Nashville for a family with little ones (Jackson, Franklin: real estate, apartment)

[famusdarlin]

I posted before inuiring about Nashville and got the feeling that areas near downtown were not for my family. We have three little girls, one in 2nd grade, one in pre-K, and one not in school yet.

We've decided we would like to move in 1-2 years, and want to keep Nashville on our list given the friendliness, proximity to Kansas City and Hattiesburg where most of our family lives. I would like to know about the job market, cost of housing, and schools.

As far as schools and cost of housing. We need good schools, don't have to be the absolute best b/c we are the type of parents who spend alot of time re-enforcing education at home, so we know our kids would do well in a decent school, but does not have to be blue ribbon. Does Nashville have any French Immersion schools? Our daughter currently attends a Blue Ribbon French Immersion school in Kansas City and would love to be able to continue the French education. However, this is not a dealbreaker. In the areas with good schools, what would be the cost of a 4-5 bedroom home with lots of living space. I don't care for cookie cutter new homes, but could live with one if it is the only options for decent schools. I do prefer a home built in the 60's, 70's, or 80's in an area that has retained value and residents aren't scared to upgrade the inside of thier homes.

As far as the job market. My husband has loads of business experience. He has worked in corporate America in accounting, project management, and reporting positions. Right now he is a high level college administrator. He also has some leadership experience in healthcare and some fraud management experience. I work as a teacher to have flexibility with the children, but have experience in corp america and an MBA. So, what are our chances of finding something in the next couple of years, when I hope the economy has turned around.

Also, does Nashville have many locally owned resturants? What about Cultural events, museums, and unique shopping?

I know I've asked alot of questions and rabbled a bit, but I appreciate any help you could provide. Thanks in advance.

[BirdieBelle]

The best thing you can do is be sure your husband has a job secured before you try to move. Unemployment in Tennessee is around 11% right now, and the competition for jobs is high. Fortunately, Nashville has a lot of industries represented in the 8-county metropolitan area.
As far as where to live, your price range will help determine that. Based on your description, the first area I thought of was Bellevue,which saw a mini boom in the 1990s and is still growing, but also has lots of unique older homes. Harpeth Valley Elementary is a highly rated school. Also in Davidson County, families tend to flock to Granbery Elementary, Priest, Julia Green and Eakin Elementary. I'm sure other posters will have other Nashville schools they recommend. In middle school, Davidson families must endure the lottery system if they want to enter one of the magnet schools. Other than that, many go to private. Williamson and Sumner Counties are "suburban" areas with great school systems, with the edge going to Williamson. The bestsite for searching local homes by area or school zone is Realtracs.com.
Nashville has several colleges and universities that enhance the culture of the area, as well as just being a great city with unique attributes. If you narrow down your criteria, research will point you in the right direction.

[septimus]

Vanderbilt has a project management office, PM jobs shouldn't be *that* hard to find in Nashville but definitely secure a job before you move.

Price range will determine where you live, there are some very good schools in Davidson, but you have to know the system, apply for magnets, open enrollment schools etc. Everyone raves about Williamson but they aren't nearly as good as what we had back east and our school district was ranked in the bottom 25% of our state. Sumner has a very good k-12 magnet school that friends rave about. My own bias here, but I wouldn't send my kids to schools in Wilson County. The county still can't figure out that the 1st amendment applies to it.

[septimus]

P.S. You may want your husband to contact local PM professional groups to get some contacts/job leads.

Prices are all over the place here which is nice. We moved from a place where $200K wouldn't buy you a rat infested basement studio apartment whereas 200k will buy you a nice "basic" home even in Williamson County. If you can go to the 400s you can get a fairly large house anywhere except BelleMeade.

[brentwoodgirl]

Our experience with Edmondson, a Williamson County elementary, has been excellent. One parent we know graduated from Harvard Business School & is a CEO with a large company. Another is a Vanderbilt Medical School professor & his wife is a software engineer with her Ph D. These parents obviously value education & could afford to send their children anywhere, and they have chosen to send their children to Edmondson, Brentwood Middle & Brentwood High.
When we lived in Davidson County, my DD was in the gifted preschool. They said they wanted her to skip a grade to stay challenged in Davidson County schools. She was already young for her grade, so we weren't willing to do that. We moved to Williamson and they have done great with her. Special programs for math & reading. We have been really happy.

Having said all that, Williamson County was not a place that came to mind reading your post. I would consider 37220 (Oak Hill, Crieve Hall) 37215 (Green Hills, Forest Hills) 37205 (Belle Meade, which is really expensive, but this zip code also includes West Nashville- you need to be more careful with schools here though), 37221 (Bellevue) and 37204 (the parts zoned for Glendale or Eakin).
You can search by zip code & schools at realtracs.com
Those are older, more established parts of Nashville that sound like what you want. You can see Real Tracs for pricing.

[DonCorleone]

Since others have tackled the real estate and education questions, I'll bite on the others:

Originally Posted by famusdarlin

As far as the job market. My husband has loads of business experience. He has worked in corporate America in accounting, project management, and reporting positions. Right now he is a high level college administrator. He also has some leadership experience in healthcare and some fraud management experience. I work as a teacher to have flexibility with the children, but have experience in corp america and an MBA. So, what are our chances of finding something in the next couple of years, when I hope the economy has turned around.

Nashville is a mecca for the healthcare industry. HCA is headquartered here and has offices throughout the area. Likewise, there are literally hundreds of hospital/medical companies based here from large companies to very small companies. This is in addition to the 3 major hospitals (Vanderbilt, St Thomas, Baptist) and several smaller ones in the outlying areas. Bottom line, there is a demand for healthcare administration jobs here. On the flip side, however, is that there are a lot of qualified people already here. I have several friends who work in accounting/finance in the healthcare arena and while jobs are tight, they're not experiencing layoffs.

Likewise, if you've got corporate experience and an MBA yourself, you should be pretty well positioned for any number of jobs. Nashville is best known for the music industry of course, but we have a lot of financial services jobs and plenty of white collar corporate jobs outside healthcare.

Also, does Nashville have many locally owned resturants? What about Cultural events, museums, and unique shopping?

We have our fair share of Olive Gardens and Pizza Huts, of course, but we do have a good number of locally owned restaurants. They tend to be in enclaves like Germantown, East Nashville, Hillsboro Village, but that's not always the case. The rule of thumb is that the closer you are to downtown, the more "local" options you'll have in the way of dining. Suburbs, generally, are more chain type restaurants with a few local joints in the mix.

Cultural events and museums...plenty to do here. Art: The Frist Center, The Parthenon (in addition to being a park and architectural wonder has a pretty good art museum), The Steiglitz Gallery at Fisk University is a hidden gem, there are lots of smaller galleries throughout the city as well. Cultural events: there are quite a few, but none that are marquee type events. But there's always something going on, especially during the spring through fall. Our local paper and alt-weekly (Nashville Scene) are good places to look for upcoming events. Museums: (I'm including historical places too) You'll hear a lot of people tell you to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum...but it's a bit pricey, though interesting. I'd suggest the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home), Carter Home/Carnton Plantation in Franklin (Civil War sites), and the Tennessee State Museum (free...downtown at the TN Perf Arts Center) and State Capitol/Bicentennial Mall as great spots to get an idea for local history. Unique shopping: Franklin's town square is very cool and eclectic. Closer to Nashville, there's Hillsboro Village with another eclectic vibe. Green Hills has an upscale mall and plenty of other places to shop and is probably the best area in Nashville for that (although in a high-rent district). Other larger areas for commerce are Cool Springs (between Brentwood and Franklin) and Rivergate.

Best of luck in your prospective move!

[famusdarlin]

Wow, thank you all for your input. You've provided so much great information for me to get started with. Sounds like the job opportunities and educational opportunities for my girls make Nashville a great option for us.

[groovamos]

Originally Posted by septimus

Everyone raves about Williamson but they aren't nearly as good as what we had back east and our school district was ranked in the bottom 25% of our state. ... My own bias here, but I wouldn't send my kids to schools in Wilson County. The county still can't figure out that the 1st amendment applies to it.

I read that and did a double take. Maybe it's what they teach back east. But I was educated in Davidson county schools, including Montgomery Bell Academy, and remember the first amendment being something that Congress is prohibited from doing, not some school system. Sure enough I saw this verified in the second sentence of this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

I'm wondering how the poster knows that Williamson, with the best schools in the state, can't rank better than the lower 25% "back east". I'm not aware of any school system in Texas which can match TN Williamson, including our own suburban Williamson system.

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by groovamos

I read that and did a double take. Maybe it's what they teach back east. But I was educated in Davidson county schools, including Montgomery Bell Academy, and remember the first amendment being something that Congress is prohibited from doing, not some school system. Sure enough I saw this verified in the second sentence of this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

I'm wondering how the poster knows that Williamson, with the best schools in the state, can't rank better than the lower 25% "back east". I'm not aware of any school system in Texas which can match TN Williamson, including our own suburban Williamson system.

It's important to note that while Montgomery Bell Academy is IN Davidson County, it is NOT a Davidson County school. The way it was worded might make someone think it is part of the metro school system.

[septimus]

I know from experience, but also this article explains just how low the standards are
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/ed...nnessee&st=cse

As for the 1st Amendment and Wilson County Schools, when will they stop getting sued for violating it?