Ky. metro cities act elitist, feel entitled says the Bowling Green Daily News

[BigVMan23]

Most Louisvillians I know accept and embrace the fact that the rest of the state looks down on Louisville in any and every way they can. We know how great our town is and really don't lose any sleep over what people who never spend any time here think.

 

Nothing really says that better than just ignoring it when someone else throws a stone at them. I really am surprised they bothered to respond at all. I think it would have been a better approach.

 

That was my thought. There were several barbs in there that one could easily describe as "elitist" thinking. A nice place to stop and get gas on the way to somewhere else.

 

And Deuce, everybody doesn't hate Louisville, not sure why so many in Louisville have that complex. I hear many more people disparage Lex and in the same breath say how much they like/enjoy Louisville. Now, you are ALWAYS going to have a percentage of people that just don't like "the big city" no mater what city it is, and for KY those happen to be Lex and Lou.

[CyrusJS]

Here is my long-winded take on the whole issue. Petty. I've lived in BG for 5 years now, and the original BG Daily news article was pretty spot-on. I grew up in Covington, lived in rural KY for a few years, and have been in BG for 5. Lou/Lex always get priority over other parts of the state. Politics revolve around them. I'd wager Bowling Green has a loss in tax dollars to rural areas as well, so that was a dumb thing for them to base their entire article around.

 

BG is the fastest growing city in KY, has the youngest demographic of any city in KY, it has the 2nd highest density of any city in KY, and has the 2nd largest university in the state. I've been to Louisville and Lexington countless times, and I can say without hesitation that I would rather live in Bowling Green than either of those cities. Unfortunately I am leaving BG for good next week due to medical school, but a decade from now when I decide where I want to practice, you can guarantee it will be in BG.

 

The fact I have to leave the 3rd largest city in this state just to get a medical education points exactly to the problem the original Daily News article was bring up; elitism in Lex/Lou. The politicians and university presidents have lobbied against WKU for decades. They have blocked our university from starting medical schools and law schools. We finally got approval to start an independent engineering program, instead of having to be partnered with UK. Next year, WKU will be opening a medical school. A small one. But guess what? The only way we were allowed to get one was if it was under the UK School of Medicine. So now, in the 3rd largest city in Kentucky, with the 2nd largest University, we will have a UK School of Medicine - Bowling Green campus. Let that sink in. Realize that there is a bias and elitism that has tried to hold down the development of cities all across Kentucky. No, not tax dollars. But opportunity. Anything that this state gets better benefit Lexington or Louisville, or God forbid a city like Bowling Green or a University like WKU might start to get too big for their britches. See: everyone lobbying KHSAA to move football finals to Lexington, despite BG being the better spot. They just wanted Lexington to have it, and not let WKU benefit. Sorry if that sounds cynical, but that's how many of us down here feel.

[BigVMan23]

Here is my long-winded take on the whole issue. Petty. I've lived in BG for 5 years now, and the original BG Daily news article was pretty spot-on. I grew up in Covington, lived in rural KY for a few years, and have been in BG for 5. Lou/Lex always get priority over other parts of the state. Politics revolve around them. I'd wager Bowling Green has a loss in tax dollars to rural areas as well, so that was a dumb thing for them to base their entire article around.

 

BG is the fastest growing city in KY, has the youngest demographic of any city in KY, it has the 2nd highest density of any city in KY, and has the 2nd largest university in the state. I've been to Louisville and Lexington countless times, and I can say without hesitation that I would rather live in Bowling Green than either of those cities. Unfortunately I am leaving BG for good next week due to medical school, but a decade from now when I decide where I want to practice, you can guarantee it will be in BG.

 

The fact I have to leave the 3rd largest city in this state just to get a medical education points exactly to the problem the original Daily News article was bring up; elitism in Lex/Lou. The politicians and university presidents have lobbied against WKU for decades. They have blocked our university from starting medical schools and law schools. We finally got approval to start an independent engineering program, instead of having to be partnered with UK. Next year, WKU will be opening a medical school. A small one. But guess what? The only way we were allowed to get one was if it was under the UK School of Medicine. So now, in the 3rd largest city in Kentucky, with the 2nd largest University, we will have a UK School of Medicine - Bowling Green campus. Let that sink in. Realize that there is a bias and elitism that has tried to hold down the development of cities all across Kentucky. No, not tax dollars. But opportunity. Anything that this state gets better benefit Lexington or Louisville, or God forbid a city like Bowling Green or a University like WKU might start to get too big for their britches. See: everyone lobbying KHSAA to move football finals to Lexington, despite BG being the better spot. They just wanted Lexington to have it, and not let WKU benefit. Sorry if that sounds cynical, but that's how many of us down here feel.

 

 

Not sure of your numbers but this is what I found.

 

UK 30,131

UL 22,640

WKU 20,171

 

As for the rest, this should be good.:popcorn:

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Not sure of your numbers but this is what I found.

 

UK 30,131

UL 22,640

WKU 20,171

 

As for the rest, this should be good.:popcorn:

 

I was going to point out the same thing. Also, population density doesn't matter all that much unless you take population density AND geographic size into account.

[mcpapa]

That was my thought. There were several barbs in there that one could easily describe as "elitist" thinking. A nice place to stop and get gas on the way to somewhere else.

 

And Deuce, everybody doesn't hate Louisville, not sure why so many in Louisville have that complex. I hear many more people disparage Lex and in the same breath say how much they like/enjoy Louisville. Now, you are ALWAYS going to have a percentage of people that just don't like "the big city" no mater what city it is, and for KY those happen to be Lex and Lou.

 

LOVE the 'ville. I'll take it every day of the week and twice on Sunday over Lexington and NKY/Cincy. Gonna be there tomorrow. Just my personal preference.

[CyrusJS]

Not sure of your numbers but this is what I found.

 

UK 30,131

UL 22,640

WKU 20,171

 

As for the rest, this should be good.:popcorn:

 

My bad. Meant undergrad enrollment. WKU doesn't really have many graduate programs because of the reasons mentioned above.

[TheDeuce]

Nothing really says that better than just ignoring it when someone else throws a stone at them. I really am surprised they bothered to respond at all. I think it would have been a better approach.

 

I don't disagree.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Here is my long-winded take on the whole issue. Petty. I've lived in BG for 5 years now, and the original BG Daily news article was pretty spot-on. I grew up in Covington, lived in rural KY for a few years, and have been in BG for 5. Lou/Lex always get priority over other parts of the state. Politics revolve around them. I'd wager Bowling Green has a loss in tax dollars to rural areas as well, so that was a dumb thing for them to base their entire article around.

 

BG is the fastest growing city in KY, has the youngest demographic of any city in KY, it has the 2nd highest density of any city in KY, and has the 2nd largest university in the state. I've been to Louisville and Lexington countless times, and I can say without hesitation that I would rather live in Bowling Green than either of those cities. Unfortunately I am leaving BG for good next week due to medical school, but a decade from now when I decide where I want to practice, you can guarantee it will be in BG.

 

The fact I have to leave the 3rd largest city in this state just to get a medical education points exactly to the problem the original Daily News article was bring up; elitism in Lex/Lou. The politicians and university presidents have lobbied against WKU for decades. They have blocked our university from starting medical schools and law schools. We finally got approval to start an independent engineering program, instead of having to be partnered with UK. Next year, WKU will be opening a medical school. A small one. But guess what? The only way we were allowed to get one was if it was under the UK School of Medicine. So now, in the 3rd largest city in Kentucky, with the 2nd largest University, we will have a UK School of Medicine - Bowling Green campus. Let that sink in. Realize that there is a bias and elitism that has tried to hold down the development of cities all across Kentucky. No, not tax dollars. But opportunity. Anything that this state gets better benefit Lexington or Louisville, or God forbid a city like Bowling Green or a University like WKU might start to get too big for their britches. See: everyone lobbying KHSAA to move football finals to Lexington, despite BG being the better spot. They just wanted Lexington to have it, and not let WKU benefit. Sorry if that sounds cynical, but that's how many of us down here feel.

 

I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree with a few things in your post. I grew up in NKY as well. I haven't lived in any rural areas, but I have been living in Louisville for 4 years now. I understand where you're coming from when you say that Louisville and Lexington get priority over the rest of the state - because that's how I used to feel too - but after moving here to Louisville, I've learned that that's basically just perception. Fact is, after moving to Louisville I learned exactly how much of a bigger city it is than anything in NKY - or anywhere else I've visited in the state, for that matter. Because of that reason, Louisville does get priority in a lot of circumstances. However, if a state give single city priority, and in doing so they can help nurture the place where they earn one-third of their GDP, and they can tend to more than a quarter of their state's total population all at the same time, then why on earth wouldn't you give that city a little priority? Would you suggest that the state give Mt. Olivet the same amount of attention and priority that it gives Louisville?

 

As for the med school issue...firstly, I don't see the city of Lexington and the city of Louisville taking a stand against colleges in other parts of the state getting their own medical schools. University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville? Maybe....maybe they would lobby against that. But the actual city governments? I don't see that happening. And I DEFINITELY don't see the city government lobbying against the likes of NKU, WKU, and EKU starting grad school programs like you seem to have asserted in one of your posts.

 

Also regarding the med school discussion, starting a med school takes a lot of things, including the ability to produce a certificate of need. Sure, rural areas need more doctors...but starting a medical school at the nearest college or university doesn't necessarily mean more doctors will practice there. Look at the med school at Pikeville...they have to send their doctors all over the place - in other states even - just to complete the various medical rotations they need to complete in order to get through all the requirements of their degree. Why? Well, because Pikeville isn't a huge metro area. There aren't medical offices, clinics, and specialists in Pikeville to fulfill all of the educational needs of those med students. Do we need another medical school in Kentucky? Maybe. Maybe not. It's tough to say, really...but we do have two MD programs and one DO program in our state, and there are plenty of states with less than that. Let's just not act like the biggest hurdle for WKU starting a medical school was the university presidents at UK and UofL, or the politicians you're saying they had backing their pushback.

[mcpapa]

I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree with a few things in your post. I grew up in NKY as well. I haven't lived in any rural areas, but I have been living in Louisville for 4 years now. I understand where you're coming from when you say that Louisville and Lexington get priority over the rest of the state - because that's how I used to feel too - but after moving here to Louisville, I've learned that that's basically just perception. Fact is, after moving to Louisville I learned exactly how much of a bigger city it is than anything in NKY - or anywhere else I've visited in the state, for that matter. Because of that reason, Louisville does get priority in a lot of circumstances. However, if a state give single city priority, and in doing so they can help nurture the place where they earn one-third of their GDP, and they can tend to more than a quarter of their state's total population all at the same time, then why on earth wouldn't you give that city a little priority? Would you suggest that the state give Mt. Olivet the same amount of attention and priority that it gives Louisville?

 

As for the med school issue...firstly, I don't see the city of Lexington and the city of Louisville taking a stand against colleges in other parts of the state getting their own medical schools. University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville? Maybe....maybe they would lobby against that. But the actual city governments? I don't see that happening. And I DEFINITELY don't see the city government lobbying against the likes of NKU, WKU, and EKU starting grad school programs like you seem to have asserted in one of your posts.

 

Also regarding the med school discussion, starting a med school takes a lot of things, including the ability to produce a certificate of need. Sure, rural areas need more doctors...but starting a medical school at the nearest college or university doesn't necessarily mean more doctors will practice there. Look at the med school at Pikeville...they have to send their doctors all over the place - in other states even - just to complete the various medical rotations they need to complete in order to get through all the requirements of their degree. Why? Well, because Pikeville isn't a huge metro area. There aren't medical offices, clinics, and specialists in Pikeville to fulfill all of the educational needs of those med students. Do we need another medical school in Kentucky? Maybe. Maybe not. It's tough to say, really...but we do have two MD programs and one DO program in our state, and there are plenty of states with less than that. Let's just not act like the biggest hurdle for WKU starting a medical school was the university presidents at UK and UofL, or the politicians you're saying they had backing their pushback.

 

The town where if someone takes two newspapers out of the machine instead of the one they paid for, it's considered a crime wave of epic proportion.

[JDEaston]

I completely get why Louisville and Lexington get priority over other cities around the state and really don't have a problem with it. The economy in those two cities funds a lot of projects that go on elsewhere in the state, which helps everyone else in the state out so IMO, those two cities need to get their fair share of grants and monies as well. As far as most Kentuckians or Louisvillians not considering Louisville as part of the state, I think that gets a bit eggajerated, due to the basketball rivalry. I really don't think many people feel that way at all. While I spend more time in Lexington due to basketball and football games, I actually prefer visiting Louisville or NKY over Lexington. Lexington wasn't planned out to be as big as it has become and there haven't been many improvements done to help ease the traffic situation and overall overcrowding of the city. It also doesn't have a whole lot to offer for a city it's size, I can essentially do the same things in Ashland/Huntington as I could in Lexington outside of anything UK related without the hastle of dealing with the insane traffic.

 

I do think @CyrusJS has some likely valid points on the WKU medical program though. I remember several years ago something similar happened with Kings Daughters Hospital in downtown Ashland. They had just completed several large expansions and one of the buildings that I believe was 6 floors was actually built to be expanded to another 4-6 floors in height. A couple of years after completing that building KDMC sent in a request to the state to go ahead with that expansion which would have added another 250 or so beds. The expansion was needed at the time because the hospital was running at 100% occupancy nearly all the time. However, the state declined the request for the added beds, that Bellefonte Hospital which is in Flatwoods/Russell generally has open beds that KDMC could send patients to. The kicker is, the expansion would have made KDMC the second largest hospital in the state at the time, which is why most believe that their request for more beds was denied.