Comparing prices North of Nashville versus South (train station, station)

[N.Cal]

Music City Star is adequate only if you happen to work a very regular schedule within its limited timetable.

[lakegirlfromwilson]

Originally Posted by N.Cal

Music City Star is adequate only if you happen to work a very regular schedule within its limited timetable.

Correct. The Music City Star is not designed for people who work the night shift or have to come in before 6am or stay until after 6pm....at least not yet. If working non traditional hours you would then, of course, take your car and encounter little traffic at these times more often than not. Off peak drive time from Mt. Juliet exit to downtown exit(s) is roughly 15 minutes by car.

The Music City Star commuter rail is better than nothing, which is what every other county has in TN has other than Davidson and Wilson.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by lakegirlfromwilson

Uh Nope. Much smaller when compared to Williamson.



2010-2015 Est. (5 year growth rate)
County Population
Williamson County- 211, 672 (15.6% growth rate)
Wilson County-128, 911 (13.1% growth rate)

City Population- Est. 2015
Franklin (Williamson)- 72, 639---Also conducting a special census due to rapid growth.
Brentwood(Williamson)- 41, 763
Mt. Juliet(Wilson)- 31,540

Uh, yeah, I'm probably the last person you should be quoting stats to.

[eastmemphisguy]

I don't have a horse in this race, but when comparing commutes, you really have to include both the time it takes to get from home to a train, time spent waiting for train to arrive, and also time to get from the train to your workplace. To be fair trains have some advantages. You can do emails or zone out or whatever on a train, but, unless you live somewhere with unbearable traffic/parking (Chicago, New York, etc) trains are almost never the quickest option.

[KJoe11]

Originally Posted by nashvols

Because people pay a premium to live in a place like Brentwood (or any other safe, homogenized nice area with great schools). That premium has become very high.

There's nothing wrong with picking the north side, though, if you find a property you like. There are some nice areas up there, too. It's just not as uniformly nice as areas like Brentwood.

I see. I also noticed employment opportunities (IT) in Brentwood and Franklin which would make extra housing cost more palatable.

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by lakegirlfromwilson

Not at all, if you're referring to the commute downtown.

The Music City Star (commuter rail) is 25-30 min to downtown every day M-F, without any traffic or delays. Williamson County does not have this and the commute can be longer in many instances in Williamson County by car.

Century City/Briley/Airport (lots of good paying or white collar jobs)- 15 minutes by car from Mt. Juliet.

Sugarcoat it all you want, but depending on the time, the commute from Mt. Juliet sucks and no one really takes the Star.

[artemis]

What does Mount Juliet have to do with Northern Nashville?

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by artemis

What does Mount Juliet have to do with Northern Nashville?

Nothing. You can't get there from here.

Maybe you can use Briley Parkway to get to Gallatin road & I-65

Maybe you can take Old Hickory to get to Gallatin or I-65 a little further north

Maybe you can take Hwy 109 to Gallatin city.

At least the construction on I-65 from Trinity Lane & Briley seems to be done
not sure how much adding a lane helped depending if you go Goodletsville, Hendersonville, etc.
Sure you can take the MTA or BRT to Rivergate WalMart.

[Hey_Hey]

Originally Posted by KJoe11

Hello.

Can anyone explain why this property is so cheap when compared to housing in Brentwood? I know the school district in the Brentwood area is a factor but the house linked is beautiful sitting on over 3 acres and roughly the same distance to downtown as parts of Brentwood. A comparable house in the south would be over a million dollars, at least. The price difference is enormous.

Just curious, thanks

1568 Dickens Ln, Goodlettsville, TN 37072 | MLS #1760399 | Zillow

It's really interesting talking about real estate submarkets and how they have diverged. 40 years ago the Country Music stars really gravitated toward Madison, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, & other points north. In the last 30 years that has all shifted south. The same thing can be said for higher income professionals and business people.

It's likely multifactorial as to why it developed that way, but the fact remains that it has. Every city has an "overpriced" area that supports valuations that boggles the mind. Fundamentally, the areas south of Nashville (Area 2 in Davidson County and the norther half Williamson county) are the most centrally located locales in terms of high income jobs. Downtown, West End, MetroCenter Music Row, Green Hills, Maryland Farms/Old Hickory Blvd, and Cool Springs accounts for the vast, vast majority of corporate headquarters, law offices, etc. Those areas account for ~36 million sq feet of office space. The only area that has a significant concentration of office space outside of those areas is the airport area with ~9.5 million sq feet. However, the airport area has <25% of its leasable space as being "Class A" and average rents are much lower than other submarkets likely indicating lower level jobs. Rivergate/Hendersonville has only 1.8 million sq feet of office space of which ~30% is Class A. For comparison Brentwood has 45% class A space, Cool Springs is 70% Class A, Downtown is 37% Class A, and West End is 55% Class A. Higher end jobs are located in these areas predominantly which attracts higher income people to live in those same areas. Of course, the reverse is also true. When corporate relocations occur, they only look to be in these places. When the next regional office of a fortune 500 company moves to Nashville, it isn't going to relocate to Goodlettsville.

Another component is that for people all over metro Nashville, if you want to build a big house that costs a lot of money you have to live in the south of Nashville. Building a 6000 sq ft house in Hendersonville costs the same as it does in Brentwood (roughly), but the market isn't there to support resale if that needs to happen. In that sense, high value property begets high value property. Belle Meade likely serves as the true "anchor" for the entire market. It was the first truly exclusive enclave in Nashville, and its wealth quickly spilled over into Forest Hills, West Meade and Oak Hill as well as northern Williamson County. Parts of northern Williamson border Belle Meade and the original parts of Brentwood (and still most valuable land) borders Forest Hills and Oak Hill. Belle Meade's influence also moved north and east. Green Hills, Richland, and Cherokee Park (among others) are all nearby and were influenced in a ripple fashion.

There are limits to these prices. Brentwood can't continue to increase in cost without ceasing. At a point people will make the decision to live in places like Mt Juliet. However, the percentage difference between Brentwood, Belle Meade, Mt Juliet, and Goodlettsville will likely remain fairly stable over time.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by WanderingFar

Williamson County schools are considered some of the best in the state. It's also worth pointing out that Brentwood gives you the easiest access to all the major job hubs (Cool Springs, Maryland Farms, Vanderbilt, downtown Nashville) and depending on where you are in Brentwood, you don't have to get on a highway. I hear the commute from Mt. Juliet can get pretty brutal. Being central is pretty important if you were a family like we were: parents with a split commute in opposite directions.

So for all those factors, Brentwood commands a premium.

I also suspect that Brentwood is the "brand name" suburb. For transplants like us, people said Brentwood was the best and we wanted the best! Coming from a much higher cost of living place, price really wasn't a big factor.

the bolded. I can live in Brentwood (I don't) and not have to worry about moving in I change jobs within metro Nashville.

Living north or east of town is great if you are working downtown but Nashville's jobs aren't concentrated downtown. There are 10s of thousands of jobs in Cools Springs, Maryland Farms, over by the airport, etc in addition to all the jobs downtown.