Where are the safest places in Nashville for a family on a budget? (Franklin: crime, how much)

[kiwifruit2]

Can afford a house in the 100,000 range (lower if can) or about 700/month rent. It would be me, bf, and our 2 kids moving. I want to live close to music venues but still be in a decent area with good schools for my kids. I would be willing to commute up to 30 min to get to the music. Any suggestions? Thanks .

[kiwifruit2]

So basically I want to live somewhere safe and good for kids, but still be close to the action/music/downtown. Close to me is a 30-45 min drive or less. Preferably less, lol, but I can make sacrifices. I cannot sacrifice safety though.

[nashvols]

Unfortunately, safety + good schools + only a $100k budget will put you a distance from downtown Nashville. The "safe" areas close to downtown are pretty pricey, and schools are questionable at best in the inner city (outside of a handful of good elementary schools and the magnet schools, of course).

"In town," you might consider the Donelson/Hermitage area, which have decent schools and are mostly safe areas...but $100k will be a stretch, and most people don't have a good opinion of McGavock High School. That area is only 15-20 minutes from downtown.

There might be a few houses in the Bellevue area that would work, but they are likely at the bottom of the barrel in that price range. Bellevue is a pretty decent area. You might at least take a look there.

Other than that, most of the choices will be in the surrounding counties. Unfortunately, again, $100k will eliminate a lot of the nicer areas. You might look at Symrna in Rutherford County. This will put you a good distance from downtown and the music venues, though. You might try the Sumner County side of Goodlettsville and the older area of Hendersonville. There might be a few "steals" in that area, but barely anything approaching $100k, as that is a desirable area....but the schools are very good.

[kiwifruit2]

Hi, thanks for your reply . Okay I see what you're saying. I kinda was expecting that. So how much should we expect to pay for a decent home in a safe area? I was looking on MLS listings, not exactly sure which area, but I saw some new construction for only 130,000. Maybe that wasn't in a good area, idk. We can pay more for a home if absolutely necessary, we just want to pay as little as we can if possible. So far in my research, not sure how much truth there is to any of it, but I've heard that the Belle Mead area is for the rich and that Williamson county has the best schools. If I can get a list of suburbs/towns/areas within Nashville that meet my criteria, that would be really helpful. Basically the most most affordable safe area with good schools. I want to note that currently I live in Deerfield, Ohio. It is major country out here, we are seriously 30 min from the city in every direction. I want to be closer to amenities (and not have to pay so much in gas!). The website I found the cheap new construction on was crye-leike.com if you wanna check it out. I should have looked at where it was. I'll try to find it and post a link.

[ben52284]

I've said this before, and it may or may not be relevant to you, depending on your definition of safety, but it may be worth considering something like the Hadley/Washington neighborhood in the area between Fisk and TSU. I've seen some new construction in the area sell for 99-109k recently, and because the neighborhood is zoned for Head magnet middle and MLK magnet high schools, you can get into the magnet schools without worrying about the lottery(though your children would need to meet the appropriate test score thresholds). In the five years we've lived here, we've been able to walk or bike to work with no problems, and all of our neighbors have been very friendly. Certainly lower income neighborhoods like this will have more crime, but neighborhoods with 100k houses are always going to be lower income, and in my experience, if you don't seek out problems, you'll do well.

For what it's worth, I feel safer here than I did in our last house in Euclid OH.

[Pimpy]

Originally Posted by ben52284

I've said this before, and it may or may not be relevant to you, depending on your definition of safety, but it may be worth considering something like the Hadley/Washington neighborhood in the area between Fisk and TSU. I've seen some new construction in the area sell for 99-109k recently, and because the neighborhood is zoned for Head magnet middle and MLK magnet high schools, you can get into the magnet schools without worrying about the lottery(though your children would need to meet the appropriate test score thresholds). In the five years we've lived here, we've been able to walk or bike to work with no problems, and all of our neighbors have been very friendly. Certainly lower income neighborhoods like this will have more crime, but neighborhoods with 100k houses are always going to be lower income, and in my experience, if you don't seek out problems, you'll do well.

For what it's worth, I feel safer here than I did in our last house in Euclid OH.

If the location of a neighborhood is described as being "between Fisk and TSU," it should never be recommended to a newcomer who lists safety as one of her main priorities.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by kiwifruit2

Hi, thanks for your reply . Okay I see what you're saying. I kinda was expecting that. So how much should we expect to pay for a decent home in a safe area? I was looking on MLS listings, not exactly sure which area, but I saw some new construction for only 130,000. Maybe that wasn't in a good area, idk. We can pay more for a home if absolutely necessary, we just want to pay as little as we can if possible. So far in my research, not sure how much truth there is to any of it, but I've heard that the Belle Mead area is for the rich and that Williamson county has the best schools. If I can get a list of suburbs/towns/areas within Nashville that meet my criteria, that would be really helpful. Basically the most most affordable safe area with good schools. I want to note that currently I live in Deerfield, Ohio. It is major country out here, we are seriously 30 min from the city in every direction. I want to be closer to amenities (and not have to pay so much in gas!). The website I found the cheap new construction on was crye-leike.com if you wanna check it out. I should have looked at where it was. I'll try to find it and post a link.

A decent home in a safe area depends on a lot of factors, including size of house and lot. I would say that in Nashville, your average new construction in a safe area is going to be somewhere in the $200k range. You can find some pretty nice older construction from the 70s and 80s and ranches for a bit less...maybe $140-170k.

You best option for inexpensive new construction in a safe area is going to be outside the county, and outside of the nicer suburbs. You're pretty much going to have to make a tradeoff here as far as crime goes, as there are very few spots that I would consider "safe" where you can get a $100k house in the city.

[ben52284]

Originally Posted by Pimpy

If the location of a neighborhood is described as being "between Fisk and TSU," it should never be recommended to a newcomer who lists safety as one of her main priorities.

But if you are balancing a 100k budget, within 30 minutes of downtown, good schools, and space for a family of 4, then it's an option worth considering. I can't think of a single area where housing prices are around 100k which doesn't have its share of problems, and I certainly can't think of another area with housing prices like this which will get you into schools like Head and MLK.

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by kiwifruit2

Hi, thanks for your reply . Okay I see what you're saying. I kinda was expecting that. So how much should we expect to pay for a decent home in a safe area? I was looking on MLS listings, not exactly sure which area, but I saw some new construction for only 130,000. Maybe that wasn't in a good area, idk. We can pay more for a home if absolutely necessary, we just want to pay as little as we can if possible. So far in my research, not sure how much truth there is to any of it, but I've heard that the Belle Mead area is for the rich and that Williamson county has the best schools. If I can get a list of suburbs/towns/areas within Nashville that meet my criteria, that would be really helpful. Basically the most most affordable safe area with good schools. I want to note that currently I live in Deerfield, Ohio. It is major country out here, we are seriously 30 min from the city in every direction. I want to be closer to amenities (and not have to pay so much in gas!). The website I found the cheap new construction on was crye-leike.com if you wanna check it out. I should have looked at where it was. I'll try to find it and post a link.

The Best Schools are in Williamson, Sumner, Wilson, and Rutherford Counties.

I would look at Fairview in Williamson and White House in Sumner County. Both of these cities are around 30-40 minute commutes sans traffic. They are smaller and more rural cities than most of Nashville's other suburbs but are changing rapidly. They offer solid schools though not as good as Franklin, Brentwood, and Hendersonville. You'll also have to drive to those areas for most major shopping and dining...although both have major grocery chains and such..Fairview has Publix. White House has Wal-Mart, Cracker Barrel, Sushi, Chinese, etc.

[BirdieBelle]

Yes, you will have to compromise on your list of priorities, most likely the proximity to music venues.

If you're heading to those places it will most likely be at night, when there's no traffic. So it would be a 20-30 minute straight shot.

Even in Fairview, you won't get new construction under $100K. It will be an older ranch-style house. But it's a nice little town.