East Nashville: A Safe Place to Raise a Family? (Brentwood: hair salon, new house)

[yank283]

No doubt toristamps...no doubt that the Eastside has it's share of crooks, gangbangers, thugs, predators and crackheads...but I wonder what the demographics looked like in Hillsboro Village 15 to 20 years ago? Sylvan Park 12 years ago? Sylvan Heights 6 years ago? How many ignored peoples advice to move closer to the city then and before that and now own houses that have appreciated by 100, 200, or 300 percent or more? For their trouble they now have massive equity in their house...if they still have a mortgage it's probably very low compared to the newcomers to the nieghborhood. The extra money I save will one day go to my future child's college fund. There seems to be an increasing nationwide trend of middle class and upper middle class people (with disposable income) moving closer to the urban core and Nashville is just realizing the potential that was preceeded by southern cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. Sure this trend could fizzle out and reverse but with gas prices rising . When I moved to East Nashville I brought my dog, got an alarm service, and most importantly got to know my neighbors. I could have bought a house in Sylvan Park 7 years ago but instead bought one in Bellevue (not much crime but bored me to death). I have been kicking myself since then and I'm not missing that train again. Yes, my mind might be clouded by the "charming urban neighborhood" syndrome but I believe East Nashville does have the potential to be special destination and I want to do my small part to make that happen.

[ariesjow]

Originally Posted by yank283

No doubt toristamps...no doubt that the Eastside has it's share of crooks, gangbangers, thugs, predators and crackheads...but I wonder what the demographics looked like in Hillsboro Village 15 to 20 years ago? Sylvan Park 12 years ago? Sylvan Heights 6 years ago? How many ignored peoples advice to move closer to the city then and before that and now own houses that have appreciated by 100, 200, or 300 percent or more? For their trouble they now have massive equity in their house...if they still have a mortgage it's probably very low compared to the newcomers to the nieghborhood. The extra money I save will one day go to my future child's college fund. There seems to be an increasing nationwide trend of middle class and upper middle class people (with disposable income) moving closer to the urban core and Nashville is just realizing the potential that was preceeded by southern cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. Sure this trend could fizzle out and reverse but with gas prices rising . When I moved to East Nashville I brought my dog, got an alarm service, and most importantly got to know my neighbors. I could have bought a house in Sylvan Park 7 years ago but instead bought one in Bellevue (not much crime but bored me to death). I have been kicking myself since then and I'm not missing that train again. Yes, my mind might be clouded by the "charming urban neighborhood" syndrome but I believe East Nashville does have the potential to be special destination and I want to do my small part to make that happen.

Well said! Some people are just "afraid" of urban neighborhoods and the odd chance of being a crime statistic terrorizes them. Lucky, there are tons of other Nashvillians and transplants who don't live in fear and appreciate the benefits, practicality and substainability of living in urban environments. A car break-in won't scare me out of town but to each their own, I say.

I agree that we're a smidge behind the urban development place a few comparable metros like Charlotte which as done a tremendous job at luring residents in and around their uptown and getting its' first light rail line. Indianapolis and Austin are other cities we should to which I feel is a measuring stick. I wouldn't include Raliegh as an example of "urbanizing" comparable metros as the Triangle is mostly smaller, mid-sized node cities connected by sprawl. Same size metro as Nashville but completely dissimilar cities.

What's going to set urban Nashville apart from its peer cities is the continued re-interest in older, established areas like East Nashville, Charlotte Park, Salemtown, etc., the emergence of new communities such as the Gulch and 12South, and elevated growth in already popular areas such as like Hillsboro Vilage, Sylvan Park, Music Row, etc. We have so much potential beginning to be tapped.

[yank283]

Thanks for the clarification ariesjow, better said...

[toristamps]

Demographics from years ago are irrelevant to this conversation as is home appreciation from 10 years ago. While EN has its charms and popularity - the question was...

East Nashville: A Safe Place to Raise a Family?

While a car-break in won't scare you off - that's not the worst of the crime in the area - that's one of the common crimes.

My advice to them was to do their research regarding crime and sexual predators - and not go in with rose colored glasses. This advice stands regardless of which neighborhood someone chooses to live in - whether it be East Nashville or Franklin.

Here's a good site to see crime statistics compared to other zips (and increase/decrease in crime rate):

http://www.police.nashville.org/stats/docs/2008_UCR_Zipcode_Report_WEB.pdf (broken link)

[yank283]

Thanks for posting - my zip 37206 - Violent Crime down -20.4 %, Property Crime down 10.1 %, overall down 13%.

[jbmill3]

That would be a tremendously helpful link if I could find a map that showed various zip codes for the Nashville area. I know a few (37206, 37207), but not many. I thought I could find one easily online, but am having no luck so far. Does anyone know of one?

[scottv]

Those % drops tell nothing...if violence in let's say Baghdad dropped 50% would you want to take a vacation there? I bet not...when you start off at a higher than normal crime rate it can take a huge drop to get down to an acceptable level...also, it should be said that I bet a lot more people on this website are from the East side promoting their area than West siders...also, a lot of people here have a vested interest in "pumping up" East Nashville because they own property there...if you're looking for a good map, check out the Nashville Police dept website-there is a crime map on there.

[Carol McCullough]

Originally Posted by scottv

Those % drops tell nothing...if violence in let's say Baghdad dropped 50% would you want to take a vacation there? I bet not...when you start off at a higher than normal crime rate it can take a huge drop to get down to an acceptable level...also, it should be said that I bet a lot more people on this website are from the East side promoting their area than West siders...also, a lot of people here have a vested interest in "pumping up" East Nashville because they own property there...if you're looking for a good map, check out the Nashville Police dept website-there is a crime map on there.

Actually, when I joined less than a year ago there seemed to be very few East Nashville voices on here. IngleDave did his best to answer questions about East (and maybe a couple of others), but a lot of questions either went unanswered or had some folks giving their fairly uninformed opinions. As far as I can tell, only recently has there been a reasonable contingent of Eastsiders joining and sharing their opinions.

On the subject of crime reductions, crime has been going down consistently in the East Precinct since 2004. It is actually pretty impressive to continue reductions year after year. Part of the reason for this is that neighbors and the police have developed a very excellent reciprocal relationship and work together to reduce crime. Many of the places that were hotspots are now drugfree or vastly improved. The current Commander has been very innovative in approaching crime and has done a very good job of listening to and responding to residents.

Scottv, you seem to have consistently had it in for East Nashville in this and other posts and frequently just seem to be angry in general. NO ONE on this list has said that things are just dandy in East Nashville with no crime. I think we have represented our area quite honestly.

You are obviously welcome to your opinion, but you don't have to diss us and question our motives just because we disagree with you. Yes, I have a vested interest in portraying my neighborhood in a positive light. But the fact that there were few voices expressing that vested interest less than a year ago and now there are several speaks well of the area, I think. If there are more people moving to the area who are actively working to improve it and promote it--more people with a vested interest who take action on behalf of their neighborhood--then it is more LIKELY to improve.

A fair amount of research has been done on the subject. It is called "collective efficacy" and it is considered a key element in crime reduction. Collective efficacy--East Nashville has it and it is on the rise. Hence, crime is going down and will almost certainly continue to do so.

[scottv]

Well, I don't "have it in" for East Nashville...I have no doubt that in 5-10 years it will be a much better place than what I've seen of the area recently, not disputing that at all-it is HEADING that way....the guy is asking a question about the present and I've given my observations/opinions of what I've seen of the area...and I'm also taking into consideration the prices over there and I'm of the opinion there are safer/lower crime places to live RIGHT NOW for the money than East Nashville(I actually think it's hilarious to see what some people are asking for homes in these "hot" areas, considering you are within short walking distance to some very bad people/criminals.) I won't say anything else to anyone about the area except, drive around and see for yourself-better yet the whole family should hop on their bikes, ride around the area and get to know the residents. Also, I'm just pointing out that the poll is most likely skewed because of the makeup of this board and I have seen people post on here that own multiple East Nashville properties.

[yank283]

Here's a nice write up about the Riverside Village mini-development in Inglewood -

Inglewood celebrates year of change | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean