Nashville neighborhoods

June 20, 2006 11:40 AM

I'm considering moving from Portland, OR, to Nashville, TN. I love Portland's cool neighborhoods. Where are the hip neighborhoods in Nashville?

Hip for me means proximity to coffee shops, parks, bars, natural food stores, etc. Links to helpful sites about Nashville appreciated.

posted by strangeleftydoublethink to society & culture (8 comments total)

It's been several years since I lived in Nashville, but I've been back recently. When I was there in the late 90's the neighborhoods that fit your description were in the Vanderbilt vicinity. Specifically Hillsboro Village, and the area around Elliston Place. More recently there's a stretch of Granny White Pike that has exploded with cool restaurants, shops and the like. I am sure that other Nashvillian Mefites can elaborate. The Nashville Scene is the local alternative paper that might give you some more info.
posted by kimdog at 12:19 PM on June 20, 2006

You can try west Nashville, near the Vanderbilt campus. But it's really expensive to live there.

What you're looking for doesn't exist in Nashville, as far as I know. I only lived there for about 6 months, though. You'll probably end up living in a gated apartment complex way outside of the city. There's not enough housing for all the people trying to move there. So they keep building it further and further away from the city and everyone drives in by interstate.
posted by nyxxxx at 12:24 PM on June 20, 2006

There were a bunch of cheap, cool places around Belmont (and a bit west of Belmont) when I was there. Lots of porch drinkin'. You've gotta be willing to do a little bit of gentrification, I think, but with the tremendous amount of studios around there, that's where the cool folks hang out.
For some reason, I kept hearing about how bad and scary and dangerous it all was, but I think that was more "Lookit, them black folks wear their pants low! They want to rape and murder us!" prejudice than anything else. I dunno, maybe it's because I've been so close to Detroit for so long that the sort of things that scare people from small college towns in the Midwest don't really bug me.
posted by klangklangston at 1:04 PM on June 20, 2006

The Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood (near Vanderbilt and Belmont University) is probably the closest thing to what you have in mind, but has gotten very expensive in the last few years. Sylvan Park is also pretty cool, and some parts of East Nashville might be worth checking out. Regardless, you wouldn't need to live in a soulless gated community unless you're into that kind of thing. There are plenty of better options if you look around a little.

Feel free to send me an e-mail of you're interested in more details.
posted by nixxon at 2:06 PM on June 20, 2006

I live in Nashville and used to travel extensively to Portland. I don't think they are really comparable for the most part. What other factors are you considering?
posted by toastchee at 5:07 PM on June 20, 2006

Portand is much better than Nashville; the best you'll find is Hillsboro Village, and I find it hip in only the most superficial and obvious way. There are better southern cities with more culture that will meet your criteria.
posted by youarenothere at 5:24 AM on June 21, 2006

Hillsboro Village (mostly under constructions)
List of seemingly fluff pieces from The Tennessean concerning Hillsboro Village
posted by youarenothere at 5:29 AM on June 21, 2006

I live in Nashville and I love it. I am also cool and hip. We are here. Nashville has a ton of young, hip people (under 40). Lots of people that are into music (not just country) plus everything that goes along with the music industry (graphic designers, web developers, sound engineers, etc.)

You should check out:
- East Nashville - cool area, cheap real estate, cool artsy people, all-natural grocery store
- 12 South - cool area, mixed-price real estate, know all your neighbors
- Hillsboro Village - walk to everything, lots of young people

Warning: do not listen to nyxxxx. There are plenty of places to live in the city. I live in Hillsboro Village in a 1400 square foot, 2-bedroom townhouse - rent is $900/month. Do not be tempted by the crazy cheap real estate in Antioch or Bellvue. Look at a map - you will want to live in East Nashville or within I-440.
posted by peppermint22 at 4:06 PM on June 21, 2006 [1 favorite]