Family of 4, Sylvan Park? (Franklin, Brentwood: crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[gwenrn]

We are relocating with our 6 and 3 yo. We prefer to do urban-suburban, safe, super family-friendly and great neighborhood environment. Budget is about 500k. We heard Sylvan Park is great but the houses seem over-priced? I've heard public schools are not to be considered if staying in Metro Nashville but I question that. We are coming down from the Northeast and do not want to inadvertently make decisions based solely on impressions. Brentwood/Franklin are not under consideration - we need a more diverse area although they are lovely. I have been warned that East Nashville with young kids just isn't ready yet. What about Forest Hills, Burton Hills, Crieve Hall, Bellevue? Thanks!

[southernsmoke]

Forest Hills feels much more suburban than Sylvan Park. Crieve Hall and Bellevue are cheaper options and fine family neighborhoods. IMO, Bellevue is pretty vanilla, (relatively) newer middle/lower-middle class suburban, while Crieve Hall feels like an older (mid-century) neighborhood. $500k is high for both Bellevue and Crieve Hall, pretty low for Forest Hills, and kind of right down the middle in Sylvan Park and much of Midtown.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by gwenrn

We are relocating with our 6 and 3 yo. We prefer to do urban-suburban, safe, super family-friendly and great neighborhood environment. Budget is about 500k. We heard Sylvan Park is great but the houses seem over-priced? I've heard public schools are not to be considered if staying in Metro Nashville but I question that. We are coming down from the Northeast and do not want to inadvertently make decisions based solely on impressions. Brentwood/Franklin are not under consideration - we need a more diverse area although they are lovely. I have been warned that East Nashville with young kids just isn't ready yet. What about Forest Hills, Burton Hills, Crieve Hall, Bellevue? Thanks!

Sylvan Park, like a lot of urban-ish neighborhoods, has seen quite a revitalization -- and with that, a sharp rise in housing values. Over-priced probably depends on your perspective or desire to live in THAT particular neighborhood -- but there are definitely better values around town.

In terms of schools -- Metro certainly doesn't have a sterling reputation, but it takes a lot more knocks than it probably deserves. It is true that the surrounding suburban districts all score quite a bit better. There's no question about that. But it's not true as a blanket statement that Metro is a district to avoid. In fact, Metro can boast that it has the two best public high schools in the entire state (and among the tops in the nation) with Hume Fogg and MLK.....but...they are magnet schools, and entry is based on a lottery.

What you have going for you here -- based on your housing budget, is the luxury of opting for private high schools if you cannot get into either of those.

As far as East Nashville not being "ready for kids" just yet -- that is an opinion. There are plenty of young families with kids. It has changed pretty dramatically in the last decade, and the person(s) that you got your information from may be holding on to a dated view of what it is like. Also consider that "East Nashville" is a large area, and encompasses many smaller neighborhoods (it would be like calling Sylvan Park "West Nashville"). Some of these areas are farther along than others. Lockeland Springs probably fits most of what you would be looking for, but there are several areas to consider.


I will say that if you want areas more diverse than Brentwood or Franklin, then you should most certainly cross areas like Forest Hills off of your list. In fact, most of the area to the southwest of downtown won't be overly diverse. Crieve Hall is a lovely little neighborhood of well-kept mainly 1960s houses, but personally I think your budget puts you above it. Same goes for most of Bellevue.

I get the feeling that you would prefer the closer neighborhoods of Nashville, if it fits into your budget. The issue is that the closer, safer, and nicer a neighborhood is, the higher the price will be (not that it is some kind of secret).

My question is -- for a family of 4, what size house would you be comfortable with? That might determine where you can actually live. The hottest neighborhoods are going for $200-250+ per sq ft, so with a 500k budget, you might be limited to around 2,000 sq ft and 3 bedrooms. If that works for you, then you might be in business. If you need a little more room, you need to move a little farther from town.


FWIW, if it fits in your budget, I think Belmont/Hillsboro or Hillsboro/West End would be what you are looking for. But $500k will be tough there.

[brentwoodgirl]

I agree that you have a lot more options than Sylvan Park.
I would start by looking up some of the better centrally located elementary schools in Davidson County, and then you can see how diverse they are. Offhand I know that Julia Green and Granbery are very diverse (Granbery has immigrants from all over), and they are great schools.
You could start here:
Elementary Schools in Davidson County - Nashville, TN | GreatSchools

Then look through the schools under teachers and students to get an idea which schools might be more diverse, at least in race. But remember that Nashville has a lot of immigrants so many of the schools with have more diversity than what is represented in the pie charts. Plus diversity of thought, background, income range, etc. won't be represented on the charts.

Glancing at the list, I would focus on Glendale, Granbery, Percy Priest, Lockland Design (East Nashville), Julia Green, and Eakin. The rest are in more suburban areas and further away from the core of Nashville.

You can search for houses by school district here: www.realtracs.com

Just enter the name of the school (all the schools I listed are elementary schools) and then any other criteria you want to add, and it will pull up what is available in that school district.

[gwenrn]

We just took a quick trip to Nashville and felt like east Nashville was somewhat out of the way. Kids may go to linden Waldorf, husband will work in grassmere area. We looked in concentration of Hillsboro-west-end and green hills. We honestly didn't get 12 south's prices. Nor do I really understand the price tags in a Sylvan Park. Whether it be green hills, Belmont, or Bellevue, doesn't matter as much as neighborhood. Diversity is desirable to us but so do safety and community. In looking up crime map for east Nashville, it just seemed really still very iffy. Does it exist to have a neighborly vibe, parades or block parties (do they do that down south)? We saw Burton Hills subdivision which appealed to us because of the pool. Quite frankly, we figure it is pretty hot down there and we'll be leaving the ocean and would love access to a pool. Any subdivision recommendations? We want metro-Nashville so aren't really considering Bellevue, Brentwood, etc. 3 bed/2 bath around 2k sq ft works for us. Thanks for any input.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by gwenrn

We just took a quick trip to Nashville and felt like east Nashville was somewhat out of the way. Kids may go to linden Waldorf, husband will work in grassmere area. We looked in concentration of Hillsboro-west-end and green hills. We honestly didn't get 12 south's prices. Nor do I really understand the price tags in a Sylvan Park. Whether it be green hills, Belmont, or Bellevue, doesn't matter as much as neighborhood. Diversity is desirable to us but so do safety and community. In looking up crime map for east Nashville, it just seemed really still very iffy. Does it exist to have a neighborly vibe, parades or block parties (do they do that down south)? We saw Burton Hills subdivision which appealed to us because of the pool. Quite frankly, we figure it is pretty hot down there and we'll be leaving the ocean and would love access to a pool. Any subdivision recommendations? We want metro-Nashville so aren't really considering Bellevue, Brentwood, etc. 3 bed/2 bath around 2k sq ft works for us. Thanks for any input.

12th South and Sylvan Park are hot neighborhoods -- so their prices will be steeper compared to comparable housing stock elsewhere in town. The same applies for portions of East Nashville.

Neighborly vibe/parades/and block parties are going to vary from place to place. I think you're more likely to find that atmosphere in areas like East Nashville. The Green Hills area probably won't have anything like that, though that doesn't mean your neighbors won't be friendly.

As for a pool -- neighborhood pools are fine, but you could always join a local YMCA or swim club (what few are left -- I think Seven Hills south of Green Hills still exists.

I don't think East Nashville is "out of the way"...it's convenient to a lot of areas, and close to downtown -- but it might not be as convenient for you and your family.

From the sound of it, I think the Green Hills area may be your best bet. I would look on the east side of Hillsboro Pk (where Burton Hills is). Personally, I really like the mid century homes between Woodmont Blvd and Battery Ln. For the size house you are considering, I think that would be a great place to look. I've always liked the Glendale Ln/Lealand Ln area.

[septimus]

We relocated here from the northeast. Originally I wanted to be in Nashville too and we looked in many of the areas you are looking. We couldn't find a house big enough (we wanted at least a 4 bedroom) and I hated Green Hills even though that is where everyone was pointing us. I wanted sidewalks and there weren't any to be found. We found a house I loved on Whitland off West End, but it had structural issues so we walked away. We ended up in Franklin and I've been happy. It did take me a while to adjust to suburbia, but I love that I can walk a lot of places fairly easily (neighborhood pool, grocery store, gym, etc).

[gwenrn]

Thanks...do you mind me asking where in Franklin?

Originally Posted by septimus

We relocated here from the northeast. Originally I wanted to be in Nashville too and we looked in many of the areas you are looking. We couldn't find a house big enough (we wanted at least a 4 bedroom) and I hated Green Hills even though that is where everyone was pointing us. I wanted sidewalks and there weren't any to be found. We found a house I loved on Whitland off West End, but it had structural issues so we walked away. We ended up in Franklin and I've been happy. It did take me a while to adjust to suburbia, but I love that I can walk a lot of places fairly easily (neighborhood pool, grocery store, gym, etc).