For current residents, questions about Hendersonville area. (Gallatin, Portland: violent crime, how much)

[Courtx123]

Hello!

I have a few questions about the Hendersonville area.

How are the high schools, in particular, Hendersonville High? Are they friendly and good learning environments? Is there a lot of fights, lockdowns, etc?

Is Hendersonville accepting to new-comers?

Where would you say are the best homes, subidivison-wise?

Do most of the homes have full or partial basements (not crawl)?

What is the crime like?

And, in general, do you enjoy living in Hendersonville, why or why not?

Thank you!!

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by Courtx123

Hello!

I have a few questions about the Hendersonville area.

How are the high schools, in particular, Hendersonville High? Are they friendly and good learning environments? Is there a lot of fights, lockdowns, etc?

Is Hendersonville accepting to new-comers?

Where would you say are the best homes, subidivison-wise?

Do most of the homes have full or partial basements (not crawl)?

What is the crime like?

And, in general, do you enjoy living in Hendersonville, why or why not?

Thank you!!

1. Lockdowns rarely happen. Like all schools, the police search for drugs periodically but I don't think weapons have been found or anything like that. Fights are rare and when they do happen they are just over normal arguments...not drugs and gangs like in the Nashville schools. Overall, HHS is a good high school...great test scores, great music program, sports, etc. The teachers are great and so are the facilities.

2. Hendersonville is a city of new comers. The city only incorporated in 1970 and now has a population of 50,000. It's hard to find a native. So, yes, Hendersonville is very accepting of new comers.

3. If you wouldn't mind sharing how much you want to spend on a home I could better help you with areas to look for homes. Are you looking for new construction?

4. It depends...

5. Violent crime doesn't really happen in Hendersonville. The rest is just minor stuff...the Hville police really make their presence known, especially in high traffic areas like The Streets of Indian Lake and Glenbrooke.

6. I love living here. The city is spread out over 2 peninsulas of Old Hickory Lake so you have lots of recreational opportunities. The city parks are great. The schools are great. There's a lot of new retail and restaurant choices and more being added. The 386 bypass makes Nashville an easy commute. The city is fairly big but feels more like a small town and has a great sense of community.

[Mr.SmoothMove]

I don't live in Hendersonville but the questions you asked are the reasons why some of our customers choose to move to Sumner county

[Courtx123]

Thank you, both of you!

Our price range would probaably be...at the highest $500,000 but anything lower would be nice, obviously.

Looking for a large, nice home with some land (2 acres or so) and some form of a basement....as tornadoes are common and for the extra space it could offer. A newer house would be nice.

I do have one additional question: Does it snow much near Christmas? I know there wouldn't be anything like a foot but maybe enough for dusting?

[vivelafrance]

If you want 2 acres I would recommend looking in the Beech school district. There are some beautiful homes in that price range in subdivisions along Long Hollow Pike, Drakes Creek Rd, Jones Ln. Somerset Downs would be a good one to check. The schools these areas are zoned for are equally as good as the HHS zones. I believe the Drakes Creek area will have a new Middle School opening next year.

I can remember a lot of snow on Christmas about 15 years ago, lol....

Most larger snows happen in late January/February but it's not uncommon to get a dusting to an inch in December. A large snow here is 3+ inches, lol...prepare well for snow days. If there is even a mention of it Sumner Schools will shut down. Hendersonville is in the extreme southern tip of this large county so even if Hendersonville has rain it is not uncommon for snow and ice to happen on the ridge near Portland and Westmoreland in the northern parts of the county. This happened a LOT this year and caused some anger among Hendersonville parents.

[Courtx123]

Hmm. We were looking into Drakes Pointe.
Thank you for the info.

Lol,....I am from the upper midwest, snow is very common and the schools do not close unless it is blowing snow or a crazy amount...however, ice storms are uncommon and schools close down for that.

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by Courtx123

Hmm. We were looking into Drakes Pointe.
Thank you for the info.

Lol,....I am from the upper midwest, snow is very common and the schools do not close unless it is blowing snow or a crazy amount...however, ice storms are uncommon and schools close down for that.

I would definitely look at Drakes Pointe. The location can't be beat. You are really close to the schools, really close to the bypass, centrally located between the two biggest shopping districts (Indian Lake and Glenbrook) Yet the setting is very rural. You might also check out Autumn Creek, Long Beech Heights, and Island/Fountain Brooke which are in the same general area and may have lower prices than Drakes Pointe.

[wml2h]

I graduated from Hendersonville High School about 4 years ago and have friends with siblings still there. The learning environment was great if you're motivated. There are the typical options of honors and AP classes that I would definitely encourage any student to take. To me, it always felt you got out of it what you were willing to put into it. There is a strong focus on athletics at HHS and a little bit of favoritism towards athletes, but nothing unbearable. There were about 2 fights/year at the time I was there. They were always broken up quickly and no one was ever injured past a punch in the face. The biggest issue I found with HHS is the typical drinking/drug use. Some of the students' families allow drinking in their home which led to some drunk driving incidents. There's not much pressure to get into the party scene, but it's there if someone wants it. There was never a lockdown in my four years there. One of our local news outlets did a spotlight on HHS recently. You might want to check it out - Video. If for some reason that link doesn't work, you can Google "WSMV Cool Schools Hendersonville High".

I have several friends that went to Beech High School and they all did (for the most part) well through college and never had anything negative to say about Beech. If you have any kids into music and theatre, Beech has a great showchoir. Hendersonville has a select choir, but it's a lot more traditional. Both have decent theatre programs.

Station Camp High School is the newest high school in Sumner County. It pulls from both Hendersonville and Gallatin. I know two teachers there who enjoy the school and who I know are both great teachers who love their students.. I'm still not sold on the quality of education as compared to HHS and Beech, and I've heard they have a bit of a teen pregnancy problem, but that may be rumor.

I think most of Hendersonville is accepting of newcomers. There are a few cliques among country club members or those who live in certain neighborhoods, but for the most part, people are friendly. If you're a church-goer, that's a great place to meet people and get to know more about the community.

Driving through Hendersonville, you can find (in my opinion) 3 distinct parts. Old Hendersonville, New Hendersonvile/the Peninsula, and Long Hollow/the Beech area. Older Hendersonville has gotten a little run down and has attracted a little big of a rougher crowd on the weekends. It's closer to Rivergate and the mall, but with the Streets of Indian Lake (on the Peninsula side) and Glenbrook (on the Long Hollow side), you don't really need to go into Rivergate much. There are some beautiful homes on the lake off the Peninsula if you're looking for something a little older, but established. There are some lovely newer homes with more land in the Beech High School area as well.

In your price range, it should be easy to find a house with a basement. If you can find one with a basement, I strong encourage it as the area and Tennessee in general has a bit of a tornado problem. My parent's neighborhood (Woodhaven in Gallatin - some beautiful houses on the lake there as well) got hit in 2006, and their basement made all the difference in the world in regards to their safety.

Not much crime in Hendersonville. Maybe some petty stuff. I got my cell phone stolen once and my dad got his wallet stolen. The only violent crime you ever hear about is domestic stuff.

I technically lived right on the border of Hendersonville/Gallatin (which is a wonderful area by the way..) and I miss it terribly now that I'm gone. It was a wonderful place to grow up.

Also, snow and Tennessee don't really go hand in hand. We got out of school for cold rain a few times while I grew up. Sumner County does tend to get a little more of it when it happens because it's further north and has what we call "the ridge" in portland which has a little higher elevation.


This was crazy long hah. Hope it helped some.

[wml2h]

I just realized I have some grammar and typing errors that don't speak well for the quality of education at Hendersonville High School hah.. I'm watching TV while typing which is probably not a good idea. I got through college with a 3.8 though, and I think that matters more