Nashville Nightlife Area/best residential areas (Memphis, Germantown: condos, hotels, neighborhoods)

[JerricaAnna]

Hi Everyone!

My roommate and I are planning a 3 day weekend to Nashville, from Los Angeles. We are both in our late twenties.
I may be moving to Nashville (or dallas) in one year for a job opportunity. I would love to have the local experience of Nashville, where ever the 20,30,40 somethings hang out (NOT college kids or the fanny pack elvis fans !!!).
Where is the hottest spot in the city for a hotel and where should I make a point to drive to our catch a cab to , in order to get the best "local" experience and view of the city.

Thanks so much for any advice!

j

[goodman2]

Originally Posted by JerricaAnna

Hi Everyone!

My roommate and I are planning a 3 day weekend to Nashville, from Los Angeles. We are both in our late twenties.
I may be moving to Nashville (or dallas) in one year for a job opportunity. I would love to have the local experience of Nashville, where ever the 20,30,40 somethings hang out (NOT college kids or the fanny pack elvis fans !!!).
Where is the hottest spot in the city for a hotel and where should I make a point to drive to our catch a cab to , in order to get the best "local" experience and view of the city.

Thanks so much for any advice!

j

You might like Nashville's Gulch for this or another part of downtown.Here are some zip codes 37203 and 37219 to get you started.

[BirdieBelle]

The Elvis fans go to Memphis, which is 3.5 hours away.

You'd like this place:

Nashville Hotels - Hutton Hotel - Downtown Nashville Luxury Lodging in West End

[DonCorleone]

I'd defintely suggest the Hutton. Good call, wmsn.

Here are a couple of ideas for your trip...Gwyneth Paltrow filmed her movie here a year or so ago and wrote a fantastic blog about her stay here. She gives a number of cool restaurants/places to check out. You can't go wrong with any of those spots. And as you can see, she stayed at the Hutton while she was here.

The NY Times also posted an article titled 36 hours in Nashville. Some of this is more touristy (like dancing at the Wildhorse Saloon) but might still be fun. Most of it is pretty legit, though.

[JerricaAnna]

Thanks so much for the input! When I refer to to elvis fans, I mean the country music fans in general. My family live in western VA and they frequent Nashville in swarms with their Dukes of Hazzard Tshirts, lol. I love them, but I want to avoid them for my first experience in Nashville!
I know how tourist areas can really stink up a place. Where ever the classier bars and clubs are would be my target. Is there a cool nearby residential areas or town I should target for a brighter view on local life?

[DonCorleone]

Just make sure you're not in town for the CMA Music Festival June 9-11. The whole town will be inundated with "Dukes of Hazzard T-shirts". But it is good for the local economy and people seem to enjoy it.

I really would look at the Hutton. It's on West End, which is right next to Vanderbilt University and the area's medical district. It's an upper-scale part of town, definitely not touristy or kitschy. It is also nearby Hillsboro Village, which is a few sq blocks of restaurants and bars. Not necessarily "classy" but definitely not tourist traps or anything like that. There are also lots of nice areas on West End itself, Tin Angel comes to mind.

The Gulch is a newly renovated part of town, definitely classy and more upscale...very trendy. That sounds like something you should check out.

Really, I would give that Gwyneth Paltrow blog a look. I think a lot of what she blogs about will be places you'll want to check out.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by JerricaAnna

Thanks so much for the input! When I refer to to elvis fans, I mean the country music fans in general. My family live in western VA and they frequent Nashville in swarms with their Dukes of Hazzard Tshirts, lol. I love them, but I want to avoid them for my first experience in Nashville!
I know how tourist areas can really stink up a place. Where ever the classier bars and clubs are would be my target. Is there a cool nearby residential areas or town I should target for a brighter view on local life?

Generally speaking, the happening places close to town are situated from west to east.

If you want to avoid the touristy mess, just avoid Broadway between 1st and 5th avenues. Most of the rest of downtown is filled with office towers, condos, small retail, government buildings, churches, and parking lots.

I wouldn't say avoid downtown altogether, because there are some really nice buildings that you can only see from the street level. Not a whole lot as far as shopping downtown, though. The West End/Vandy/Midtown area is centered around a university, but it is definitely more than 'just a bunch of college kids.' Heading down 21st Ave. is a cool little commercial area called Hillsboro Village (or The Village to some). There are a few restaurants and boutiques, but the area is rather small. Still, you should check it out.

Further out on 21st is Green Hills, which is one of the trendier parts of town. There is an upscale mall there and a shopping area with a number of stores that are unique to Nashville.

The area west/southwest of Green Hills is Belle Meade, Nashville's old money enclave, and one of the richest communities in America. Just a quick (not too quick!) drive down Belle Meade Boulevard to see a nice collection of southern mansions.

Besides the "Rich" areas of town, there are several historic and interesting neighborhoods that are easy to drive through, such as Whitland, Sylvan Park, and Germantown. There is also a budding artsy community in East Nashville, along with some interesting neighborhoods and historic areas. East Nashville has a reputation for being dangerous, but that mainly applies to the lower income areas or projects. I would suggest that you find a "guide" to take you around East Nashville. While most of the area is OK, a few wrong turns could land you in a bad situation. As far as "hipness," East Nashville is probably cooler and more authentic than some of the other places listed.

[Kevin south of Nashville]

Unfortunately this blog is no longer alive and well (officially as of last week) - but the posts they have do a good job of showing what the vibe in East Nashville is really like. Seems harder to find this information from out of state for whatever reason, but rest assured there are no dukes of hazard fannie packs:

East Nashville arts, music, and food blog

[DonCorleone]

I read that they blog is no longer active. I hate that...it was a good blog when it was tended to.

[Kevin south of Nashville]

Yeah - expected it to completely flourish too. Talented writer/editor was probably pulled away by work stuff. Hope it comes back in one way or another (and I still need to try the supper club).