Small town near Nashville(with reasonable commute to Vandy) (2015, lease)

[Katie71275]

I am interested in hearing about smaller towns located in close proximity to Nashville that is affordable and has good/great schools. We are from Louisiana, but relocated to Wake Forest/Raleigh, NC in May. The hubby hates it here, but would like to check out Tennessee. We have 4 kids, one in middle school, 2 elementary and a preschooler who will be in elem when/if we move. I'm an RN and interested in getting my MSN from Vanderbilt, and also possibly working at Vanderbilt or another hospital nearby that has labor and delivery. We also have 2 English Bulldogs, so a dog friendly area is nice as well.

When we move again(thinking perhaps summer/fall of 2015, we will be renting. We pay about 1500 here in Raleigh for a 4bedroom, 2.5ba house, and honestly would really like to pay under 1000.00 1500 is doable, but we just aren't as comfortable in that range.

I like to have access to things such as a varied amount of grocery stores (Target, Walmart, etc) plenty of dining options, and the hubby likes the country, neighbors that aren't on top of you, planting a large garden, and raising farm animals such as pigs, goats, and chickens.

Any areas that might bear consideration?

[BirdieBelle]

Why does your husband hate it there?

What do you consider a reasonable commute?

[Drake744]

Something near Bellevue would be my first suggestion.

[artemis]

Originally Posted by Drake744

Something near Bellevue would be my first suggestion.

I agree.

[Katie71275]

Reasonable commute would be under 30minutes. I drive about 16miles now(25mins through Raleigh) and drove a 40mile commute in Louisiana(all interstate) previously.

My husband does not like living in a larger city....too much traffic for him and the houses are too close for him. He also doesn't like the distance to visit family in Louisiana. I personally really like it here and all the amenities that living in a larger city afford.

[artemis]

Bellevue is on the outer edges of the City. It has more of a suburban feel than the area around Vandy.

[Aenewcomb9]

I don't currently live in nashville, but we are moving there at the end of this month. We had to stay on the eastern side for my husband's work, but we drove through Bellvue while we were there and FELL.IN.LOVE. Whenever we can afford to buy a house, that is the first place we will look. That being said, I think under 1000 a month will be really difficult for the amount of space your family will need. We couldnt find anything in that price range where we would have felt safe enough, and we were only looking for 2br. We may have a higher standard of suburban safety though becuase of where we are moving from. We signed a lease on a townhouse in Donelson for 1400 a month and it's 3br. That's the top of our budget but we felt it was immensely worth it to feel safe until we can learn where the "bad" areas of nashville are.

Good luck in your search! I Def recommend you check out Bellvue. It felt like a mountain town to us. Simply beautiful!