Relocating for Architecture Job (Knoxville, Spring Hill: to rent, houses, job market)

[asocialcelebrity]

My fiance and I are considering moving in a year or two when I graduate and are looking at potential options for places to apply to. I have lived in Knoxville since 2007 and although I like it okay, I sort of prefer living in a bigger city (Knoxville is up-and-coming but still more of a "town" atmosphere.) We don't want to be too far from our families, so we've been looking at Nashville, Atlanta, and Charlotte, among others. I'm more of a city girl (I could live in NY or Chicago any day of the week) and my fiance is more of a town guy so we're trying to find something we can compromise on. I really like the quirkiness or weirdness of other cities (portland, san fran, etc) but they're simply just too far away.

I know the job market fluctuates, so does anyone know if a lot of projects are being built in Nashville
(both at city center and in surrounding areas) currently or down the line? I'm finishing up my B.Arch so this is pretty important in determining if I even have a fighting chance at finding a job there. My fiance is in retail management so I imagine he will probably have a greater chance of finding a decent job. Are there lots of big box retailers there? I've only been a handful of times and the city seemed pretty good-size, although spread out.


Also, is it a good place to raise kids in? Is it pedestrian-friendly at all (or have a strong transportation program, i.e. lightrail, bus, etc)? How is the music scene there (is it mostly country music)? Is it affordable (we should be pulling around $60k-70k annually)? Is there a lot of culture (Is it progressive?)? Are there lots of parks or green spaces in the city? Are folks semi-friendly? Cons about living there overall? Does it have an urban feel or some sort of personality to it?

We are both in our 30's and creatives. I wouldn't go as far as saying that we're "hipsters", but we do like a lot of "hip" things, so a city that is bikeable, has art/film/etc, has good beer/coffee, and has unique housing or vintage architecture would be a plus but not a big deal. I love midcentury design and vintage clothing. I'm a big fan of food trucks and ethnic/offbeat food, also. Does anywhere have some of those things? What are some good neighborhoods that might suit us?

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[CountryGirl2b=]

LOTS of questions, particularly since your move is a year or two away and things do change.

At the moment, Nashville is a small city, I'd say. Or a city with a small town feel. There is a lot of building going on at the moment, residential and commercial, but I'm not sure what the job prospects are for architects these days.

Yes!
We have big box stores.

I don't have kids but there seem to be a lot of families moving here.

Subdivisions are usually pedestrian friendly - otherwise it would be pockets here and there.

Music scene is pretty awesome, and no, not just country. We have a symphony orchestra, jazz, blues, Americana, probably lacking in electronic music at the moment.

"Affordable" . . well, depends on your definition of the word. You already live in TN so know about taxes. Moving from the northeast, property taxes are very reasonable. To rent a groovy place it might cost $1500 - $2000 a month. To rent an OK place, at least $1000. Under that you'd have to look a bit harder and be a bit less picky. Houses, you can look on realtracs.com. I'd say minimum might be $225,000 but maybe less in Spring Hill? Many million dollar houses.

Culture - we have the symphony, ballet, a great museum (Frist), lots of art galleries, some fun foody places, a botanical gardens, a film festival. Is it progressive? I haven't seen a Mapplethorpe exhibit yet but there was a very entertaining Warhol exhibit at the Frist and at Cheekwood botanical gardens we had Chihuly (glass) and Bruce Munro (British "light" artist).

We have food trucks (Guide to Nashville Food Truck, Schedule and Location of Food Trucks).

We have independent coffee shops, and breweries.

We DON'T do public transportation well at all.

There are bike lanes/trails but I wouldn't call the city as bikeable as others.

Some cool vintage bungalow type houses in East Nashville. A smattering a mid century modern homes in the metro area (NOTE: Mid Century MODERN with lots of glass and angles and a flat roof ala Charles Eames) but they would be expensive.

You're so close, you should come spend a serious weekend here looking at it from a 'can I live here' perspective!