Therefore, I would appreciate any feedback that people can provide on the area and style/pace/quality of life in the area. For reference, we would be moving from the suburbs of Chicago.

I'm not sure what kind of income you all plan to have, but if it is comparable to what you will make in the suburbs of Chicago then I would be pretty sure that your dollar will go much, much farther in the Louisville area.

You can get acreage within 20 to 25 minutes to the city--closer if you want to locate in Southern Indiana. Unfortunately, Louisville can't offer the big exposure stuff like the Bears or the Cubs. But you can enjoy going to things like Louisville Bat games or UofL basketball/football games without spending an arm an a leg.

Louisville does offer many things that other cities do like a vast array of local and chain restaurants--some that even offer live music and such. You can usually find something to do. Of course, there is the two week long Derby Festival and they have a renewed riverfront that they usually try to keep busy.

People are generally pretty friendly, though not quite as if you traveled further south.

I know a lot of programmers and they all seem to make a pretty decent living. I think that they talk a lot about "brain drain" which means they wish that more experienced people would not move to bigger cities.

I live in the suburbs so I don't have any acreage, but I would love to someday. If I was looking, I would look in Southern Indiana, or in KY in Spencer or Shelby County where there is a relatively new lake. Oldham County is a popular place, but of course, popular means higher priced.

Fred