Moving to Nashville in 3 weeks!! Lots of q's!!! (Nashville-Davidson, Clarksville: apartment complexes, to rent)

[dscan99]

My husband and I are moving to Nashville in a few weeks. I have read a lot of posts on this forum and have gotten a lot of useful information. I would like to get some more advice on a few things....

- Area/ Neighbourhood to live: We are looking to rent a 2BR apt in a decent, safe, neighbourhood that is also not too far from the airport. My husband will be travelling lots so hence the airport requirement. I will be working downtown (Great Circle Road). I've read that Bellvue/Belmont/GreenHills are all really nice areas to live... How far are these communities from the airport? I would also like to live in somewhat close proximity to shopping .. grocery store/mall...

- Are there specific good apartment complexes in these areas that you can recommend? We will be coming down there the weekend of Apr 27-29 to look for apts and sign up and move in right away.

- What is the public transportation like in Nashville? I've read there are buses/trains... are these reliable? Which areas do they connect? or do most people just drive?

- Is it advisable to drive/park downtown (Great Circle Rd ...) or take transit?

I'm sure I will have more questions later but this is a good start! Thanks in advance!! I'm excited about this move!!!

[alleycat]

I can help with a lot of your questions but I'm a little pressed for time at the moment. Here's a couple of comments until I can answer some of the question more thoroughly.

I work on Great Circle Road. It's actually not downtown, but north of downtown in MetroCenter, a large office park area.

Bellevue (where I live), Green Hills, and Belmont are all good neighborhoods; Green Hills would be the most expensive. It would be a reasonable commute to the airport from Belmont and Green Hills by taking I-440. Bellevue would be somewhat longer (at least 10 to 15 minutes longer). The commute from either of those area to MetroCenter would be fairly short (once you got on the Interstate, it could take a while just to get to the Interstate in Belmont or Green Hills, according to where you lived and the traffic at the time).

More later.

[dscan99]

cool! thanks for the info, alleycat.

so the commute from these areas would be around 30mins?

Also, is it recommended to live right downtown or would I be better off in the areas I mentioned? in terms of safety etc...?

[alleycat]

The commute to the airport from Belmont or Green Hill would be about 25 to 30 mins. or less, a little longer from Bellevue. The commute to MetroCenter would be about 20 to 30 minutes from either of the three areas. This is just a rough estimate. A lot would depend on the exactly location you live and what time you go. For example, it takes me 20 mins, in the morning to get from Bellevue to MetroCenter, 25 minutes in the afternoon; but then I come in early and leave before 5:00. If you come in exactly at 8:00 or leave exactly at 5:00, the commute could take longer. At least 10 minutes longer. Something else to keep in mind, because of the weather, truck traffic and the like, sometimes you will "get stuck" in traffic. It might happen once a week, or once a month, or once every six months (that's what usually happens to me, but then, I have a fairly easy commute). It might take you twice as long, or more, to get home at those time. You just have to live with it. It's really hard to give a difinitely answer to commute time without knowing a lot of factors.

By the way, parking is easy at MetroCenter. All the buildings have their own lots or garages.

Living downtown is something that is just becoming new again for Nashville. For many years, hardly anyone lived downtown. The units currently available are a little on the pricey side to my way of thinking because there is more demand than there are units. That is changing, but it still hasn't quite caught up. Will there be a glut on the market in the future, or will demand continued to be greater than supply? I have no idea.

All three of the areas you initially mentioned are relatively safe. Probably a bit safer than downtown. In terms of shopping and basic emenities, Green Hills, Belmont and Bellevue are much better than downtown at the moment.

[donnaraeb]

Hi,
I am going for an interview in goodlettsville next week. I live in Michigan and am scared to death of relocating. Do you know the area?

[TNNative]

Originally Posted by donnaraeb

Hi,
I am going for an interview in goodlettsville next week. I live in Michigan and am scared to death of relocating. Do you know the area?

I have strong ties to Goodlettsville and hopefully can help you. Goodlettsville is a booming and expanding area (most everything around Nashville is), and is a main retail area which is home to Rivergate Mall. If you speak to a local here, you might hear them say they are going to "Rivergate" instead of Goodlettsville. On the southbound side of I65 you have the "old" Goodlettsville which has not developed nearly as fast as area on the northbound side of I65. I live within a few miles of Goodlettsville and can truthfully say I RARELY venture into downtown Nashville because ALMOST everything I could need to buy is in the Rivergate area. The mall anchors are Macy's, Sears, Penney's, and Dillards and the mall has many other stores, although it is not nearly as big as Opry Mills mall which is within 20 minutes of Goodlettsville (this is the mall that replaced our beloved Opryland themepark).

Goodlettsville has many major restaurant chains and stores. Most of Goodlettsville is in Davidson County, but some of Goodlettsville is also in Sumner County, with a smaller bit being in Robertson County. The "Goodlettsville" location also encompasses some of the Long Hollow Pike area, and what is also known as Millersville. If you move to the Sumner County portion of Goodlettsville, and you choose public schools, your children will likely attend Madison Creek Elementary that feeds into T. W. Hunter Middle School and then to Beech High School. Beech is a BIG high school with a large student population. If you move to the northern Sumner County area of Goodlettsville (which is usually around Millersville), kids go to Millersville Elementary and then on to White House Middle and High. If you choose the Robertson County area of the Goodlettsville zipcode, which is mostly around Exit 108 (Bethel Road), public elementary schools are Watauga and then on to Greenbrier Middle and High schools. If you choose the Davidson County part of Goodlettsville, the public schools are Goodlettsville Elementary and Middle Schools (which years ago was Goodlettsville High). Goodlettsville High was replaced by a HUGE school a little closer into Nashville called Hunters Lane High. I think HL has at least 2000 kids and with that comes it's own problems and security issues.

Hendersonville that you may read about is bordering Goodlettsville. In fact, you won't know where one town starts and the other ends until you've been here a while. That is also a consideration with Hendersonville High and Station Camp High Schools. There are good private schools also, with Goodpasture being located in Madison, and Pope John Paul II school in Hendersonville. If you travel Vietnam Veterans Parkway and see a building beside the bypass that resembles a castle...that's it.

Goodlettsville is a crowded area, but I'm proud to call it my hometown. Just for fun facts, it is also "home" to my an old family friend Desperate Housewives star Jamie Denton, ("Mike Delfino"), as well as the former home of many county music stars like Garth Brooks, Lorrie Morgan, Floyd Cramer, Grandpa Jones, and "Stringbean", and several other older Opry hall of famers.

Hope this helps with your search. Good luck. If I can help with anything else, please feel free to PM.

[dscan99]

Thanks alleycat... That's good to know parking is not a problem at Metro Centre.

These areas- Belmont, Bellvue, Green Hills... what area from the list below would they come under? I'm trying to search for apartments in that area...
Central Nashville - Davidson Co.
Clarksville-NW Nashville
Dickson-SW Nashville
Franklin-Williams Co.

I'm guessing they're part of Nashville.. is it West Nashville?

Does anyone here have good apartment recommendations in the Belmont/Bellvue area?

Thanks

[alleycat]

Those areas are all part of Metro Nashville-Davidson County, in what is generally referred to as West Nashville (to be completely proper, West Nashville was within the old city limits).

There is a lot of apartments in Bellevue (The Lakes, Ridge Crest, The Club, Knollwood). A lot of the ones in Belmont will be older (sometimes that's good, sometimes not).

The ones in Bellevue at Highway 70 and Hicks Road good pretty good; I can't remember the name of them offhand. They might be part of The Club apartments. Still, you just about have to go in and look at apartments to see if they're something you'd like.

[dscan99]

The Lakes and Knollwood are really good and in our price range too. I couldn't find any info on The Club online.. will keep looking. I think we've pretty much settled and decided on living in one of these areas... From my research Bellevue looks particularly good.

[alleycat]

I think it's called The Club at Bellevue.

I would favor The Lakes over Knollwood. I lived at Knollwood for a year many years ago.