Nashville?

[mizznicole]

Anyone here live or have lived in Nashville? What is the Catholic scene like there? How do you like the city in general? Is it a good place for families? We may be relocating.

 

[kage_ar]

I used to travel there for work, and I love Nashville. It is beautiful, friendly, the food is fantastic - I never attended Mass there, but, it is the location of the Nashville Dominicians.

 

[tnbella7]

I live here. There are several churches, and a brand new Catholic High School that opened in one of the northern suburbs as well as a new parish that just opened in one of the southern suburbs. It depends upon where you want to live. The church culture is like anyplace else - it is what you make it. If you just want to attend mass, you can. But if you want to plug in to the church and community - that is certainly available as well.

In terms of jobs, remember Nashville is the state capital, so there are jobs in all different sectors. Nissan just moved their North American Headquarters to Franklin (suburb of Nashville), HCA is located here and we have an extensive hospital system as well. We also have several well recognized universities. You didn’t mention what kind of work your family would be looking for, so I’m just listing general stuff.

Living wise, it is still affordable, we don’t have a super high crime rate. Most families I know live in the counties outside of Nashville (which is located in Davidson County). There are several surrounding counties with still affordable housing. You don’t run into a lot of born and bred Nashvillians. Most are transplants. Some are chasing the dream. There is still a small town feel. We have Miss Martha’s Ice Cream Crank every August, the NES Christmas Parade, Fireworks on the Cumberland (river) on the 4th of July, and of course Fan Fair (or what ever they call it these days). We like ourselves and poke fun at ourselves, but don’t care for others to do it. (Like anyplace else.

 

[tnbella7]

I forgot to mention, it’s a great place to raise kids. We have a top rated Childrens Hospital, very active Mommy groups, and lots of stuff directed at kids. The schools in general are very good. You have to check in Davidson County as to where you are zoned. But in Williamson county in particular the schools are top rated every year. There are also Catholic schools - elementary thru high school. Hope that helps!

 

[mizznicole]

Thanks for all the tips! We’re moving (possibly) because DH’s company is about to be in business with HCA. And through that contact, they’ve got business with the music industry. It’s kind of funny to us, because DH spent a long time in Austin working with the musicians there. The difference is that musicians in Austin don’t have any money.

We’re living in Florida now and really don’t like it. Everything here is a gated community. There is nothing going on in terms of local business, night life, culture, etc.

It seems like the mid-town area might be attractive to us. We’d be at home in an “artsy-fartsy”/“crunchy-granola” area of town.

In terms of parishes, we used to belong to an amazing Cathedral parish in Austin. (The best parish on earth! ) I’d love to find a place like that again. Yes, you can plug in wherever you are. But if it’s there, I’d like my son to be exposed to Catholicism in its fuller beauty.

P.S. DH says there are lots of book publishing companies there. True?

 

[kage_ar]

The largest Bible pubisher on the planet is there

There are some really neat artsy areas, I had the best lemongrass martini in a little club on one of those areas.

 

[tnbella7]

Thanks for all the tips! We’re moving (possibly) because DH’s company is about to be in business with HCA. And through that contact, they’ve got business with the music industry. It’s kind of funny to us, because DH spent a long time in Austin working with the musicians there. The difference is that musicians in Austin don’t have any money.

We’re living in Florida now and really don’t like it. Everything here is a gated community. There is nothing going on in terms of local business, night life, culture, etc.

It seems like the mid-town area might be attractive to us. We’d be at home in an “artsy-fartsy”/“crunchy-granola” area of town.

In terms of parishes, we used to belong to an amazing Cathedral parish in Austin. (The best parish on earth! ) I’d love to find a place like that again. Yes, you can plug in wherever you are. But if it’s there, I’d like my son to be exposed to Catholicism in its fuller beauty.

P.S. DH says there are lots of book publishing companies there. True?

The “hot” area for artsy-fartsy would be East Nashville which is currently in regentrification (read - parts are not great, but parts are fun and super and get ready to do a little sweat equity). As a matter of fact they are having the Tomato Festival there this weekend. Think bands and dressing up like tomatoes and dancing in the streets. And of course the tomato fight. But that’s another story . . . . There is also the Turnip Truck that comes once a week to bring local produce into “downtown” and East Nashville is really close to the farmers market for locally grown food. There are also bunches of funky restaurants in East Nashville. Another place with great houses and a real neighborhood is Sylvan Park. Most have been redone at this point, but there are still some great bargains in there.

For East Nashville, the closest parish would be Cathedral of the Incarnation. Which is on Broadway and it is not just stinking beautiful, it also recently added on a new Family Life Center. It’s a really active parish in all facets of life. We have a large Kurdish population here in Nashville and it’s mostly because of people at Cathedral that had traveled there and then found a way for families to come here for a better life. It’s a really inspiring story.

There are several book publishers here in town, some more well known than others. Of course Thomas Nelson which is the most well known. Also, in one of the smaller cities nearby is Ingram Industries, which is the largest book distributer in the world. They have several divisions, but is locally owned and the people that own it are just so nice. I love that about Nashville. People are nice and friendly.

If you “zillow” the area, the zip code is 37206 for East Nashville and I don’t the one for Sylvan Park. If your husband is working out of HCA and you live downtown, that could work out well because he would be going against traffic both ways. Hmmmmm. Something to consider. I love this area. I moved here from the DC area, and have really grown to love it. I married a local (born and bred), so I’m here for life.

I also forgot to mention, there’s tons of “artsy” stuff for kids as well. TPAC (one of the local theaters) has family friendly shows each quarter, the Nashville Childrens Theater is top notch, and the Frist Center (museum) has great art Saturdays every Saturday. You couple all that with the Zoo, Renaissance Fair, all the great County Fairs and you can visit an actual dairy or join a farmers co-op, and Nashville is a pretty cool place to live.

 

[mizznicole]

All of that sounds completely awesome. I miss Southern warmth and charm very much (no, Southwest Florida is not “the South”!), and the advantages of a bigger city. The info is really great. Thanks again!