Moving to Nashville (Franklin, Midtown: real estate, houses, universities)

[Dana E.]

My husband and I are thinking of moving from CT to the Nashville area. We are in our 30's and we want to make sure we move to a liberal, progressive community. Ideally I would like a neighborhood of older homes on a tree lined street.
Can anyone make a recommendation? We need to be w/in a reasonable commute to Nashville but not necessarily in the city.
Thanks!

[alleycat]

Possibly the older west Nashville neighborhoods in what the real estate people call Area 2 (which are also near Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities and the somewhat liberal area of Midtown), or the Edgehill area. East Nashville might also be possibilities, although it is still in a transitional stage (but getting better).

I don't think I would call Nashville "liberal" but it is tolerant for the most part; it's more of a personal thing here than a social movement. The general attitude here is something like "government should do what's required and needed, but no more." It is no where near as "liberal" as most of the Northeast or parts of California. Many of us like it that way; you may not.

[redbirds1608]

i would move to Belmont Blvd. It is an eclectic area with great houses with front porches. The Belmont area is right near Belmont Univ, one of the most liberal Christian schools in the southeast, i'd say (i went there)! anyway, its beautiful and has the tree lined streets. There is a really cool underground music scene in the Belmont/Hillsboro Village area...
ALso, it is close to the cool/chic hillsboro village area which is near Vanderbilt Univ. There are neat coffee shops and cool restaurants. I live in that area and have for years.

[gbone]

The Belmont/Hillsboro Village areas would definitely be a possibility as other posts have noted. A primary concern could be cost. The area is somewhat pricey for homes in good condition. If you don't mind a fixer-upper you may find something more reasonable. Just depends on what you are able and willing to spend.

[gbone]

I don't know what your price range is nor what amenities you are looking for but I did a quick search on prices in the Belmont and Hillsboro Village areas. Hillsboro Village has six homes listed ranging from 334k to 549k. Belmont has forty nine homes listed with forty of them over 300k. Of the nine under 300k, most of them have 1000-1600sf.

[Carol McCullough]

All the suggestions so far are great. Alleycat mentioned East Nashville. I would say there are parts of East Nashville that are past the transitional stage (near 5 points). It all depends on the price point you are looking for. I live in one of the more transitional parts on the other side of Ellington Parkway (and got my house cheap!).

East Nashville is about as progressive as it gets in Nashville. It also has new interesting and quirky businesses to walk to opening up at an extremely rapid pace. It definitely has the tree-lined streets and older homes.

[Dana E.]

Thanks for your help, I will look into those areas.

[alleycat]

Just a note . . . You can trust someone else's opinion of East Nashville more than mine. I'm not over there very much anymore. Ten or twenty years ago it wasn't a very good place to live. There has been news stories, and posts here, about how much it's improved. I'll take their word for it.

[septimus]

there are some liberals in Franklin too... most of us are from the Northeast, although we've found some "natives" too.

[watchmanonthewall]

what exactly do you mean? No hidden agenda here, I just want to know what you mean exactly when you say I'm liberal or progressive, etc...