??live between Nashville and Murfreesboro?? (Franklin, Smyrna: apartment complexes, for rent, violent crime)

[cageman]

Hello All,
I have been offered an industrial hygienist trainee position with the Va. I will be going between the Nashville and Murfreesboro Va hospitals for 2 years in order to complete my training. I do not know what the split will be between these 2 locations.
My idea is to possibly find a place to rent in between Nashville and Murfreesboro; probable closer to Nashville, since the traffic would be presumably worse there.
[SIZE=3]My income will start out at approximately $38,000, and we are a family of 4: Mom, Dad and 2 children. The children are home schooled so the school question is taken care of. We of course would like a safe neighborhood. I’m not sure if we would rather rent a house or an apartment. If it were an apartment we would like one with a gym area (with at least a treadmill). A two bed room will do, but it would be nice to have a three bed room. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]I'm thinking maybe $1,000 for rent. What do you all think?[/SIZE]

[nashvols]

I would look around the Old Hickory Blvd area near Brentwood (but in Nashville). It's a safe area, as long as you are closer to I-65 than Nolensville Rd (there are a few apartment complexes on the lower end of Edmondson Pk that are probably OK).

Of course, you'll be much closer to Nashville than Murfreesboro, but the commute in from Rutherford County on I-24 is hell. The VA in Nashville is on the Vanderbilt campus, so it is a very, very busy area during the morning commute. The commute to Murfreesboro would be pretty far, but there would be much less traffic going in that direction because of the reverse commute. Outside of peak commuting hours, this area is pretty convenient to most areas of town...15-20 minutes to downtown, 20 or so to Green Hills and Vanderbilt, 15 minutes from Cool Springs, 10 minutes to 100 Oaks, 20-25 minutes to downtown Franklin, 20-25 minutes to East Nashville...basically within a half hour of a lot of good stuff around town...plus there are plenty of restaurants, grocery stores, and other retail between Brentwood and Nippers Corner (Edmondson Pk @ Old Hickory Blvd).

I think your best other option would be Smyrna, which would be pretty convenient to Murfreesboro...but the commute to the VA in Nashville would be somewhat hellish. Smyrna might be a better fit for your budget, and it's a big enough town where you wouldn't have to go far for shopping or eating. However, driving to most things in Nashville would take a little longer, and you would likely use more gas.

[Diane Giam]

I know you rather be near Nashville, but the rents and house prices are less in Murfreesboro. You can get much more for your money. I know the VA hospital in Murfreesboro is off 231. My daughter lives off Jefferson Pike in Murfreesboro and commutes to Green Hills. There is no where in Nashville that she could have gotten a brand new house for $125k. She is 5 minutes to the VA hospital in Murfreesboro. She is also in the siegal school district even though thats not important to you. She takes Jefferson pike to 840 to 24 to get to work.
There is smyrna inbetween and you may find something,but not what you would find in Murfreesboro.

[cageman]

Thank you, Diane Giam and nashvols. I will definitely check these areas out.

[nALgirl]

Diane is correct, rent is much cheaper in Murfreesboro. I drove from Murfreesboro to Green Hills for 11 months and it was pure He**. We moved to the Concord Rd/Nolensville Road area and the commute is great for me and for my husband who works in Murfreesboro. This area is much nicer than Nippers Corner, but I'm not sure whether or not you can find a place for $1000 per month. We drove around until we found an area we liked.

[Why_Am_I_Here]

Check Smyrna as well.

[CrunchyDoula]

Murfreesboro is cheap. Smyrna is cheap too. Both are overall very safe (there are just certain streets/blocks you want to avoid). Avoid Antioch at all costs - it has become a haven for increased violent crime in recent years. I would also avoid LaVergne as it is mostly industrial, and not much to do with kids there.

I have lived in Murfreesboro for 11 years now, so I've seen it grow and change, and I know the area very well. You can easily rent a 3-4 bedroom, 1200-1500 square foot home for $900-$1000 here, often with a garage, large backyard, and in a safe neighborhood. You can buy a house like that for $95-$120K right now. Come buy my house! LOL. We want to move to California.

Yes, the commute to Nashville from here sucks. I did it for 2 years. But what you pay for in gas you'd be paying toward rent for a smaller home in not as nice of an area if you move too much closer to Nashville.

[predhead33]

I live in Murfreesboro and there are several good apartment complexes here. I have experience with both St. Andrews and Indian Park complexes, which are affordable and a great size. Smyrna would be my second choice but I have heard bad things about Lavergne and Antioch so I second the motion to stay away from there!

[Antioch]

Originally Posted by predhead33

I live in Murfreesboro and there are several good apartment complexes here. I have experience with both St. Andrews and Indian Park complexes, which are affordable and a great size. Smyrna would be my second choice but I have heard bad things about Lavergne and Antioch so I second the motion to stay away from there!

If you don't know about an area based on your own personal experience you shouldn't knock it based on others hear say....

[bmrisko]

If you're looking at Smyrna, you may as well check out Nolensville also.