Neighborhood advice: Nashville/Mboro area

[Mike in TN]

Originally Posted by badgerfam

are there any schools to AVOID in Mboro or the eastern side of Franklin (or anywhere in between)?

I'm not really familiar with Williamson County schools, but I can't imagine there would be any there to avoid.

In the city of Murfreesboro, which would include Murfreesboro City Schools (K-6) and Rutherford County Schools (K-12), the only schools I might specifically try to avoid are Kitrell (K-8) and Central Middle. That's just my personal opinion, and that's not to say there aren't kids at those school that are bright and will go on to do great things. Kitrell is pretty far out and not a lot of people relocating to the area would live in that zone. Central has had a lot of disciplinary problems in recent years.

[wellkids]

Originally Posted by badgerfam

Ah, Mike in TN, I laughed out loud at your post. I've seen some of your other posts...glad you're chiming in, even if it's not what I was hoping to hear. And I didn't even list the things that I already KNOW are opposite in Mboro!

Schools are very important to us, but they're hard to evaluate from a distance. Frankly, from the data we can get online the schools in Franklin and Mboro score much better than our school in Madison...and we like our school!

So to you and the other folks who know the area...Given your impression of the Madison/Mboro divide, are there areas between Mboro and maybe Franklin that approximate the following?

--people who live w/in their means...maybe even below (!)
--pool, library, public green space in the general area
--place where you get to know your neighbors
--house where you can sit outside & not hear a lot of traffic
--open-minded people w/ diverse jobs, backgrounds
--single people, families, elderly people
--places we can bike to if we want

I've lived in Middle TN my entire life. We move to M'boro from Williamson County about 10 years ago. Here is my take on some of your questions:

--people who live w/in their means...maybe even below (!)

Murfreesboro is DEFINITELY more of a middle class, live within your means, community. Wms Cty (Franklin) is more affluent, and we felt like there was much more "keep up with the Jones'" mentality when we lived there, compared to Murfreesboro.

--pool, library, public green space in the general area

Murfreesboro has public pools but many communities also have community pools. We have a wonderful public library (Linebaugh), and the Greenway is a running, biking, jogging trail with picnic areas, playgrounds, and runs along the path of the Stone River where people are often seen fishing from the banks.

--place where you get to know your neighbors

People here are very friendly and our neighborhood is very active. Bunko, ladies night out, etc. Most of my friends all have good communication and enjoy socializing with their neighbors.

--house where you can sit outside & not hear a lot of traffic

Depends on where you buy! For the most part, yes you will have peace and quiet. But, if you buy next to a buy highway or road, then the answer would be no.

--open-minded people w/ diverse jobs, backgrounds

MTSU is located here which is the largest undergrad university in the State. I have found M'boro to be extremely diverse and most (not all) people are open-minded. No matter where you live, there will always be SOME that are closed minded. M'boro is a nice mixture of life long residents that help generate the hometown feeling along with a large number of people who have relocated here from all parts of the country.

--single people, families, elderly people

Nice mixture of all types of people. I don't think M'boro is the capital for single adults, but I have several friends who are single and we certainly have single, families, and elderly.

--places we can bike to if we want

M'boro has a large bike club and even though I am not a member, I have been told that this is a wonderful place for bikers. The Greenway system runs about 8.5 miles and there are plans to extend that in the near future.

Hope that helps!

[badgerfam]

In my continuing quest for knowledge, I've come up with some more questions:

To any teachers/administrators/folks in the know: Which schools are popular/sought after by teachers (to teach in, or to send their own kids)? Any schools with particularly high or low teacher turnover?

What's the Campus School like? How's the waiting list?

Where do the MTSU profs live?

Thanks to all who've posted! I feel lucky to have this resource available.

[hml1976]

Oh, I hate to even post this but how good is the job opportunity? Honestly, if you love Madison, you're going to hate middle TN. Its conservative, manicured, suburban, big and shiny. If you can accept it for what it is than you might enjoy it, but if you're looking for a walkable neighborhood with nice folks who listen to NPR, you are going to be out of luck.

I hope you don't take that as an insult to TN or to Madison, I actually love both but you really have to wrap your head around moving to a completely different planet if you're going to do it. Best of luck!

[badgerfam]

Originally Posted by hml1976

Oh, I hate to even post this but how good is the job opportunity? Honestly, if you love Madison, you're going to hate middle TN. Its conservative, manicured, suburban, big and shiny. If you can accept it for what it is than you might enjoy it, but if you're looking for a walkable neighborhood with nice folks who listen to NPR, you are going to be out of luck.

I hope you don't take that as an insult to TN or to Madison, I actually love both but you really have to wrap your head around moving to a completely different planet if you're going to do it. Best of luck!

Good thoughts. I hear you. I've lived in Madison my whole adult life, but I know we don't have the corner on good living. It seems we won't be able to recreate our Madison life in Mboro, but that's a good thing, right? It wouldn't be much of an adventure if we could. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

[mom2three]

Originally Posted by badgerfam

Ah, Mike in TN, I laughed out loud at your post. I've seen some of your other posts...glad you're chiming in, even if it's not what I was hoping to hear. And I didn't even list the things that I already KNOW are opposite in Mboro!

Schools are very important to us, but they're hard to evaluate from a distance. Frankly, from the data we can get online the schools in Franklin and Mboro score much better than our school in Madison...and we like our school!

So to you and the other folks who know the area...Given your impression of the Madison/Mboro divide, are there areas between Mboro and maybe Franklin that approximate the following?

--people who live w/in their means...maybe even below (!)
--pool, library, public green space in the general area
--place where you get to know your neighbors
--house where you can sit outside & not hear a lot of traffic
--open-minded people w/ diverse jobs, backgrounds
--single people, families, elderly people
--places we can bike to if we want

I'm not sure about this,... but it does sound like maybe you should look into White House. We are not living in TN yet, but just from what I have heard/read about some areas it sounds like MAYBE it could be worth looking into (unless someone on this board who is more familiar with this area disagree's)????