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It's these lines I thought appropriate:
"Not everybody drives a truck, not everybody drinks sweet tea
Not everybody owns a gun, wears a ball cap boots and jeans
Not everybody goes to church or watches every NASCAR race
Not everybody knows the words to "Ring Of Fire" or "Amazing
Grace"
I'm a New Yorker and a Vanderbilt parent. Vanderbilt is awesome. Congratulations to be accepted into one of the top facilities in the US. It's a great campus in a fabulous location.
Throw out any notions that this is going to be some type of sleepy hick town. It's diverse and cosmopolitan. Vanderbilt faculty, undergrad, grad, and professional schools attract people from all over the world and therefore, is no different from any other top notch academic institution. The speaker at last year's graduation was Tom Brokaw and past speakers include Laura Bush and Condaleeza Rice. However, unlike NYC top schools, Vanderbilt has an extremely active athletic program and there is a great deal of support from the local community, not just students. BTW, there's a pretty good farmer's market in season by the hospital. Feel free to DM me with any specific questions from you or your wife and I'll try to answer.
Radnor is a scenic lake that you would hike around and enjoy the shoreline but if you're looking for boating then Percy Priest or Old Hickory are best...both within the city.
Percy Priest also has some great hiking. There are a few awesome trails starting at Long Hunter State Park, and also a picnic area right on the bluffs over the water. That was a bit of an oasis for my wife and me during our first couple years here, after moving down from New England. We haven't been there as much since we moved up to Goodlettsville, though.
I'm a native New Yorker that's lived both Upstate and down; I moved here a year and a half ago and plan on being here awhile. I'm post grad and a bit younger but I've found dozens of Northeasterners to hang out with and a number of Southern folks as well. The main complaint I here from my friends from Boston and New York is the lack of public transport and walkability although this doesn't bother me that much. Culturally, I find Nashville to match up pretty well with some upstate cities like Rochester or Syracuse, obviously Nashville is much nicer, warmer and prosperous. Nashvols advice on constantly comparing Nashville to NYC is important, but I will say that whenever I compare Nashville to the Northeast, Nashville comes out on top.
RJS5689... Hilarious that I found a fellow Westchester resident to give me some advice on Nashville!...
Small world, isn't it? I was born and raised in Scarsdale, left for college and then came back to NY for work. I'm one of the few people my age who prefers living in Westchester and commuting to the city, so I now call Dobbs Ferry home.
There's been a lot of good information in this thread. As people have mentioned, Nashville isn't made up of hicks driving huge trucks; the city is a lot more cosmopolitan than us Northeasterners would think. Not everyone listens to country music, although there is an AWESOME country music scene (yes, I'm a New Yorker who also loves country music). Some of my colleagues looked at me funny when I told them I was going to Nashville. One even said something along the lines of "what do they even have to do down there?"
There isn't much in the way of public transit, but that didn't bother me much. It's definitely a city in which you will need a car to get around. Again, as a New Yorker I found it shocking how spread out things can actually be. If you do a Google Maps search for the term 'Nashville' you'll see how large of an area actually makes up the city.
Some more good information is to NOT compare Nashville to New York. Actually, you shouldn't try comparing anywhere to New York; I've found New York usually wins by a landslide. When I was in LA last summer I couldn't stop comparing things out there to how they are in New York (in my head, of course). I didn't find myself doing this in Nashville, though. Perhaps it's so different from New York I didn't want to try making the comparison.
I'm trying to plan a trip back down in June to attend the CMA Music Festival, but I'm having a hard time finding a New York friend who will go... surprise, surprise!
Keep us posted on what you think. I'm excited to hear another New Yorker's take on this fun southern city!
Hey all, here are my thoughts after visiting the city again this weekend with my wife... We're super stressed out about our decision. Essentially, we're between Boston, Chicago, and Nashville as our top 3 preferences. Just don't know which will be 1, 2, or 3... and we have to decide SOON.
Impressions
- a lot of hustle and bustle around, in a good way. We were glad to see there was decent foot traffic in numerous parts of the city, and that was great. Even on Sunday early afternoon it didn't feel deserted at all
- The weather might be the best out of all three of our top choices. Not because it doesn't get cold there (it literally snowed), but because it seems like there's times of sun and it just feels like a less depressing winter there, which is awesome
- We really liked the areas around Vandy... Hillsboro Village was nice (ate at the Pancake Pantry, which gave me easily the best pancake I've EVER had). We also liked 12South area a lot, which had the coolest vibe to it. We'd probably want to live in one of those places because they seemed very walkable. At the same time, we checked out housing prices (even went to an open house), and noted that those areas are fairly expensive. Not that we couldn't swing it - I think we could - but it's pricey. There also seemed to be virtually no rental market around there. Factor in that we have a big dog, and we'd probably be buying.
- IN that vain... Our observation is that the whole city seems "spotty". For example, we'd be driving around Hillsboro village, there'd be some cool/funky stores and stuff, and then all of a sudden there's 3 empty storefronts in a row. Similarly, we'd pick a side street to drive down, there's some very nice houses and it seems like a cute neighborhood, but then two more houses down look like they haven't been touched since the 60's. This seemed to be the case in a lot of areas we checked out.
- As I mentioned, we'd like to be in a walkable area. From what I can tell, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but that could be tough there. First, exclude the downtown scene. That's a fun area, but we'd not be interested in living there. So that leaves a few other areas, like the ones I've mentioned, and maybe Sylvan Park (also seemed pretty spotty). There's a little area in East Nashville too, I guess, but I think we'd rather be closer to Vandy. So, this was a bit of a turnoff. In other words, where we currently live, we have to drive 15 minutes to get to anything. We'd LIKE to be able to take the dog out and walk down to the grocery store for milk, or walk to the bar for a drink to watch the game. We don't need crazy amenities, but it would be nice to have a neighborhoody feel.
Otherwise, we generally really liked the city. We went to the Bluebird (waited on line for over an hour and almost didn't make the cut, but ended up getting in and enjoying a FANTASTIC show), checked out some other live performances, had some great food (thanks for the Burger Up recommendation!) and generally enjoyed ourselves.
So, we're still at an impasse. Part of me (and us) wants to make Nashville our top choice for the next 3 years, but part of me is nervous that my wife could be lonely there, and that would make my life very difficult too.
All three cities are very different and you're right, the most obvious thing that Nashville has going for it is the weather! I grew up in New England and spent a lot of time in Boston. It can be BITTERLY COLD. Emphasis on the 'bitter'. I would suspect Chicago is the same with lake effect snow.
Have you checked out the price of housing in Chicago and Boston? Boston ain't cheap either although they do have a nice little light rail system.
I think any 'downtown' area is going to be 'spotty', particularly in this economy. Yes, it's tough to find a truly 'walkable' area here. But unless you live downtown Boston, you might have the same issue in the burbs up there, too.
Have you considered Franklin? It's a 20-30 minute easy drive down Hillsboro from Vandy - better in the off peak hours. There are houses in your price range around Grassland or in Fieldstone Farms. In Fieldstone there are walking trails and you CAN walk to a neighborhood Publix/Walgreens/UPS store. I doubt you'd find something to rent near downtown Franklin but you MIGHT. What is your rental budget if you don't buy? Have you checked out Green Hills (which is also on Hillsboro - the area near the Green Hills mall).
Why would your wife be more likely to be lonely in Nashville than in Boston or Chicago? Our winter is VERY short. In Boston or Chicago she'd be stuck inside for MONTHS! We're a friendly city . . we have farmers markets year round, and health care is HUGE here. AND we have our own TV SHOW!!!!
What 'speaks' to you in terms of your residency? Vanderbilt is very well thought of!
medicalguy -- you seem pretty perceptive. Nothing seemed too off about any of your impressions.
About the "spotty" areas. Some of those places are in various stages of gentrification. Most of what you mentioned have become pretty nice, but obviously as you saw, some properties lag behind the rest. Had you dropped by 10 years ago, your jaw would drop at the progress made in some of those neighborhoods.
About Hillsboro Village...if those empty storefronts were on the southwest side of the village (right side of the road if you are traveling away from Vandy)...that's because an old block of buildings that are in disrepair are being torn down to make way for a mixed use development (with mixed reaction from the neighborhood). HV stays pretty busy. If you can't make it there, you're doing it wrong.
But I'm glad you enjoyed your time here. It sounds like you got the "real" experience you were looking for.
Best of luck with your decision. I hope you make the right one for you and your wife! And dog!!
Your best bet for walkable to a little grocery store, to me, would be to target 12South. There is a little grocery store on Belmont Blvd. You would probably not be able to do all of your shopping there, but you can definitely get milk, bread, etc. It's a nice mix of old timey small town grocery store meets organic & local products. But warning, it's old and looks like it when you walk inside. That area also has big nice sidewalks. If the weather had been nicer when you had been here, you would have seen lots of young people out walking/running, young moms pushing jog strollers etc.
Belmont Blvd. has been a great area for a long time. The 12 South area has been gentrifying for the last 10 years or so, so you will see some houses in there that are not yet fixed up, but I would not feel unsafe in that area at all.
If you live Hillsboro Village, you might be able to walk to Harris Teeter depending on where exactly you live. You might also be able to walk to your job.
As far as meeting people, if your wife likes to exercise, I would highly recommend the Y and running clubs. The Green Hills Y is a great place to connect whole working out and close to both areas you are considering. Will she work? She will also make friends at work. And there are lots of interest groups that you guys could join to meet people.
- IN that vain... Our observation is that the whole city seems "spotty". For example, we'd be driving around Hillsboro village, there'd be some cool/funky stores and stuff, and then all of a sudden there's 3 empty storefronts in a row. Similarly, we'd pick a side street to drive down, there's some very nice houses and it seems like a cute neighborhood, but then two more houses down look like they haven't been touched since the 60's. This seemed to be the case in a lot of areas we checked out.
I didn't pay much attention to the storefronts on 21st when I was in the area the other day, but the empty storefronts may be due to a new project about to start there replacing them. That's definitely not an area where you should be concerned about empty storefronts sitting for very long at all.
There are also a lot of students in that area, so I wouldn't expect every home to look immaculate just because of the price. Some of those homes closer to Vandy and Belmont are used for student rentals. The rental market will be tight in that area as well with all of the competition. If you find a single-family fixer in your range there, then definitely snatch it up and improve it to maximize your profit if you can.
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