Which neighborhood for young couple w/ no kids? (Waverly, Berry Hill: rental, house)

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by DonCorleone

Hillsboro Village is a good choice for a more yuppie part of town. 12South would also fit that mold I think.

I would say 12th South is a smaller cross between Hillsboro Village and East Nashville. It's somewhat of a transitioning neighborhood (though it didn't have to transition nearly as far as, say, East Nashville), and really still in the earlier stages of coolness. Although there is some really cool stuff there, it's not as urban as Hillsboro Village, or as expansive as East Nashville. I would say it's commercial area is somewhat comparable to Sylvan Park. Just a little strip of cool restaurants/bars and such.

[makingamove24]

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! From what I could gather, 12South still seems to be developing into its own neighborhood, and is pretty small. What we really liked about Sylvan Park is that its a quiet neighborhood but it's super close to West End, where we could find lots to do and see. But it seems like ya'll are pushing us away from Sylvan Park in favor of East Nashville and other neighborhoods... any particular reason for that?

[steindle]

Originally Posted by makingamove24

Baltimore is not walkable at all!

I guess you'd know better than me, but on walkscore.com, Baltimore has 21 neighborhoods rated at 90% walkable or more and Nashville has 1. And that is Downtown, where people don't really live.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by makingamove24

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! From what I could gather, 12South still seems to be developing into its own neighborhood, and is pretty small. What we really liked about Sylvan Park is that its a quiet neighborhood but it's super close to West End, where we could find lots to do and see. But it seems like ya'll are pushing us away from Sylvan Park in favor of East Nashville and other neighborhoods... any particular reason for that?

Well I don't think people are intentionally trying to steer you one way or another. It just happens that we have a number of posters from the East Nashville area...not so much from Sylvan Park. A lot of East Nashvillians are very loyal and supportive of their neighborhood (not that they aren't in SP).

Sylvan Park is a much smaller neighborhood than all that makes up EN...both in terms of land area and population. East Nashville is a section of town, rather than just a neighborhood. About 60,000 people live in the river bend, with I-65/24 bordering the west side, and Briley Parkway in the north. Sylvan Park on the other hand, has about 5-6,000 people in a smallish area bordered by railroad tracks, Charlotte Pike, McCabe Park, and I-440.

There are a lot of very different neighborhoods of East Nashville...Edgehill, East End/5 Points, Lockeland Springs, Cleveland Park, McFerrin Park, Greenwood, Eastwood, South Inglewood, Inglewood, Shelby Hills, and on and on. But because of the geography, that area is more of a solid "section" of town than any other. North, West, and South Nashville are much harder to define (Sylvan Park is West Nashville, btw...12th South is...kinda South Nashville...again, the definitions vary).

The best thing to do...explore! Find the neighborhood and area of town that feels most comfortable for you. All of these places are about 2-4 miles from downtown. Each have their pros and cons, and are at different stages of development or redevelopment. The more "mature" the area, the more expensive it will be, though.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by steindle

I guess you'd know better than me, but on walkscore.com, Baltimore has 21 neighborhoods rated at 90% walkable or more and Nashville has 1. And that is Downtown, where people don't really live.

Most of the areas mentioned in this thread are at least fairly walkable. Sure, there are some sidewalk gaps...and things are more spread out here than in a lot of cities...but if you're looking for walkable areas of Nashville, most of the gridded area of town is at least somewhat walkable. Terrain plays as much of a factor as anything in Nashville's inner city walk scores.

[makingamove24]

Thanks again for all your feedback, everyone. In my continued search, two areas we didn't initially have on our short list have been coming up, both on here and elsewhere: Hillsboro Village and 12 South. Can you tell me about these areas and if they would be a good fit for us? Also, what's the deal with Berry Hill?

[steindle]

Originally Posted by makingamove24

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! From what I could gather, 12South still seems to be developing into its own neighborhood, and is pretty small. What we really liked about Sylvan Park is that its a quiet neighborhood but it's super close to West End, where we could find lots to do and see. But it seems like ya'll are pushing us away from Sylvan Park in favor of East Nashville and other neighborhoods... any particular reason for that?

This is going to sound like a sarcastic question, but I am actually genuinely curious: What is there to do and see on West End? I'm willing to give it another chance.

My wife and I lived directly off of West End for a year and kind of detested it -- it's literally 6-8 lanes at many points, completely full of sign-on-a-stick chain restaurants & stores, and walking on it is like being among the last people on earth (I would walk ~15 blocks to school and it would literally be exclusively me and homeless people).

12 South is kind of spread out, but I think it's a lot more attractive and livable than West End, personally.

[Alkonost]

Originally Posted by nashvols

From the article:



That's sound advice for anyone, regardless of what part of town you live in.

Also get a good Medeco lock cylinder with a drill-deterring bodyguard plate on the outside and a jimmy-proof deadlock (also known as a "dropbolt") on the inside- do this for ALL your exterior doors. Also, each door should have a minium of two locks per door (one of them should be a dropbolt). Burglars are likely to hit any place they think they can get in and out of fast. No lock will stop someone who is determined, but the random burglar only hits easy targets. The longer they're out there messing with your front door, the higher the chance of them being seen and getting caught. One look at my front door and burglars walk the other way.

A relative of mine moved into his new apartment, and right away someone tried to break in. We put two medeco locks on the door when we helped him move in, the burglar couldn't even bust through the first lock. They put so much force on the cylinder that it was inoperable when they were through with it, but the lock held. It wasn't until we tried to unlock the front door after doing a grocery shopping run that we realized something wasn't right. Then we noticed the scratches on the lock, and the crow-bar marks on the door frame, and the first cylinder was jammed. We had to get a locksmith to open the door.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by makingamove24

Thanks again for all your feedback, everyone. In my continued search, two areas we didn't initially have on our short list have been coming up, both on here and elsewhere: Hillsboro Village and 12 South. Can you tell me about these areas and if they would be a good fit for us? Also, what's the deal with Berry Hill?

The drawback to Hillsboro Village would simply be that it is heavily influenced by Vanderbilt. It's a popular hangout for students. It's certainly not exclusive to them...but considering its location, it should be no surprise that students are prevalent in the area. If that doesn't bother you (and it might not at your age/stage in life), then it might be a good fit. The small commercial strip is pretty cool...but perhaps not as "authentic" as say, East Nashville. But Hillsboro Village also has the Belcourt, which is known for showing Indie movies, and is the center of Nashville's "film scene." It definitely has that going for it.

12th South, as steindle said, is a little more spread out...but I'd say it's a lot quieter than Hillsboro Village. It's still somewhat of a transitioning area, but I think it's in the later stages of it. Housing values are increasing quite a bit...and if you could afford a decent house in that area, you might find it to be a good long term investment. I think that neighborhood has a very bright future (especially as the adjacent Melrose and Waverly-Belmont areas continue to improve).

Berry Hill...Berry Hill within the city limits has very, very few residents. It has actually declined in population over the past 20 years...down to 537 total residents for 2010. The city is primarily made up of commercial and industrial properties, small businesses professionals (dentist offices, law firms), and small independent restaurants, and a rather large cemetery. Living options in Berry Hill are quite small. As far as I know, the only actual residential housing in the area is off of Rosedale Av...and I have no idea what living there is actually like...but it is separated by I-440 to the primary commercial area of Berry Hill...not a walkable area by any means. Most of the houses in Berry Hill have been converted to the aforementioned small professional businesses and restaurants.

I think when a lot of people mention "Berry Hill" as a place to move, they are actually referring to adjacent areas in Melrose (city of Nashville) and Oak Hill (its own city), which are outside of Berry Hill's tiny 1 square mile city limits. Melrose (along 8th Ave near I-440) is actually mostly in the city of Nashville, with the exception of most of the right-hand side (going northbound) of 8th and a tiny section of the left-hand side going up to Bradford Ave. There has been proposed mixed use development in that area that some day might add to Berry Hill's actual population...but for the time being, the residential options there are extremely limited.

[makingamove24]

Originally Posted by steindle

This is going to sound like a sarcastic question, but I am actually genuinely curious: What is there to do and see on West End? I'm willing to give it another chance.

My wife and I lived directly off of West End for a year and kind of detested it -- it's literally 6-8 lanes at many points, completely full of sign-on-a-stick chain restaurants & stores, and walking on it is like being among the last people on earth (I would walk ~15 blocks to school and it would literally be exclusively me and homeless people).

12 South is kind of spread out, but I think it's a lot more attractive and livable than West End, personally.

This is interesting... we haven't spent much time on West End at all so we could be totally wrong in our initial assumptions! It just seemed like there were a lot of restaurants and shops... chains, yes, but there's also Centennial Park right there which has a lot of events from what I can gather.

I appreciate your perspective though! That's why I'm here