Last November, I left Washington, DC, (actually it was suburban Virginia, but DC sounds more sophisticated and less Southern) for Louisville (AP Style says to include "Kentucky" when mentioning Louisville, but Louisville by itself sounds more sophisticated and less Southern).

Moving to Louisville was a choice. Sure you might respond "but then again so are abortions these days." But in our case it was the best option amongst many good ones.

Five years ago my New England elitist attitude and I visited Louisville and had our preconceived ideas of Louisville, in so much as we thought of it, shattered by the Highands. Bohemians intermixed with yuppies, hipsters, up and comers, and came and wenters. Bars and great restaurants abounded and they were just a short walk from affordable housing.

Anywhere, here are some of my favorites perks of living in Louisville. Feel free to add your own Louisville favorites in the comments.

• Affordable housing in a great location: Having just moved here from Washington, DCVirginia, I can't emphasize this feature enough. Sure, there's affordable housing in a lot of cities, but would you really want to live in Baltimore?
• The psych professor who frequents my bar of choice and regales us with tales of how much he likes hippie girls and moves from wine to martinis to bourbon
• Bourbon: At first I started drinking it because I felt obliged to (and it was a common housewarming gift. Now I drink it because I want to.
• Everyone has an interesting side gig: It seems two-thirds of Louisville residents are in a band and the rest either sculpt, paint or write
• The ability to make an impact: In just a few months I've found several cool jobs--including this one
• Derby: The run up to it and the race itself (I've been told that this feeling will fade after having lived here for a few years)

(Photo: SauceSupreme)