Moving to Nashville Very Soon - Hendersonville/Mt Juliet.. Franklin? (Brentwood: appointed, transplants)

[Amber6072]

We're relocating from St Louis to Nashville in the very near future. My husband will be working downtown & we have one middle schooler and one new to high school, so schools are important. We'd really like a newer home, preferably with a pool. Our budget is $550,000-$750,000. I've heard a lot of good things about Frankin (schools of course), but we're having a REALLY hard time finding a nice sized lot - would love at least 1/2 acre & pools in Franklin are few..from what I'm seeing. Found a few nice pool homes in Mt Juliet, but they're in the Wilson Central High area and I'm just not sure about this school? Haven't found a lot in Hendersonville, but I know I like that area. I spent a day driving around and I love that H-ville has a Sams AND a Hobby Lobby. Any locals or transplants have advice for me?

[septimus]

Franklin is going to have higher density housing that Brentwood so you probably won't find a house that is new construction and a large lot in your price point. A lot of the new communities in the area have community pools. I would never put a pool in my yard because I have a much larger community pool a 4 minute walk from my house. My kids go and play with their friends and I get to socialize with my friends.

[Thrifty99]

We moved to Franklin from the Chicago area less than 2 years ago. We originally looked at areas with pools in the community but were disappointed when we found most are open from Memorial Day to Labor Day which is the same as Chicago.

We decided instead to buy a house with a nice sized lot and in a community without a pool and low association fee ($50 a month) where we would install our own pool. We installed our pool last year and enjoyed using it until November 3rd. A couple weeks ago when we had a nice warm week in the 70's we heated up the pool and used it all week.

I see some 1/2 acre lots in the mid $600's without pools (one even says "space for a pool") and then you could put in your own pool. So definitely possible for $750,000 and under.

[Thrifty99]

We liked Franklin for a couple of reasons. Our kids are older but we still wanted to be in the best school district for home appreciation. We also like the quant historic downtown area versus just a bunch of shopping / strip malls that we saw in areas like Mt. Juliet. But Franklin also has all the modern shopping areas as well (Cool Springs mall area) for when you want those.

A big benefit of the Mt. Juliet / Hendersonville area is they are closer to some big lakes. If you enjoy lake type of activities they would be better.

As for your husband's commute to work in Nashville, there is a commuter train from Mt. Juliet that may be appealing. There is no commuter rail from any other direction into the city. The drive from Franklin continues to get more congested with all the new construction in Franklin and further south in Thompson Station and Spring Hill. If you are near central Franklin and close to getting onto 65 I believe you can make it downtown in 30-40 minutes (depending on when you leave in the morning). For those who make this commute, correct me if I am wrong on the times.

[Drake744]

I feel really weird posting this because I've lived in this area for most of my life but I'm looking for a new place so commute times are a worry to me. I've carved out a nice way to get downtown from Mt. Juliet and back during my commute time but I like to have side streets to take because I don't like interstates during rush hour. I'm weird, but it's just me. I bring this up because I'm thinking about one place in Cool Springs and one in Bellevue. Is Franklin Pike probably the best side street to commute north on from Moores Lane? I read the above post and I found it surprising that you could theoretically commute do downtown from Central Franklin in under 40 minutes. Is this really accurate? From Mt. Juliet it generally takes me somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour to get downtown unless something is causing a noticeable problem and I know MJ is located closer to downtown than Franklin. As far as potentially commuting in from Bellevue, I have no experience living out that direction so I don't know much about that.

[Amber6072]

Originally Posted by Thrifty99

We moved to Franklin from the Chicago area less than 2 years ago. We originally looked at areas with pools in the community but were disappointed when we found most are open from Memorial Day to Labor Day which is the same as Chicago.

We decided instead to buy a house with a nice sized lot and in a community without a pool and low association fee ($50 a month) where we would install our own pool. We installed our pool last year and enjoyed using it until November 3rd. A couple weeks ago when we had a nice warm week in the 70's we heated up the pool and used it all week.

I see some 1/2 acre lots in the mid $600's without pools (one even says "space for a pool") and then you could put in your own pool. So definitely possible for $750,000 and under.

Did you have any problems with limestone when you put your pool in? I was surprised to learn about Nashville being on bedrock, which is why there are so few inground pools (according to our realtor). With Mount Juliet being in between 2 man-made lakes, I'm wondering if the terrain is less rocky & hence more in-ground pools?

Also curious what part of Chicago you moved from? We lived in Cary & worked downtown in 2001-2003. Moved to Tampa right after that brief stint in the Windy City!

[Amber6072]

Originally Posted by Drake744

I feel really weird posting this because I've lived in this area for most of my life but I'm looking for a new place so commute times are a worry to me. I've carved out a nice way to get downtown from Mt. Juliet and back during my commute time but I like to have side streets to take because I don't like interstates during rush hour. I'm weird, but it's just me. I bring this up because I'm thinking about one place in Cool Springs and one in Bellevue. Is Franklin Pike probably the best side street to commute north on from Moores Lane? I read the above post and I found it surprising that you could theoretically commute do downtown from Central Franklin in under 40 minutes. Is this really accurate? From Mt. Juliet it generally takes me somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour to get downtown unless something is causing a noticeable problem and I know MJ is located closer to downtown than Franklin. As far as potentially commuting in from Bellevue, I have no experience living out that direction so I don't know much about that.

Holy cow, it can take 45 mins to an hr to get from Mt Juliet to downtown? Not good news for us...

Wondering too if Franklin to downtown is feasible in ~ 40 mins...

My husband travels quite a bit, so with Mt Juliet being so close to the airport, that's a draw for us too.

[Amber6072]

Originally Posted by Thrifty99

We liked Franklin for a couple of reasons. Our kids are older but we still wanted to be in the best school district for home appreciation. We also like the quant historic downtown area versus just a bunch of shopping / strip malls that we saw in areas like Mt. Juliet. But Franklin also has all the modern shopping areas as well (Cool Springs mall area) for when you want those.

A big benefit of the Mt. Juliet / Hendersonville area is they are closer to some big lakes. If you enjoy lake type of activities they would be better.

As for your husband's commute to work in Nashville, there is a commuter train from Mt. Juliet that may be appealing. There is no commuter rail from any other direction into the city. The drive from Franklin continues to get more congested with all the new construction in Franklin and further south in Thompson Station and Spring Hill. If you are near central Franklin and close to getting onto 65 I believe you can make it downtown in 30-40 minutes (depending on when you leave in the morning). For those who make this commute, correct me if I am wrong on the times.

My husband likes the big lakes, but I hesitate since I know big lake = the purchase of a big boat. 😀

I've heard about this commuter train, wonder why it's only from Mt Juliet and not some of the other areas?

How do you feel about the traffic in Franklin? I have seen some comments on the congestion there.

[Thrifty99]

Originally Posted by Amber6072

Did you have any problems with limestone when you put your pool in? I was surprised to learn about Nashville being on bedrock, which is why there are so few inground pools (according to our realtor). With Mount Juliet being in between 2 man-made lakes, I'm wondering if the terrain is less rocky & hence more in-ground pools?

They only hit one big rock and they used a rock hammer to remove it pretty quickly. It is hit and miss as to the ground and rock. Our neighborhood had 5 pools put in last summer. Ours hit one big rock and another hit even more rock. I believe the other 3 were fine.

That is why there are so few basements around here also - too much rock to dig them out. We were fortunate to find a great house with a walk-out basement. Really wanted that coming from tornado alley around Chicago. And with the tornado here last week only about 5 miles from our house, I'm glad we have the basement.

Hopefully someone else will be able to help with commute time from Franklin during rush hour. From the McEwen exit to Bridgestone Arena is about 20-25 minutes with no traffic. I was figuring about twice that during rush hour traffic. Then it depends how far from the highway entrance you are.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by Drake744

I feel really weird posting this because I've lived in this area for most of my life but I'm looking for a new place so commute times are a worry to me. I've carved out a nice way to get downtown from Mt. Juliet and back during my commute time but I like to have side streets to take because I don't like interstates during rush hour. I'm weird, but it's just me. I bring this up because I'm thinking about one place in Cool Springs and one in Bellevue. Is Franklin Pike probably the best side street to commute north on from Moores Lane? I read the above post and I found it surprising that you could theoretically commute do downtown from Central Franklin in under 40 minutes. Is this really accurate? From Mt. Juliet it generally takes me somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour to get downtown unless something is causing a noticeable problem and I know MJ is located closer to downtown than Franklin. As far as potentially commuting in from Bellevue, I have no experience living out that direction so I don't know much about that.

You may end up on Franklin Pike if/when there is any problem on I-65. From Moore's Lane in Brentwood/Franklin it is narrow 2 lane until you get to Brentwood/Old Hickory area. Hillsboro is too far west. Nolensville past the Zoo may be the only other thru route from Harding Pike north.

Getting downtown from Bellevue can be easier if you use the Bellevue Express bus instead of the local #5 route. I'd expect some changes when the new Bellevue mall is opened & a new high school opens in a few years. Many drive to the Staples or the other park & ride lots to use either bus.