Better to Visit, also depends on type of person
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5/3/2018
So I'm going to be "real" and "genuine" here...
The SURROUNDING areas of Nashville are nice... so this review stay STRICTLY for INNER CITY Nashville.
If you DO choose to LIVE HERE then I would choose to live in the West End/Green Hills/Vandy area (they're all in roughly the same areas of the city lol)
This isn't a city for young professionals, unless you like to settle for less...
There are "fun" areas outside of Broadway(which is SUPER SUPER touristy/transient and a place to avoid if you LIVE here). The Gulch, Demonbreun and Midtown are fun areas in the city... BUT...
Those areas don't put it at an "advantage" over comparable cities.
For example, if you want to live in those areas and COMPARE it to let's say Knox-Henderson/Uptown Dallas... then CHOOSE Dallas. It would be an INSULT to Dallas if you chose those over Dallas.
Another example, if you compare those to Uptown Charlotte(only about 7 hours away)... choose Charlotte!
I've heard Nashville get compared to Austin quite a bit... but it isn't EVEN CLOSE... not yet at least....
In 5-10 years or so, it MAY BE what Austin is today but it's not even CLOSE to being "gentrified(also used often in Nashville)" as Austin is.
The music is EXCELLENT and the food is too! If you come here for the weekend, it's an EXCELLENT WEEKEND GETAWAY!!! But that's honestly it...
Don't be fooled! I would only VISIT and then go home!
I mentioned in the Title... It depends on the type of person.
If you are in college at one of the private universities or medical center... then it can be fun, OF COURSE!
If you are a young single professional who has ANY experience in other Southern cities. Few examples would be: Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Lexington, Austin, Athens, etc... you'll be in for a big suprise.
It's been mentioned before on this site so I'll just REPEAT it:
If you come as a young, single AVAILABLE (good job, good looks, good credit, etc) professional looking to meet new people/friends, it will be MUCH TOUGHER than other cities unless you are willing to LOWER your expectations.
During my time there, I was able to meet a good amount of friends (but that was primarily due to fraternity connections and staying mostly around Vandy), for MOST people it's not so easy.... Unless you want to hang around a bunch of trash/hillbillies/etc. You will find like minded, same "social class" people but you'll have to look pretty hard b/c this isn't a city that is LITTERED with them yet... not like the aforementioned cities.
*This DOES NOT apply to surrounding areas (Brentwood/Franklin/Murfreesboro/Clarksville/etc)...but in the INNER city that's jsut what it is.
Thus, the nightlife and/or social scene is pretty much(someone else mentioned this earlier too lol):
1. Hang around the Vandy area (which isn't bad if you know people)
2. Go to Broadway/the Gulch which is LOUD, ANNOYING a giant TOURIST TRAP
3. Go to East Nashville which is probably one of the MOST GHETTO and DANGEROUS areas in the country (it's SCARY)
*I will commend Law Enforcement here as when I moved here I had known a few attorneys in the area and they knew I came from a "higher end" city and were VERY COURTEOUS, helpful and respectful...they did an OUTSTANDING job knowing the situation
I feel that this is due to Nashville being a Catch 22... it wants to market itself as "up and coming" but the REALITY is... it isn't there yet. Charlotte and Austin have FAR, FAR, FAR surpassed Nashville... in the fact that those cities are GENTRIFIED and have LIGHT RAIL systems. But this could also be due to the fact that Nashville relies HEAVILY on tourism and it (honestly) isn't "possible" to have those if you rely so much on tourism and refuse to "attract" more other "talent". That's also why there are so VERY FEW upper middle class, educated young professionals. 5-10 years from now this may all change..
Bottom line: GREAT city to VISIT, do NOT live here or you will regret it!
Chad | Nashville, TN