Franklin vs. Bellevue...a different take (Memphis, Germantown: rent, houses, neighborhood)

[Tunky]

I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing my life story so I'll try to be concise.

My husband and I are trying to decide between renting in Franklin and Bellevue. I'll be moving to Nashville first for a job that requires lots of travel and he'll be staying in Memphis during the week for awhile.

I realize the traffic to/from Franklin is heavy but my job will allow me some flexibility on travel times ( I don't have to punch a clock ). Much of the time, my travel will be either flying or driving out on Monday and returning on Friday. After living in Memphis I am most concerned with having a nice, clean, enjoyable place to live and will put up with things like traffic as a trade off.

We're ok with the cost of rent in both places.

We're in our 40's and 50's with an empty nest and no pets.

We like to spend time outside...we do a lot of walking for exercise. We like to have nice restaurants and I would really love a great grocery store nearby. ( You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a really good grocery store in Memphis aside from Fresh Market$). We also like to have a friendly neighborhood pub type place for an occasional break!

Looking for a friendly community....would like to finally make some friends down here!

Is there anything else we should know about either community? We will be renting and not buying for at least a year so if we choose the wrong place to start it won't be the end of the world....but it would be nice to land in the right place.

Thank you!

[alleycat]

I think you're already heard my opinion. You won't go too far wrong in either place as far as the area itself is concerned. For you and your situation, I might give a slight nod to Franklin.

[Mike in TN]

If it was me, the proximity of the Werner Parks to Bellevue would be the deciding factor.

[Tunky]

Yes, thank you Allycat! You've been very helpful!

Good point about the parks Mike! Definitely something to think about.

Thank you Bill! We stay in Brentwood when we visit Nashville. We do want to stay on the southern side of the city because we will still be going back and forth to Memphis while my husband is working there.

[denawilliams]

Franklin will have easy access to the 840 loop that should dump you out on I40 and cut some time off your trips to Memphis. Either area will probably be a nice change for you. If you are like me, once you've been here awhile, you will like going back to Memphis to visit family and friends and for a few of the cultural things specific to Memphis that you'll miss, but you'll wish you had moved here sooner! Well, I think you will say that, at least.
Franklin has more restaurants, retail and businesses than Bellevue, but Bellevue has access to more parks, prices are less expensive, and it's only a 15-20 minute drive to where so many options for business, retail, restaurants, etc are in West End, Downtown, Green Hills, Belmont/Vanderbilt/Hillsboro Village, etc. etc. Brentwood and Franklin are like your Germantown and Collierville of Memphis, well, to some degree. I can't really think of anything that I could compare Bellevue to in Memphis.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by Mike in TN

If it was me, the proximity of the Werner Parks to Bellevue would be the deciding factor.

I'm not trying to point out typos (I sure make enough myself on here and then I can't edit them later when I spot them), but they're actually the Warner Parks.

[2martins]

the warner parks are indeed very nice, but you can visit them easily from franklin now and then. you are fairly close to radnor park in franklin, and there are also places you can put in a canoe, parks with walking paths, etc in franklin. you can put in a canoe in bellevue some places, too, to be fair, but franklin is pretty significantly nicer if you can afford it. the older part of bellevue isn't that nice and the newer part is very cheap 'builder special' houses for the most part. franklin has a lot of macmansions, whish is also not appealing to some people, but they also have a nice older downtown with a beautiful library. the bellevue library SUCKS. the shopping is much better in franklin overall and cool springs has a wild oats brentwood has a fresh market and there's a farmers market out there too i think. and some csas that deliver there.

i used to live in bellevue. turns out there was a crack house only a few blocks away. if you just drove by you would never know and it's really mostly not like that at all, but the older stuff is smaller and quite a bit less expensive than the newer houses and there's just more ick there in spots than there is in franklin.

[Mike in TN]

Originally Posted by alleycat

I've not trying to point out typos (I sure make enough myself on here and then I can't edit them later when I spot them), but they're actually the Warner Parks.

I'm also not trying to point out typos, but "I've" is a contraction for "I have." Perhaps you meant "I am," in which case the contraction would be "I'm." But I don't think anyone else noticed.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by Mike in TN

I'm also not trying to point out typos, but "I've" is a contraction for "I have." Perhaps you meant "I am," in which case the contraction would be "I'm." But I don't think anyone else noticed.

Right you are.

I was just trying to get the name of the parks right for anyone interested, not trying to start a "typos war".

[akm4]

Originally Posted by 2martins

...... and there's a farmers market out there too i think. and some csas that deliver there.

Yes, the farmer's market at The Factory in Franklin is great, and growing by leaps and bounds. Several CSAs that I know of, most notably Delvin Farms.

Gosh, I hope there are no typos in there Sorry, couldn't resist!