Need help selecting a good area to move into (Murfreesboro: for sale, skateboarding)

[jlanderson09]

Our family will be relocating to the Nashville area in mid-October. Our two main concerns are schools (particularly High School) and area. I work from home, but my husband will be looking for work in the manufacturing industry of Welding. We are OK with a short commute.

There are a few areas we are thinking about and would like your opinion:

Mt. Juliet - our first choice. We like that the area is new and has good schools. However, I have found the cost of renting or owning is a little higher.
LaVergne - The area has better affordable housing, but I've heard the area is not very good.
Franklin - Good schools, high housing.
Spring Hill - Nice area

This is what we would like to be around:
-Parks (skate parks)
-River or lakes
-Country, but still close enough to shopping and restaurants
-Houses that are not right on top of each other. We don't want our neighbor to be a arms length away.
- Large yard
- Around people who understanding the meaning of being real

We consider ourselves pretty down to earth people. Enjoy the outdoors whether it be BBQ'ing with friends, riding our quads, fixing up the house or just hanging out watching a movie. The culture of life is very important to us and want to live around like minded individuals.

Any ideas on the best area for us is greatly appreciated.

[CountryGirl2b=]

Hi! I have only been here a year so can't really give you too much help but I know the 'drill' . . .

The fine folks on here who REALLY know the area will ask what you expect to spend on a house, how many bedrooms you need, the ages of the children (for school purposes), and really, as far as a commute goes, that's impossible to predict until your husband finds a job.

Did you want to rent first? If so what do you want to spend?

TN is conservative but there are lots of liberals around.

Where will you be moving from???

OK, those answers will most help the people on the board who really know Nashville . .

[Why_Am_I_Here]

Look at Smyrna....
-above average schools
-good home prices
-lake (Percy Priest)
-plenty of parks (not sure if there are any skate parks)
-rural parts but close enough to shopping (WalMart/Target/Publix)

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by jlanderson09

Our family will be relocating to the Nashville area in mid-October. Our two main concerns are schools (particularly High School) and area. I work from home, but my husband will be looking for work in the manufacturing industry of Welding. We are OK with a short commute.

There are a few areas we are thinking about and would like your opinion:

Mt. Juliet - our first choice. We like that the area is new and has good schools. However, I have found the cost of renting or owning is a little higher.
LaVergne - The area has better affordable housing, but I've heard the area is not very good.
Franklin - Good schools, high housing.
Spring Hill - Nice area

This is what we would like to be around:
-Parks (skate parks)
-River or lakes
-Country, but still close enough to shopping and restaurants
-Houses that are not right on top of each other. We don't want our neighbor to be a arms length away.
- Large yard
- Around people who understanding the meaning of being real

We consider ourselves pretty down to earth people. Enjoy the outdoors whether it be BBQ'ing with friends, riding our quads, fixing up the house or just hanging out watching a movie. The culture of life is very important to us and want to live around like minded individuals.

Any ideas on the best area for us is greatly appreciated.

Have you considered Hendersonville? It's located right on Old Hickory Lake, has excellent schools, a nice park system including a small skate park, and pretty much everything else you listed. I would look at homes in the Beech School district...they have the country feeling while still being close to the Indian Lake shopping/dining district of Hendersonville.
The homes may be a bit more expensive than Mt. Juliet but less than Franklin. It is 15-20 minutes from downtown without traffic.

I would not recommend La Vergne at all....it is nothing like the other cities you mentioned. There is a good reason that the housing is cheap.

I would also be cautious about Spring Hill. It's a long haul from Nashville and uncontrolled growth plus the recent theme park debacle makes me seriously question the city's leadership. It doesn't seem to be headed in a good direction.

Mt. Juliet and Franklin are both great areas. Good luck with your search!

[buddyjo143]

I don't think you will be riding quads in LaVergne. It is more city than rural.

Do you need the internet to work from home? When my husband and I were looking we considered Spring Hill, Smyrna and Murfreesboro. The drawback for us and Spring Hill was that high speed internet was not available at the time. Don't know if it has changed in a year but you may want to check that out.

Parts of Murfreesboro and surrounding Rutherford County are more rural and you will find some decent high schools here. I don't think we have any skate parks here but I see teens downtown on Sundays, skateboarding.

[ExIslander]

The most densely populated areas of Mt. Juliet are north of I-40 (except for Providence) and west of Mt. Juliet road. If you go east or south a little bit, you'll quickly get into semi-rural and should have more options while still being close to the shopping zones. Highway 109 to the east is the unofficial dividing line between Mt. Juliet and Lebanon, and unless you live in the north/west area of MJ, odds are you'll be zoned for Wilson Central High School anyway and that's out by the intersection of 109/Central Pike. There are a lot of nice places out along Central Pike and Stewarts Ferry. Not sure how many are available to rent, though.

Since it was high on your list, I'm sure you were already aware of the skating area at Charlie Daniels Park in Mt. Juliet.

[JoshandKara]

We moved to Mt Juliet in November and seem to really like it here. We are renting a house in a semi-rural area on over an acre and even have our landlord's horses/pasture/etc out back. I too work from home, and have a 4 & 6 year old, so I wanted to be sure we were in a home that really felt like an excellent fit for us (especially with still having a house in the midwest still for sale that has been on the market for over a year now). House rentals here do seem to go really fast... we really lucked out with our house, as there were many applicants after just the 1st day of being posted on craigslist. Schools seem to be great, my DD also has a food allergy, and Stoner Creek Elementary has been really great to work with and we really like the school. If you have any other questions feel free to message me! Franklin has always been my dream to live in, but with carrying 2 house payments and my husband's job based from Lebanon, it just wasn't feasible. So we visit there often. There's also easy access to state parks nearby and even heading East on I-40 to more great outdoor areas to hike, picnic, etc. I don't think you could go wrong with Mt. Juliet.