Chicago(land) to Nashville (home, job market, to buy)

[soulful]

Walkable neighborhoods are hard to find in Nashville. The area around Vanderbilt University / Hillsboro Village has some shops, restaurants, coffeehouses, grocery stores and tends to be one of the best for folks without a car.

The challenge is finding both an apartment and a place of employment that are near a bus line. The public transportation system is limited in terms of the coverage and frequency.

Some employers are in more suburban office parks that aren't very well linked to the city via public transit.

Take a look at apartment listings on craigslist.com to get a feel for prices.

good luck with your possible move

[CountryGirl2b=]

Gabbo,

I saw that you posted a similar question for San Francisco. The Bay Area is MUCH easier to get around with public transportation and you wouldn't need a car if you moved there. A friend of mine rents a room in Oakland for $400 a month but it's a room in a house. The people in the SF thread are correct that it's an expensive place to live BUT very easy to get around.

Nashville, sadly, is NOT. There are maybe a couple of pockets where you could get to a grocery store . . maybe Green Hills? Hillsboro Village? But to a job as well? Not so easy.

What is bugging you about Chicago? Maybe Atlanta? They have a pretty decent public transport system . . . Boston does, too.

I would think $24,000 might be enough to live frugally here? But it depends on if you pay your own healthcare, what you eat, if you need cable TV/wifi, how much your cell phone costs?

If I were you I'd try to find a city with better public transportation. Best of luck to you and your kitty!

[CountryGirl2b=]

I just Googled "best US cities public transportation" and this is from US News & World Report:


1. Denver-Aurora, Colo.
2. New York - Newark, NY-NJ, CT
3. Los Angeles -Long Beach - Santa Ana, CA
4. Boston, MA - NH - RI
5. Portland, OR
6. San Jose, CA
7. Salt Lake City, UT
8. San Diego, CA
9. Seattle, WA
10. Honolulu, HI

Out of that list, I'd check out Denver, Portland, maybe San Diego? Check those boards and see what people say. Also look at Padmapper.com for an idea about housing prices.

[gabbotron]

Thanks for all the info! I was afraid Nashville wouldn't have a good public transportation system...sigh.

San Francisco has always been my first choice, but I think it's pretty unrealistic for me to think I'd be able to land a 100k job there. I've been giving Nashville some thought because I was down there a few years ago on a road trip with some friends and it looked like a cool city with a great music scene. Also, men with southern accents are hot!

Chicago is a fine city, but I have lived here all my life and I'd like a change of scenery. I also don't enjoy the cold winters and the snow, and the yucky humidity in the summer. I guess I'd just like to move to an urban or semi-urban area with mild weather and young-ish people. I'm 29, so I don't want to hang around a bunch of college kids, but I also don't want to be best friends with middle-aged couples, haha.

I've considered Portland, but I hear it's virtually impossible for anyone to get a job there.

[kennethakuoko2004]

Are you sure you can easily land $100K per annum jobs in Nashville?

[gabbotron]

Of course not, I never said I could. What I meant was, the people in the SF forum said I would need to make about 100k a year to live comfortably with no roommates. Since that's a crazy amount of money, and pretty unrealistic for me, I thought maybe I should look to live someplace more affordable where I could live for much less and where rent isn't over $1,700 a month for a studio.

[El Passeaux]

Dallas might be another option. They are expanding the train system and its decent, not great. The bus system is adequate, and its cheap to live there... also has mild winters but May to Sept is HOT!!!

[shinestx]

I used to live in Dallas (richardson) AND Nashville. I can help you with both if you want to pm.

[kk1969]

Im looking to relocate, it's between Nashville or Chicago, I'm a hair stylist, I'm looking to love in an area where there are a lot of restaurants grocery stores, where I don't have to drive a lot, that's why I was with Chicago...but the weather there is bad. Is there transit there? I'm also looking for a diverse salon, please help.

[CountryGirl2b=]

No, public transit here is few and far between. You'd really have to luck out to find a salon you liked, affordable housing (whatever that means to you), and a grocery store & restaurants all in a couple square blocks.

Here is the website for Nashville public transit.

Welcome to the Nashville MTA!

But you'll see they mostly go in and out of the city and only run a few times a day (commuter buses).

NOT impossible but NOT easy.