Cookesville or Murfreesboro? (Smyrna, Cookeville: 2009, renting, crime rates)

[dogluver]

I am looking for any input/thoughts on either cities. My husband and I recently moved to Floyd, VA from Chicago, IL. We are now thinking about another relocation and want this to be our last! We are looking at either Cookesville or Murfreesboro. We are looking at a homes with 1-2 acres in the $100-180K range, somewhat country feel, yet close to shopping, museums, culture, etc. I especially miss the "city" feel from Chicago but also like coming home to the solitude of country living. Appreciate any info! Pros and/or cons of either?
Thanks.

[2mares]

Murfreesboro

[firepower]

Well I'd choose Cookeville...
But you'd really need to come look for yourself because they're two very different places.
If you miss "city life" then you might want to be in the 'Boro due to it's proximity to Nashville.
It will be hard to find that "small town feel" in Murfreesboro though cause it's booming. Not a small town anymore. Not much of it's own identity to me. In fact, the whole Lavergne, Smyrna, Murfreesboro corridor seems like a big extention of Nashville.
Cookeville has enough shopping, museums, and culture to keep most people satisfied, and is close enough to Nashville(1 hour) if you need to go while still keeping it's own personality.


firepower

[dogluver]

Originally Posted by 2mares

Murfreesboro

Can you elaborate on why you would pick this over Cookesville? thanks.
We will probably plan a short trip next month to visit one and then another trip to visit the other. Not sure which one to start at...

[jabogitlu]

Murfreesboro *is* booming. I quote from Wikipedia, "The population was 101,753 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2009 report, up from 81,393 residents certified during the city's 2005 special census." So they've added 20k residents in four years, and 33k people since the 2000 census.

Cookeville is growing a bit slower. Another quote, "The population was 23,923 at the 2000 census. The 2007 Census estimate of Cookeville's population is 28,901."

That could be a big factor in your decision.

[mrradio]

I would comment that Murfreesboro has more of a suburban feel while Cookeville is simply a small city that fans out into a rural countryside. As the previous poster stated, Cookeville is about an hour or so from Nashville if you need a larger city's goods and services. The Nashville airport, by the way, is on the east side of town so coming from Cookeville you needn't go through Nashville to access it.

[dogluver]

Thanks everyone for your replies - they are a big help. Please keep 'em coming!

[KewlGuy]

Regardless of anyone's recommendations you really need to spend some time in both locations to make an informed decision. I would suggest renting in the locations you are considering at first before buying a home. This would lessen the possibility of making the wrong decision. Just my two cents.

[JMT]

I would imagine that since Murfreesboro is four times the size of Cookeville and is growing a heck of a lot faster, more people would vote for Murfreesboro over Cookeville. So the OP really should heed KewlGuy's advice and spend some time in both places to see for themselves.

The two cities are really nothing alike. Murfreesboro is a booming city that has a lot more shopping, restaurants, and traffic than Cookeville.

On the other hand, as small towns go, Cookeville is a jewel. It offers much more than most other towns its size: 2 symphonies, a children's museum, a dinosaur museum (no kidding), a couple of other museums, several theater organizations, art galleries, and a lot of shopping and restaurants--much of which is within walking distance of each other in downtown Cookeville. I imagine that it would be easier to find affordable land around Cookeville than Murfreesboro, but I'm just guessing.

Both cities have similar crime rates, and both are college towns. Murfreesboro was recently ranked as the best large town (50,000+) in Tennessee to raise kids, while Cookeville has been ranked as one of the country's best retirement cities. Cookeville is closer to some of Tennessee's more popular state parks, waterfalls, and lakes, but Murfreesboro is closer to Nashville. Both cities have similarly-sized hospitals and have excellent school systems, too.

At any rate, that's about the best I can do to compare these two places. My personal preference is for Cookeville, but I'm sure others can make a good case for Murfreesboro.

Good luck!

[dogluver]

Thanks JMT for the information. I think we'll stop at Cookeville first and check out the area and then head over to Murfreesboro. We both love the outdoors, hiking, parks, etc. but I also love the city life so we are torn on which place but once we visit that will make up our mind.

KewlGuy-we would love the idea of renting first so not to make a wrong decision but with all our dogs/cats it would be hard to find a place that would allow them and there is NO way we are giving any of them up. We thought about doing that where we are in Virginia but for that reason alone, just bought a house in Floyd. We did visit Floyd two years in a row and stayed for several weeks prior to buying the house we have now.