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I am a Pediatric & Special Needs Chiropractor (Autism, Aspbergers, ADD, SPD ect) who has lived in chicago suburbs (too crazy), small town wisconsin (Amazing, but too many months with snow), and have friends that live in Spring Hill TN. We were there while it was flooding, but still continue to love the town. We are considering moving to TN, and I wanted to know where I can find a blue-collar small town vibe accepting of northerners, with access to nashville/ spring hilll area. I don't want White-collar, snooty areas because that was Chicago suburbs and we couldn't stand it! We're looking for smaller town roughly 30,000 & less. Any suggestions on Smyrna, Lebanon, Dixon, Columbia or Spring Hill? And Also, how is the Special Needs community so that I can make contacts there?
We're looking for smaller town roughly 30,000 & less. Any suggestions on Smyrna, Lebanon, Dixon, Columbia or Spring Hill?
First, I requested that a mod move this to the Nashville Forum. I think you'll get more responses there...
These areas are fairly spread out...Dickson is to the west of Nashville, Lebanon to the east, Smyrna to the southeast, Spring Hill to the south and Columbia way south. All of those areas are commutable to Nashville (Columbia is a stretch, honestly) but not all are commutable to Spring Hill. So I think it might be best if you figured out if being closer to Spring Hill or being closer to Nashville is the most important.
As far as smalltown charm, all of those would qualify except Smyrna. Smyrna is a little different in that it is close to Nashville, but also close to Murfreesboro. It is almost a suburb of both. I think that Smyrna has the least small town individuality of the ones you mentioned. It is really more of a suburb wedged between 2 cities.
If you're most interested in being near Spring Hill, Columbia is close, but I would lean towards Williamson County cities like Fairview, Bon Aqua, Thompson's Station, College Grove, or Eagleville. All of those are very close to Spring Hill and definitely a reasonable commute to Nashville. They're also mostly still "blue collar" even though Williamson County is perhaps the wealthiest county in the state. Plus, Williamson County has a great school system (even if you don't have kids it would help resale value of your home). Finally, Williamson County has experienced a large number of corporate relocations recently (Nissan North America's HQ is there to name one). My guess is that you won't stick out as much in Williamson County as a "northerner" than you might in other smaller cities.
Dickson might also be an option, but I really don't know much about that area at all. It is also in a different county.
Lebanon is just too far away I think. But it definitely is a great smaller town. I wouldn't call it a "small town" because it is the county seat of Wilson County, but it is far enough away from the suburban sprawl to be its own city.
Hope that helps. And if you can give us some more info, it might help us steer you in the right direction.
I am a Pediatric & Special Needs Chiropractor (Autism, Aspbergers, ADD, SPD ect) who has lived in chicago suburbs (too crazy), small town wisconsin (Amazing, but too many months with snow), and have friends that live in Spring Hill TN. We were there while it was flooding, but still continue to love the town. We are considering moving to TN, and I wanted to know where I can find a blue-collar small town vibe accepting of northerners, with access to nashville/ spring hilll area. I don't want White-collar, snooty areas because that was Chicago suburbs and we couldn't stand it! We're looking for smaller town roughly 30,000 & less. Any suggestions on Smyrna, Lebanon, Dixon, Columbia or Spring Hill? And Also, how is the Special Needs community so that I can make contacts there?
Among the ones you listed, I think Spring Hill and Smyrna would be your best bets as far as more transplant-friendly.
Smyrna is a bit over 30,000, though...it will probably be a little over 40,000 when the official census numbers come in.
Spring Hill is somewhere around 27,000, but considering its growth history, it should shoot well past that in the next 10 years.
None of the towns you listed are exceptionally white collar, although Spring Hill (Williamson County side) has some nice areas. I wouldn't call that city snooty, though. Too small-town feeling.
Based on some of the comments you made, here's a ranking of the different "towns" on different factors.
Ranking the areas on median household income:
1. Spring Hill $62,382
2. Smyrna $51,919
3. Lebanon $43,599
4. Dickson $36,410
5. Columbia $36,241
Distance to Nashville (downtown to downtown):
1. Smyrna - 24 miles
2. Lebanon - 32 miles
3. Spring Hill - 34 miles
4. Dickson - 41 miles
5. Columbia - 46 miles
Population - 2009 est (+ % change from 2000):
1. Smyrna - 39,724 (+55.4%)
2. Columbia - 35,248 (+6.6%)
3. Spring Hill - 27,369 (+254.8%)
4. Lebanon - 25,005 (+23.6%)
5. Dickson - 14,019 (+14.5%)
I don't have any information that can help determine which is the best for special needs...but I would probably look somewhere that is closer to Nashville in case your work takes you somewhere besides your town of residence.
To me, Smyrna is the most logical choice. It is the closest to Nashville, and has all of the amenities that a city its size should. It's only about 6-8 miles from Murfreesboro, which is a sizable city itself (pop over 100,000), and about a 20-30 minute drive to Nashville (outside of rush hour). I don't know a whole lot about pediatrics, but Smyrna does have its own hospital with Stonecrest Medical Center (it's pretty new, too). Smyrna's relatively high growth rate makes it favorable to transplants. Smyrna has its share of traffic, but it has 2 interstate exits on I-24, and access to 840 on the SE side, making trips to Lebanon and Franklin rather easy. The major employer of the area is Nissan, which has a massive factory on the south side of town employing 6,000 people. The major drawback to the Rutherford County area is its high growth rate leads to major traffic problems. The County has grown by about 78,000 people in the last 10 years (most in the state). The good news is that it seems Rutherford County has at least recognized that it needs to plan ahead and improve it's infrastructure. However, I wouldn't bank on shorter commute times anytime soon.
Second, I think Spring Hill is a good choice. Traffic towards Nashville can be a pain right before you get to Franklin, but the interstate is being widened to 4 lanes most of the way to Spring Hill (to the 840 bypass). The major drawback of Spring Hill IMO is the almost uncontrolled growth (notice the growth rate I posted) and the lack of good road infrastructure. Thankfully they have Saturn Pkwy (and 840, to some extent), or that place would truly be a nightmare to get around. However, what it lacks in good roads, it makes up for in being more transplant friendly. There are transplants from all over...south, north, west, you name it. Spring Hill got it's boom started with the opening of the Saturn plant about 20 years ago (it's currently closed), so there are still a number of families that hail from the Michigan area living there. Because of the Saturn closure, many people in the area have had to make other arrangements for work, but it is not in as desperate of a situation as many of the small towns in Tennessee (many people work outside of the county, in either Williamson or Davidson Counties).
Lebanon deserves to be in the middle of the pack. It's kind of an unassuming, modest sort of town. Growth is not exploding there, but the town is growing at a healthy rate. It's got a cute little town square (it's a county seat, and historically more of an important town than Spring Hill or Smyrna). It also has a bit of industry in town, but not in the way of a huge car factory like the two above (adding to the blue collar element). There is a decent sized medical center (University Medical Center) in Lebanon, but I can't offer much information about it. Lebanon is not exactly close to the population center, and perhaps not as convenient as Smyrna, but it has a connection to Murfreesboro via 840 (and US 231) as well as Gallatin to the north (via TN 109, which is currently being widened). It is roughly the same distance as Smyrna to Nashville International Airport, but probably quicker when factoring in traffic. Overall, I think it would be a decent place to live, but it is overshadowed by some of the other suburbs in the area.
Dickson and Columbia are toss ups. I don't think either is a bad place...but they are pretty far removed from the rest of the development around Nashville. There is less development between Dickson and Nashville. Dickson still has that quintessential small town with a very small town atmosphere. It has a small downtown, like Lebanon, but not nearly as well kept. Much of the commercial development has spread out along highway 48 towards I-40 (one of many examples of the interstate having a negative impact on a small town's downtown). I'm not sure how inviting the town is to "outsiders" and transplants, although I am sure there are some. I would be cautious about considering to move there, though. I think the faster growing towns would be more friendly to new out-of-town residents (just my opinion). Still, Dickson has a few redeeming qualities. I don't mean to be hard on the town, it just doesn't have much of a 'wow' factor to it.
Columbia is a mid-sized town that used to be one of the most important cities in Middle Tennessee. It's a town with a ton of history, I would say definitely more than any of the other cities you are inquiring about. The town square is still pretty well kept, and has a beautiful courthouse in the middle of it. President James K. Polk grew up in Columbia, and a few of his homes remain there today. There are a number of old churches and historic sites around town, and the setting is quite nice. However, Columbia also has it's share of more run down places. I think the biggest drawback for Columbia is that it is farther from Nashville than any of the other places you listed...farther than I would consider for a commute. Columbia is significantly larger than Dickson, though, and has more amenities. Shopping isn't great, although you would probably find most of anything you need in town (if not, Franklin is 30 minutes up the road, and has loads of retail and restaurants). One of the best kept secrets of Columbia is Maury Regional Medical Center, which is one of the best hospitals in the mid-state. Since Columbia is still the largest city in what I would call "South Middle Tennessee," it still serves as an important economic center for the area.
I would definitely come down and tour around these cities and see which one seems the most welcoming and the most fitting for you. I can't provide much information in regards to the special needs community in any of the areas, so you might research that in order to make a better decision on which of these places would be best for you.
You might also want to check out Gallatin and Springfield. Gallatin is an up-and-coming town in Sumner County (also the county seat). Springfield is a diverse community with about 30,000 people (it's similar to Lebanon in some regards, and about the same distance from Nashville) and Springfield is pretty diverse for a smaller town. It's somewhat larger than Dickson and perhaps a little closer (although the interstate is a bit farther away).
I would agree with nashvols summary. Lebanon in Wilson county is definitely a small to medium town depending on your definition of small town. Drive time to the Nashville airport from Lebanon is about 20 minutes. To some of the bigger medical centers like Vanderbilt, St. Thomas and Baptist you would be looking at a 30-45 minute commute depending. Honestly you'll want to narrow down the area you are going to work in before deciding the area you want to live in. In general it is best if you can live on the side of Nashville you work on. Traffic is by no means as bad as Chicago, which I am familiar with, but it can get old if you have to drive it every day.
Tennessee Rehab Center is a bigger agency that does chiropractic, physical and sports therapy type stuff. I'd probably look at them as a starting place for a possible employer. They have offices all over Nashville and the surrounding areas.
There is not a ton of funding in Tennessee for handicapped individuals. To be blunt there is very little funding and very few programs. We have a handicapped (now adult) son and we've struggled to find services and programs. A few that try but again are limited are United Cerebral Palsy in Nashville, www.ucpnashville.org/. Empower Me Day Camp is a local summer camp for handicap kids, www.empowermedaycamp.com/ in Wilson co. A local employer for handicapped adults also in Wilson County is Prospect, Inc. www.prospectinc.com. Smyrna in Rutherford county has TRC (Tennessee Resource Center) www.tennessee.gov/humanserv/rehab/trc.htm (broken link). I don't know if any of those links will help you, but after living here for 10 years with a handicapped son those are all I know of.
Accepting of northerners is a little tricky. My husband is from Florida and I am originally from northern IL. You'll do better if you don't go too small town. It is not that people are not friendly or polite. They are. But they will always hold you at arms length in the smaller communities because you didn't grow up here. This can be especially true in some of the smaller community churches. (I don't know if that matters to you or not.) In closer to Nashville that is not as true. The areas that are experiencing growth and therefore some of the better places to live right now are Mt. Juliet, in Wilson Co, Gallatin and Hendersonville in Summner Co., Smyrna in Rutherford co. and Williamson Co is definitely growing, but get out your checkbook if you want to live there.
Rutherford, Williamson, Sumner, Davidson and Wilson county all have emissions testing. Not a huge deal as it is a $10 test and if you drive a newer vehicle you should pass. Property taxes are cheap! We don't have a state income tax, which is nice. However, to make up for it we have a 9.25% sales tax. Still nicer than a state income tax. You didn't mention if you are looking to buy a house, but one site I've found and used for MLS search is www.ageeandjohnsonauctions.com/search.cfm If nothing else it should give you a better idea of home prices in the different areas and what is available.
Just research carefully. Keep in mind there are cultural differences. The closer you get to Nashville the more transplants you'll find. Like I said earlier the people here are polite. They talk, work and live at a slower pace than northerners. That alone can take some adjusting to.
Thompson Station is about a 45 minute commute in to Nashville and Spring Hill is located even farther out.
Have you thought about Mt. Juliet? It's a beautiful town, also in Wilson County with Lebanon. Much less redneck than Lebanon, but not snobby at all. It's the best of small town America. We're twenty minutes from Nashville and all it offers yet Mt. Juliet hold firm to small town living. I'm a northerner, I was dragged here kicking and screaming and have fallen in love with my town. The schools are exceptional, there's a true feeling of community, and we leave the house without locking the door. If you haven't checked out Mt. Juliet, I'd definitely give it a look! Good luck.: )
I am a Pediatric & Special Needs Chiropractor (Autism, Aspbergers, ADD, SPD ect) who has lived in chicago suburbs (too crazy), small town wisconsin (Amazing, but too many months with snow), and have friends that live in Spring Hill TN. We were there while it was flooding, but still continue to love the town. We are considering moving to TN, and I wanted to know where I can find a blue-collar small town vibe accepting of northerners, with access to nashville/ spring hilll area. I don't want White-collar, snooty areas because that was Chicago suburbs and we couldn't stand it! We're looking for smaller town roughly 30,000 & less. Any suggestions on Smyrna, Lebanon, Dixon, Columbia or Spring Hill? And Also, how is the Special Needs community so that I can make contacts there?
check out Lascassas.
it's east of Murfreesboro and EXACTLY what you're looking for..alas- it's a 40 minute ride to the airport and Nashville.
Among the ones you listed, I think Spring Hill and Smyrna would be your best bets as far as more transplant-friendly.
Smyrna is a bit over 30,000, though...it will probably be a little over 40,000 when the official census numbers come in.
Spring Hill is somewhere around 27,000, but considering its growth history, it should shoot well past that in the next 10 years.
None of the towns you listed are exceptionally white collar, although Spring Hill (Williamson County side) has some nice areas. I wouldn't call that city snooty, though. Too small-town feeling.
Based on some of the comments you made, here's a ranking of the different "towns" on different factors.
Ranking the areas on median household income:
1. Spring Hill $62,382
2. Smyrna $51,919
3. Lebanon $43,599
4. Dickson $36,410
5. Columbia $36,241
Distance to Nashville (downtown to downtown):
1. Smyrna - 24 miles
2. Lebanon - 32 miles
3. Spring Hill - 34 miles
4. Dickson - 41 miles
5. Columbia - 46 miles
Population - 2009 est (+ % change from 2000):
1. Smyrna - 39,724 (+55.4%)
2. Columbia - 35,248 (+6.6%)
3. Spring Hill - 27,369 (+254.8%)
4. Lebanon - 25,005 (+23.6%)
5. Dickson - 14,019 (+14.5%)
I don't have any information that can help determine which is the best for special needs...but I would probably look somewhere that is closer to Nashville in case your work takes you somewhere besides your town of residence.
To me, Smyrna is the most logical choice. It is the closest to Nashville, and has all of the amenities that a city its size should. It's only about 6-8 miles from Murfreesboro, which is a sizable city itself (pop over 100,000), and about a 20-30 minute drive to Nashville (outside of rush hour). I don't know a whole lot about pediatrics, but Smyrna does have its own hospital with Stonecrest Medical Center (it's pretty new, too). Smyrna's relatively high growth rate makes it favorable to transplants. Smyrna has its share of traffic, but it has 2 interstate exits on I-24, and access to 840 on the SE side, making trips to Lebanon and Franklin rather easy. The major employer of the area is Nissan, which has a massive factory on the south side of town employing 6,000 people. The major drawback to the Rutherford County area is its high growth rate leads to major traffic problems. The County has grown by about 78,000 people in the last 10 years (most in the state). The good news is that it seems Rutherford County has at least recognized that it needs to plan ahead and improve it's infrastructure. However, I wouldn't bank on shorter commute times anytime soon.
Second, I think Spring Hill is a good choice. Traffic towards Nashville can be a pain right before you get to Franklin, but the interstate is being widened to 4 lanes most of the way to Spring Hill (to the 840 bypass). The major drawback of Spring Hill IMO is the almost uncontrolled growth (notice the growth rate I posted) and the lack of good road infrastructure. Thankfully they have Saturn Pkwy (and 840, to some extent), or that place would truly be a nightmare to get around. However, what it lacks in good roads, it makes up for in being more transplant friendly. There are transplants from all over...south, north, west, you name it. Spring Hill got it's boom started with the opening of the Saturn plant about 20 years ago (it's currently closed), so there are still a number of families that hail from the Michigan area living there. Because of the Saturn closure, many people in the area have had to make other arrangements for work, but it is not in as desperate of a situation as many of the small towns in Tennessee (many people work outside of the county, in either Williamson or Davidson Counties).
Lebanon deserves to be in the middle of the pack. It's kind of an unassuming, modest sort of town. Growth is not exploding there, but the town is growing at a healthy rate. It's got a cute little town square (it's a county seat, and historically more of an important town than Spring Hill or Smyrna). It also has a bit of industry in town, but not in the way of a huge car factory like the two above (adding to the blue collar element). There is a decent sized medical center (University Medical Center) in Lebanon, but I can't offer much information about it. Lebanon is not exactly close to the population center, and perhaps not as convenient as Smyrna, but it has a connection to Murfreesboro via 840 (and US 231) as well as Gallatin to the north (via TN 109, which is currently being widened). It is roughly the same distance as Smyrna to Nashville International Airport, but probably quicker when factoring in traffic. Overall, I think it would be a decent place to live, but it is overshadowed by some of the other suburbs in the area.
Dickson and Columbia are toss ups. I don't think either is a bad place...but they are pretty far removed from the rest of the development around Nashville. There is less development between Dickson and Nashville. Dickson still has that quintessential small town with a very small town atmosphere. It has a small downtown, like Lebanon, but not nearly as well kept. Much of the commercial development has spread out along highway 48 towards I-40 (one of many examples of the interstate having a negative impact on a small town's downtown). I'm not sure how inviting the town is to "outsiders" and transplants, although I am sure there are some. I would be cautious about considering to move there, though. I think the faster growing towns would be more friendly to new out-of-town residents (just my opinion). Still, Dickson has a few redeeming qualities. I don't mean to be hard on the town, it just doesn't have much of a 'wow' factor to it.
Columbia is a mid-sized town that used to be one of the most important cities in Middle Tennessee. It's a town with a ton of history, I would say definitely more than any of the other cities you are inquiring about. The town square is still pretty well kept, and has a beautiful courthouse in the middle of it. President James K. Polk grew up in Columbia, and a few of his homes remain there today. There are a number of old churches and historic sites around town, and the setting is quite nice. However, Columbia also has it's share of more run down places. I think the biggest drawback for Columbia is that it is farther from Nashville than any of the other places you listed...farther than I would consider for a commute. Columbia is significantly larger than Dickson, though, and has more amenities. Shopping isn't great, although you would probably find most of anything you need in town (if not, Franklin is 30 minutes up the road, and has loads of retail and restaurants). One of the best kept secrets of Columbia is Maury Regional Medical Center, which is one of the best hospitals in the mid-state. Since Columbia is still the largest city in what I would call "South Middle Tennessee," it still serves as an important economic center for the area.
I would definitely come down and tour around these cities and see which one seems the most welcoming and the most fitting for you. I can't provide much information in regards to the special needs community in any of the areas, so you might research that in order to make a better decision on which of these places would be best for you.
great info - two things - Lebanon has mass transit into Nashville a big plus, and Columbia to me is "old South" in its attitudes - it's great but not transplanted by out of staters like the others..seem like the good old boys still rule the roost.
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