Which of Nashville's surrounding cities are diverse? (Murfreesboro, Franklin: houses, neighborhoods)

[theeducator06]

My future wife and I are thinking about relocating to the Nashville area. She plans to persue a doctorate at Vanderbilt, and I'm looking for a principalship in a quality school district. We have a 2 year old daughter and would like to raise her in an area that is diverse with high academic standards and achievement. Taking into account a reasonable travel distance from Vanderbilt, home, my future employment, and diversity, what areas, surrounding cities, and school districts meet our expectations?

[HouseWhisperer]

Nashville and a few of the surrounding areas can easily meet your requirements of “diverse” and “high economic standards” and give you a fairly easy commute to the Vandy area. As an agent I must be careful what I say but listed here is my personal opinion and some generally accepted opinions of some of the areas that would meet your needs. I also encourage you to click on the link I have provided and you can begin your own research. Here we go, Starting in the Vandy area itself (mostly known as Hillsboro West End, Hillsboro Village, Belmont, Waverly Belmont, etc), the Julia Green and Eakin schools are very highly regarded. Average home prices range from 400-500K but with many higher priced homes and styles form 100 year old homes to new construction. Beyond that is Williamson County (Franklin, Brentwood, etc) with is generally accepted as one of the top school districts around. Pricing should be about the same as the Vandy area, maybe a little less, more in more desirable locations, developments. The commute from there is probably as good as it gets into the city. I might also suggest East Nashville (where I make my home) as it is a very divers community with an excellent elementary school Lockeland literature magnate (where my children go). It takes a lottery to get in but your odds are good if you live in the preferred cluster (the core of East being Lockeland, Edgefield, Historic East End,etc). Homes in this area are very diverse New/old with average pricing in the 300-400 range. I am sure you will get many responses as many Nashvillians are passionate about their neighborhoods. Below are a few links where you can do some research and check out the “report cards” and “AYS reports” on Nashville Schools.

http://www.mnps.org/site3.aspx
http://www.mnps.org/AssetFactory.aspx?did=18088
http://www.k-12.state.tn.us/rptcrd05/

[hml1976]

I agree with HorseWhisperer, the areas mentioned are all nice and the elementary schools are good. The only problem is that the middle schools and high schools are terrible unless you get into a great magnet school.

Unfortunately Nashville doesn't have a great diverse area or surrounding area with great schools. Williamson county is more diverse than I thought it would be but still is overwhelmingly white and upper class.

[hectorector]

Murfreesboro is a very diverse city. It is not milky white like Franklin, Hendersonville, and to call Brentwood diverse is laughable. Murfreesboro has a range of jobs from blue collar to white collar and the varied retail and housing shows for it. It is cheaper to live here than Nashville without necessarily leaving the city environment behind. Murfreesboro is a real city. You will, however, have to go to Nashville for decent entertainment and cultural affairs, but Murfreesboro has everything else. I should know, I've lived here my whole life. Murfreesboro's schools are only second to Franklin.

[Mike in TN]

You really think Murfreesboro is that diverse? It doesn't seem like that to me.

For TN standards is probably one of the better school districts.

[theeducator06]

Thanks for your replies. A folow-up question I have is, what kind of commute is it from Murpheesboro to Vandy? Also, where can I find nice houses in the $180-250,000 range?

[Mike in TN]

Originally Posted by theeducator06

...what kind of commute is it from Murpheesboro to Vandy?

If you ask me, far too long to do in rush hour on a daily basis. It can change drastically, depending where in Murfreesboro you are and what hours you are travelling. From a central location in Murfreesboro like the MTSU area, it would be about 37 miles or 45-70 minutes. Obviously living somewhere closer to the interstate would shave about 10 minutes, at the most, from the commute.

...where can I find nice houses in the $180-250,000 range?

I guess that depends on what you consider nice, but in my opinion and many others, you can get quite a bit in that price range. If you are looking for something brand new, that definately isn't hard to find. They are building numerous homes in that price range in west Murfreesboro near the Blackman and Cason Lane areas. You might can also find plenty of homes in north Murfreesboro, near the Siegel schools.

A quick realtor.com search of 0-1 year old homes with 3+ bdrms and 2+ baths returned 464 properties. Subdivisions included Kingdom Ridge, Diamond Crest, Flemming Farms, Thompson Grove, Sunset Ridge, Savannah Ridge, Liberty Valley, Kimbro Woods and numerous others.

[DutchgirlRN]

Murfreesboro to Vandy is a long commute. You may be better off considering going North towards Hendersonville, it's 20-30 min commute and Hendersonville is a lovely city, growing, reasonably priced homes and has excellent schools.

[HouseWhisperer]

No knock on Murfreesboro because it would meet your pricing need but I would not in any way call it "diverse". I would look west, north, east of town and I think you will find what you need. by the time your kids are ready for middle school and beyond you will be able to migrate to those areas that you like and meet your needs.