Local? Or did you relocate? From WHERE? (sales, credit rating)

[groovamos]

Originally Posted by Ratdude

I can answer that for you....lol....Franklin is somewhat similar to Schaumburg, it started out with a big mall surrounded by a bunch of fields and then just exploded with retail and other businesses and traffic is madness a lot of the time....!

This one leaves me scratching my head. Schaumburg in 1968 was mainly the Motorola campus, and subdivisions, and a new tollway. I don't remember ever seeing a downtown there anything like other NW 'burbs like Mt. Prospect, Park Ridge or Arlington Heights. I think it was '71 when Woodfield opened and was the largest mall in the U.S. at the time, and Schaumburg THEN mushroomed.

To compare any of these 'burbs to Franklin would be well, difficult. Franklin was one of the richest towns in Tennessee before the civil war, and there was an inter-city railroad connecting it to the nearby state capital city. There is not a single downtown in any of the north or NW Chicago burbs, much less Schaumburg, that looks anything like downtown Franklin. The NW 'burbs way back were towns on the rail lines but none of them were as singly economically important as Franklin was in the 1800's, and so their town centers were smaller than that of Franklin. I don't think it would be possible to accurately compare Franklin to any Chicago burb just on topography alone much less history such as that during the civil war. And nowadays I can't imagine any Chicago burb being a corporate headquarters magnet in any big way comparable to Franklin.

[Ratdude]

Originally Posted by groovamos

This one leaves me scratching my head. Schaumburg in 1968 was mainly the Motorola campus, and subdivisions, and a new tollway. I don't remember ever seeing a downtown there anything like other NW 'burbs like Mt. Prospect, Park Ridge or Arlington Heights. I think it was '71 when Woodfield opened and was the largest mall in the U.S. at the time, and Schaumburg THEN mushroomed.

To compare any of these 'burbs to Franklin would be well, difficult. Franklin was one of the richest towns in Tennessee before the civil war, and there was an inter-city railroad connecting it to the nearby state capital city. There is not a single downtown in any of the north or NW Chicago burbs, much less Schaumburg, that looks anything like downtown Franklin. The NW 'burbs way back were towns on the rail lines but none of them were as singly economically important as Franklin was in the 1800's, and so their town centers were smaller than that of Franklin. I don't think it would be possible to accurately compare Franklin to any Chicago burb just on topography alone much less history such as that during the civil war. And nowadays I can't imagine any Chicago burb being a corporate headquarters magnet in any big way comparable to Franklin.

I was speaking in terms of the immediate Cool Springs area more than Franklin....sorry.....and in the aspect that both had big malls built on farmland and then surrounding areas boomed with businesses, traffic gridlock, etc......

I was not factoring in topography, history, etc......In those aspects you are ABSOLUTELY correct!

[cfbs2691]

I'm a 49 year old single woman currently living in South Florida.
Born/raised in Wisconsin.
I'm determined to get out of South Florida and will be losing my job soon.
My plan is to sell my townhouse for super cheap (I'm luckily far from being underwater on it) and heading north. All of my family's still in Wisconsin, but I can't bear to go back to the nasty winters.
I'm certainly not into nightclubs, but do like socializing and wouldn't know anyone in TN.
Would it be hard for me to make friends as far as are people accepting newbies?
(I'm pretty outgoing myself.)

[BirdieBelle]

Since 2009, the top five cities for inmigration to Williamson County have been:

1) Los Angeles
2) Tampa area
3) Orange County, CA
4) Auburn Hills, MI area
5) Broward County, FL


FWIW

[ImComingHome]

Born in Chicago, lived there for 10 years, lived in Maryland for another 20, now living in Nashville. I find it very insular. If you're not from around here you are not easily welcomed or accepted. People are nice enough and make a gesture to include you but if you're not a soccer mom or part of their church they really have nothing in common with you.

I came here for work and am hoping to move to Chicago again as soon as I can. Plus I cannot get used to the extremely hot summers, I never lie out in the sun because it's just miserable. Traffic is getting worse and worse, takes me 30-40 minutes to go 14 miles.

If you're not young and into drinking at bars on Broadway there is not a lot to do.

Oh and nothing is open extra hours to accomodate people that work. It's like if you're a woman you must not have a job (or you have a flexible music row job) and so you can go to Curves or your doctor appointments between the hours of 8 and 5. It is very difficult to get business transacted when you work.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by ImComingHome

Born in Chicago, lived there for 10 years, lived in Maryland for another 20, now living in Nashville. I find it very insular. If you're not from around here you are not easily welcomed or accepted. People are nice enough and make a gesture to include you but if you're not a soccer mom or part of their church they really have nothing in common with you.

I came here for work and am hoping to move to Chicago again as soon as I can. Plus I cannot get used to the extremely hot summers, I never lie out in the sun because it's just miserable. Traffic is getting worse and worse, takes me 30-40 minutes to go 14 miles.

If you're not young and into drinking at bars on Broadway there is not a lot to do.

Oh and nothing is open extra hours to accomodate people that work. It's like if you're a woman you must not have a job (or you have a flexible music row job) and so you can go to Curves or your doctor appointments between the hours of 8 and 5. It is very difficult to get business transacted when you work.

I can understand that someone new to the area might have a hard time finding their fit here. Not everyone is going to move here and LOVE it.

But I take issue with a few of the things you've said...you're not going to be accepted by people if you're not a soccer mom or belong to a certain church? That's a downright ludicrous statement. In certain social circles, that might apply, but it certainly doesn't to the vast majority of people that live here. That would require a) all the moms being "soccer moms" and b) everyone attending church.

Yes, the summers are very hot. If that's something you don't want to deal with, then a move to a cooler climate might be best for you.

But with traffic...traffic is getting bad here...sure. But you're from Chicago, and you want to move back there....and you're complaining about our traffic? Good grief.

If you're not young and in to drinking at bars on Broadway, there's not much to do here. Wow...that's a shallow statement. Yes, you're right. No parks here, no museums, no entertainment of any kind. I guess I must've blacked out all those times I went to see the symphony or to watch a play at the theatre....that must've been in some other city.

And nothing is open for extended hours. Nothing.


If this is your impression of Nashville, then you have been living in a sad little shell ever since you got here. This city isn't perfect by any means, but your statements show a particular ignorance to all that is going on here. It does seem like it would be best for everyone if you just moved back home.

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by ImComingHome

Born in Chicago, lived there for 10 years, lived in Maryland for another 20, now living in Nashville. I find it very insular. If you're not from around here you are not easily welcomed or accepted. People are nice enough and make a gesture to include you but if you're not a soccer mom or part of their church they really have nothing in common with you.

I came here for work and am hoping to move to Chicago again as soon as I can. Plus I cannot get used to the extremely hot summers, I never lie out in the sun because it's just miserable. Traffic is getting worse and worse, takes me 30-40 minutes to go 14 miles.

If you're not young and into drinking at bars on Broadway there is not a lot to do.

Oh and nothing is open extra hours to accomodate people that work. It's like if you're a woman you must not have a job (or you have a flexible music row job) and so you can go to Curves or your doctor appointments between the hours of 8 and 5. It is very difficult to get business transacted when you work.

Just curious, where in the Nashville area do you live? I live in Brentwood, and every one of my neighbors is a transplant. I almost never meet people who are originally from Nashville. So "not being from here" is the norm, not unusual, at least in my suburb.

My YMCA is open from 4:30 am-10 pm. If you prefer a smaller workout place, I can totally understand that, but generally smaller places come with fewer hours. That's normal anywhere.

Just for fun I checked the hours for the West Loop Chicago Curves-
M-TH 8:00-1:00, and 4:30-7:00, F-S 8:00-1:00. Closed on Sundays.

Curves in Brentwood is open: MWF 6:30 am-7:00pm
T-TH 8:30-7:00
Sat: 9:00-12:00
Closed Sunday.

So basically the same hours, with the Brentwood Curves staying open in the afternoon. I just picked 2 at random, other locations may vary.

I lived here in my 20s unmarried and rarely went to Broadway. I think most people who live here don't spend much time at the tourist bars. As nashvols posted, there is a lot more to do in Nashville than go to the tourist bars.

Nashville is not for everyone, and that's true of every other city. I lived briefly in Chicago and loved it. It's a great city. Until you are able to move back to Chicago, I would encourage you to try out some of the fun things Nashville has to offer. The Titans look good this year, Wicked is coming to TPAC in a couple of months, 2 new exhibits open at the Frist in the next couple of weeks, Radnor is a fun place to see some nature, and there are always plenty of great restaurants to explore.

And I'm with you on the heat. It's been pretty miserable this summer. But it should soon be cooling off and exploring will be more fun. Best of luck to you.

[groovamos]

Originally Posted by ImComingHome

I came here for work and am hoping to move to Chicago again as soon as I can. Plus I cannot get used to the extremely hot summers,

If you're not young and into drinking at bars on Broadway there is not a lot to do.

Oh and nothing is open extra hours to accomodate people that work. It's like if you're a woman you must not have a job (or you have a flexible music row job) and so you can go to Curves or your doctor appointments between the hours of 8 and 5. It is very difficult to get business transacted when you work.

I've lived in Nashville, Chicago NW burbs and 2 Texas cities, also FL, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Seems Chicago had an extremely hot summer like Nashville, but neither like Texas, assuredly.

And I thought the young locals mostly leave Broadway/2nd Ave to the tourists and hit Cannery row and the Gulch now. Plus you have big league sports. True or not? And the gracious poster doesn't mention historic venues like Exit/In, the Ryman, and the Elliston Pl Soda Shop for pet's sake, not to mention a virtual world class symphony as good or better than the one here, and we're the 5th largest metro as of census 2010. And as I've said before your central library beats the crap out of ours in Houston. Open after hours too. Poster doesn't mention these. Suppose you live in/near the Chicago loop and want to go vineyard wine tasting. How long you have to drive compared to 30 minutes out of Nashville center? Further suppose you want to go for idyllic walk like in Warner's, Beaman, or Radnor. You have the Chicago suburban forest preserves but good luck with the crime thing. Can you imagine your car vandalized or getting raped at Radnor state natural area? infinitely unlikely.

Finally, favorably compare Nashville with sports, and six interstate spokes for quick getting away, to another place in my past, similar sized Austin with no big league sports and 2 interstate spokes.

[goolsbyjazz]

Hey siftz! You want to talk about hot summers? Come to Arizona!

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by 55south

I moved from Scottsdale, Arizona!

I moved here from Arizona.

I really like it here.

55south, tell me what it is you like about living in Nashville as opposed to the desert. I used to live in Nashville in the 80's and loved it!