Info on Cookeville or Sparta? (Clarksville, Gallatin: rent, crime, good hotel)

[hkropog]

My husband is a musician in a band and we will be relocating to Tennessee in Jan. He will be working in Nashville some, but we don't want to live there. We are used to living in the country, so we would like to continue to do so when we move. He doesn't mind driving to Nashville and I am a stay-at-home mother so convenience to Nashville is not a necessity. We have heard alot about the Cookeville Sparta area recently. Does anyone have any info on this area? Is it a good town to raise children? We have a three year old and a 15 month old. We were looking at the Clarksville area in the west, but we're not so sure now. I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on the living conditions in Cookeville. Thanks!

[rescue1]

I am in Cookeville read my post, I can answer any questions. If you want to call me, I can talk much better then I can type

[JMT]

I would definitely prefer Cookeville over Clarksville. Clarksville is a military town, kind of dumpy and full of transient military families. Cookeville is a college town, so the schools are really good. The county has an open school system, so you can send your kids to whatever school you want in the entire county, whatever school fits your kids' needs the best. From western Putnam County you're only an hour from Nashville. Cookeville has the shopping, restaurants, night life, etc., typical of most college towns but without the insane traffic and crime of big cities.

Good luck!

[delerious_one]

www.herald-citizen.com is the local paper's website. My sister lived there, as did my mom. It's okay, depending on what you're really looking for. Looking for eclectic nightlife? Count that out. Looking for good food? You'll get that. Variety of living conditions? Yes! College town on the East side, middle town is upper class, middle income developments, then the outskirts, are, well, outskirts. You'll find all sorts of housing to chose from. Rent and housing is dirt cheap (to me, being from Texas!).

M

[SouthernStar]

Please be sure you aren't looking at the situation through rose-colored glasses, and I mean that in the nicest of ways . A long commute can destroy you and your family, so if he will be in Nashville often I would not recommend living as far away as Cookeville. It is a lovely town, but the cons of losing valuable family time to a commute far outweigh it, IMO. Have you looked north of Nashville? Areas like Portland, Greenbrier, Gallatin/past Gallatin (cheap land if you want to build) etc...? I met a woman recently who bought land in Greenbrier and built (her husband is a musician also, and they travel a lot) a home because they wanted to live in the country. Easy commute to Nashville (1/2 hr in traffic) and comparable to Cookeville, but without the college. HTH

BTW I have often made the trip from Cookeville to Nashville and it takes me an hour and a half in normal traffic.

[firepower]

Originally Posted by SouthernStar

Please be sure you aren't looking at the situation through rose-colored glasses, and I mean that in the nicest of ways . A long commute can destroy you and your family, so if he will be in Nashville often I would not recommend living as far away as Cookeville. It is a lovely town, but the cons of losing valuable family time to a commute far outweigh it, IMO. Have you looked north of Nashville? Areas like Portland, Greenbrier, Gallatin/past Gallatin (cheap land if you want to build) etc...? I met a woman recently who bought land in Greenbrier and built (her husband is a musician also, and they travel a lot) a home because they wanted to live in the country. Easy commute to Nashville (1/2 hr in traffic) and comparable to Cookeville, but without the college. HTH

BTW I have often made the trip from Cookeville to Nashville and it takes me an hour and a half in normal traffic.

Absolutely right. I have some friends that make the drive every work day to the Nashville area & depending on their location it takes 1:15 to 1:30. This is fine for them because of their salary.
But why not make Cookeville your base? There are many opportunities associated with TTU that can help keep some of your operations in Cookeville.


firepower

[hkropog]

Hey, thanks for the info. We visited Cookeville and fell in love with it. We are currently living in a small town outside of Baton Rouge and Cookeville seems very comparable to it. I actually grew up in Hammond, Louisiana and Cookeville is very similar. Hammond has a university and a mall and good places to eat much like Cookeville. You can't beat the prices on houses here either. We have a purchase agreement on a new house to be finished by Feb. We made the drive from Cookeville to Nashville and it's not bad at all. It reminds me of the drive from our current house to New Orleans which is a little over an hour. Anyway, thanks for pointing us in this direction. We are really excited to be moving!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by hkropog

Hey, thanks for the info. We visited Cookeville and fell in love with it. We are currently living in a small town outside of Baton Rouge and Cookeville seems very comparable to it. I actually grew up in Hammond, Louisiana and Cookeville is very similar. Hammond has a university and a mall and good places to eat much like Cookeville. You can't beat the prices on houses here either. We have a purchase agreement on a new house to be finished by Feb. We made the drive from Cookeville to Nashville and it's not bad at all. It reminds me of the drive from our current house to New Orleans which is a little over an hour. Anyway, thanks for pointing us in this direction. We are really excited to be moving!

I am so happy for you! I hope you enjoy living in Cookeville. I plan on moving there as soon as I can. I have all kinds of family who have all followed each other to Cookeville, I hope to do the same as soon as possible. Good luck with your move!

[Lutz Lady]

My family and I will be visiting Cookeville the first part of January. Can anyone recommend a good hotel to stay in? Not being from the area we dont know if there are certain areas to stay in or stay away from. Chain hotels are fine as long as they are nice. Thanks!

[JMT]

Alpine Lodge on East Spring Street (formerly Howard Johnson's) is where I always stay when I'm in Cookeville. It's clean, inexpensive, and it has beautiful views.

Avoid the Star Motor Lodge.

The new Holiday Inn is nice. There is no "bad" part of Cookeville, just a few run-down motels like the Star Motor Lodge.