Conservative christian couple relocating to Nashville

[Hey_Hey]

Originally Posted by nashvols

30ish minute commute or less kind of nixes that.

30 minutes is very generous coming from Murfreesboro too. It's just under 35 miles from downtown Nashville to downtown Murfreesboro. Maybe with no traffic and coming from the northern part of Murfreesboro....you might be able to do it in 30 minutes. In reality, traffic will slow you down considerably in the morning and in the afternoon getting out of or into downtown Nashville. A 30-35 minute trip with no traffic will easily become an hour trip with it.

[m0l0nlabe]

Originally Posted by nashvols

It sort of depends on 'where' in the south, but no, it is not generally better. Each side of town has its own problems and bottlenecks...some are related to specific roads or exits. You can get from a number of the suburbs to downtown in ~30 minutes if you leave at the right times.


Also, you mention wanting 3/4 acre+ and a more private setting as opposed to 'community' setting. 3/4 acre is a lot closer to the 'norm' in the suburbs than it is in Florida. A lot of neighborhoods offer 1/2-1 acre lots...so you don't necessarily have to be out of the city/town limits, or on a lonesome road to find that. You can be in a subdivision and still have plenty of elbow room. Of course, I think one of the factors that lends to more privacy are trees, especially mature trees...which are typically found in older developments.

...which brings me to preferences:
-assume you have an acre of land. What do you want on it? Very wooded, a few large trees, a few smaller or landscaping trees, or no trees at all?

-I didn't see mention of children, but how important is it for you to live in an area with good school reputation?

-Older construction, newer construction, or any particular housing style you are interested in?

-Proximity to amenities/shopping? I say this because there are a few areas on the north side that have a ~30 minute commute where you could be nearly as far to any real shopping amenities...but the homes are more secluded.

-Other factors, such as outdoors interests (do you have a boat? Are you interested in going to the river/lake for recreation? Hiking? Walking in parks?) ease of access (my home is right off a major street/highway, my home is off a collector street/not far from the highway, my home is several minutes from a major road, GPS can't find my home). Any little thing you can think of can help factor in to what area may be best suited for you.

Good to hear that an acre is not uncommon there. Here in FL people laugh at you when you say you want an acre. As for landscaping, I do prefer wooded even if it is only a few older trees. As for schools, we plan on sending our kids to catholic school but that is not a factor immediately since we dont have them yet . I am open to any type of construction but would lean toward relatively new since I am not the handiest of men. Just average. My wife will require something close to shopping or at least grocery stores so being out in the middle of nowhere is really not an option.

I don't boat, but I just might someday. I enjoy the outdoors though and hunt just about anything there is a season for.

A few people mentioned murfreesboro...is that more than a half hour commute during peak hours? i.e 8am, 5pm?

[nALgirl]

Originally Posted by m0l0nlabe

Good to hear that an acre is not uncommon there. Here in FL people laugh at you when you say you want an acre. As for landscaping, I do prefer wooded even if it is only a few older trees. As for schools, we plan on sending our kids to catholic school but that is not a factor immediately since we dont have them yet . I am open to any type of construction but would lean toward relatively new since I am not the handiest of men. Just average. My wife will require something close to shopping or at least grocery stores so being out in the middle of nowhere is really not an option.

I don't boat, but I just might someday. I enjoy the outdoors though and hunt just about anything there is a season for.

A few people mentioned murfreesboro...is that more than a half hour commute during peak hours? i.e 8am, 5pm?

Yes. I call Interstate 24 the highway from ****. I drove it for a year and then moved to Brentwood to be closer to where I work.

[the_commuter]

Originally Posted by m0l0nlabe

That’s an attention getter, huh?

Just out of curiosity, why would you think that you being a conservative relocating to the Nashville area is odd or an 'attention getter'? This is a very, very conservative area of the country. Nashville's Congressman is perhaps the most conservative Democrat in Congress. There's nothing strange about conservatives living here -- even in the city proper.

Let me add that it's cool to meet and live around people with different views. I'm far from conservative, but I live among and work with many who self-identify as conservative. Many are very, very good people. Isolating yourself from people who are different from yourself -- that's an attention getter.

[ExIslander]

To the OP -- for your criteria (bigger lots, under $350k, reasonable commute to downtown Nashville) you should also be looking east, e.g. Wilson County/Mt. Juliet, in addition to the areas already mentioned.

[ahope1980]

I would second the recommendation of the Wilson County area. I live in Franklin in Williamson County and I know there are some communities with lots that size but most are older like Oakwood Estates. Very nice, well-built homes though. It is very family friendly down here. I have lived in a few different areas of town and as far as traffic to go downtown I would definitely rule out Rutherford County. I-24 is the worst traffic in Nashville during rush hour hands down. I would actually rank I-65 South towards Williamson County the best b/c you really don't ever slow down. My husband can make it from downtown to our house in Franklin in 25-30 minutes during rush hour. I think I-40 both ways and I-65 North are pretty similar. Traffic is a little worse coming from there but nothing like I-24. Anyway, my suggestions are Wilson County or maybe even somewhere like Kingston Springs to the West.

[m0l0nlabe]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I am making the trip there next weekend to do some scouting and you have helped me greatly! Out of curiosity, what is the commute like from Lebanon?

[JMT]

Originally Posted by m0l0nlabe

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I am making the trip there next weekend to do some scouting and you have helped me greatly! Out of curiosity, what is the commute like from Lebanon?

I was going to recommend Wilson County, too. The city of Lebanon did do a land grab several years ago and extends its city limits all the way to Hwy 109 (which is really closer to Mt Juliet), but the Lebanon ZIP codes cover an enormous amount of land, most of Wilson County, in fact. So if you want to know about "Lebanon" that could be either the city proper or most of Wilson County east of Mt Juliet.

The state is making I-40 8 lanes (four lanes in each direction) all the way from Mt Juliet east to Hwy 109, so the commute into Nashville from there won't be very bad, maybe 20 minutes? It should be finished in December. In addition, the area's only commuter train goes from downtown Lebanon to downtown Nashville (with a few additional stops) so if you live in Lebanon and work in downtown Nashville, you could avoid rush hour traffic altogether and take the train. I think that is a very civilized way to commute into town. I drove by the train station at Hwy 109/Hwy 70 between Lebanon and Mt Juliet, and the parking lot was pretty full so I assume that means the commuter trains are becoming more popular (at least I hope so).

[nashvols]

Since you mentioned Catholic schools, here's a map of where they are located:

Parishes and Schools :: Diocese of Nashville (Nashville, TN)

I don't know if it will ultimately factor into your equation, and since you don't have kids now, you don't know if they will build other schools in other areas...but it should be helpful to know where you might have to go for that. The biggest concentration is on the southwest side of town. There are K-8s spread around in a few other areas, but the high schools are only in Oak Hill and Hendersonville (again, as of now). If by chance you stayed put for that long, you probably wouldn't want your kids driving 20-30 miles to school each day.

[m0l0nlabe]

Well so far I've gotten recommendations for pretty much every direction around Nashville with a lean toward south/southwest. I think we'll check out some properties there first and then head east. With a plan to rent initially of course.