Where to live by airport?? (Franklin, Brentwood: neighborhood, middle schools, versus)

[chandranew]

Hello everybody,

We are in California and appreciate your help. Moving to Nashville area next month and it's all happening fast! Husband has a new publishing job close to the airport...we have two children so schools are our biggest concern. One child with medical needs, so we'd like my husband not to have to commute very far. People keep telling us about Mt. Juliet, but we don't want to miss all the action! Most folks at husband's new company say they live in Brentwood or Franklin for the schools, but those seem a farther commute? Any insights would be so helpful. Thank you!

[ExIslander]

The schools in Mt. Juliet are fine, and you can certainly get to the airport faster from here than from any other suburb. It's a good starting point for your search.

As to whether you'd be "missing the action" out here... well, that comes down to what you mean by action, exactly. If it's a city-versus-suburbs question -- unfortunately, regardless of which suburb we're talking about, the good schools are over here and the best of the nightlife is over there. (To be fair, a lot of Metro Nashville parents don't have a problem with the elementary or even the middle schools in their neighborhood; it's the mega-high schools they don't like.) As for Mt. Juliet itself -- a decade ago, there wasn't much out here in the way of shopping/things to do, but that has changed, to say the least. My oldest is in middle school and we haven't run across anything she wants to do that she can't do right around here. Anyway, it's only about 16 miles from Mt. Juliet Road (exit 226) to the Nashville downtown riverfront, it's hardly the hinterlands!

As far as medical needs, Summit Medical Center (one of the area's major hospitals) is in Hermitage between Mt. Juliet and the airport, and the medical facilities in Mt. Juliet itself have rapidly expanded, particularly in the Providence area.