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Disclaimer: Just moving to Nashville metro area (work in Cool Springs, buying in Spring Hill due to housing budget) from Detroit suburbs; never lived in Chicago but visited/traveled through frequently when we lived in Rockford.
From the searching we've done, I think you'll like the Brentwood/Franklin areas (unfortunately a bit out of our $300K budget). You have a lot of benefits that you typically have to get into the farther Chicago 'burbs to get (e.g., schools, shopping, parks, quaint town center), but you're really only about 20 minutes or so from downtown. You're absolutely correct about the need for a larger house because of the lack of basements; we went from a 2200 sq ft house (plus 1500 ft finished basement) to a 2600 sq ft house here, and feel like we're going to have trouble fitting it all in. Most newer homes here have bonus rooms over the garage, but that typically already counts into the listed square footage.
If you're used to Chicago traffic, the only frustrations for you here will be a few of the poorly-designed interchanges (440 - 40/24, 65 - 440, etc.). Anyone used to the Eisenhower or Dan Ryan will have no trouble adapting.
(By the way, you wear your Hawks jersey to a Preds game, I'll sit next to you in my Wings jersey and they'll all go crazy, lol.)
Thank you! And that's a great plan., I think that fans of different teams can get along. My husband is from the north suburbs and I am a south sider... We are Sox fans, however plenty of our friends and family are Cubs fans and we all still love each other
PS my mother in law grew up in the Detroit suburbs and my husband was apparently a huge Calgary flames fan when he was little and he would wear his jersey to various games. Apparently when he was five or six some hawks fans started yelling at him and he left the game crying.
PS my mother in law grew up in the Detroit suburbs and my husband was apparently a huge Calgary flames fan when he was little and he would wear his jersey to various games. Apparently when he was five or six some hawks fans started yelling at him and he left the game crying.
Sad to say, I believe this. I've only been to NHL games in 3 cities (Detroit, Chicago, and Nashville), and BY FAR, Chicago fans were the worst to people wearing opposing colors, with several fights breaking out at the United Center. Detroit fans are only a little better, but the one Preds/Wings game I attended in Nashville was kind of fun - we had a few Preds fans who wanted to take selfies with the guys in Wings jerseys, lol.
There are plenty of good things about Chicago, and plenty of good things to say about Nashville too. Some people just get bent out of shape when they hear other people's opinions on what they don't like about an area. Just because someone is relocating away from Chicago for specific reasons doesn't mean they're 100% anti-Chicago or anti-Illinois. If you have to demonize someone because they have a different opinion than you, well, that's your problem (not theirs).
Anyway, to the OP -- if you haven't already, do a search for "Chicago" in the Nashville forum. There are some other threads that might answer questions you didn't think of yet.
We just moved from the Chicago burbs at the end of last year and have zero regrets.
I was reading this forum for over two years before we made the move. My advice would be to visit a few more times and determine which neighborhoods you like best. It quite honestly doesn't really matter what everyone recommends because our preferences were not the same as everyone on here.
We felt most comfortable in Brentwood but now living here we would have also been happy on the northwest side of Franklin near Smith Park and Split log road (Brentwood/Franklin border).
Other advice would be to live close enough to I-65. It can be a pain if you live far from it as you will find yourself taking it often for most conveniences unless you live right near cool springs.
We had to up our budget to $600K from $500K to get what we wanted. The taxes have been incredible and although the summers are hot the winters are fantastic. Airport is a pleasure to travel in/out of compared to O'hare and the people are much nicer. The drivers here are absolutely horrible and probably the biggest pain about the area. Typically they pull right in front of you when no cars are behind you and the proceed to go 10 miles under the speed limit.
Landscape is much nicer and the state of TN is much better funded than IL. I still read the Chicago news most days and am disgusted by all the crime still happening in the city. Job market is strong here and it has been easy to make friends. We are also in our 30's. Restauraunts are top notch, still dreaming of a Portillo's to open here. Hope this helps.
We just moved from the Chicago burbs at the end of last year and have zero regrets.
I was reading this forum for over two years before we made the move. My advice would be to visit a few more times and determine which neighborhoods you like best. It quite honestly doesn't really matter what everyone recommends because our preferences were not the same as everyone on here.
We felt most comfortable in Brentwood but now living here we would have also been happy on the northwest side of Franklin near Smith Park and Split log road (Brentwood/Franklin border).
Other advice would be to live close enough to I-65. It can be a pain if you live far from it as you will find yourself taking it often for most conveniences unless you live right near cool springs.
We had to up our budget to $600K from $500K to get what we wanted. The taxes have been incredible and although the summers are hot the winters are fantastic. Airport is a pleasure to travel in/out of compared to O'hare and the people are much nicer. The drivers here are absolutely horrible and probably the biggest pain about the area. Typically they pull right in front of you when no cars are behind you and the proceed to go 10 miles under the speed limit.
Landscape is much nicer and the state of TN is much better funded than IL. I still read the Chicago news most days and am disgusted by all the crime still happening in the city. Job market is strong here and it has been easy to make friends. We are also in our 30's. Restauraunts are top notch, still dreaming of a Portillo's to open here. Hope this helps.
Very much so! Thank you! Maybe we'll meet up when we arrive we are truly excited for this new journey.
Yes, we have multiple trips planned. Driving down in a few weeks, twice in fall... We'll see about winter. If my husband gets this job he's interviewing for he may move now and drive back every other weekend and myself and kids go down the other weekends until we all move in spring. So, we'll have time to focus on specific neighborhood. Very appreciated insight!
We just moved from the Chicago burbs at the end of last year and have zero regrets.
I was reading this forum for over two years before we made the move. My advice would be to visit a few more times and determine which neighborhoods you like best. It quite honestly doesn't really matter what everyone recommends because our preferences were not the same as everyone on here.
We felt most comfortable in Brentwood but now living here we would have also been happy on the northwest side of Franklin near Smith Park and Split log road (Brentwood/Franklin border).
Other advice would be to live close enough to I-65. It can be a pain if you live far from it as you will find yourself taking it often for most conveniences unless you live right near cool springs.
We had to up our budget to $600K from $500K to get what we wanted. The taxes have been incredible and although the summers are hot the winters are fantastic. Airport is a pleasure to travel in/out of compared to O'hare and the people are much nicer. The drivers here are absolutely horrible and probably the biggest pain about the area. Typically they pull right in front of you when no cars are behind you and the proceed to go 10 miles under the speed limit.
Landscape is much nicer and the state of TN is much better funded than IL. I still read the Chicago news most days and am disgusted by all the crime still happening in the city. Job market is strong here and it has been easy to make friends. We are also in our 30's. Restauraunts are top notch, still dreaming of a Portillo's to open here. Hope this helps.
Do you have children? Anyone have any grade school input re: schools in Franklin of Brentwood? We have kindergartener this fall and preschooler. By the time we move we'll have a kindergartener and first grader.
Planning to spend between 5-650k. Any specific neighborhood suggestions are helpful! I see many have pools and clubhouses. My husband would like to join a golf club, but it's great if it has a pool.
We have two kids, one going to preschool in the fall. If you are in Williamson county and Brentwood there are literally no bad schools. Franklin has a few less than perfect 10 schools on greatschools.org but most are still very strong.
A great majority of the neighborhoods have pools. It has been great to have and necessary on the very hot days when there is little else to do outside.
We liked almost any neighborhood near Split Log road in Brentwood, Sonoma, Glen Abbey, Taramore, etc. Rain Tree Forest is beautiful but dated. We also liked Chardonnay in Franklin. Westhaven in Franklin was too far for us from DT Nashville and the highway and the homes were too close together for us. Some people love them but not us at all. Most communities off Concord are nicer and they finally completed construction off the road. A lot of homes on the west side of Brentwood are pricey (think $1M+) but very nice. If you can find something newish near Cool Springs that would be great but a lot are built in the 90's in that area. The great majority of Brentwood can be pricey but usually costs less the closer you get away from the highway and closer to Nolensville. Be very aware of potential school rezoning. May not be a big deal for you but could impact resale.
We have two kids, one going to preschool in the fall. If you are in Williamson county and Brentwood there are literally no bad schools. Franklin has a few less than perfect 10 schools on greatschools.org but most are still very strong.
A great majority of the neighborhoods have pools. It has been great to have and necessary on the very hot days when there is little else to do outside.
We liked almost any neighborhood near Split Log road in Brentwood, Sonoma, Glen Abbey, Taramore, etc. Rain Tree Forest is beautiful but dated. We also liked Chardonnay in Franklin. Westhaven in Franklin was too far for us from DT Nashville and the highway and the homes were too close together for us. Some people love them but not us at all. Most communities off Concord are nicer and they finally completed construction off the road. A lot of homes on the west side of Brentwood are pricey (think $1M+) but very nice. If you can find something newish near Cool Springs that would be great but a lot are built in the 90's in that area. The great majority of Brentwood can be pricey but usually costs less the closer you get away from the highway and closer to Nolensville. Be very aware of potential school rezoning. May not be a big deal for you but could impact resale.
Thank you! I did notice the Westhaven homes look super close together
Well, we'll spend time scouting out neighborhoods on our next drive down.
Yes, all of schools look like they are highly rated with great test scores. My husband went to an east coast prep school and Duke, so school is a huge deal to him. I went to schools that were pretty mediocre, but work in a great field and feel that parental involvement is the key... But still, of course we'd rather find the best place for our kids to thrive.
The community pools look great, plus a great social aspect i'd think!
I've been to Chicago MANY times and lived in NYC. But I'm from Nashville area. I think if you asked this question 10 years ago, I would have said hands down "Stay in Chicago." I love the city!! BUT BUT BUT... having returned to Nashville after being gone for 10 years... WOW!!! It's fantastic. It has all the aspects of NYC and Chicago, but less expensive (for now), TN does not have income tax and the people here are friendly and welcoming. It actually seems like the transplants are picking up the Southern Charm instead of smashing it. So it's just great!!! There's NFL, NHL sports, Broadway Theatre, every kind of live music and chef inspired restaurants you could imagine, great diversity, fun tourists and endless activities to do that are both city and country. You get ALL four season almost perfectly. It has been raining a lot lately, but you get over it and just enjoy how it cuts the heat and makes the grass extra green and gorgeous. Move here before there's no more space!
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we are truly excited for this new journey. 
Nashville vs Chicago
