best place for gay family in Nashville area (Nashville-Davidson, Franklin: neighborhoods, public schools)

[daddystef]

Hi everyone. I may be taking a job at Vandy. I am a single gay male with a 4 year old daughter. I want to find an area where we can be around other families, but families who will be more tolerant of a non-traditional family. I live in the burbs now, and am basically the 'only gay in the neighborhood' but I am friends with all my neighbors, who really don't seem to mind that my family looks a little different than theirs, in fact, at times it makes us seem a bit more 'popular' if that makes any sense. Since we are in the Bay Area, there isn't too much in-your-face hate, and there are many alternative families at my daughter's school (single, same sex, adoptive, divorced). I want to find the same sort of neighborhood in the Nash area. Good public schools, safe, a little 'hip' but not a hub for bars...the artsy/educated/diverse (and affordable) area. Does a place like this exist in/around/short commuting distance to nashville?

[septimus]

I wouldn't rule out all the burbs, but some are definitely more conservative than others. I would use city-data's statistics to find an area that has a high concentration of college educated adults since statistically they tend to be more tolerant.

One thing you will need to decide is public or private. Public in Metro Nashville can be hit or mess. Some of the best and some of the worst. East Nashville and Hillsboro Village gay friendly neighborhoods. My gay office manager lived in Sylvan Park. A lot is going to depend on your price point. Franklin and Brentwood are very family friendly suburban areas and I don't think you'll experience any overt bigotry and the public schools are good.

[ariesjow]

I think most of the hip, intown neighborhoods are reasonably gay-friendly here so it's probably a matter of deciding which one is a better fit for other criterias such as price point and size. Your money will take you way further here so you may not be relegated to one of the far out 'burbs if you prefer to be closer. Just make sure that you do your research on the Nashville schools.

Nashville-Davidson County is essentially as gay-friendly as it gets in Tennessee. I think it's one of the more welcoming cities in the Southeast for LGBT people and the city has been on the opposite side of most of the rest of the state on some of the controversial legislative issues recently aimed at LGBT people. Of course, it's still likely going to be quite the culture shock coming from somewhere so incredibly welcoming like SF but I suspect you understand this. You should be fine as long as you don't expect Nashville to be San Francisco.

East Nashville is the most bohemian area of the city and seems to have the most visible concentration of gay households. But I find other areas like 12South, Germantown, Sylvan Park and Hillsboro Village (near Vandy) to generally feel just as accepting towards LGBT people. I think all these neighborhoods are hip and filled with well-educated people. The suburbs here are going to be dramatically less accepting than the ones in the Bay area. I agree with septimus about perhaps looking into Franklin or Brentwood if you prefer the suburban lifestyle. I would be a little bit more careful with some of the surrounding suburbs and satellite towns that are still adjusting to the growth and changing demographics of the metro.

Best of luck to you and your daughter on the potential move.