[jsouth1]

My wife, my 16 month old little boy, and I are planning on relocating in the near future. We've narrowed it down to the Nashville, TN area and the Fayetteville/Bentonville area. We currently live in Baton Rouge, LA and we hate it for multiple reasons. We were just wondering if anyone could give us any opinions on the two cities, and especially if anyone has moved from Nashville to Fayetteville or vice versa. School districts, outdoor activities, weather, housing costs, taxes, and any else that we should know. Thank you.

[GetmeoutofAR]

i gurantee u the weather in Fayetteville/Bentonville is colder than Nashville

[10-intuition]

I've been to both places and stayed for several days in these areas. I have a cousin that lives in Nashville. Personally, I prefer Nashville over NWA. Nashville has more things to do and is a much larger city. Nashville has Opryland and a lot of venues that revolve around country music. The closest thing to NWA that has this would be Branson, but that is an hour and a half away. Both regions have outdoor type places and lakes for activities.

Note that sales tax in Nashville, TN is 9.25% on most goods, but residents don't pay any income taxes. I believe Rogers and Bentonville's sales tax is 9%, if I remember correctly. Also, in Arkansas they collect income tax. Out of this Nashville sounds better. Also, housing in Nashville is affordable though NWA probably has better deals on housing. Both places have good schools, just need to find out from locals where the good districts are.

[Bufford]

I'm trying to decide the same thing. Between Nashville & Fayetteville. I like both for different reasons. We want move next year, but trying to decide. I do know Nashville has less taxes then NWA. They don't have personal property taxes or income taxes. Seems like NWA homes are less expensive. I've been researching both of them for a year! I recently had someone tell me that Hot Springs, AR is really nice, so now I'm researching there also. They are both very pretty. The main thing I am concerned about at this time is jobs.

[Bufford]

Originally Posted by GetmeoutofAR

i gurantee u the weather in Fayetteville/Bentonville is colder than Nashville

I've been watching the temps & they have been fairly close. I think NWA gets more snow.

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by 10-intuition

I've been to both places and stayed for several days in these areas. I have a cousin that lives in Nashville. Personally, I prefer Nashville over NWA. Nashville has more things to do and is a much larger city. Nashville has Opryland and a lot of venues that revolve around country music. The closest thing to NWA that has this would be Branson, but that is an hour and a half away. Both regions have outdoor type places and lakes for activities.

Note that sales tax in Nashville, TN is 9.25% on most goods, but residents don't pay any income taxes. I believe Rogers and Bentonville's sales tax is 9%, if I remember correctly. Also, in Arkansas they collect income tax. Out of this Nashville sounds better. Also, housing in Nashville is affordable though NWA probably has better deals on housing. Both places have good schools, just need to find out from locals where the good districts are.

I agree. I would do Nashville over anywhere in Arkansas any day.

[Stormcrow73]

Never lived in Nashville but been through there several times. It seems like a fine city to me and would be fairly high on my list of alternatives if there were the type of work there I'd like to do. I'm attached to Arkansas though and wouldn't trade. The way I see it, if you want the major metro amenities with all the good and bad that is associated with that then Nashville would be a fine choice with it's proximity to nature, low COL, etc. However, if you'd prefer easy access to everything afforded by a mid-sized metro (again with the good and bad tradeoff), NWA would top the list. Obviously, you give up some amenities in NWA for a more casual, less hectic way of life. Locals to the area like to complain about traffic and while NWA does need more infrastructure, it isn't going to compare to a major city like Nashville.

In my mind, the trade you need to consider is on the size.

[strumpeace]

Originally Posted by 10-intuition

Nashville has Opryland and a lot of venues that revolve around country music.

Opryland was closed and dismantled more than a decade ago.

[GetmeoutofAR]

Originally Posted by Bufford

I've been watching the temps & they have been fairly close. I think NWA gets more snow.

NWA is both farther inland, farther west, and much higher up trust me its colder....Nashville rarely sees a flake of snow except for last night..I think they did get some

[DC at the Ridge]

I just looked at the weather stats for Nashville, and they are very comparable with Fayetteville's. They've been down to 17 in November, they're colder right now than Fayetteville. Comparing the stats between the two, it looks like Nashville gets Fayetteville's weather a day or two later.