Cosmopolitan City, American Issues
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1/16/2020
I've lived in the Nashville metro area for about 14 years. There is so much I can say about this place, each with its own positivities and problems.
First is education -- Nashville public schools have a rightful reputation of being sub-par; they're definitely not the worst in the country, or even the state, but they come with problems you would expect with low funding. Parents in the area sometimes will go into debt to put their child in a private school -- some can make a public school work for their child (some districts in neighboring counties are okay in this department).
Second is lifestyle/entertainment -- Of course, live music is great. Not just country either. Emo, pop, post-grunge, hip hop, these scenes are also doing pretty great; it's really just the tourists who go downtown who are a bit too rabid about their love for country music and whiskey. The tourists can be unreasonably rude, however -- even the ones coming from backwoods areas. There are plenty of sports and sports bars to go around, and make for a nice getaway from your trouble at work and all that, and a few golf courses and bowling alleys here and there. The Predators have a great audience and stadium to boot.
Third is expenses -- Naturally, housing prices have undergone a significant rise in the past decades. However, they are not entirely unreasonable; salaries should keep up, though. Wage stagnation affects Nashville like most U.S. cities, but your dollar will definitely get you farther than in, say, New England. Food is gladly rather affordable; utilities are up there but okay; gas prices are somewhat volatile; this brings us to....
Fourth, transportation. Nashville provides plenty of examples of what not to do with infrastructure (again, similar to much of the U.S.). Transportation by bus will only get you between key points in the city (and a few suburb centers), the only passenger train goes between downtown and Lebanon, and these combine to make possession of an automobile crucial to mobility in Nashville. This is America; what can I say? Plenty, actually. There is an aristocratic family here which makes most of their money from the parking garages across Nashville, hence their persistent lobbying against phasing out the car in Nashville. So expecting public transit to get better in Nashville is like waiting for the apocalypse to eliminate your need to pay taxes (which are middle-of-the-road in Nashville btw).
This brings to -- finally -- number five, politics. Nashville has long been a hub for wealthy Southern Democrats. This brings with it a solid base for the Democratic party in the county, but these Democrats can only do so much, because the state of Tennessee as a whole -- it comes as no surprise to most of us -- votes Republican. The effects of this odd political climate are visible: rural people who come into town whether for work or pleasure wear MAGA hats expecting not to be glared at and make overt racist statements, and hate speech in general is not that uncommon. Democratic officials in government make contradictory policies under pressure and minorities are still often disenfranchised. All this said, if you think you have what it takes to help make the world a better place, Nashville might be the place for you.
Benjamin | Brentwood, TN