Charleston to Nashville? (Germantown, Smyrna, Brentwood: apartments, condos, neighborhoods)

[booblue80]

Hi everyone! I am a 22 year old female college graduate working in the logistics field and looking at moving to Nashville from Charleston, SC. I love Charleston, but just want a change of scenery and have heard Nashville is the place to be. I visited this weekend and wasn't as in love as I was hoping to be but maybe I just wasn't looking in the right places. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED downtown and can see that being a lot of fun. The only other touristy thing I did was go to Opry Mills mall. I checked out a few suburbs - Brentwood, Smyrna, and 12 South. Brentwood was too fancy for me, Smyrna too far away from everything, and I LOVED 12 South and could see myself living there but feel like it's probably too pricey for me. I'm looking at a possible position with my current company in their office there near the airport. Can I get some opinions from current/past Nashville residents? How do you like the city? Are there lots of fun, cheap things to do for a 20 something female? I've always lived no further than 2 hours from the beach so that would be a change for me, but I'm just wondering if there are enough things to do there that I wouldn't worry about being near a beach. What is the dating scene like there? What areas of town do you recommend? I would like to spend $800 or less per month on a 1 bedroom place, but don't want to be further than 20 minutes from everything if I could help it. What's the weather like there? Does it get really cold? Is it easy to make friends there (I don't know a soul there now)? Is it worth a move if I'm happy where I'm at now but just want a change? It's about 8 1/2 hours from Charleston, so it would be a pretty big move, but I could always just move back in a year or so if I didn't like it. Just trying to decide if it's worth it. I mean I'm only young once, right? What do y'all think? Give me some advice!

[N.Cal]

? I would like to spend $800 or less per month on a 1 bedroom place, but don't want to be further than 20 minutes from everything if I could help it.

You won't find this. One bedroom apartments were you would want to live start at around $1400 a month.

Regarding the cold - I moved from California and I think it's freezing here in the winter. And it's a dreary cold not a nice sunny Colorado skiing cold.

You really need to do a lot more research especially regarding prices/budget.

[Willie1212]

Originally Posted by N.Cal

You won't find this. One bedroom apartments were you would want to live start at around $1400 a month.

I have a friend paying $500/mo for his place in E. Nashville. Hard to find? Yes. Impossible? No. These are the areas to check out: West Nashville/White Bridge Rd./Charlotte Pk./The Nations. Or, East Nashville - which covers numerous neighborhoods. Or, South Nashville: Woodbine/Glencliffe /Radnor/Wedgewood -Houston/Berry Hill/Melrose. My next tier choices would be N. Nashville - Madison. I had a niece who lived there several years with no prob. Or, far West Nashville - Bellevue. It's about 20 min away, but very suburban....therefore 2nd tier for you. Check those other neighborhoods first. Just know that if you find something, you'll have to act immediately - otherwise it's gone. OR, find a roommate /housemate and share. You will be able to find something in your budget. No one can reasonably answer your questions about whether it's worth it to move. You'll have to step out, make a decision and roll the dice. Nashville has about a zillion 20 somethings - your dating should be no prob. Similarly, there is stuff to do all the time...fairly cheap things, too. That's one of the reasons so many Gen Y's have come here. Like you said, you can always move back....nothing ventured, nothing gained. Good luck!

[aaronmidnight]

You have a lot of questions for sure!

- Are there lots of fun, cheap things to do? Well, it depends what you consider 'fun'. There's certainly *tons* of free, cheap music and festivals. If you like minor league baseball, that's pretty cheap. I don't go to Titans or Preds games, but my guess is the seats there are not as cheap, except perhaps for nosebleed sections at Bridgestone Arena. Beyond that, hiking is free You could also bike around town on the Greenways -- when the heat index is not 104 degrees, of course (like it is today)

- Dating scene? No idea (moved here already married), but it sure seems ... lively from what I can tell.

- As others have said, I think you'll have a hard time finding a nice 1-bed apartment for $800/month near downtown. The only way to know for sure is to come and visit and look at apts in different neighborhoods to see if you can find something in a place you like that's within your budget. But one consequence of Nashville being an 'it' city is that lots of folks are coming to town, and of course that means more competition for apts and higher rents. They're building new apt buildings and condos near downtown (Germantown, the Gulch, Melrose, etc.) but I'm guessing those are not < $800.

PS - Also Nashville is really spread out. It can take you 1 hr to get from one side of town to another, especially with traffic. So you can't really be 20 minutes from 'everything' no matter where you live.

Weather - Yep, coooold. Surprisingly cold. Like, probably one of the coldest places in the Southeast. We don't really get snow (at least not since I've been here), but there have been a couple of major ice storms in the last 5 years. Well, really we had two ice storms just last winter. The last two winters, temperatures have dropped near zero a few times. It's not unusual to have cold temperatures in the teens and 20s for much of the winter. And as another poster mentioned, the skies are awfully grey around here in the heart of winter. (That said, we do get occasional warmups in the winter into the 60s or 70s. And we have had a couple of warm winters since I moved here where there was no snow or ice at all. So it's variable. But based on my experience, you can count on a harsh, cold, sometimes icy winter at least every few years. (And as you've probably noticed, it's pretty hilly here compared to Charleston. Hills + ice? Not a good combo.)

- Easy to make friends? Probably. Depends on how outgoing and social you are. But as others have mentioned, there's lots of young people here and lots of people moving to town, so it's probably easier to make friends here than in a place with a really ossified social scene.

- No one can decide if Nashville is right for you except for you. As you say, you could try it and if it doesn't work out, you could move back to Charleston or move on to another city. It's a great big country and there's lots of places you could choose. But if you're already having second thoughts and you haven't even moved here yet, maybe you should wait a little while, make a couple more visits, explore some different parts of town, visit some apts etc. before pulling the trigger? You could also visit some other cities and see if there's someplace you like better. Just some thoughts...



What's the weather like there? Does it get really cold? Is it easy to make friends there (I don't know a soul there now)? Is it worth a move if I'm happy where I'm at now but just want a change? It's about 8 1/2 hours from Charleston, so it would be a pretty big move, but I could always just move back in a year or so if I didn't like it. Just trying to decide if it's worth it. I mean I'm only young once, right? What do y'all think? Give me some advice!