Living in North Nashville??? (Jackson, Germantown: rentals, crime, cheap house)

[milliebee2]

Hi. I was accepted into an x-ray tech program at Nashville General Hospital and was very excited until I tried to find a house to rent with 4 dogs. I don't want to get rid of my dogs so I decided to look for a cheap house to buy. I found two. One is in North Nashville in the Buena Vista area and the other is in North Nashville in Elizabeth Park. I understand that North Nashville is perceived as a dangerous place to live but I live in a shady neighborhood on the south side of Chicago so I am used to living in a not so nice area. Even though I am, unfortunately, used to some level of crime it will be different to live in an unfamiliar depressed area.

My question is this: Can anyone tell me which neighborhood is better or should I say least likely to get me robbed or murdered? I'm asking that somewhat facetiously. The house in Elizabeth Park is on 11th street and the one in Buena Vista is on Middle Street. I would get an alarm and my shepherd is professionally protection trained. To go to school to better my life I am willing to take a risk. If I can't find housing I can't go and will have to endure being cold for the next 7-8 months in Chicago which seems to be starting now. Any advice will be greatly appreciated as I have to make a decision within the next 5 days. Thanks for your time.

[brentwoodgirl]

I'm really only familiar with the businesses in that area, but since you are on quick deadline, I will add what little I can.

Here's the crime mapping link:
http://www.crimemapping.com/map.aspx

Put in the addresses, and then pick a week. When I did it, it defaulted to this week and showed no crime. I had a hard time believing that, so I went back a couple of weeks. And found that a couple of weeks in August had at least 40 crimes per week. And what would concern me is the types of the crimes were assault, burlary, weapons, etc.

I would also be concerned that the house on 11th could have had water damage during the flood last year.

I thought maybe searching in Cheatam or Robertson County might help you find something in your budget, while staying relatively close to school, but there aren't really choices in either. Cheatam has one trailor that looks like it used to be a meth lab. And Robertson has 2 in downtown Springfield (which would be a longer commute), and neither had pictures. And all 3 of those were $8,000 over the houses you mentioned.

It's the price of the houses you mentioned the top of your budget?

[vivelafrance]

You might try the Salemtown neighborhood. It's adjacent to Germantown, probably the nicest part of North Nashville and is an area on the upswing. Salemtown is pretty safe and is going through a neighborhood renaissance. This is a good time to get into the area if you find a home in your budget.

Germantown, Salemtown, and Hope Gardens are the nicest/safest neighborhoods in north Nashville. The Southern part of Buena Vista is also seeing some redevelopment....but not the northern part where middle st is located (this is actually Buena Vista Heights).

[CountryGirl2b=]

Craig's List has an option to look for places that will take dogs. I'm betting if you offered a big enough deposit, someone might let you move in and it would be cheaper than buying. I mean, offer $4,000 or whatever. OR look further out in the "country" to rent? Best of luck to you.

Have you tried looking on RealTracs.com for RENTALS? Quite a few houses available on there . . . .

[MTbound]

Check out East Nashville too. Very dog friendly and accessible to North Nashville while circumventing downtown traffic. We have lived in South Nashville, Green Hills, Bellevue, 12th Ave. S area, and for the the past 2 years east Nashville. We simply LOVE east Nashville - it has some spotty neighborhoods, but a very quirky charm.

[Nash-TN]

Hello, If you have to choose between the two, I would cross out the house on 11th ave North. The Buena Vista neighborhood has more older establishes homes than the Elizabeth park neighborhood, where there are more multi-living dwellings, which typically brings more crime.

The house on middle street is near Rosa Parks Blvd, and Looby Center, which has a libary, park (near the library and also a walking area behind Hull Jackson Montessori school). You would also be near MetroCenter and the interstate.

I would suggest doing a Google Street view of the two, and using the crime map also. You may also want to search the Salemtown area and some areas of Bordeaux....Good Luck!