Brentwood Downs apartments (Murfreesboro, Franklin, Hendersonville: low income, apartment complexes, lease)

[Beat02]

I'm a single male, 26 years old, and will be going for a 1 bedroom apt. Anything to report on the apartments/area? I am strongly considering signing a lease within the next couple of months.

It's located in Brentwood, near the intersection of Old Hickory and Edmondson Pike. From what I can tell, it's a nice area with plenty of amenities. It seems like a safe, and even relatively upscale area judging from some of the nearby subdivisions. Another question I have is how long would a commute from north Nashville to home take in evening rush hour traffic?

Thanks!

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Beat02

I'm a single male, 26 years old, and will be going for a 1 bedroom apt. Anything to report on the apartments/area? I am strongly considering signing a lease within the next couple of months.

It's located in Brentwood, near the intersection of Old Hickory and Edmondson Pike. From what I can tell, it's a nice area with plenty of amenities. It seems like a safe, and even relatively upscale area judging from some of the nearby subdivisions. Another question I have is how long would a commute from north Nashville to home take in evening rush hour traffic?

Thanks!

NB4 someone says "that's not actually Brentwood." It's in Davidson County, therefore actually it's in Nashville.

That aside, it's the "good" area of Edmondson Pike. There is a mix of upscale in the area (primarily to the west and south), but it's also not far from some plain middle and lower middle class development further down Edmondson.

I can't speak for those apartments in particular, but the location is great as far as access to a modest amount of retail and grocery stores (Publix, Kroger, and Walmart Neighborhood Market are all very close), plus another Kroger and Publix as well as Harris Teeter and Fresh Market about 3 miles away in Brentwood proper.

The added bonus is the Edmondson Branch Library is basically across the street.

Traffic can be a pain along Old Hickory Blvd, and at peak times it might take you a half hour just to get to the interstate (I'm not joking). The return trip isn't quite as bad (because the Brentwood office traffic isn't clogging up the interstate exit quite so much). I would suggest leaving before 7 am if that is an option. There is a significant difference between 6:30 and 7, and 7:30 and 8. Taking Edmondson to Nolensville as an alternate isn't too helpful because of the mass amount of traffic lights you have to go through.

Pros: relatively safe area, even at night. Retail and groceries right next door. Easy public library access.

Cons: Traffic, traffic, and more traffic. Some of the nearby areas may bring some shady individuals, but as of now, it is not a dangerous area.

[Beat02]

Thanks nashvols, you're always a help. Luckily, my morning commute will start around 6am if not a little before that, so I think I'll be ok with morning traffic. It's the getting home (leaving between 4-5pm) that I'm worried about. Not that I'll be in a huge rush, I just despise sitting in traffic (don't we all).

I had been wondering how that works with the Brentwood/Nashville thing. So there is an area of what is technically Nashville but that is lumped in with Brentwood, and then the downtown area of Brentwood is its own city. I was confused about that, mainly because I had seen, on several occasions, Metro Nashville cops patrolling around where the apartments are, but I know someone who said they were testing with "Brentwood Police dept" recently. So until now I had just assumed Brentwood wasn't technically its own city and just a Nashville neighborhood.

As you can see I'm a n00b.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Beat02

Thanks nashvols, you're always a help. Luckily, my morning commute will start around 6am if not a little before that, so I think I'll be ok with morning traffic. It's the getting home (leaving between 4-5pm) that I'm worried about. Not that I'll be in a huge rush, I just despise sitting in traffic (don't we all).

I had been wondering how that works with the Brentwood/Nashville thing. So there is an area of what is technically Nashville but that is lumped in with Brentwood, and then the downtown area of Brentwood is its own city. I was confused about that, mainly because I had seen, on several occasions, Metro Nashville cops patrolling around where the apartments are, but I know someone who said they were testing with "Brentwood Police dept" recently. So until now I had just assumed Brentwood wasn't technically its own city and just a Nashville neighborhood.

As you can see I'm a n00b.

Brentwood is in Williamson County, and is it's own city. In fact, it has about 40,000 people, so it's actually one of Nashville's largest suburbs...really the largest true suburb outside of Hendersonville and Smyrna (Franklin and Murfreesboro are county seats and are a little farther away).

Brentwood also does not have apartments (yet -- they are building some condos). So if you come across an apartment community, it is not actually in "Brentwood."

Nashville is in Davidson County, and does not reach out into the other counties. Almost everything in Davidson County, except for the smaller communities of Goodlettsville, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, Belle Meade, Berry Hill, and a tiny portion of Ridgetop, is the city of Nashville.

Since Brentwood is an upscale area, and its "downtown" is near the county line, it's name sort of bleeds across as developers would like to attract residents to the Brentwood name. Technically, you would be closer to being in Crieve Hall, but Brentwood sounds better to developers.

Also, the entirety of Old Hickory Boulevard is in Davidson County. So if you are on that road, you are not in Brentwood. Period. There are some areas where it comes very close (between Franklin Road and Granny White Pike, almost everything on the south side of the street is in Brentwood), but the road itself is not. The county line also runs at an angle, so some roads, like Church Street/Cloverland Drive start in Brentwood, but end up in Nashville. Old Smyrna Road is mostly in Brentwood, but its terminus on Edmondson Pike is in Davidson County. Edmondson Pike itself does not enter Brentwood until after you pass Holt Road. Nolensville Road comes very close to Brentwood at Concord Road (once again, Concord Road terminates in Davidson County.

Here's a map with the Brentwood boundaries highlighted. This should help you with some of the confusion. Quite a few neighborhoods along the county line are split between Brentwood and Nashville.

Brentwood, TN - Google Maps

Btw, you can type in any city name into Google Maps and it will give you an outline of the official borders (as long as it is an incorporated city).

[BirdieBelle]

Nicely done, Nashvols.

Beat, those apartments are nice, or they were the last time I looked into living there. It was several years ago, though.

That area is convenient and very lively. Nashvols covered the cons very well.

[airen123]

Have several friends who rented there. I used to live nearby at the Arbors and would often jog through the Downs. Great area-convenient to both downtown and Franklin. Check there isn't a loophole with cable-I seem to remember one friend complaining about a contract with Comcast she had to pay upon renting there, and she was planning on being cable-free.

[Beat02]

Thanks, y'all.

I will check into that Comcast cable thing. When the lady showed me a unit, she mentioned it as optional but I'll make sure to look at any fine print before signing anything.

[RazorRob305]

Originally Posted by nashvols

That aside, it's the "good" area of Edmondson Pike. There is a mix of upscale in the area (primarily to the west and south), but it's also not far from some plain middle and lower middle class development further down Edmondson.

.

I wouldn't consider anything on Edmonson Pike bad. I used to live there and walk down to Nolensville Rd. all the time, never had any issues or felt unsafe at all. Had a friend who lived in some of those low income apartments and never had issues walking in there visiting him either, pretty quite community for low income.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by RazorRob305

I wouldn't consider anything on Edmonson Pike bad. I used to live there and walk down to Nolensville Rd. all the time, never had any issues or felt unsafe at all. Had a friend who lived in some of those low income apartments and never had issues walking in there visiting him either, pretty quite community for low income.

I'm not suggesting that the other part of Edmondson is ghetto...but there is a higher concentration of crime towards the north end. The northern end is much more transitional.

[RazorRob305]

Originally Posted by nashvols

I'm not suggesting that the other part of Edmondson is ghetto...but there is a higher concentration of crime towards the north end. The northern end is much more transitional.

Maybe I didn't do my research on crime statistics off of Edmonson Pike, but in my experience I never really heard that many police sirens or saw anything bad off of Edmonson Pike. Never heard stories from my friend about that area either, now down the road in some of those neighborhoods on the other side of Nolensville Rd. was a different case. As far as Edmonson Pike itself, it is basically a white dominated aread until you get near the soccer field on the other side where there are 2 apartment complexes with lots of Mexican, Arab, and African people mixed in, but like I said I had a bar buddy who was African (from Sudan) who lived in those low-income places and I'd always go over there before we went out and it never felt unsafe in that community, just had more of a mix of people which I'm personally more used to.