Can We Discuss Relocation? Raleigh or Nashville?

[hellonurse]

Dec 22, 2012 7:04:01 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Whiskey Kitchen in Nashville is a good restaurant, casual. City House is a great restaurant

Both of these look SO good!

[slug*bug]

I don't think you could go wrong w/either, but my brother and SIL were transferred (involuntarily, to some degree) to Nashville 7 years ago. None of us had a previous connection to the city or region so their first reaction was "WTF? Nashville?" I'd actually heard that it was a great place to live, so I encouraged them to at least try it out, and they got the same feedback from other family and friends.

Cut to now, they love it and we love visiting them there. In fact, we'd have moved there if a job opportunity had presented itself when we came back to the US this year. The only (big-ish) issue for them has been schools: they initially bought in Davidson county with a timeline to get into a house in Williamson Co. by the time my nephew was in kindergarten.

He did wind up going to kindergarten last year in a Davidson Co. school (and it was fine) b/c the market was slow and they didn't find a buyer. It seems like the market picked up considerably this year (at least for them) and they put their home back on the market and it sold in less than a month. They now live in Brentwood and are happier w/the school he's attending this year. GL: I think either are great places, but I heart Nashville & know they do, too.

[hellonurse]

I just wanted to thank you all again for the replies! I'm in and out today, but I'm reading all of them and I so appreciate you guys taking the time to give your opinions!

[LoveTrains]

BIL and his gf just moved to Durham last year and they really like it.

Personally, I could never live in Nashville because it is way too conservative/red/religious for me.

[slug*bug]

Dec 22, 2012 15:20:58 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Personally, I could never live in Nashville because it is way too conservative/red/religious for me.

I will say that the religion thing is a semi-issue for SIL/brother: they are decidedly not religious and tire a bit of being asked where they go to church as if it's a given that they are Christian/attend services. That said, they've found their niche and aren't as bothered by it now, but it was something they had to get used to people being a little nosy about at first.

[SusanBAnthony]

I could not handle Nashville (and I like country music!) it is just way too southern, religious, religious, did I mention religious?

Raleigh seems nice in that it is larger, very diverse with lots of transplants, potty educated, lots of choices of where to live between the different cities, etc. my brier just relocated there a year ago and he tanks he might stay long term. He likes that the terrain is very diverse within a few hours each direction. Too hot for me, and too southern, but coming from Tampa that won't bother you!

[cabbage10]

Lurker chiming in here...

I have lived in both Raleigh and Nashville and I personally would pick Raleigh over Nashville. Some things that I liked about Nashville (beautiful scenery, great shopping (boutiques downtown, Green Hills etc) were outweighed by the things I disliked- mega church everywhere, not a lot of diversity, HCOL (at least where I was) and horrible school system (the professors and Peabody College at Vanderbilt, told me to try not to teach in those schools!)

As for Raleigh it is missing out on some of the "big city" feel that Nashville has, but we have ACC sports and hockey and as people have said are close to the beach and the mountains (I so missed the beach when I lived in Nashville), great diversity, even though wake county schools can be crazy, the school system seems MUCH better than Davidson County Schools in Nashville.

I could go on and on, but who wants to read a novel from a lurker haha, PM me if you have specific questions about either.

[hellonurse]

Dec 22, 2012 18:18:23 GMT -5 cabbage10 said:

Lurker chiming in here...

I have lived in both Raleigh and Nashville and I personally would pick Raleigh over Nashville. Some things that I liked about Nashville (beautiful scenery, great shopping (boutiques downtown, Green Hills etc) were outweighed by the things I disliked- mega church everywhere, not a lot of diversity, HCOL (at least where I was) and horrible school system (the professors and Peabody College at Vanderbilt, told me to try not to teach in those schools!)

As for Raleigh it is missing out on some of the "big city" feel that Nashville has, but we have ACC sports and hockey and as people have said are close to the beach and the mountains (I so missed the beach when I lived in Nashville), great diversity, even though wake county schools can be crazy, the school system seems MUCH better than Davidson County Schools in Nashville.

I could go on and on, but who wants to read a novel from a lurker haha, PM me if you have specific questions about either.

PM sent!

Mrs.Starry- that's definitely interesting! Haha.

[MadamePresident]

I really like Nashville, but have never lived there.

[DarcyLongfellow]

I've lived in both, but for school, so a slightly skewed viewpoint :-)

I personally would move to Nashville in a heartbeat. I adore it. It's just a fun town -- lots of character. Great restaurants, great bars, great music scene (even if you hate country music), fun cultural stuff (although, way, way less than you'd find in a bigger city).

It's also, though, in many ways, still a small Southern town. I have family there, and my cousin was a debutant last year. As were many of her friends (from that same private girls school mentioned above).

If I were moving there now, with kids, I'm not sure I'd move to the Green Hills/Belle Meade area (which is where I lived before, very close to everything) because I don't think the public schools are very good. I know here are some good magnet schools, but I don't know much about them. If I had to live in the suburbs, I'm not sure I'd like to live there. Franklin is a cute little downtown area, but it seemed so FAR from everything.

Raleigh is going to have a lot more diversity in terms of where people are from, which is a great thing! You'll get some of the southern thing, but not as much. I think of Raleigh as being more generic a city, not having as much "soul" for want of a better word, but I have friends from college that live there and love it. I see it as a great place to raise a family.

[sherbanator]

I love Raleigh but I have never been to Nashville.