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You are going to be in for a bit of a shock moving from San Diego to Brentwood. People will tell you that "Nashville" is very progressive and Brentwood being a suburb of Nashville you would think that you would find plenty of open minded people. Williamson county is very conservative deep red place to live. I grew up in Nashville and moved back here two years ago from the San Francisco Bay area and I'm considering moving again because it just isn't for me and my family. That is saying a lot because my parents live here and we would be moving away from them again.
People will be friendly to you because as another poster said, people are used to outsiders here but YOU may have a hard time adapting to them.
There is a lot of old money in the Nashville area and yes, some of those people can be snobby and not inclusive.
We were looking at East Nashville and the Sylvan Park neighborhood when we moved, but ultimately chose Williamson county for the schools. I wish we had just bought closer to downtown because I think we would have been happier there. Its about a 30 minute drive to get to downtown Nashville but the traffic is freaking terrible and during popular commute times it could take you longer than an hour to get into town and it hardly makes it worth it with kids. In your price range you could buy into Sylvan Park, Green Hills, Melrose. There are some really great schools and some that are lagging a bit but you can buy a whole lot of house here with say, $600,000 and save some of that money for private education if necessary. Best of luck!
Thank you for the advice ! We are going out there in two weeks to check out the different neighborhoods. I am definitely interested in Green Hills, but I'm worried about the low rating of the high school. Not sure I would want to pull kids out and have them do private high school after making friendships. Is Green Hills a more open/liberal area ?
Yes! Green Hills is much more liberal and more CA-ish than Brentwood. We would move there in a heartbeat if we could afford it. It works out to be more expensive than Brentwood because you not only pay more $$$ for less house, but your taxes in Davidson are higher. Also, you should set something aside for private school. In your budget, though, you should be fine. From what I have heard, after you find out if you make the lotteries to magnet schools, the exodus to private for high school is common. It's likely your kids' friends would be going private around middle school/ high school, the same time as your kids. But I, for one, have high hopes for the new Metro Schools leadership, so public high schools may improve by the time your kids get there!
Completely agree with dawnreneau on everything she said. We also looked all over East Nashville, but ended up in Williamson County due to price/ schools. We live in Brentwood now, and is really not anything near as 'progressive' as you would see on the coasts, or even closer to downtown. There IS an active MOMS club here, though, tons of bounce houses/ kid gyms, classes, YMCAs, and some nice parks, but really it's super-suburban and very conservative from what we've seen. You can do all the same things closer to downtown, with the addition of museums & more cultural events & festivals. You didn't mention character, but Green Hills also has more of that - some more sidewalks, more historic homes, fewer McMansions. Definitely drive around and check it out- maybe also try the Forest Hills/ Oak Hill, Sylvan Park areas too.
Yes! Green Hills is much more liberal and more CA-ish than Brentwood. We would move there in a heartbeat if we could afford it. It works out to be more expensive than Brentwood because you not only pay more $$$ for less house, but your taxes in Davidson are higher. Also, you should set something aside for private school. In your budget, though, you should be fine. From what I have heard, after you find out if you make the lotteries to magnet schools, the exodus to private for high school is common. It's likely your kids' friends would be going private around middle school/ high school, the same time as your kids. But I, for one, have high hopes for the new Metro Schools leadership, so public high schools may improve by the time your kids get there!
Completely agree with dawnreneau on everything she said. We also looked all over East Nashville, but ended up in Williamson County due to price/ schools. We live in Brentwood now, and is really not anything near as 'progressive' as you would see on the coasts, or even closer to downtown. There IS an active MOMS club here, though, tons of bounce houses/ kid gyms, classes, YMCAs, and some nice parks, but really it's super-suburban and very conservative from what we've seen. You can do all the same things closer to downtown, with the addition of museums & more cultural events & festivals. You didn't mention character, but Green Hills also has more of that - some more sidewalks, more historic homes, fewer McMansions. Definitely drive around and check it out- maybe also try the Forest Hills/ Oak Hill, Sylvan Park areas too.
Thanks ! We actually just got back from visiting . I definitely love green hills, it's really just the schools that are throwing me off. I really did not enjoy my private school , and for now I'm pretty set on sending my kids to public. Also having hem in a district where they can do k-12 with the same friends. We liked Brentwood, but ended up seeing houses that fit our budget for renting better in Franklin. Now we're just deciding if we really want to pull the plug and leave ca. It is not an easy decision !
Yes! Green Hills is much more liberal and more CA-ish than Brentwood. We would move there in a heartbeat if we could afford it. It works out to be more expensive than Brentwood because you not only pay more $$$ for less house, but your taxes in Davidson are higher. Also, you should set something aside for private school. In your budget, though, you should be fine. From what I have heard, after you find out if you make the lotteries to magnet schools, the exodus to private for high school is common. It's likely your kids' friends would be going private around middle school/ high school, the same time as your kids. But I, for one, have high hopes for the new Metro Schools leadership, so public high schools may improve by the time your kids get there!
Completely agree with dawnreneau on everything she said. We also looked all over East Nashville, but ended up in Williamson County due to price/ schools. We live in Brentwood now, and is really not anything near as 'progressive' as you would see on the coasts, or even closer to downtown. There IS an active MOMS club here, though, tons of bounce houses/ kid gyms, classes, YMCAs, and some nice parks, but really it's super-suburban and very conservative from what we've seen. You can do all the same things closer to downtown, with the addition of museums & more cultural events & festivals. You didn't mention character, but Green Hills also has more of that - some more sidewalks, more historic homes, fewer McMansions. Definitely drive around and check it out- maybe also try the Forest Hills/ Oak Hill, Sylvan Park areas too.
Good to know about the moms groups. I don't really mind suburbia, but I do worry about not fitting in with the conservative or church lifestyle.
I know several people who have moved to Tn. from SoCal and loved it for the first year or so, then really start missing California as the "newness" wears off and finds it too expensive to move back to SoCal. Good luck with you move if you decide to do it.
I know several people who have moved to Tn. from SoCal and loved it for the first year or so, then really start missing California as the "newness" wears off and finds it too expensive to move back to SoCal. Good luck with you move if you decide to do it.
I have two friends who have moved back and another with her exit plans confirmed. If on the fence, then the OPer really needs to think about the "what if we don't like it".
I wouldn't worry about not fitting in for political reasons. My wife and I are conservative, but our neighbors and friends...including fellow church members are about 50/50 conservative/leftist types. As we have, you learn quickly who you shouldn't discuss politics with, but that's really true in most situations of "polite society". It's really only the loudmouths who bring up politics first. People will tag you anyway.. and I'd venture have done so in California. It's just how people are wired... "birds of a feather" and all that. Our family runs across the political spectrum, partly because our church denomination and (now) our congregation have taken a hard turn to the left politically. So to your other concern about everyone being conservative church goers, you ought to know that there are very liberal church all across the South. So if you feel more comfortable with leftists and like to go to church, you'll find a place for yourself there too... even (I dare say) in Williamson County. I suppose on your visit to Nashville, you discovered that $800k is tight in some of those places you mentioned, but still should get you something nice. I don't expect that you'll find CA too high if you want to return there, as property values in Williamson and Green Hills have risen at higher rates than most of the country.
I have two friends who have moved back and another with her exit plans confirmed. If on the fence, then the OPer really needs to think about the "what if we don't like it".
Trust me I'm thinking of that a lot. I'm mostly just thinking everyday , if we were in Tn today what would be different ? And I'm finding it would be a lot of the same. I mostly take my kid to the playground , let him run around parks, cook dinner with my husband , occasionally go out to eat. As far as all of that goes I'm sure I could do the same things in a different state. While I love overlooking the beach I don't actually go that often. I'm just feeling that I don't do enough Southern California activities to justify the price of living here
I wouldn't worry about not fitting in for political reasons. My wife and I are conservative, but our neighbors and friends...including fellow church members are about 50/50 conservative/leftist types. As we have, you learn quickly who you shouldn't discuss politics with, but that's really true in most situations of "polite society". It's really only the loudmouths who bring up politics first. People will tag you anyway.. and I'd venture have done so in California. It's just how people are wired... "birds of a feather" and all that. Our family runs across the political spectrum, partly because our church denomination and (now) our congregation have taken a hard turn to the left politically. So to your other concern about everyone being conservative church goers, you ought to know that there are very liberal church all across the South. So if you feel more comfortable with leftists and like to go to church, you'll find a place for yourself there too... even (I dare say) in Williamson County. I suppose on your visit to Nashville, you discovered that $800k is tight in some of those places you mentioned, but still should get you something nice. I don't expect that you'll find CA too high if you want to return there, as property values in Williamson and Green Hills have risen at higher rates than most of the country.
Thanks for that . We actually are not at all religious , so that's more of what I'm worried about as church seems to be a major part of the lifestyle there , and how people meet friends. I was raised Jewish and my husband is not, but. Either of us actually practice religion.
What you said about, "we could be taking the kids to the playground and cooking dinner in any state" is exactly what my husband and I said before we moved. We now feel like that was short sighted. Maybe because we had the option to go to the beach and great restaurants? Now we have Chili's and O'charlies and a 95 degree 100% humidity sandbox. What one poster said about wanting to go back to California and not being able to afford it is exactly where we are. The house we sold in Oakland is now worth more than double what we bought it for so we are looking at moving to other cities on the west coast like Portland because they're more affordable. A word about school rankings. I personally believe that the scores are fully a function of the amount of money that's being spent in a particular school district. In green hills (Hillsboro High) there is a huge population of ESL students and kids with disabilities Because they offer a lot of programs for those children and that's going to impact testing scores on the whole.
You know, it's illegal here to buy wine in the grocery stores on Sunday. This drives me insane. Like I couldn't just buy my damn wine on Saturday night and drink myself into a stupor on Sunday morning anyway. Haha All the shops in Franklin's downtown are closed on Sunday. Super annoying that nothing in this town functions one day of the week because of other people's religious beliefs. It's little things like that which start to get to you after a while. Hire a property Managment company to rent your California house out. Gain equity while you rent somewhere in Nashville for no less than two years before you sell your California house.
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