Adult Children Have Spread their Wings AGAIN -- Nashville is about halfway between them. Here I come... (Knoxville: apartments)

[bobbypin]

Each of my children have moved and Nashville is smack dab in the middle of them. So THAT'S where I want to live. I have nothing tying my down anyplace (no family, job, etc.). I'm a middle aged woman and have never even been to Nashville -- some would say it's a big NO NO, moving to a place I've never been, but do not fret! I will visit several times before I would make the commitment to move. My question is -- where do I visit? Here is my criteria:

1. Under $700 for one or two bedroom apartment (or thereabouts)
2. Safe area
3. Decent access to highways

I've moved several times and I spend a lot of time on the road, traveling to visit my children and my mother. I want to be as accessible as possible to them, thus Nashville (or somewhere halfway between St. Louis and S. Carolina)

Any suggestions?

[Urban Architecture]

Originally Posted by bobbypin

Each of my children have moved and Nashville is smack dab in the middle of them. So THAT'S where I want to live. I have nothing tying my down anyplace (no family, job, etc.). I'm a middle aged woman and have never even been to Nashville -- some would say it's a big NO NO, moving to a place I've never been, but do not fret! I will visit several times before I would make the commitment to move. My question is -- where do I visit? Here is my criteria:

1. Under $700 for one or two bedroom apartment (or thereabouts)
2. Safe area
3. Decent access to highways

I've moved several times and I spend a lot of time on the road, traveling to visit my children and my mother. I want to be as accessible as possible to them, thus Nashville (or somewhere halfway between St. Louis and S. Carolina)

Any suggestions?

Nashville average rent now is over $850 so you would need a roommate to fit your specified rent. I would suggest going to the Nashville Apartment Guide Online and looking there first. Obviously 20-40 minutes outside the city will be cheaper, but the Nashville MSA is now 1.8 million and growing. Traffic will be a consideration.

You will need to be specific what you mean by safe. The office park where I work is between Harding Place and Haywood Lane. They have plenty of apartments around here that may fit your rent, but crime is high around here. We located out here because rent was cheap.

[BirdieBelle]

As the above poster noted, your rent range will be a real challenge here.

You might find something in the outlying counties, but I know that your budget will go farther in Knoxville, where the 1 BR average was about $580 last month. Would that be too far from St. Louis?

[septimus]

Getting the St. Louis or SC isn't exactly easy from Nashville. While it may be geographically center, the drive to St. Louis sucks and flights are hard to come by. I would probably pick either St. Louis or SC and then just visit the other child regularly.

[nashvols]

St. Louis isn't that bad. A shade under 5 hours. The only issue with South Carolina (from Nashville) is that you either have to choose between going through Atlanta, or going through the mountains....each of which can be troublesome at times (mostly via Atlanta, though). It also depends on where in SC you are talking about. If it's Greenville, then yes, Nashville would be about half way. If it's Charleston, then Chattanooga would be closer to the middle.

[brentwoodgirl]

We recently drove to St Louis, and I didn't think the drive was bad at all. We also go to Western North Carolina regularly, and it's not a bad drive either, so the part of South Carolina close to there wouldn't be bad. But driving through Atlanta would be a pain. Rush hour in Atlanta seems to last until 10 and start again by 3:00.
The biggest problem would be your budget. I would look at suburbs like Mt Juliet, Gallatin, etc. You may be able to find something in your price range.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by bobbypin

Each of my children have moved and Nashville is smack dab in the middle of them. So THAT'S where I want to live. I have nothing tying my down anyplace (no family, job, etc.). I'm a middle aged woman and have never even been to Nashville -- some would say it's a big NO NO, moving to a place I've never been, but do not fret! I will visit several times before I would make the commitment to move. My question is -- where do I visit? Here is my criteria:

1. Under $700 for one or two bedroom apartment (or thereabouts)
2. Safe area
3. Decent access to highways

I've moved several times and I spend a lot of time on the road, traveling to visit my children and my mother. I want to be as accessible as possible to them, thus Nashville (or somewhere halfway between St. Louis and S. Carolina)

Any suggestions?

combining 1 &2, you need to do an apartment search for different parts of Nashville. You can also look up crime stats to find a safer area.

The third area is easy, check flights & price from BNA to the destination of your choice. There is no Amtrak to provide ground public interstate travel. With I-24, I-40 & I-65, you will have driving access to nearly anywhere. We all have our shortcuts (briley parkway) to get from home to there. You may also check TN gas prices to get lower than in city price.

[KWGregSpackman]

You might also look at the elementary school rating in the area you desire.