Late Twenties Brooklyn Rockers looking for cool place to live (Murfreesboro: appointed, section 8)

[ashleylawless17]

Hi People - My husband and I grew tired of pricey and arrogant NYC a year ago and moved to Scottsdale, AZ. Two days later, we realized we made a pretty bad decision and after a year of being here, we're ready to move again. We've decided to give Nashville a chance (I'm originally from MS and miss the south) but don't even know where to start in looking for a place to live. We've heard East Nashville is a pretty cool neighborhood to live in but I want to check with you locals on the wary "real-estate" tricks I should look out for. Like what does "South East Nashville" and "5 minutes away from 5 points" mean? Is that a trick? If there are other neighborhoods we should look into, please let me know. All we really need is a local bar and some real yet nice neighbors. We don't want to stick out in a family neighborhood but don't want to live in the scary side of town. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We're looking at moving in October. Thanks ahead of time and I'm going to try and catch up on other threads in case there's some good advice I missed.

[yank283]

Glad you picked Nashville. As far as the borders of East Nashville - to the west I-24, to the north, Briley Parkway and to the east, the Cumberland River. When they are saying "5 minutes from 5 Points" it is probably a property in either Inglewood or Rosebank neighborhoods (which I consider East Nashville). Inglewood would be properties north of Douglas Ave up to Briley Parkway. Rosebank is the area east of Porter Road to the river. Lots of 50's ranch style houses (the burbs back in the day). Properties north of Briley Parkway is considered Madison, not East Nashville. "South East Nashville" would raise a flag with me. That may mean more South than East Nashville possibly, east of I24 and South of I-40/440. That would definitely not be considered East Nashville. While I love it over here, it's still a transitional neighborhood and along with it there is crime, anyone can tell you that. There was a 19 % decrease from 2006 to 2007 per the East Precinct. If your not dealing drugs or hanging out with your ex-con friend, Rico, more than likely it will not affect you. You just have to be aware of your surrounding like any urban area. Like a lot of transitional urban neighborhoods, one street might be really nice and quite while the next one has trouble households and section 8 renters. Not all are bad, but in general you are going to run into more issues with these type renters than homeowners. There are large areas that do not have many section 8 renters (Lockeland Springs, Edgefield, most of Eastwood Neighbors, central to north eastern part of Inglewood). You should also do a search on this site for other opinions about the eastside. BTW, I guarantee you won't stand out over here, we have all types. Since it sounds like you might not know a lot of people who live here I would possibly contact a real estate agent that specializes in East Nashville and knows the area well. Tell them you want to start out renting but will eventually buy and see if they can help. Here is firm that is based in East Nashville (no affiliation with them) -

Historic & Distinctive Homes
1107 Gartland Avenue
Nashville, TN 37206
info@HistoricTN.com
615-228-3723 office
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]

[denawilliams]

There are several neighborhoods you might be interested, but a couple to start with are Lockeland Springs and Edgefield. You'll have a greater chance of being within walking distance of 5 points in those areas, but I'd always take a look at addresses of the houses on a map. If you're looking at the MLS the address should be a link that opens to a map, or of course, Goggle Earth, Street View and Microsoft's Visual Earth are all great tools too. East Nashville has been up and coming for a number of years now and will be filled with people from all types of backgrounds and cultures. The people that have moved there to call it home are very passionate about it. Of course, when you get a chance to visit, there is nothing like driving the area for yourself. I've had clients excited about East Nashville from online photos and from talk, but then it wasn't what they had created in their mind and were disappointed. On the flip side, I've also had clients that did not think they'd like East Nashville, but they loved it.

Another area you can look at in addition to East Nashville is the West side. I'm not sure of your price range, but the West side does tend to be more expensive. Neighborhoods like Hillsboro Village, West End, Belmont, David Lipscomb, Waverly, 12 South, Music Row, etc. are some of the examples of neighborhoods in the center of town on the West side.

A tool I use a ton to figure out how close a certain house is to services, restaurants, grocery stores, bars, coffee shops, entertainment, schools, etc. is Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address

This site could be helpful for you as you try to decipher the words used on the MLS. It may be easier for you to stick to subdivision searches. Again, there are probably a few more that you'd be interested in, but that is a good place to start.

[Capt. Dan]

To be honest---there are parts of east Nashville that i wouldnt want my wife to walk alone thru. Just my opinion.

[Steve_TN]

Originally Posted by Capt. Dan

To be honest---there are parts of east Nashville that i wouldnt want my wife to walk alone thru. Just my opinion.

It is like that ANYWHERE. There are parts of Murfreesboro that I wouldn't want my wife to walk alone through.

[timothyb]

Hmm it seems like people drive everywhere here.. Is it any wonder that TN is one of the top states for obesity issues.

Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee lead the nation when it comes to obesity, a new government survey reported Thursday. More than 30 percent of adults in each of the states tipped the scales enough to ensure the South remains the nation's fattest region.

Hopefully with the rise in gas prices, citizens and city planners will finally decide to be smarter and build sidewalks, more bike lanes and better public transit, before the cities and suburbs which rely on people driving everywhere turn to ghost towns.

[timothyb]

Well actually I did a little research and Nashville is rated the 39th best city for walkable neighborhoods according to the recently released report fromWalkscore.com..
The neighborhoods were ranked as follows:

1 East End 86
2 Edgehill 79
3 Bellmont Hillsboro 78
4 Melrose 78
5 Historic Edgefield 74
6 Greenwood 72
7 Fisk-Meharry 71
8 Cahal Street 71
9 Lockeland Springs 68
10 Buena Vista 68

[bluesky42day]

Well I'm no rocker but as an early 20s resident East Sider I love it over here and wouldn't want to live anywhere else in Nashville. Yes, it's "transitional" but I still feel confident living alone and walking my dogs to five points by myself. Just talk to neighbors and get a feel for the street. I also called our non emergency police line 615.862.8600 number and talked to a statistician about the exact street I was wanting to live on. Best of Luck!

[artemis]

Originally Posted by yank283

Glad you picked Nashville. As far as the borders of East Nashville - to the west I-24, to the north, Briley Parkway and to the east, the Cumberland River. When they are saying "5 minutes from 5 Points" it is probably a property in either Inglewood or Rosebank neighborhoods (which I consider East Nashville). Inglewood would be properties north of Douglas Ave up to Briley Parkway. Rosebank is the area east of Porter Road to the river. Lots of 50's ranch style houses (the burbs back in the day). Properties north of Briley Parkway is considered Madison, not East Nashville. "South East Nashville" would raise a flag with me. That may mean more South than East Nashville possibly, east of I24 and South of I-40/440. That would definitely not be considered East Nashville. While I love it over here, it's still a transitional neighborhood and along with it there is crime, anyone can tell you that. There was a 19 % decrease from 2006 to 2007 per the East Precinct. If your not dealing drugs or hanging out with your ex-con friend, Rico, more than likely it will not affect you. You just have to be aware of your surrounding like any urban area. Like a lot of transitional urban neighborhoods, one street might be really nice and quite while the next one has trouble households and section 8 renters. Not all are bad, but in general you are going to run into more issues with these type renters than homeowners. There are large areas that do not have many section 8 renters (Lockeland Springs, Edgefield, most of Eastwood Neighbors, central to north eastern part of Inglewood). You should also do a search on this site for other opinions about the eastside. BTW, I guarantee you won't stand out over here, we have all types. Since it sounds like you might not know a lot of people who live here I would possibly contact a real estate agent that specializes in East Nashville and knows the area well. Tell them you want to start out renting but will eventually buy and see if they can help. Here is firm that is based in East Nashville (no affiliation with them) -

Historic & Distinctive Homes
1107 Gartland Avenue
Nashville, TN 37206
info@HistoricTN.com
615-228-3723 office
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]

East Nashville doesn't go all the way up to Briley, nor does Inglewood start at Douglas Ave & go North.

South Inglewood starts at Straightway Ave.

Briley Pkwy is at the Northern edge of North Inglewood.

Inglewood is not part of East Nashville.

[yank283]

Originally Posted by artemis

East Nashville doesn't go all the way up to Briley, nor does Inglewood start at Douglas Ave & go North.

South Inglewood starts at Straightway Ave.

Briley Pkwy is at the Northern edge of North Inglewood.

Inglewood is not part of East Nashville.

Okay there's a one block difference between Douglas and Straightway...touchy...better start erecting a fence...my apologies for putting those seven houses on 14th Ave in South Inglewood. I think that we should all share a larger sense of community that promotes this area of town. Also, as an "Inglewood" resident, I would like to say that I am excited to see our area of "East Nashville" blossom.