Kingston Springs vs Bellevue (adjacent) vs Mount Juliet vs Hendersonville (Lebanon: 2013, credit)

[Elanc]

Hi,
My family will be moving from Long Beach, CA (just south of LA) to Nashville in the next two months. I've posted previously regarding my home search and (think) I have narrowed down my options as far as areas go. Can anyone help with the pros and cons? We're hoping to find a house on a minimum of 1 acre (or very close to it) in an area with good schools, for around $200,000-250,000 (obviously under that would be even better). I've been checking Realtracs religiously, so know that it exists in all of these neighborhoods.

I know similar questions have been asked, but there seems to be so many people willing to share a wealth of knowledge on this board. I'd greatly appreciate any response to questions regarding our specific situation.

Thanks!

[DonCorleone]

I'm not really able to adequately weigh the pros/cons of Kingston Springs and Bellevue aside from general thoughts. But I live in Hendersonville and lived in Mt Juliet for 5 years so I'll weigh in there.

Hendersonville and MtJ have a lot of similarities: commute time to Nashville, proximity to lakes, good schools, growing/attractive, new commercial development like wildfire.

The main differences that I see are subtle but noticeable: MtJ feels more of an extension of an existing suburb to me than Hendersonville. MtJ is a newer city and has experienced more rapid growth than Hendersonville but still is a bit smaller smaller (58k vs. 44k). Hville, in my opinion, has managed growth better and has a more solid infrastructure than MtJ. I get the feeling that MtJ is about a step behind their growth. Maybe because Hville is growing at a slower pace they have kept up with roads, bridges, traffic at a better clip that MtJ...I don't know. This is nitpicky, but Hville schools seem to have a better reputation than MtJ's but I don't think in reality they are significantly different. I will say that as a Sumner County resident, I have little faith in the competancy of our county government (see Sumner County school delay fiasco of 2013) to effectively fund the school system. Perhaps that will change with next month's County Commission elections. Wilson County hasn't had that problem (yet?) so a slight edge there as far as school funding goes. There also seem to be more parks and green spaces in Hendersonville than MtJ. However, my impression is that if you were to find 2 identical homes: one in MtJ and one in Hendersonville, you're going to pay more of a premium on the house in Hendersonville based on reputation and other factors.

Hope that helps. Maybe someone can weigh in on the communities on the west side of Nashville.

[S4F]

You shouldn't have a problem finding a home in Mt. Juliet for your price range and size. It's a great area and you can easily get into the heart of Nashville quickly.

[GWoodle]

The Bellevue area would have it's connection with Nashville for city services from schools, transit, police & fire. There is enough green space to have a suburban feel compared to downtown Nashville.

Dixon-Kingston Springs are much smaller communities further out on I-40. For traffic, depends on how much earlier you want to get up for the longer commute & travel times. For reliability, a lot depends on the lack of truck wrecks. I-40 narrows to 2 lanes so you need to have alternates when a truck hits the ditch.

For shopping & entertainment, you may stop at West Nashville near Chatlotte or other Bellevue locations before continuing west.

In the spring, the bad weather comes from the west. You will be warned that a storm is approaching from Dixon or Kingston Springs before the same storm arrives in Bellevue. This happens often enough to have a plan for what to do. It only takes a moment to be sure everyone is safe or when to take cover.

[think365]

[quote=Hville, in my opinion, has managed growth better and has a more solid infrastructure than MtJ. I get the feeling that MtJ is about a step behind their growth. Maybe because Hville is growing at a slower pace they have kept up with roads, bridges, traffic at a better clip that MtJ...I don't know. [/QUOTE]

Mt. Juliet has better infrastructure than most people give credit. The one mile stretch of Providence gets congested, but there is no regular congestion anywhere else in the city. Mt. Juliet has superior commuting that Hendersonville. You can take I-40 (which is being widened), Lebanon, or the commuter rail to get downtown. Also, you have options to take 171 or 840 to go south or Southwest, and of course traveling east is easier. In Hendersonville you are usually stuck going down I-65 whenever you want to go somewhere other than North. I do think Hendersonville has more neighborhoods that I like than Mt. Juliet does with Hendersonville being more mature, there are a lot of neighborhoods with large lots that were built before people decided that they wanted to live in 3,000+ sft houses on .20 acres....