Seeking Nashville Neighborhood info (Gallatin, Lebanon: mortgage, tornadoes, vacation)

[MontanaGuy]

Hi. I just retired and have been living in the Phoenix area. As soon as my house sells I intend to move to Nashville. I spent some time there this summer and I want to buy a house when I move there. I'm hoping to spend $160,000 or less so I know that rules out alot of areas. I do want to live close in to the city and I really like the idea of living in a neighborhood where you can have restaurants, bars and entertainment nearby. I'm also concerned with crime and safety. So first of all are there any neighborhoods you would NOT recommend? I've noticed that most of the affordable areas are in parts of East Nashville, the Bellshire area, and quite a large area that is near the airport. I looked at houses when I was there this summer that were just to the west of the Gallatin Pikeway but I honestly didn't get a real good feeling about some of those areas. I didn't explore the area to the east of Gallatin Pikeway and I'm wondering what that is like because I've heard that East Nashville has alot of up and coming areas and it's so close to downtown. Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble on so long but I'd appreciate any thoughts any of you might have.

[MTbound]

I have lived in Nashville off and on over the past 15 years and there are many wonderful things here. However, like every other place, affordable housing in a "cool" neighborhood will not be found. We live near downtown/Vanderbilt/Belmont and our neighbor sold a one bathroom house with no back yard for $360,000. If you have children that need to attend public school DO NOT MOVE TO EAST NASHVILLE. If we didn't have a child we would look over in the east Nashville area that is being revitalized - around Eastman Avenue. It is safe there and has community involvement. Lots of teachers, police officers, social workers move over there. You want to stay on the east side of Gallatin Road is you do look in east Nashville or head to the Madison area. Nashville has a steady economy, the people are friendly, and the crime is low. DO NOT LOOK IN ANTIOCH OR LAVERGNE OR ANYWHERE NEAR THE AIRPORT - that is where crime is rising.
Hope this helps.

[insanesmooch]

Originally Posted by Want-To-Move

I have lived in Nashville off and on over the past 15 years and there are many wonderful things here. However, like every other place, affordable housing in a "cool" neighborhood will not be found. We live near downtown/Vanderbilt/Belmont and our neighbor sold a one bathroom house with no back yard for $360,000. If you have children that need to attend public school DO NOT MOVE TO EAST NASHVILLE. If we didn't have a child we would look over in the east Nashville area that is being revitalized - around Eastman Avenue. It is safe there and has community involvement. Lots of teachers, police officers, social workers move over there. You want to stay on the east side of Gallatin Road is you do look in east Nashville or head to the Madison area. Nashville has a steady economy, the people are friendly, and the crime is low. DO NOT LOOK IN ANTIOCH OR LAVERGNE OR ANYWHERE NEAR THE AIRPORT - that is where crime is rising.
Hope this helps.

Parts of the Madison area are not that great. I know some people in that area and they would not recommend it. I second that about Antioch though.

This should take you to an interactive crime map:
http://pdmap2.police.nashville.org/

If not, go to: http://www.police.nashville.org/ Look on the left hand side and you will see the link to the interactive crime map.

[wellkids]

East Nashville has some good areas and bad areas so you need to be very careful when selecting a home there. I used to live in Hermitage and there are still some very nice areas there that will border Mt. Juliet and Wilson County. You will find some older subdivisions with nice home scattered throughout Nashville but you need to make sure you are not looking in an area moving downhill. I don't think you would like Madison, Antioch, or Bellshire. There are other really great areas but to stay under $160K I think that will preclude you from considering those communities.

[MontanaGuy]

Thanks for the information. I don't have children, so schools are not an issue. I'm white, single and 57. I'm glad to hear that there might be some neighborhoods east of Gallatin in East Nashville. That might be a good choice if I find a good area. I could probably spend a little more but what I'm trying to do is find a house that I can pay for most of it in cash and then just have a reasonable mortgage. Oh, and thanks for the crime information and the website, that's very helpful. I appreciate the advice from all of you.

[tn06]

Close to downtown, safe, entertainment, and cheap.
You might want to check zillow.com for the heat map concerning the prices.

Theres some bad neighborhoods around downtown, and yet there are some really upscale & expensive ones. Though, you probably have to spend at least $200,000 to meet your standards.

[MontanaGuy]

Thanks tn06. I hadn't seen that site before. I guess it must sound like I'm asking for more than is realistic but I just want to avoid the same predicament that I'm in now. The Phoenix area is gigantic and I'm on the far southern suburbs. I have to drive everywhere I go because it's so spread out and the whole city seems to have been designed around the automobile and mass transit doesn't even exist where I live. If I could find an area that has a neighborhood feel to it and has restaurants and places of interest within walking distance or at least a short drive that would be great. I realize my finances won't allow me to have a high priced place right downtown but I don't want to be so far away from the city center that it feels like I'm taking a vacation just to go there. Thanks again for the info.

[BuzzCam]

I live in the Donelson area about 2 miles northeast of the Nashville Airport. This area has smaller, modest homes built in the 50's. Prices in my neighborhood run anywhere from $90,000-$150,000. The homes are 2 and 3 bedrooms with 1 or 2 bathrooms. These homes are mostly ranch style and are of brick construction. And, believe me, they do not build them like these homes are built anymore. I had either straight line winds or a small tornado hit my neighborhood back in 1999. The airport was hit by the same storm and clocked the winds at 100mph. I would not of had any damage to my house if the trees around it did not fall on it. (By the way, tornadoes do sound like freight trains.) And, we have allot of large trees. Even after the tornado.

The crime rate in this area is very low. This location is convenient with Opry Mills and my favorite, Regal 20 Cinemas, located a few miles to the north on McGavock Pike. Downtown is less than 15 minutes away via Interstate 40, that is if it is not "rush hour". To the east up Lebanon Road are grocery stores, gyms, YMCA, Target, Walmart, etc. And of course, the airport is very close by. The planes taking off and landing are not that bad as these homes had storm windows installed by the airport authority to cut down on the noise when they expanded their runways. Plus this made our house more energy efficient. Hope this will be of some help to you.

[MomsTn]

There was an article in the Tennessean this morning about an East Tennessee
neighborhood and how they keep in contact with each other online.

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...4/-1/NLETTER01

[MontanaGuy]

Thanks again, everyone. If you don't mind I'd like to throw out another question. I've been noticing the weather reports for Nashville for a couple of months and I see it really does get pretty cold compared to the Phoenix area where I live. I'm wondering what your typical heating or cooling bill might be. I also notice that some houses have gas and some have what I believe are heat pumps, at least that's what we call them in Arizona. In other words, the same unit supplies both heating and cooling. I think this is one expense that will be higher in Tennessee. I really don't spent much on my electric bill. The most it's ever been is $115 during a really hot summer month. In the winter it's usually about $65 or so a month. What should I expect in Nashville? And thanks again to all of you. I really appreciate your comments.