Ground, where Elijah Craig is said to have distilled the first-ever barrel of bourbon. Indian Hills residents have no shortage of outdoor leisure options. Less than a mile south, Marshall Park features softball and football fields, sand volleyball courts, a playground and a concession building. Two miles east, Robert Lonnie Suffoletta Memorial Park has play equipment, horseshoe pits, a picnic shelter and an indoor batting cage. Two miles north, residents can explore Elkhorn Creek from Yuko-En on the Elkhorn, a nearly 6-acre Japanese garden. Yuko-En on the Elkhorn was founded in partnership with Tahara, a Japanese town that Georgetown calls its sister city because both are agricultural towns anchored by a large Toyota manufacturing plant. Though Georgetown’s is the largest Toyota plant in the world, Tahara’s is its most efficient, producing a Lexus car every 87 seconds, and the city is home to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. Yuko-En on the Elkhorn is free and open daily. It features plants native to the Kentucky Bluegrass region that are stylized using Japanese design principles. Three miles south, Old Friends is a champion racehorse retirement facility. Visitors can take tours to meet Kentucky Derby winners and learn more about the state’s horse racing history. Indian Hills is a car-dependent neighborhood 1 mile southwest of downtown Georgetown and 6 miles southwest of the Toyota Assembly Plant, one of the city’s top employers. “Toyota moved here because Interstates 64 and 75 intersect in Georgetown, so you can get to Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington all in under an hour,” Wells says. “You can live out in the country and still get to those places rather quickly. That’s especially convenient when taking a flight; you have multiple airports to choose from.” Bluegrass RIDE has a bus stop in the neighborhood that connects to destinations across the city. Georgetown Community Hospital is less than 2 miles away. Indian Hills has a 3 out of 10 CAP Index crime score, below the national average of 4.

Cradled between downtown Georgetown and North Elkhorn Creek, the community of Boston is a peaceful Kentucky suburb that marries a serene and spacious location with a caring, neighborly atmosphere. "Boston is loved by locals for its century-old houses that are full of charm and character," says Michael Prather, a local Realtor who was born and raised in Georgetown. "Plus, it's directly north of downtown, so folks can always walk over there and explore fun restaurants, bars and art galleries." Boston is also just minutes from several major employers, like Toyota and their Georgetown Toyota Assembly Plant, which is their largest locale worldwide. Walking through Boston, locals will notice a diverse range of trees, from silver maples to tulip poplars, which shade folks' lawns and backyards, and provide an extra layer of privacy between properties. Streets here take their names from the canopy above, and houses line everything from Oak Street to Sycamore Avenue to Spruce Alley. "It's pretty quiet here, so there's no traffic to worry about," says Prather. Instead, children climb on their playsets and dogs sniff the ground along their fenced-in backyards. The majority of homes here were built around the turn of the 20th century and reflect this community's rich history. Victorian design elements like pitched roofs, decorative gables, and expansive wrap-around front porches are common. "The market has also really been picking up here," says Prather. "And there are a lot of cool, older homes getting redone." The average sales price in Boston is $217,000, but vintage cottages, ramblers and Cape Cods can sell from as low as $100,000 to upwards of $300,000 depending on the level of renovations needed. Along Quail Run Drive, homebuyers will find larger all-brick Colonial Revivals and modern traditional styles, featuring five bedrooms and spacious floorplans of over 5,000 square feet. Price points for these homes start in the mid $500,000s and reach just over $700,000. Some houses along Barren River Boulevard also feature private water access to North Elkhorn Creek, which also drives prices upwards. Students in Boston can attend Garth Elementary School on South Hamilton Street, which earns a B-plus grade from the educational review site, Niche and is also rated by Niche as the second-best public elementary school in Scott County. Georgetown Middle School serves 600 students and has a C-plus overall grade, with a B-minus rating for its teaching staff. Scott County High, meanwhile, has a B-minus rating and a student-to-teacher ratio of 19-to-1. Here, learners can opt to enroll in unique elective courses like Japanese or Zoology, and the career and technical education program offers special interest courses on topics ranging from agriculture and business to marketing and industrial maintenance technology. Right next door to Boston is Georgetown's downtown area, where "There’s a really great, diverse selection of shops, eateries and amenities downtown,” says Dylan Marson, the Georgetown/Scott County Tourism Communications Manager. “I particularly enjoy the small-town atmosphere and seeing all the preserved historic buildings along Main Street.” Residents can browse the boutique shops on foot, while those who want to dine, can enjoy al fresco patio settings beneath twinkling string lights. Housed in a quaint cottage, New Thai Garden is a locally-owned spot where patrons can enjoy classic Thai offerings like pad kee mao and egg drop wonton soup. Right across the street is Rodney’s on Broadway, a popular date night spot serving-up dishes like roasted duck, homemade meatballs and filet mignon, paired with handcrafted cocktails. Irish Pub, Slainte Public House, is another option for lunch or dinner, housed in a former colonial-era home complete with an outdoor seating area with a brick fireplace. For groceries, residents head to the nearby Save-A-Lot. At Elkhorn Creek, Boston residents enjoy kayaking, canoeing and fishing. While those who prefer land-based activities can head to Ed Davis Park; which offers a Learning Center, playground and two basketball courts. Peninsula Park is popular among local dog owners, while anglers cast out lines from the river's edge, or come summertime, folks drift downstream in innertubes. Nearby, the Yuko-En on the Elkhorn, is a public Japanese friendship garden. Thanks to Georgetown being home to the largest Toyota manufacturing plant in the world, its sister city, Tahara, Japan, gifted artwork to beautify the garden and share its culture with Kentucky. Here residents can enjoy a stroll along the park's walking trails or take a break to contemplate the park's carefully curated scenery. From rippling waterfalls to the garden's central pond, the garden imbues beauty. Residents in Boston rely on their cars to get where they need to be. Broadway Street, also known as U.S. Route 25, passes right through Boston and also connects the community with Lexington, which is about 13 miles south. The Bluegrass RIDE bus system, which provides fare-free public transit, also has stops in the area; and the Georgetown Community Hospital is less than 2 miles away. For travel out of state, Lexington's Blue Grass Airport is the closest commercial option, offering service throughout the continental US.

Daniel Wells was born in Georgetown in 1982, four years before the opening of the city’s Toyota assembly plant, the manufacturer’s largest in the world. He’s stayed in the city his whole life, attending public schools and Georgetown College and now serving as District Athletic Director for Scott County Schools. In his time here, he’s watched the city transform from a small town of 10,000 people to today housing nearly 40,000 residents. “In our community, the majority of folks are not from here,” he says. “Folks here are very welcoming to the folks moving in. Our community has welcomed the growth and handled it appropriately. We’ve benefitted greatly from it.” He cites the construction of new schools and improvement of existing schools’ facilities as a major benefit of the city’s growth, as well as the constant creation of new jobs due to supply demands from the Toyota plant. “I love the community feel that we still have,” he says. “Even though Georgetown’s becoming larger and larger, we still have a good sense of community. Negative folks say, ‘We’re growing so much we’re going to grow into Fayette County’; in the end, I still feel like we have a small-town community feel even though we’re growing immensely.” The Mt Vernon neighborhood contains Georgetown Community Hospital and is 2 miles south of downtown and Georgetown College. It houses brick single-family homes, retail strips with shops and restaurants, city parks and the local elementary school.<br>Mt Vernon is a car-dependent neighborhood 2 miles south of downtown Georgetown and 6 miles southwest of the Toyota Assembly Plant. Georgetown provides convenient access to both Interstates 64 and 75, making it easy to get to Cincinnati, Louisville or Lexington. Mt Vernon has Bluegrass RIDE bus stops that provide routes across the city, and Georgetown Community Hospital is located in the neighborhood. When traveling out of town, residents can fly out of Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport, 15 miles south; the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, 68 miles north; or the Louisville International Airport, 70 miles west. <br>With a mix of chain and local restaurants, shopping and dining are plentiful within Mt Vernon. Residents can pick up breakfast from Frank’s Donuts’ drive-thru, grab lunch from Taco Bell or Sonic and enjoy a sit-down dinner at La Antigua or Tres Amigos of Georgetown, both local Mexican restaurants. The neighborhood’s shopping options include Goodwill, Walgreen’s and Bargain Hunt. Groceries are available a mile west at Kroger or ALDI.<br>“We have almost 20 parks in town as well as a huge resource, Elkhorn Creek, which runs all the way through Scott County,” Wells says. “There, you can go kayaking, fishing, do all kinds of stuff.” Along the river, Yuko-En on the Elkhorn is a Japanese-style garden that celebrates Georgetown’s connection to its “sister city” of Tahara, Japan, a small agricultural city that’s also anchored by a large Toyota plant. Mt Vernon’s Robert Lonnie Suffoletta Park is the home of Scott County Youth Baseball. It has four fields for players of various levels plus an indoor batting cage. Less than a mile west, Marshall Park has four youth softball fields and a football field in addition to the Suffoletta Family Aquatic Center and a playground. The neighborhood is about 4 miles from Old Friends, where visitors can meet retired champion races horses, and 6 miles from the sprawling Kentucky Horse Park, a horse farm and equine education center that brings in more than 500,000 worldwide visitors each year.<br>“This well-established neighborhood offers the opportunity to enter into our market for first-time home buyers -- with a high potential of appreciation,” says Realtor Kristine Cassata, founder of Indigo & Co. Realty. Brick ranch-style single-family homes and duplexes are common, and the average home size is 1,250 square feet, significantly below the national average of around 2,000 square feet. “There’s not a lot of turnover,” Cassata says. “A lot of people live there for years. Generations, even.” The average home value here is about $50,000 less than the average for the Lexington metro area, and listings typically range from around $200,000 to $300,000. Mt Vernon’s housing market moves quickly, with homes selling after an average of 12 days, much quicker than the national average of 44.<br>“One of the biggest changes Georgetown has seen in my lifetime is the school facilities,” Wells says. “Things have changed a lot from when I went to school to now. The things they have access to – whether it’s the programs, buildings or athletic facilities – they’ve all changed for the better.” The neighborhood’s assigned public school, Southern Elementary, is located in the neighborhood, meaning some parents can walk their kids to school in the mornings. Southern Elementary receives a C-plus rating from Niche. Students continue to the nearby B-minus-rated Georgetown Middle School, which is also close enough for some students to walk to class. Then, they attend the B-rated Great Crossing High School, whose $90-million campus opened its doors in August 2019. The nearly 300,000-square-foot building includes collaborative learning spaces, grab-and-go cafeteria stations and a 750-seat auditorium with a hydraulic orchestra pit. A mile south, the private Providence Christian Academy enrolls two-year-olds through high school students. Mt Vernon is 2 miles south of Georgetown College, a small, private, Christian university. <br>“The Festival of the Horse is the keystone event in downtown Georgetown,” Wells says. The annual event celebrates all things horse culture in the Bluegrass, complete with the annual Grand Parade of Horses through downtown Georgetown, where horses of all breeds walk down Main Street. “It’s a massive celebration that goes on for three days downtown,” says Dylan Marson, the communications manager for Georgetown/Scott County Tourism. “There’s food, music, a cornhole tournament, local vendors, everything. It draws about 30,000 people each year, with many coming from big cities like Cincinnati.” <br>Mt Vernon has a 4 out of 10 CAP Index crime score, on par with the national average.