Attn: Progressive Williamson Co. Parents: how do you raise progressive kids in Franklin? (private schools, quality of life)
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When exactly was the last time you spent any time in Nashville??
Let's see. This afternoon it took me nearly an hour to go about 5 miles. And I took the back way which means not cutting through downtown. I sat on one quarter mile stretch for 20 minutes. No accidents, no Titans game. Just Sunday traffic.
Better public transit in certain areas is definitely needed.
Regardless of public transit improvements, one thing that is BADLY needed is smarter traffic signals. Too many signals around downtown stop up traffic for virtually no reason.
Holy cow. First, OP- I want to say that I have been following this thread because I am in the same situation as you. I like in a big city- which I love- but am considering moving to the Nashville area because I have family there and I would love my family to have the benefit of having family in their life (which we do not have here) and a lower cost of living would also be great. These are the realities of being an adult. Thinking about what is best for our family vs. what we would prefer.
Now, I am sure the extreme posters on here who have been jumping down your throat could care less- but reading the posts on here- specifically the people who are laughing at you being concerned about "progressive" ideals- and the aggression and negatively in their tone has literally *frightened* me from considering the move much further into pursuing a move to the Nashville area...despite the fact that I so desperately want to be around family. All I keep thinking is...holy cow...is this what the people are like there?
What unfortunately some people on here don't understand is that when many people say "progressive" they aren't necessarily just talking about fiscal policy or federal government vs. state's rights...but about CIVIL RIGHTS issues. Issues like "if my child is gay, will the surrounding community mock them or take the attitude that they are going to hell....will that child have the ability to grow up and marry the person of their choosing?" "If my child is of a different culture and not Christian...will they be an outcast?"All day long you can talk about the hypocrisy that a liberal would dare wish to discriminate against a conservative and want to be surrounded by people who are just like them...but what you are not seeing is that for many people, these issues, civil rights, they aren't political, they are human rights issues, and being surrounded by people who deny such human rights, like the ability to love and marry a person of their choosing, that is not diversity, there exists zero benefit to raising children around that...and as a parent, how one would be very concerned about whether or not moving to the area would expose their children to that.
Now, I think anyone who knows anything about the south would grasp that at a base level there is going to be more political conservatives and more Christian culture...and I am sure OP understood that...obviously if that was such a big deal, she wouldnt have posted in the first place...she was seeking guidance about something more nuanced...and unfortunately, I think may be getting a clear answer from the posts on here....: /
Holy cow. First, OP- I want to say that I have been following this thread because I am in the same situation as you. I like in a big city- which I love- but am considering moving to the Nashville area because I have family there and I would love my family to have the benefit of having family in their life (which we do not have here) and a lower cost of living would also be great. These are the realities of being an adult. Thinking about what is best for our family vs. what we would prefer.
Now, I am sure the extreme posters on here who have been jumping down your throat could care less- but reading the posts on here- specifically the people who are laughing at you being concerned about "progressive" ideals- and the aggression and negatively in their tone has literally *frightened* me from considering the move much further into pursuing a move to the Nashville area...despite the fact that I so desperately want to be around family. All I keep thinking is...holy cow...is this what the people are like there?
What unfortunately some people on here don't understand is that when many people say "progressive" they aren't necessarily just talking about fiscal policy or federal government vs. state's rights...but about CIVIL RIGHTS issues. Issues like "if my child is gay, will the surrounding community mock them or take the attitude that they are going to hell....will that child have the ability to grow up and marry the person of their choosing?" "If my child is of a different culture and not Christian...will they be an outcast?"All day long you can talk about the hypocrisy that a liberal would dare wish to discriminate against a conservative and want to be surrounded by people who are just like them...but what you are not seeing is that for many people, these issues, civil rights, they aren't political, they are human rights issues, and being surrounded by people who deny such human rights, like the ability to love and marry a person of their choosing, that is not diversity, there exists zero benefit to raising children around that...and as a parent, how one would be very concerned about whether or not moving to the area would expose their children to that.
Now, I think anyone who knows anything about the south would grasp that at a base level there is going to be more political conservatives and more Christian culture...and I am sure OP understood that...obviously if that was such a big deal, she wouldnt have posted in the first place...she was seeking guidance about something more nuanced...and unfortunately, I think may be getting a clear answer from the posts on here....: /
Don't get the wrong impression from a few chat board posters that Nashville (and the immediate area) is all extreme gun nuts who thump bibles and stay glued to faux news and limbaugh 24/7 for their next extreme talking points when in reality, Nashville (and the immediate area) is much more moderate and even (dare to use the word) "progressive" compared to many places even above the Mason-Dixon line. You see less and less people wearing their anti-equality on their sleeve all the time. That doesn't mean you won't run into a die-hard hold-out once in a while that still has a "rebel flag" on their vehicle or one who wants to shove their religion down everybody's throat, but it's rare. Most of them have decided by now to mind their own business when they leave their house. (fortunately)
So what you are looking for is people just like yourself who happen to have a different amount of melanin in their skin. Sorry but I don't really find this to be a very progressive point of view...Looking for wealthy kids of different skin color is about as superficial as you can get. That is not diversity - or if it is, it's the most meaningless kind of diversity and don't kid yourself (or your kid) into thinking that is real diversity.
If you want your kids to experience diversity, then it's people's culture and socioeconomic backgrounds not their skin color, that determine diversity. Having a rich black kid as a friend is not really any more diverse than having a rich white friend, if you fall into the "affluent class". You simply are assigning the "diversity card" to an individual based on his/her race, and I think that faded with the 90s. Kids these days are pretty accepting of people of color, unless parents have totally brainwashed them to think otherwise.
If you actually care about diversity, then you should seek out a truly diverse neighborhood. If you don't really care about exposing your kids to diversity (which is fine also), then find your nice safe upper class neighborhood, and there will probably be a few minority families who live there. I send my son to private school in Nashville, and there are quite a few minorities there, and also families of varied economic status due to financial aid... so that is an expensive way to provide diversity, and even then, I would describe it as "diversity-light". However I did not send him to private school to experience diversity. If I really truly cared about diversity, then I would move somewhere where there is true ethnic and socio-economic mix in a concentrated area. There are parts of Franklin that have a higher percent of minorities - including African American and Latino, but to say you don't want to "deal with the neighborhood or social issues", is contrary to the spirit of experiencing diversity.
Good post (whether or not billparker's being sarcastic).
Socioeconomic diversity is as important in teaching kids about differences, accommodation and acceptance as is cultural, physical, or religious diversity. I don't want my kids growing up thinking that everyone lives in large houses, all kids go to private schools (the obsession with private schools in the US drives me nuts), all high school kids have their own cars, etc. Wth kind of "diversity" is that?
Last edited by newdixiegirl; 05-04-2015 at 02:07 PM..
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Originally Posted by Emigrations
You'll find religious people anywhere. Are they going to be more numerous around Nashville? Sure, but that's because the population as a whole is more religious. If there is "bleed over" from the local customs into the schools, it's probably more to do with the fact that the area is soaked in religion overall, and not active religious proselytizing. If you think public educators can get away with the proselytizing in this day and age, even in a conservative area, you are sadly mistaken. If anything, I'd say the schools lean a little to the left of the general population, but if someone is looking for NY style liberalism, I don't think they're going to find it in Williamson County.
"NY" style liberal is socially liberal. The same goes for New England.
I am originally from NY and went to college in Massachusetts. The misconceptions here about NY are astounding.
Everyone in NY is not a "Godless raving liberal". Same with New England. There are many Republicans in NY State. I am the daughter of two of them.
The difference between the North East and the south east are as follows - where you attend church or temple is your business. People discuss God with others who believe as they do. People who attend your church. Family dinners? No. Relatives could be non believers or attend different churches.
Generally in the North East we don't discuss "sex politics or religion" out of respect of the view points of others. At any given Thanksgiving, our home could be host to Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans (the three main ones) Baptists, Jews or Catholics. Most people were heterosexual. A few were Gay. We didn't discuss it. Republicans were equally mixed with Democrats. Politics were not discussed.
There was always plenty of common ground with out bringing up these three issues.
I feel for the OP. Perhaps there is a Unitarian Universalist Society in the area. The OP could also start a meet up of other progressive parents.
Another denomination that is popular in the North East is Congregationist or United Church of Christ. Most of these are Open and Accepting when it comes to Gay people. However, it is possible - and probable to find fiscal conservatives at such churches.
Best of luck to the OP! It seems as though there are a quite a few people in your region who are progressive and share your views. Perhaps a City Data meeting might serve to connect you all!
I'm a liberal, life-long Nashville resident. Married to the same. My husband and I are looking for a new house now, and we would probably move to Egypt before moving to Williamson County. We'd much prefer to stay in the progressive, diverse Davidson County.
I can understand the draw of having grandparents close by. But in terms of neighborhoods, people, culture, values, friends, art, music ... Davidson County wins hands down. Our kids attend a private school, but many (most?) of our friends and neighbors are in public.
As sheena12 said, there is a Unitarian Universalist church in Nashville and that's where you'll find progressives the fastest. If you decide to live in Franklin, don't expect to find diversity and progressive ideology. It's a wealthy, conservative, mostly white town. It's equivalent to the wealthy areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Nothing's going to change that. Town events often have church information stands, anti-abortion stands, and various stands for Republicans running for office.
I'm socially liberal and not religious so I keep my mouth shut about religious-based political views where I live. Residents are nice, I'm nice back, we don't need to discuss politics. I didn't discuss politics living in the northeast either. If the huge amount of conservatives in the town makes you uncomfortable because you're emotionally invested in politics, then you shouldn't move there. The better alternative is to move to Nashville and to put your kids in a progressive private school.
I have to agree with you, and I'm a liberal. My ex-husband and I are both professionals with multiple degrees between us. But that part about her kids attending private schools, all while extolling the diversity of Davidson County, struck me. There's hardly much diversity in schools where tuitions begin at $10,000 per year.
My daughter attended a private school here in Nashville for a short period of time, and, quite frankly, I wasn't impressed (she was having difficulty adjusting to her public school when we first moved here, so we thought a smaller school setting might be a better fit for her). The education wasn't much better, if at all - certainly not $10,000 to $20,000 better, anyway - and I found the culture among the kids to be more intolerant, entitled, and myopic than it is among students in public schools.
I work in education, too, and my experience working with kids of all ages from both public and private schools has shown that, other than socioeconomic background, there is little difference between public school kids and private school kids, overall. Academic standards in private schools aren't particularly high, either, and academic cheating is as rampant as it is in public schools. I've also never found that private school parents truly value education any more than do public school parents. They are just as likely to consider education as little more than a means to an end.
I always attended very diverse public schools in large cities growing up, some of them in some pretty tough neighborhoods, and I lived to tell the tale. Success, ultimately, comes down to the kids, themselves, and to the values of the individual families.
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