Relocating to Tennessee! Where is best???? (Murfreesboro, Franklin: apartment, rent, townhouse)

[cmarie2010]

My husband and I are planning to relocate to Tennessee. We currently reside in Michigan and are looking for a positive change. Our choices were between Texas, Nashville, and North Carolina....we then narrowed it down to Texas and Nashville because those were the only 2 places where we each had family and then we finally narrowed it down to Nashville because I honestly don't want to be anywhere near where hurricanes and such are possible. So here we are...Nashville...

Our intentions were to move close to where my husbands relatives live however when I researched Murfreesboro I opted out of a college town with mostly young and single people. My husband and I are in our 30's and we have 2.5 children and a pet, we are looking for a place which has sort of a YOUNG FAMILY lifestyle. We would like to live in a safe place where the city is within reasonable reach and yet the suburbs are a step away. A safe, fun, multicultural community is ideal. We will each be looking for work immediately so good jobs is high on the list of priorities as well. We would love to be within driving distance of our relatives as well however we don't mind a semi long drive because living where we would be happy is most important.

This is all I can think of so I am open to several responses and I would love for you to be as descriptive and candid as possible. I am looking for good advice as I will need it in planning this move!

Thank you!

[gbone]

Although the Nashville area unemployment is not near as bad as Michigan, it is still deteriorating. I would suggest that you move finding good jobs to the top of your priority list before you move.
As far as addressing some of your questions, some specifics would be helpful. What do you mean by a "good job"? You say you want a "fun" and "multi cultural" area. What types of things do you consider fun? What specifically are you looking for regarding a "multi cultural" area? There is very little multi cultural diversity outside of Davidson County. Although we don't have hurricanes in Nashville, we do have tornadoes. This may frighten a minority of people but many people just live their lives and take precautions.
The more specifics you can provide the better we might be able to answer some of your questions.

[nbourbaki]

if you really want the most help with finding a neighborhood, you might want to post the rough price range you are thinking about. Belle Meade is nice, but not too much under 1,000,000.

[kpellatiro]

Price range would help with specific neighborhoods quite a bit, but given the children and child on the way :-) you may want to add school systems right under price range on your list. Murfreesboro’s Blackman Schools may pleasantly surprise you in its demographics vs. the college town label. Still, the most requested schools system we hear about is the Williamson County Schools system south of Nashville (Brentwood, Cool Springs, Franklin, and Thompson’s Station/Spring Hill). There are fantastic choices in Hendersonville and some really well talked about schools in the newer areas of Mt Juliet, even some strong elementary schools in Nashville itself (Davidson County).

If you were to look into Franklin, for instance, you might like the Cool Springs area for convenience to all things Anywhere USA. Chain stores - which get a bad rap on local forums, but we all shop them :-), eateries, big box stores, movie theater, indoor and outdoor malls, etc. And then you also have the Historic Square in downtown Franklin. Local artisans, antique shops, Puckett's Grocery, The Factory, live music and strong civil war history. It’s the most charming spot in the area.

Several other choices depending on the commute times you want to downtown Nashville, price range, and several other factors that you probably have on your list. This forum, the previous posts and current contributors, is probably the best resource available anywhere for you to get honest input (good, bad, and occasionally ugly – mostly kidding on that last one) and amswers.

What follow up questions can we help you with?

[cmarie2010]

Thank you Kevin! We are looking for an apartment or townhouse to start with rent ranging from $600-900 monthly. When I say multicultural I am basically saying a diverse community...we currently reside in a suburb of the metro Detroit area so that can give you an idea of what we are looking for. When I say fun I am basically saying we are looking to be able to find a chain of resturants, movie theatres, malls, etc. I do plan to find employment prior to moving however we need to know what area to look in which is why I am first trying to figure where we will be moving to. Thanks for all of your help! A list of places on a scale would be great for me to start working from.

[GrnMtnFire]

Check out Smyrna. 20 minutes to downtown, good schools, safe, plenty of shopping.

[cmarie2010]

Thanks GrnMtnFire!

[yank283]

Any safe, multicultural community near Nashville will have a lot of college kids around. Hillsboro Village comes to mind (but there are some young families). Depends on what your priorities are. There are a lot of young families and chain restaurants/big box retail in Hendersonville and Franklin but there probably at least 80% white (probably more) and very suburban. Donelson is pretty diverse and near the inner core. Bellevue is semi diverse and safe but not so close to the city. There's quite a few young families in both areas. Another area (which would be very suburban) is Hermitage, but it seems to be going a little downhill lately.

[cmarie2010]

Ok so what about Murfreesboro?? Is it that bad and is it family oriented??

A coworker told me today to compare it to Ann Arbor or East Lansing here in Michigan.

[Kim918]

cmarie2010

Why would you think Murfreesboro was bad? It is totally family oriented. There are so many nice neighborhoods here it will be hard for you to choose. Just because we have the college, don't let that make your decision without first visiting. The college does not interfere with everyday life here. I would have to say that Murfreesboro is mostly young families with children. 600-900 monthly rent is totally doable. Check out the west side of the boro for nice apts. St. Andrews Drive in particular. There are 3 complexes there that are very clean, safe and nice. Good school district as well. THose complexes are far enough
away from the college and are not dominated college students. You will find plenty of young families in your age range there.

Murfreesboro has a great parks and recreation department as well. Lots to do for kids. The Discovery Center is here tool. The kids will love it. Plenty of shopping and restaurants.

If I can help you further with anything in particular please let me know.