Nashville or Houston (Memphis, Knoxville, Franklin: for rent, crime, house)

[CantWait2Leave]

My husband and I live in LA and are thinking of moving to either Nashville or Houston. We want to live in a safe town with good public schools. How do these two cities compare with each other??

[Mike in TN]

Housing is cheaper in Houston, but property taxes and energy costs are a lot more there. Over the course of 15 years or so it would probably balance out.

The Houston MSA is much, much bigger than the Nashville MSA.

Are you looking for a rural, urban, or suburban area?

[groovamos]

I grew up in Nashville, and lived there 3 times, one of those was when I transferred to Vanderbilt-- from where I graduated in engineering. I live now in Houston. I believe Nashville MSA pop. is around 1.6 million, Houston is 5.5 million. Both cities have a great economy, but Houston job market is now #1 in the nation because of the energy crunch. Texas has coastline and mountains, TN has mountains and huge rivers. We are about 50 miles to the coast here and at least 450 miles to three mountain ranges which are larger than those in TN. That being said, Nashville definitely has the edge over Houston for outdoor recreation for several reasons. One of which is that the better Texas beaches are more than 200 miles away, south of Corpus. The reason for this is that there are a lot of small rivers flowing into the Gulf in this region and the water is not clear very often, although it is better than it was, and the sand is darker. Also east Texas is very flat although with some very thick forests. Houston is on the coastal plain with pine and oak dominating, but as you go north from downtown you get into heavily wooded suburbs.

The reason I say Nashville is better for outdoor recreation is that they are not only closer (200 miles) to serious mountains than Houston, but the region's hilly terrain is very beautiful in a way that Houston metro can never approach, so that you have a lot of hiking, canoeing, biking, etc in prettier environs. Also Nashville is 40 miles or so from the western flanks of the Cumberland Plateau, which in some places looks like mountain terrain and is packed with beautifull waterfalls and canyons. I am amazed at all of the nature preserves which have been established on the plateau. I spent the 4th at Monteagle which is on the southeastern part of the plateau at 2100 ft. We took a spectacular hike down a wooded chasm (Fiery Gizzard) which would remind you of something similar in the West. And I have read that the Feds have a ranking system for state park systems, and TN was recently ranked #1 in the nation for the state park system they have.

So far as crime is concerned, Houston has improved in the past couple of decades. I live central, 8 minutes to downtown, 8 minutes to the West Loop, and crime in my neighborhood (Timbergrove Manor) is virtually non-existent.

So far as culture is concerned Houston maybe has the edge because of the extensive art scene here, the best in the South by a long shot. Both cities have equivalently ranked symphonies, with Nashville's new hall outshining the one we have here. But we have a spectacular opera house, one of the top venues in the country. But then take a look at Nashville's new central library --blows away our recently renovated one, from the photos I've seen. And the higher education environment in Nashville is quite more extensive than in Houston which is a surprise to a lot of people I think. And since the culture of Nashville is so driven by the large entertainment sector, Nashville culture holds its own very well compared to Houston in light of this and previous points.

And here's something interesting regarding the local economies--The health care sector in both cities has a large national footprint. In fact, many people come from other parts of the world to be treated in Houston. But then, Nashville has one of the top 20 hospitals in US News rankings for the USA, and the state of Texas doesn't have a single one. If you're interested, you can find info on the health care sectors on the internet. I'll try to watch this thread if you have some specific questions.

[CantWait2Leave]

WOW, thanks so much!! We are looking for a suburban area. I didn't realize that the population in Houston is so much greater than Nashville. We are leaving LA because of the overpopulation so I think Nashville is more what we are looking for. We are outdoorsy too and love hiking.

[Diane Giam]

If you are looking for Surburban, then look into Brentwood, Franklin, and Hendersonville, TN There are a lot of Californians in the Brentwood and Franklin area because of the 2006 move of Nissean here. All 3 are close suburbs of Nashville. Brentwood and Franklin have Williamson county schools where are top rated and Hendersonville has Wilson County schools which are also excellent.

Diane G

[timothyb]

What's also nice about Nashville is the fact that its smack dab in the middle between places great for day tripping. Between a visit to Memphis, Louisville, St Louis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Knoxville and a few other cities, its close enough to get away if you need to. Plus the airport has pretty good airfares compared to other cities with just two or three dominant carriers..

[vankel1234]

Are you moving from LA (louisiana) or L.A. (california)? Well either way, Nashville and Houston are nice places. Like someone said housing in Houston is great. You would be amazed how big a house you get for the $.

[missy1999]

If I were you; I'd go to Houston. My husband and I moved to Nashville last year from California. It's very expensive here. Our health ins, car ins, food, util etc went sky high. And the housing market here is over priced. We are in the process of transferring back to California. We left there thinking it would be cheaper here and to get away from over populated areas. But the people we've met here are very rude and don't even get me started on how careless they drive here. I've been ran off the road several times. They just don't pay attention or have a cell phone stuck to their head. We were very let down after arriving here a year ago hoping to make this our home. If there was any way possible for us to go to Houston I'd jump in a heart beat.

[mad fiddler]

Originally Posted by missy1999

If I were you; I'd go to Houston. My husband and I moved to Nashville last year from California. It's very expensive here. Our health ins, car ins, food, util etc went sky high. And the housing market here is over priced. We are in the process of transferring back to California. We left there thinking it would be cheaper here and to get away from over populated areas. But the people we've met here are very rude and don't even get me started on how careless they drive here. I've been ran off the road several times. They just don't pay attention or have a cell phone stuck to their head. We were very let down after arriving here a year ago hoping to make this our home. If there was any way possible for us to go to Houston I'd jump in a heart beat.

We bought a house in a perfectly fine neighborhood about five years ago for $150k. 2500sf, older home on a little over half an acre.

One of the reasons we stay in Nashville is because we have a really good standard of living for our income. We don't live in a "hot" or "new" area surrounded by the latest and greatest shopping, but we're happy and more than solvent.

We're able to do work we like, and we don't have to chase the dollars just to keep our heads above water. There are areas of Nashville that are overpriced, but we chose not to live there.

Food prices and utilities are going up all over the country; this isn't unique to Nashville.

There are downsides to Nashville, but in my experience, high cost of living isn't one of them.

[Kim918]

Moderator cut: orphaned quote
I would like to know from the OP exactly where in CA there is cheaper housing than in TN? I've been there before and just the prices for renting an apt could rival the prices in Manhattan.