Neighborhood advice: Nashville/Mboro area (Murfreesboro, Franklin: houses, neighborhoods, movie theater)

[badgerfam]

My family is considering relocating from Madison, WI to the Nashville area. We love our life in Madison but we have a nice job opportunity in Murfreesboro.

I’ve read posts on this site and I appreciate all the thoughtful comments. I’m looking for insight into the “feel” of communities around Nashville. For comparison, right now we live in a very modest 60-year-old house, about 10 minutes from downtown Madison. We can walk to school, the public library, bakery, coffee shop, pharmacy. We’re a block from a “rails to trails” bike path, which allows a safe 15 minute ride to downtown Madison. We have lots of locally-owned (not chain) restaurants. We love the summer farmer’s market and the neighborhood pool. We have a municipal (read: cheap!) golf course a block from our house. Our neighbors have a wide variety of jobs…pastor, teacher, professor, state employee, dispatcher for a cab company, Peace Corps returnee. Our nhood has a Catholic church, Lutheran church, Baptist church and an active Jewish community. I have keys to most of my neighbors’ houses. We shovel snow for each other, and watch each other’s pets and kids.

We always hear that Madison area public schools are some of the best in the country…they’d better be, because our property taxes are crazy high! My daughter’s school has a super-involved parent community. About 50% of the kids are low-income, and the school is racially diverse. The teachers have a lot of experience addressing the needs of a diverse population. Living in a good school district is a top priority for us.

So, that’s where we come from. Right now we’re targeting to spend 200-300K on a house. Lower, of course, is better! Any suggestions out there for a community, neighborhood, or sub-division with a great day-to-day quality of life, within a reasonable (half hour?) commute to Murfreesboro?

We’re looking forward to learning about all there is to love about the Nashville area. If you've made it to the bottom of this lengthy post, thanks!

[bnewman]

Murfreesboro is experience massive growth right now, in fact it is one of the fastest growing cities in the state. In your price range you will have some nice options for homes in Murfreesboro...newer if not new construction. You can get a 2500 SF home, possibly all brick with 4 bedrooms for under $300,000. There are several great communities to choose from as well. Murfreesboro has all the conveniences for shopping, medical and such...schools are reputable (Rutherford County) as well.

[nbourbaki]

Hi, I was born and raised in Madison, and I am also considering a move to Nashville.

What part of Madison do you live? Near Nakoma?

Our initial research is that there are relatively few areas quite like the many great neighborhoods in Madison that do a good job of mixing local business and nice homes. The ones in Nashville we have found (we have not looked at anything out of the city) are Hillsboro Village and sections of East Nashville. (more like University Heights and Willy Street, respectively.) I do think both areas have a few homes closish to your price range, but in general they are more expensive. Other nice areas are Cherokee/Richland and Green Hills, but again more expensive (more like Shorewood or far west).

Based on posts I have seen here, there are lots of outlying nice communities with good schools and affordable homes, but they miss that nice mix of non-chain business and diverse homeowners.

good luck

[badgerfam]

nbourbaki,
Good guess! We live in Westmorland (by Glenway golf course), and our school is in Nakoma (Thoreau). Are you still in Madison?

I'm starting to think Nashville proper is not an option for us because of the long commute to M'boro. (is that right?) Originally we were leaning toward Franklin...it sounds like it might be like the far west side of Madison. That wouldn't be our first choice, but our research isn't revealing nhoods like ours (hence the post for help).

[denawilliams]

Oh...Madison...I love that town! I understand what you describe having experienced its charm. It's a great place. You're correct in that it will be hard to duplicate that feel here, but parts of Franklin might offer some of the things you are seeking. Actually, it's a bit of a drive the opposite way you need to go, but Westhaven is a community in Franklin that is very neighbor friendly. It has every amenity you would imagine (walking trails, fishing ponds, golf course, bank and a few other local businesses within it's gates, a spectacular clubhouse with a movie theater and rooms you can use for meetings, recreation, etc., a couple of really nice pools, etc. However, prices there are quite a bit more than you had mentioned you want to spend. The lowest price I saw in there was $389,000. The historic part of Franklin might get close to what you describe also, but again, prices are steep there as well. If you can wait...Carothers Crossing in Nolensville might offer a few better price options and will have the same kind of feel as Westhaven.

[Mike in TN]

Murfreesboro sounds like the exact opposite of Madison, WI.

[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

[bnewman]

You might look at Nolensville, which is located between the two...possibly the Triune area, but I'm not sure you'll find the mix you're looking for...

[Mike in TN]

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!

For some reason, I often seem to come off negative in my posts. I'm a pretty laid back guy, so my apologies to you and anyone else if I seem like a prick sometimes. I just like to be honest about how I feel about things.

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!

For TN, Rutherford County and Williamson County have fine schools. I lived in the upper midwest for 4 years, and education is generally more important there than it is here.

You really can only analyze so much from test scores. If you were looking at TCAP scores, keep in mind that TN was called out recently for having ridiculously easy tests and even then the passing rate wasn't anything to be bragging about. There are extremely bright kids here that go on to do wonderful things in life; but I honestly feel that a higher priority is placed on education in the midwest, as opposed to the south. It's simply part of the culture.

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

M'boro has at least 3 public pools that I know of (SportsCom, YMCA, Patterson Park), and maybe more. Some subdivisions might have some as well, but I'm too riff-raff to be in those areas.

--place where you get to know your neighbors

That's hit-and-miss in M'boro. I bet some of the historic areas near the square are like this. Some of the other mass-produced subdivisions - probably not so much.

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

Plenty of those in the 'boro.

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

Being a college town, M'boro is probably fairly progressive for a southern town. It is quite likely though that you'll meet people and one of the first things they ask you is "what chruch do you attend?"

--places we can bike to if we want

West Nashville, and Franklin would be better for this than Murfreesboro. Murfreesboro is not very condusive to anything pedestrian related. There is a short greenway (4.5 miles one way) that is sufficient, but other than that and a few other streets, is usually all about riding on the shoulders. Riding through town can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[badgerfam]

Thanks so much for your comments. They're very helpful—I appreciate candor. I was becoming a little suspicious about the test scores...school after school in Franklin and Mboro have scores of 100% for so many subjects. Definitely calls into question the rigor of the tests.

I guess my last question would be: are there any schools to AVOID in Mboro or the eastern side of Franklin (or anywhere in between)? My husband and I are coming down next weekend to look around. We’re hoping to get in to a few schools, and since time is limited we’d like to focus on the best. Our housing will be dictated by school location.