I just thought he was talking about someone else named Kaitlin, and not our Katie? I don't know though!

No, it was during one of Saleem's "lectures" and they have a shot of Katie sitting there and in the lower left corner it says Kaitlin. I wasn't sure I was right until I saw a repeat of the episode. :)

I have no idea how much those other cities cost, but I lived in Lexington for 3yrs and my parents still have a house there now. KY has a lot of "old" money and just money in general because of all the horse racing, and vavoline (I used to live next door to one of the owners of the company), among other things. And I'm assuming the girls really do have money because even 1 floor plain ranches there are $250k where in other places $100k. I dunno though, I've never been one to care, but I know Lexington was probably the most expensive place we've ever lived property wise. B/c you buy into an area you want to be a part of.

Though the question wasn't addressed to me, I do have some insight. My parents recently sold their house in Glenview (a very nice area of Louisville, KY) and bought a house in Lexington. The price of the house that they sold was the same as the new one they bought in Lexington. But the new house has an extra 5000 square feet! The price of life is very low in Lexington, and the houses that they show aren't the nicest by far in the city.

The only thing you could buy for $250k in SF is a parking space. seriously. In the suburbs [ie nice areas of Oakland] you need to spend at least $310 to get a 1 bedroom condo.

Okay, so while we continue to stay off topic :p- is there a greater earning potential there or what? Or more poverty? Like I get cost of living differs in places, but is the average yearly salary that much greater there that the homes and cost of living is kind of in direct relation to it or is it really just that much more?

Because I can get a lot here in say, NC for $250. By no means everything, but I'd be living nicely to put it simply.

There's no land to build on. The city and county of San Francisco is on a peninsula, and I'd say up to 1/3 or the city is parks. The building is worth something, but the land is worth more. There's also the issue of units available to rent, and there aren't many. Luckily there is excellent public transportation to the East & South Bay, and north to Marin and Sonoma counties, so people buy homes where there is room to build and commute.

Yes, I'm pretty familiar with the area. I know several people who live in those neighborhoods, actually.

Compared to other areas, yes, I'm sure Lexington is inexpensive. However, Lexington is expensive compared to most other places in Kentucky. A three-bedroom starter home here costs about $120,000 whereas that same money will buy you a very large historic house in my hometown. But generally speaking, the neighborhoods where the girls on the show live are some of the wealthier ones. Lots of professionals live there. Houses there are pretty expensive by Lexington standards. Dunbar is considered the "nicest" school in Lexington in terms of the, er, clientele.

So I guess the people on the other message board are half right--Lexington is less expensive than cities like Boston and LA but the girls on the show are definitely well-off at least.

Edited to Add: One thing that strikes me as funny about this show is how the girls talk. Some of them, especially Chelsea (I think that's her name), sound like they're from more rural areas of the state. Everyone I know who was raised in Lexington has what I called "the Lexington accent"...they don't sound like people further north, exactly, but they definitely don't sound "country," either. It's hard to explain unless you actually hear it. These girls don't have it, though.

Thank you! That's been driving me crazy. I was thinking that maybe Chelsea grew up in Glascow or BG or somewhere, then moved to Lexington?

All this talk about the cheerleaders being from richer areas is related to what's happening nationwide. Because you have to have a fair amount of money to pay for tumbling classes and maybe all-star cheer squads, many cheer squads only field girls whose families have money. My children's high school is 55% nonwhite but just about the only nonwhite members they've had for years have been my daughters. The kids who haven't been able to afford tumbling don't even try out any more, not even for the basketball cheer squad that doesn't even require tumbling.

A poster on the other board mentioned that the Dunbar girls live in a Lexington development called "Copperfield". Any of you Lexington gals familiar with it?

It's pretty scary how much stuff you can find out about people on the Internet, now that I think about it.

It's over off Clay's Mill Road. Although I'm not sure that helps any. :p

To Carnation...you're absolutely right. Tumbling lessons are required but expensive. My oldest sister owned a tumbling gym for several years, and you wouldn't believe the amount of money parents were shelling out for those classes.

Oh, THAT Copperfield! :D

It's definitely a "newer" area in terms of "nice" houses. Your typical cookie cutter neighborhood. There are a lot of other areas that are more established in terms of wealth and beautiful homes.

It's in a nice area, but it's a newer neighborhood (I remember when they were building all that stuff out there!). Some friends of my family live in the neighborhood across the street from Copperfield. Most of the houses are pretty good sized, but they seem sort of cheaply built...I don't know. I think UKTriDelt hit the nail on the head by calling it "cookie cutter," because it really is. Houses over there cost more, though, because it's considered a good area. It's the kind of neighborhood where I would imagine people with new money living, because the ones with older money tend to live outside of town or in historic neighborhoods like Chevy Chase.

I really hope there's another season of this show. Even if it's with a different school, I'm just so into it it's crazy. :p