considering nashville area (Murfreesboro, Franklin, Germantown: 2014, apartment complexes, rental market)

[legoat29]

my wife, brother-in-law(who has cerebral palsy) and I are considering moving to the Nashville area from Fort Worth in the spring of 2014. we have a lot of questions. I work as a waiter/bartender/stagehand. she works as an in home personal care attendant for her brother. we are looking to be anywhere within 30 minutes of downtown Nashville. her finding a job in her current capacity is essential. I can be flexible in the type of job I accept but would prefer to keep it in the same field until I finish school. we range in age between 44-55. we are looking to rent a three bedroom handicap accessible house until we can find some property to purchase that will allow us to live as self-sufficient lifestyle as possible. any information about the job market for personal care attendants/stage personnel/food and beverage industry, cost of living, accessibility to water, programs for the handicapped, neighborhoods, indoor/outdoor activities, weather, etc. would be most appreciated.

[CountryGirl2b=]

That's a pretty broad range of questions . . there IS a search option for the board that you might want to try first. It's really not a job board - unless some of the regulars work in your particular industry, you may have to find that info elsewhere. Like everywhere else, jobs are tight.

As is the rental market. A 3 bedroom handicapped accessible house to rent is a tall order - what is your budget? How much you can spend will really determine where you live. The cost of living here is good compared to the northeast, not sure coming from TX if you will find it much different. You have to pay for heat in the winter months, which you might not have to do in Fort Worth? No state income tax but food is taxed at 9.25%.

What sort of water access are you looking for? Pools? Lakes? For fishing? Boating? We have a couple of big lakes but that's about it. The Florida panhandle is about a 7 hour drive due south if you want a beach!

Weather wise, winters are short but cold. We might have snow a couple times . . . lows can go below freezing. But it's pretty much done with by the end of February. Summers can be hot and humid. Sticky. Sometimes a couple weeks over 100 degrees, last summer I didn't think was that bad. Maybe I got used to it.

Here are a couple of links to disability organizations . .

Tennessee Disability Coalition

Tennessee Disability Pathfinder

Why Nashville?????

[AtticMonkey]

After moving to Nashville from TX I can tell you that it will be pretty much impossible to find a house similar to what you are use to at a reasonable price. The few areas that have affordable nice larger homes are typically in the worst areas of town.

You may want to consider the Mount Juliet area though as it has a Del Webb community and would probably make it easier to find work in her field. Also the homes and cost of living are significantly cheaper.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by AtticMonkey

After moving to Nashville from TX I can tell you that it will be pretty much impossible to find a house similar to what you are use to at a reasonable price. The few areas that have affordable nice larger homes are typically in the worst areas of town.

You may want to consider the Mount Juliet area though as it has a Del Webb community and would probably make it easier to find work in her field. Also the homes and cost of living are significantly cheaper.

Wait...what?

[monicaneubauer]

"we are looking to rent a three bedroom handicap accessible house until we can find some property to purchase that will allow us to live as self-sufficient lifestyle as possible. any information about the job market for personal care attendants/stage personnel/food and beverage industry, cost of living, accessibility to water, programs for the handicapped, neighborhoods, indoor/outdoor activities, weather, etc. would be most appreciated."

The handicapped housing may be a challenge, though there are one level homes available with some frequency. It depends on what level of accessibility you need. I would think there would be some handicapped housing available through some of the apartment complexes that you could put your name on a waiting list for. Since you want to be "out of town" eventually, this may be helpful. The Williamson County area has much availability in the food service industry. The "stage personnel" position may be a bit difficult to get. I don't know about the care attendant industry, but I know there are many companies who do that here, provide care. There are some handicapped programs with Brightstone and Waves in Williamson County. Williamson County can be a bit pricey, depending on your resources. I am not familiar enough with these options in other counties. Rutherford County has a large population and might provide some other good resources. It would also be a good area to move to a more rural property without being too far out.

Good luck,
Monica

[legoat29]

attic monkey-what are the neighborhoods that are older, yet on an upswing?

[AtticMonkey]

I couldn't answer that as I have not lived here long enough. I do believe the Mt. Juliet area will continue to grow nicely and with all of the businesses coming in I would imagine home values will continue to climb. Expect to pay considerably more than you would in TX in the nicer areas of Nashville for similar a sq. ft.

[nashvols]

Well the Mount Juliet area would most certainly not qualify as "older."

You pretty much have to go to the area of Nashville within 5-7 miles of downtown, or the old downtowns/town squares of Franklin, Murfreesboro, Lebanon, Gallatin, Springfield, or Dickson to find anything I would call a "neighborhood" that is older than 1960.

The fully gentrified historic neighborhoods in Nashville are pretty expensive for our terms. Affordability of neighborhoods "on an upswing" kind of depend on what point in the upswing they are at.

Neighborhoods like 12th South (or Belmont/Hillsboro), Sylvan Park, Lockeland Springs, and Germantown are pretty far through the gentrification process...they're hot, and pretty expensive.

Some areas that are just beginning to interest urban pioneers (but have a ways to go) can be a lot more affordable, like Cleveland and McFerrin Parks, Buena Vista, The Nations.

There is a lot in between. I don't really have any data in front of me where I can give you the average prices for each neighborhood, and how far along that neighborhood is. I'm sure someone else out here has a pretty good idea, at least on some of them.

I would honestly say most of the inner city neighborhoods are on some sort of upswing. It really depends on if you are willing to stick it through for several years as the neighborhood transitions.

[legoat29]

thanks nash and attic. the two of you are being most helpful and informative. Murfreesboro is a place that has been considered. we currently live in ft worth and I usually have to commute to dallas for stage work(there just isn't much of it in cowtown), so that drive would not be too much of a problem. the smaller population is appealing as well. is there much separation between there and Nashville? or is it just suburb after suburb along the freeway?

[dngirard]

It's mostly suburbs between Nashville and Murfreesboro. Depending on when you would be going in between them, the traffic on I-24 can get rather nasty (sometimes 60-90 minutes to go 30 miles or so in the thick of rush hour). Murfreesboro Pike isn't any better. If you move up and want to get work as a stagehand, look up Crew One Productions. They handle all of the shows in Bridgestone Arena, LP Field, Nashville Municipal Auditorium, and a few other smaller venues, plus the Bonnaroo Festival every summer. A few of my coworkers there do commute from Murfreesboro, although I'm not sure it's an ideal location.