Family can live anywhere - where would you pick? (Chattanooga: sales, homes)

[Emichele22]

Hi! So my husband works from home, meaning we can literally live wherever. We want a state on the east coast that has no income tax - giving us TN. We have lived in Chattanoooga for 8 years but are just looking to see what else is out there. We are in Nashville for a month to check out the area. The number 1 factor for us is a good school system.

If you could live anywhere in Nashville and/or surrounding areas (Franklin, Mt Juliet, etc) and a good school system was your first choice, where would you pick? Any specific elementary schools? (she is in 1st grade).

Other things we like:
- being close to restaurants (non-chain)
- a good sense of community
- price range on a home can go up to $900k
- within 30 to 45 minutes of the nashville airport
- we prefer non-cookie cutter neighborhoods (where everything is the same) and more diverse styles among homes

Honestly, half of me loves the city and the other half loves the country (We have lived in both, see both positive and negatives). So open to either - just really want to find the best school we can.

As for the school, elementary and middle is most important. Something smaller and more community focused with smaller classroom sizes would be great. We come from a private, semi-montessori based school where they focus on independence, so I know we are spoiled and won't be getting that, but if there are any schools that are close to it I would love to check them out!

Any input appreciated!

[Drake744]

I feel like your best bet might be something like Inglewood or Sylvan Park while going the private school route. Strictly based on public schools, I would rank Williamson County as the favorite and a 2A/2B being Wilson County (If you're in Mt Juliet) and Sumner County (if you're in Hendersonville).

[septimus]

$900k will make Green Hills tight (not a lot of options these days) but you might look there... so close to all the new trendy restaurants on Charlotte and the Nations yet still zoned for the best schools in Metro.

If you are open to suburbs, you might try somewhere close to downtown Franklin.

[budgiegirl]

Sorry but Tennessee is not the East coast by a long shot. You might consider New Hampshire. You could move to Williamson County if you are set on TN and looking at schools but it is not the east coast and the restaurants are chains and/or sub-par compared to the north east and the education is pretty cookie cutter and New Hampshire will outperform TN any day of the week in terms of education. In NH you could be near Boston, but near the mountains and the beach is never far.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by budgiegirl

Sorry but Tennessee is not the East coast by a long shot. You might consider New Hampshire. You could move to Williamson County if you are set on TN and looking at schools but it is not the east coast and the restaurants are chains and/or sub-par compared to the north east and the education is pretty cookie cutter and New Hampshire will outperform TN any day of the week in terms of education. In NH you could be near Boston, but near the mountains and the beach is never far.

NH isn't low tax like TN. Property taxes in NH are outrageous and honestly the friends are not very good. No better than TN. NH schools aren't good like Mass schools are.

I assumed by "east coast" OP meant eastern half of the US because they are probably in sales and have a territory.

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by budgiegirl

Sorry but Tennessee is not the East coast by a long shot. You might consider New Hampshire. You could move to Williamson County if you are set on TN and looking at schools but it is not the east coast and the restaurants are chains and/or sub-par compared to the north east and the education is pretty cookie cutter and New Hampshire will outperform TN any day of the week in terms of education. In NH you could be near Boston, but near the mountains and the beach is never far.

I think the OP realizes Tennessee isn't on the coast after saying they've spent 8 years in Chattanooga. Even I have vaguely referred to TN as the east coast when comparing it to the other side of the country. I'm not sure where the New Hampshire stuff is coming from but the post asked specifically about Tennessee so I'll assume that's where they would like to be.

[Emichele22]

Originally Posted by budgiegirl

Sorry but Tennessee is not the East coast by a long shot. You might consider New Hampshire. You could move to Williamson County if you are set on TN and looking at schools but it is not the east coast and the restaurants are chains and/or sub-par compared to the north east and the education is pretty cookie cutter and New Hampshire will outperform TN any day of the week in terms of education. In NH you could be near Boston, but near the mountains and the beach is never far.

I realized its not "east coast", I just meant more on the Eastern United States versus states like Texas or Washington which are more middle or west. We just need easy access (flight time wise) to the east coast. Being from Florida and living in TN for the past 9 years, I don't think I could handle a NH winter.

We are specifically looking at TN.