Mt Juliet Relocation Advice (Franklin, Hendersonville: spring break, low crime, houses)

[ITMATRS]

Hello,

My family is looking at possibly relocating from NE Mesa, AZ to TN and looking for feedback on Mt Juliet or Brentwood.

Us:
Family of 4 with 2 children ages 7 and 4. Husband is retired military, DOD IT industry w security clearance
I have a background of professional Support Services/ Executive Administrive

What's Important to us:
Budget 550k 4bd. Pref main level living, newer build yr 2000+
1 acre min lot but still developed/suburban enough to have neighbors/friends for kids
Schools ranked 8+ on Great Schools K-12
Low Crime Rate
Newer Infrastructure
Proximity to developed retail/lakes / forests / mountains

Why we're moving:
We are tired of dust and Cactus. We want our boys to have land to roam and trees to climb. We want four seasons.
We want to be able to hike more than just a couple months out of the year and my husband loves to fish.

Please share your thoughts and any pros or cons to relocating to this area. We have never been in person and would be moving in June or July after school is out.

Also I'm curious as to the relative humidity during the summer. We watched it this summer and it looked like it was around 68% at about 95 degrees that's similar to our monsoon season here.

How bad is it really? Do you get rain showers consistently to cool things off ?

In Arizona monsoons can be finicky. We get the heat and the humidity but very little rain. I think I could deal with the humidity if there is actually rain behind it.

Finally any flooding concerns? I also understand that Tennessee sits between two fault lines, any earthquake concerns?

Thank you for any feedback!

[N.Cal]

Also I'm curious as to the relative humidity during the summer. We watched it this summer and it looked like it was around 68% at about 95 degrees that's similar to our monsoon season here.

How bad is it really? Do you get rain showers consistently to cool things off ?

In Arizona monsoons can be finicky. We get the heat and the humidity but very little rain. I think I could deal with the humidity if there is actually rain behind it.

Nothing like the monsoons. I lived in Tempe and loved it, summer and all. Here the humidity just drags on and on all summer. Personally, I much prefer AZ weather, but I HATE cold weather (below 75F).

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by ITMATRS

Hello,

My family is looking at possibly relocating from NE Mesa, AZ to TN and looking for feedback on Mt Juliet or Brentwood.

Us:
Family of 4 with 2 children ages 7 and 4. Husband is retired military, DOD IT industry w security clearance
I have a background of professional Support Services/ Executive Administrive

What's Important to us:
Budget 550k 4bd. Pref main level living, newer build yr 2000+
1 acre min lot but still developed/suburban enough to have neighbors/friends for kids
Schools ranked 8+ on Great Schools K-12
Low Crime Rate
Newer Infrastructure
Proximity to developed retail/lakes / forests / mountains

Why we're moving:
We are tired of dust and Cactus. We want our boys to have land to roam and trees to climb. We want four seasons.
We want to be able to hike more than just a couple months out of the year and my husband loves to fish.

Please share your thoughts and any pros or cons to relocating to this area. We have never been in person and would be moving in June or July after school is out.

Also I'm curious as to the relative humidity during the summer. We watched it this summer and it looked like it was around 68% at about 95 degrees that's similar to our monsoon season here.

How bad is it really? Do you get rain showers consistently to cool things off ?

In Arizona monsoons can be finicky. We get the heat and the humidity but very little rain. I think I could deal with the humidity if there is actually rain behind it.

Finally any flooding concerns? I also understand that Tennessee sits between two fault lines, any earthquake concerns?

Thank you for any feedback!

You would have a hard time finding what you want in Brentwood. The houses on an acre that are newer are more than $550,000 for the most part.
You may want to look at Franklin or Nolensville too.

You could look up schools on greatschools and then search by school district using your other parameters here:

www.realtracs.com If you go to advanced search options, you can add your minimum lot size.

Earthquakes aren’t really a concern here, West Tennessee is on a fault line and that’s where the real earthquake concern lies. We did have a major flood in 2010, but that level of flooding was extremely unusual. The main weather issue here is tornadoes.
Humidity can rough here. And even if it does cool down after a big thunder storm usually the humidity is still pretty bad. So it may cool down some, but it’s still super sticky.

[DonCorleone]

Originally Posted by ITMATRS

What's Important to us:
Budget 550k 4bd. Pref main level living, newer build yr 2000+
1 acre min lot but still developed/suburban enough to have neighbors/friends for kids
Schools ranked 8+ on Great Schools K-12
Low Crime Rate
Newer Infrastructure
Proximity to developed retail/lakes / forests / mountains

Why we're moving:
We are tired of dust and Cactus. We want our boys to have land to roam and trees to climb. We want four seasons.
We want to be able to hike more than just a couple months out of the year and my husband loves to fish.

Please share your thoughts and any pros or cons to relocating to this area. We have never been in person and would be moving in June or July after school is out.

Also I'm curious as to the relative humidity during the summer. We watched it this summer and it looked like it was around 68% at about 95 degrees that's similar to our monsoon season here.

How bad is it really? Do you get rain showers consistently to cool things off ?

In Arizona monsoons can be finicky. We get the heat and the humidity but very little rain. I think I could deal with the humidity if there is actually rain behind it.

Finally any flooding concerns? I also understand that Tennessee sits between two fault lines, any earthquake concerns?

Thank you for any feedback!

I think Mt. Juliet or perhaps Hendersonville would both be good choices based on your criteria. Maybe even the Station Camp school zone of Gallatin. The acre minimum lot is going to be tough, though not impossible to find, as most homes built in the last 15-20 years that I've seen are usually half acres or below. Not impossible, but not plentiful in my experience. These areas are growing and have mostly new infrastructure (some of it beginning to strain due to growth). Lots of new retail in both areas too.

Both MtJ and Hendersonville offer easy access to lakes, fishing, outdoors, parks. MtJ has close access to Long Hunter State Park and the closest state park to Hendersonville is Bledsoe Creek State Park north of Gallatin about 20 mins from Hendersonville. Both parks are a nice quiet oasis with a good amount of wildlife, but aren't going to blow you away scenery-wise.

You'll get 4 seasons here. We get more rain than people expect and the winters can drag on longer than outsiders think ("I thought this was the South" - words spoken by a relocated northerner I know last year about the Winter). Summers are sticky and can be oppressively hot with the humidity but that's just part of it. It is not uncommon for us to have a drought in the summer lasting 4-5 weeks without any rain but with humidity being very high.

Flooding is a concern in many areas. The 2010 flood was devastating to many neighborhoods and some entire communities. Newer construction has crept into areas that are technically not in a "flood zone" but were endangered during that massive flood less than a decade ago. I wouldn't let it scare you off...but I would definitely want to check property disclosures for anything built before 2010 and try to find out where the flood waters were back then relative to your potential property. And while the 2010 flood is the big one everyone knows about, there are often cases of more localized flooding that doesn't effect the whole area. About 2 years ago parts of Sumner County (Hendersonville/Gallatin) experienced a flood that was 3/4ths as bad as 2010 for a day or so, then subsided...the rest of the area was unaffected.

As Brentwoodgirl mentioned, tornado anxiety is a thing here...and worth being aware of. Awareness is the key and you'll hear a bunch from local weather people about how to prepare for them. That said, while we're in a mini-tornado alley here, I wouldn't let it consume too much thinking. Some homes may have a shelter or at least a "safe place" built into them for such scenarios but they are not super-common to see in homes.

No real issues with earthquakes. I've lived here all my life and have experienced 2 that I can recall...neither of which I realized were earthquakes when they were happening (they were maybe 2-3s). The New Madrid fault to the west has often been called a sleeping giant. But honestly, I haven't even thought about earthquakes in months before reading this post if that tells you anything. I do have an earthquake policy on my home (it was very very cheap) but was advised to get it as it actually subs as a foundation repair policy if there is blasting or other construction related damage (we live in a newer neighborhood).

Hope that helps...basically, you're likely to find what you are looking for here. I certainly would recommend at least one or 2 visits and copious amount of research before coming here. It is a growing area...growing almost too fast for many people's tastes...so there are pros and cons.

[Tomandjerry45]

What Don said. I think you can find what you are looking for in Mt. Juliet or Hendersonville.

[grampaTom]

Originally Posted by Tomandjerry45

What Don said. I think you can find what you are looking for in Mt. Juliet or Hendersonville.

I agree as well. We have family in Smyrna and they drive over to Mount Juliet to shop.

[septimus]

My $0.02, if you don't have a job that is on that side of town I wouldn't live in Mt Juliet.

The best location for commuting anywhere in the area is IMHO Brentwood. You have easy access downtown, airport, Maryland Farms and Cool Springs which is where the majority of professional jobs are located. Unfortunately $550k in Brentwood will basically getting you a ranch that needs to be bulldozed.

You aren't going to find many newer subdivisions under $1m with one acre lots anywhere in the region.

[Tomandjerry45]

Originally Posted by septimus

You aren't going to find many newer subdivisions under $1m with one acre lots anywhere in the region.

This is correct of Brentwood but not the [Nashville] region.

Areas in Mt. Juliet I would look at:
1. Woodridge Place Subdivision (easy access to schools, good sized lots, nice homes)
2. Maryland Farms (same)
3. Breckenridge (nice houses on big lots)
4. Wright Farms (decent lots under acre but very nice area)
5.Brookstone/Pascal/Tate Lane
6. Willow Creek (nice homes but under one acre lot)

[N.Cal]

but not the [Nashville] region.

They should probably find jobs first and then decide where to live. Imagine getting a job in Cool Springs/McEwan and trying to do that commute every day from Mt. Juliet.

[ITMATRS]

Wow thank you all for the replies! We are plannig a trip sometime between now and spring break to come and see it in person. You have all been great to share your real world experience which says so much more then statistics alone.