Heading South (Germantown, Green Hill, Midtown: apartment, rent, mortgages)

[tone_bone25]

Hello All-
My name is Tony. Currently I reside in Milwaukee, WI. I work for the Hilton downtown planning large-scale conferences & conventions for the property. My partner, Ben, will be attending Belmont University this fall for his graduate studies. We've known for a few months that the possibility existed we might move. It wasn't untilt this last weekend when his acceptance letter & scholarship arrived in the mail, that we realized this is actually happening...we're picking up our life and moving to a foreign city neither of us know anything about!!!

This website has been a vital tool for me. I've learned so much already. But I still feel like there are questions left unanswered. My two MAJOR concerns are housing and career opportunities. I will be renting when I move to Nashville... I'm not prepared to buy as Ben's program @ Belmont is just 2 years...I don't know if we'll stay in the area after that. Ben's best friend, Janelle, will be moving w/ us to attend Belmont as well. I've read a lot of feedback about different neighborhoods. The consensus seems to be that East Nashville is a really clean, safe, & friendly neighborhood. With Ben being downtown and me most likely working downtown, I'd really like to lessen/eliminate our commute. Thoughts on this area or even any others that are in close proximity to the downtown area? Coming from Milwaukee where rent and mortgages are SKY HIGH...don't even get me started on property taxes...I'm not terribly concerned about the cost of living. I'm hoping it will be a little less than in Wisconsin.

Moving on to the job hunt. My background is in hotel management and convention/conference planning, including experience as a wedding & special events planner. I would prefer to stay in the same line of work. From what I understand, Nashville & Tennessee in general, thrive off of tourism. I've heard through the grapevine that the hotel industry is booming in the area. Any truth to that?

Lastly, a guy's gotta have a little fun. I'm going to be in the area in a few weeks on an apartment hunt. I'd love to experience some of the nightlife. Can anyone suggest some great karaoke bars or even gay clubs that seem to be frequented in the area?

Thank you in advance to all of you who are able to respond!
-Tony

[alleycat]

Well, East Nashville has improved and is still improving, but you still need to be very careful in that area. I don't think I would describe it overall as "really clean, safe . . ." just yet.

If Belmont is your main "point of reference" I would suggest looking on the west side of town first (if your budget can afford it) Either around Belmont itself or one of the other neighborhoods nearby. It's also one of the more eclectic areas of Nashville and it pretty accepting of people who sort of "march to a different drummer".

[ariesjow]

East Nashville is one of many increasingly good options if you want to live near downtown and midtown. There are so many different parts of East Nashville (some safer and more polished than others), that I would take great care to research the East Nashville location you're considering.

Some of the areas that it sounds like you might also want to consider are Belmont, 12South, Hillsboro Village, Germantown/Salemtown, West End Park, Sylvan Park, the Gulch and Green Hills. Some of these can be pricey while others can still be a bit questionable in certain areas. Take some time to evaluate all your housing options well while you're here and look at many different options from craigslist, apartment selection services,etc. If you don't mind a short commute and would prefer more space for a cheaper price, then you might want to also consider some areas a little further out like Bellevue, Nipper's Corner or Hermitage.

In regards to the hotel and tourism industry, you heard correct. The hotel industry is booming here and will continue to as plans are full steam ahead now on the new Music City Center. The new convention center alone is probably going to bring two new large (1,000+ room) hotels. Boutique hotels are becoming popular here. Hotel Indigo opened on West End not too long ago and another one is opening up downtown. Across the street from Indigo, an office building along West End is now a shell waiting to be turned into a boutique Hutton Hotel. An Intercontinental Hotel will be a component to the West End Summit. In fact, hotels are just sprouting up all around West End and Midtown lately. Of course, there's always the enormous Gaylord Opryland Resort which is also adding more hotel and convention space.

As far as the nightlife is concerned, a friend of mine swears by this karaoke bar named Ms. Kelli's in Printer's Alley. However, I've never been so I couldn't tell you what it's like. The majority of the gay nightlife is along Church Street in Midtown. Go to Tribe if you like a bar setting with some great martinis. Hit up Play next door if you want a killer drag show and some great dance music. Take a stroll down to street to Blu if you're more into an urban/hip hop gay club. Also, the bars in the Gulch and around Midtown seem to be pretty popular around here.

Good luck on your move and apartment search and congrats to your partner on his scholarships!

[artemis]

Have you checked with Hilton about transferring here? They own several hotels here.

As far as nightlife, The Lipstick Lounge in East Nashville is a gay bar. It's located at 14th & Woodland in East Nashville.

[wyldedixie]

I will second the vote for Hermitage. My husband and I were in Nashville last week to go apartment hunting, and we settled on the Hermitage area. We're still only going to be about 20 minutes from downtown. We're moving from Chicago, and I would wholeheartedly declare that 20 minutes is a whole heck of a lot better than two hours in Chicago traffic.

[mps74]

Welcome to Nashville! My husband and I moved from the Chicago area last May and we love it here so far!