Any suggestions for Nashville area? (Murfreesboro, Lebanon: rentals, condos, crime)

[poco]

Hi anyone! My boyfriend and I are moving to the Nashville area in September, and wanted to find out if anyone could give us suggestions on the downtown areas? Like any city, there are "good" and "bad" parts. We want to stay within 10-15 minutes of downtown and Music Row, but don't know which areas to steer clear of.. any HELP would be AWESOME! I know we have to be politically correct.. but please be as candid as possible..

[insanesmooch]

I don't know much about living actually in downtown Nashville. I can tell you on the South side of town the roads that become Murfreesboro RD and Nolensville RD (I think they have different names in town) [actually in Nashville the road names change like Briley Parkway changes to Whites Bridge Rd and to something else even though it is one road that circles the city]
Galatin RD coming out of the city is bad, the football colluseum is close to the projects, Dickerson RD is known as the street with the hookers. In downtown, the only decent place I can thing of is that new "gluch" (that is what they call it) and it is expensive. I'm not sure what price range you are looking for in either buying or renting. Out around Opryland, Elm Hill Pk, Lebanon RD may be good if you get far enough from the city Around Belmont University or possible near Vanderbilt may be okay places. If you have specific questions about areas I may can help. My husband grew up in Nashville and I lived in the area several years. If you have questions you feel need be more candid, you can pm me. I'll try to help.

[wellkids]

Originally Posted by poco

Hi anyone! My boyfriend and I are moving to the Nashville area in September, and wanted to find out if anyone could give us suggestions on the downtown areas? Like any city, there are "good" and "bad" parts. We want to stay within 10-15 minutes of downtown and Music Row, but don't know which areas to steer clear of.. any HELP would be AWESOME! I know we have to be politically correct.. but please be as candid as possible..

Like any big city, downtown Nashville has good and bad elements. Most of it is going to depend a lot of your price range. In the true downtown district there are a lot of high-end townhomes and condos. There are also some very seedy areas you would want to steer clear of. East Nashville is an extremely popular area now for young professionals who want to be close to town. There are parts of East Nashville that are great, parts that are still in transition, and parts you would not feel safe in. Sylvan Park is a little farther out from downtown but still very close and a great area ~ but very pricey. You could easily pay $200K or more for an older home with 1200 sq. ft.

Depends on your lifestyle and price range. A city as large as Nashville is just too big to give you a definitive answer as to which side of the tracks to live on.

[poco]

Thank you both for your input! I realize that price-range makes all the difference in any city.. and in the first few months of moving to Nashville, we're gonna try to rent - until we get to know the area better. We'd like to keep it under $1000/month, so that seems to be limiting us to the East Nashville side of town. From the research we've done on crime - there seems to be quite a bit over there. It sounds like we'll probably just have to drive around the neighborhood when we're in town and figure out what parts have been renovated vs. not. It also sounds like probably the renovated parts cater to the "trendier" types of people. We are a young professional couple, but aren't the trendy type.. We want a neighborhood that has down-to-earth people.

Can anyone tell me about Antioch? Green Hills? Shelby Park area in East Nashville (like, should we try to stay away from the actual park?) Inglewood? Donelson?

Okay.. whew! That should do it for now!! I really appreciate all of your feedback!

[akm4]

Green Hills is very nice, probably not much for cheap rentals. Traffic can be bad at peak hours, but great place to live.

Good luck!!

[john1963]

i have lived downtown for 3 years. I would stay near vanderbilt, or in green hills or bellevue. The other areas seem nasty. East nashville is dangerous, all pawn shops, check cashers, liquor stores etc...depressing just to drive trough there.
police.nashville.org has a crime map which is very helpful.