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Guest vbrooksutk

I'm a Nashvillian, born and raised. I went to high school in downtown Nashville not too far from Vandy.

I dislike Vanderbilt as a university for a variety of reasons, but I'll be glad to talk about Nashville itself.

The city is a cultural melting pot, with some shooping centers being completely en español and many neighborhoods being entirely Arabic. Country music reigns supreme, and you have to see Titans (Football) and Predators (hockey) games.

I mean, it really depends on what you want to know about the city. You can get from one end to the other (taking the entire MSA into account) in about, say, 45 minutes. Davidson County is gargantuon. The traffic can get pretty bad around rush hour(s), especially around the Vanderbilt area. My mother is an apartment manager for a complex within biking distance of VU, so send me a pm if you are interested in a place to live. I'm very close family friends with a lady in the engineering faculty as well. VU is very much a Nashville tradition, for better or for worse, but Nashville is by no means a "college town" of Vandy. The University of Tennessee, on the other hand, IS Knoxville. Nashville has several other universities and colleges - Tennessee State, Belmont, David Lipscomb, APSU and MTSU within a short drive, etc., to name a few.

There are lots of places to shop, bars and cafes of virtually every imaginable type... music everywhere, and at least 5 malls within a 45-minute drive. 3ish hours to Atlanta, I think... 3 hours to Knoxville, 2 hours to Chattanooga, and a bit over an hour to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The cost of living varies widely depending on which end of Nashville you end up residing in. Public transportation isn't that swell, but our airport kicks butt as an international hub. Biking isn't really a good idea for the downtown area itself, but if you restricted your biking to just the Vandy campus you'd probably be all right. Vandy is notorious for confusing one-way streets and bad parking, but the campus itself is absolutely gorgeous - an oasis in the middle of the city, really.

I lived in Nashville from birth until high school graduation, and then moved to Knoxville for my undergraduate. I'm about to move to Syracuse, NY for grad school and I plan on moving back to East Tennessee upon my graduation. I love the area and the people and the sights and the sounds... Nashville lots a lot of its appeal when I moved away and I'm not quite sure why... but it's a great city. :)

Anything in particular you'd like to know?

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Guest L again

Thanks for all the great Nashville info. I'm considering a few schools and have figured out which departments I like, so I'm looking at location. I liked what I saw of Nashville, and I'm from a small town in the South so I like the small city feel (as opposed to New York or Boston). My biggest question about Nashville is housing: what neighborhoods are great to live in and can keep me out of major traffic (I plan to bring my car)? I tried to look up housing costs, but couldn't figure out what part of the city was ok to live in.

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Hey, L. I am currently an undergraduate at from the DC suburbs. It definitely has a small city feel compared to Boston, New York, or DC (out of curiosity, where are you from?) The traffic really isn't that bad here compared to other cities. However, you'll definitely want to live around campus. The good news is that rent is fairly inexpensive. Where you can live will vary depending on the amount of your stipend and how much you want to allocate to rent, of course. I would suggest the Belmont area, West End, or Green Hills. You can't really go wrong with those neighborhoods and they should give you some flexibility. Do a Craigslist search to get an idea for what they have to offer. I found a 2br for $650. With a roommate that's not bad at all. There are a few trendy neighborhoods that are "up and coming" like parts of East Nashville and the area around 12South (on 12th Avenue South near Belmont) if that's your thing.

It's good that you are bringing your car. There isn't a great mass transportation system in Nashville. They have bus service but it probably won't be helpful to you and Nashville definitely isn't a walking city. However, like vbrooksutk said you can easily bike from university areas to save some yourself some gas. There are tons of cool restaurants, bars, coffe shops, art galleries, trendy shops, and mainstream retailers. Within a 5 to 10 minute drive you can get Thai, Indian, Middle Eastern, Greek, Italian, Japanese (sushi and other stuff), etc. Most of those places are within walking distance, too. There's Starbucks but there are a ton of local coffeshops that are a great place to study (a couple of them are frequented more by graduate students) and have much better coffee. It definitely feels like a cosmopolitan place with a little southern charm (I'm a big meat and three fan.) Anyway, I could go on and on. It's not a bad place to be a grad student. What program are you thinking of joining? If you have any other questions, feel free to drop me a line on this board if you have any more questions about Nashville in general.

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  • 2 years later...

All the info is really great here. Yet I would really like to know the possible expenses. Since there is no aid from the school, would it be possible to get financial support later on? I will be a master student there this fall. How much will the living expenses be? The tuition is really huge. Could anybody tell me something about the financial sources in the school.

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  • 9 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hello. I currently work in the Biological Sciences department. Nashville is a pretty decent place to live. Some areas, can be really expensive to live in, such as Green Hills and Hillsboro VIllage. If you want or need to live really close (as in walking/biking distance) to campus, you'll pay a premium. Some of the cheaper areas to live in are West Nashville and Bellevue. I found a nice apartment in a really fancy neighborhood in West Meade for $800. It was only about a 10 minute drive to work. I now live in Woodbine and it take me 7 minutes to get there. Look for apartments and houses on Highway 70S (that's also the West side). You can find some cheap places in East Nashville and there are a few trendy bars and what-not, but be sure to visit the houses as some areas on the East side are still pretty rough. The Rosebank area of East Nashville is pretty nice, but it can take a little longer to get there as well. I'm not terribly familiar with North Nashville, so no help there. You'd probably do best to avoid places that are further out of the city, like Gallatin, Antioch, Smryna, and Murfreesboro. If you go to the Vanderbilt website and look under the tab for students, there's a tab called "MyVU" which has some classified ads that employees post offering places to rent. You'll find some pretty cheap places there, too. I don't recommend trying to make it without a car here, as our public transit system is pretty dodgy and the city is so spread out that a ten minute drive turns into a complicated, hour long journey. If you absolutely have to, it can be done. 

Hillsboro Village is where most of the grad students can be found. This area is pretty nice with a lot of shops, restaurants, and bars. It's really close to the Belmont area, too, so there's quite a bit of overlap. Like I said earlier, there's a trendy area on the East Side called Five Points where you can find 3 Crow Bar, Red Door East, Alley Cat, and a record shop. Around the corner is the Lipstick Lounge and Mad Donna's. There's a few art galleries over there (Gallery East) and pub/art crawls aren't uncommon. This whole area is pretty cool and newish, as this is the area that was destroyed and rehabilitated after the tornado a few years ago. There's even a permanent hot dog stand called I Dream of Weenie.

I've lived in Nashville for a really long time, so if I'm glad to offer any help that I can. Just send me an email if you like! Wherever you end up in Nashville, you'll be fine. We're a very friendly people.

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I grew up in and around Nashville, and I pretty much agree with everything dgauthier said. If you live very close, you can get all your day-to-day stuff done on foot, but you really have to have a car to do anything else. I'm glad to hear that students and staff now ride free on the buses -- maybe the bus system will start to improve.

Definitely avoid Gallatin, Antioch, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro, 'cause those are 45-60 minutes away when it's not rush hour. :D Really, there's no reason to live in the suburbs or the outskirts of town if you're a student. The savings in rent and living expenses would not outweigh the amount of time and money you'd spend driving back and forth. My brother lives in Belle Meade (inside the Nashville city limits, but functionally the burbs) because he was able to buy a nice house for cheap there. He's still got a 45-minute commute to his job in the city, and would definitely be renting closer to work if owning a house hadn't been a goal of his.

Nashville's fairly cheap as cities go, the people are pretty laid back, and there's a surprising amount of inexpensive stuff to do.

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  • 11 months later...

Greetings all. I am considering Vanderbilt for an English Ph.D., and they're offering me a fairly generous stipend ($24,000). I do not have a car and am not sure whether I am interested in getting one between now and the Fall. I am open to the idea of doing so but am also wary of living somewhere that earns a reputation of a place where one "has to have a car," as I like walking to and from class, bars, etc. In fact, I sort of depend upon it for my sanity.

So what's the real story? Can anyone shed some light on navigating Vanderbilt (and Nashville, for that matter) without a car? Are there any grocer stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, shopping areas, etc. within walking distance of campus or of residential areas close to campus? On a related note, one of the posters above mentions that living close to campus will result in paying a premium. Elsewhere, posters report that Vanderbilt is pretty inexpensive overall. What is "premium" by Nashville standards?

I grew up in Omaha, NE, which, according to Wikipedia, is about 2/3 the size of Nashville. Omaha is a real driver's city -- there are perhaps no areas of town where one could happily subsist without a car. I am guardedly optimistic that Nashville, as a bigger, older, and (I'm hoping) more interesting place, would have more of these sorts of areas.

Thanks!!

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Greetings all. I am considering Vanderbilt for an English Ph.D., and they're offering me a fairly generous stipend ($24,000). I do not have a car and am not sure whether I am interested in getting one between now and the Fall. I am open to the idea of doing so but am also wary of living somewhere that earns a reputation of a place where one "has to have a car," as I like walking to and from class, bars, etc. In fact, I sort of depend upon it for my sanity.

So what's the real story? Can anyone shed some light on navigating Vanderbilt (and Nashville, for that matter) without a car? Are there any grocer stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, shopping areas, etc. within walking distance of campus or of residential areas close to campus? On a related note, one of the posters above mentions that living close to campus will result in paying a premium. Elsewhere, posters report that Vanderbilt is pretty inexpensive overall. What is "premium" by Nashville standards?

I grew up in Omaha, NE, which, according to Wikipedia, is about 2/3 the size of Nashville. Omaha is a real driver's city -- there are perhaps no areas of town where one could happily subsist without a car. I am guardedly optimistic that Nashville, as a bigger, older, and (I'm hoping) more interesting place, would have more of these sorts of areas.

Thanks!!

Hi, I was in Nashville for UG and a couple of years after, and during this time I knew a handful of students who didn't have a car. However, all of them had access to a car and friends (like myself) willing to schlepp people to and fro. The Hillsboro village/ 21st avenue area is your best best in terms of access to laundromats, grocery stores, coffee shops, bars, restaurants and even a movie theatre. However, if you're interested in going to East Nashville (the 'hip' area of Nashville) or the 12th South area (lots of good restaurants) you will need a car. Personally, I would make it a priority to have a car if at all possible, though parking at Vanderbilt is horrific.

A walk from the hillsboro area to Vandy's campus ( in particular the english dept bldgs) would take you maybe 20-30 minutes - not a bad walk at all. As far as rents go in that area, I have a friend who had an amazing 1 bedroom for probably $800/month. I've lived in that area, and I would say that you are probably going to pay around $500/mo minimum for a room in a 2bd or 3bd. If you want to live alone, I would say you're looking $800 minimum although I'm not really sure about that. In short, I think Nashville wants to be a small progressive city that is walkable and bikeable but it's not there just yet. It's a great place to live,though, and feel free to PM me with any questions about Vandy or Nashville.

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  • 1 month later...

I'll be starting my MTS there in the fall and was curious where I should look? I have never been to Nashville, nor do I know really anything about the town. Are there rooms to be found that are close to campus (Divinity school)? What parts of town should I be looking into? I have a car, but I would prefer to ride my bike/walk if I can, although I'm not completely against driving (especially in the winter).

thanks for your help!

-Nick

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I'll be starting my MTS there in the fall and was curious where I should look? I have never been to Nashville, nor do I know really anything about the town. Are there rooms to be found that are close to campus (Divinity school)? What parts of town should I be looking into? I have a car, but I would prefer to ride my bike/walk if I can, although I'm not completely against driving (especially in the winter).

thanks for your help!

-Nick

Well, you probably will need a car in Nashville. I know a lot of students went without because they had a lot of money from mommy and daddy, but I had a car the whole time I lived on campus. Thing is, if you want to get out of the campus area (West End and 21st), then you will need a car. The bus system sucks and taxis are pricey.

To answer your question. There are plenty of apartment complexes and houses around campus, with the closest and nicest ones being on 21st Avenue, close to Hillsboro Village/Belmont and within 10-15 min walking distance. There are a few 1 to 2 minutes away right on 21st, but they're small and excessively expensive (made for law students). If you're looking to drive, then look on West End past campus. There's a nice neighborhood around Natchez Trace, Blakemore, and even further down close to Charlotte Ave., a neighborhood known as Sylvan Heights. There are some nice townhomes on Acklen Park behind Outback steakhouse, near Centennial Park. I lived in Nashville for quite some time and still do, so feel free to pm me for any other questions. Try Craigslist because I don't know how helpful Vanderbilt Divinity will be with housing. Also, you can always be an RA on campus in Carmichael Towers. Ha.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Anyone have any specific complexes that they recommend for grad students in Nashville? I have been apartment searching and preparing to move from another state and safety and proximity to Vanderbilt are very important to me.

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  • 8 months later...

Hey, looking to revive this topic. I'm going to be visiting Vanderbilt for an open house weekend in March, and before I go I have a few questions:

1. I've been to Nashville once. I was really just passing through, but on my night there I was hoping to catch some live music. To give an idea of my tastes, I enjoy classic country (Hank Williams/ Johnny Cash/ Patsy Cline/etc.) as well as blues from the 20s-50s (everything from Robert Johnson to Howlin' Wolf) as well as rockabilly (Roy Orbison, etc.) and early rock (Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley). I realize the era of this music is over, but in other places (Clarksdale Mississippi/ New Orleans/ Cajun Country) I've been able to find live music that suits my liking. However in Nashville all I could find was what seemed like tourist traps...really bad cover bands of the classics. But I really didn't know where to look. So if anyone has an idea of where to see an interesting show that's a bit more genuine, I'd love to know.

2. Is there a division between where graduate students spend time and where undergrads are? I get the sense the East Nashville is where I'd live if I end up attending, but any thoughts on this in general?

3. On the car thing: I imagine I'd eventually get a car, but I might not get it together before arriving at school. How easy would it be to bike from East Nashville to campus? Is it really unfriendly to cyclists?

4. What's the relationship like between the university and the city? Is there hostility? I imagine that Vanderbilt is overall more liberal/affluent than the general population, does this cause tension?

5. Any great/cheap places to eat near campus? Especially pulled-pork or mexican?

Thanks!

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Hey, looking to revive this topic. I'm going to be visiting Vanderbilt for an open house weekend in March, and before I go I have a few questions:

1. I've been to Nashville once. I was really just passing through, but on my night there I was hoping to catch some live music. To give an idea of my tastes, I enjoy classic country (Hank Williams/ Johnny Cash/ Patsy Cline/etc.) as well as blues from the 20s-50s (everything from Robert Johnson to Howlin' Wolf) as well as rockabilly (Roy Orbison, etc.) and early rock (Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley). I realize the era of this music is over, but in other places (Clarksdale Mississippi/ New Orleans/ Cajun Country) I've been able to find live music that suits my liking. However in Nashville all I could find was what seemed like tourist traps...really bad cover bands of the classics. But I really didn't know where to look. So if anyone has an idea of where to see an interesting show that's a bit more genuine, I'd love to know.

2. Is there a division between where graduate students spend time and where undergrads are? I get the sense the East Nashville is where I'd live if I end up attending, but any thoughts on this in general?

3. On the car thing: I imagine I'd eventually get a car, but I might not get it together before arriving at school. How easy would it be to bike from East Nashville to campus? Is it really unfriendly to cyclists?

4. What's the relationship like between the university and the city? Is there hostility? I imagine that Vanderbilt is overall more liberal/affluent than the general population, does this cause tension?

5. Any great/cheap places to eat near campus? Especially pulled-pork or mexican?

Thanks!

I'm at Vandy in the Latin American Studies MA program. Congrats on getting accepted; I'm jealous. I don't know the Africanist professor, but it's a great department overall. Anyways, I'd be happy to answer some of your questions as best I can.

1) My wife was 7 months pregnant when we moved to Nashville, so much of our free time revolves around our lovely daughter. It's worth it but I do miss going to rock shows. We've only been to a couple of venues, but just generally stay away from downtown clubs if you want to avoid pop country and butt rock. There are plenty of places with blues, country, or bluegrass open mics that would probably cater to your tastes, many in east Nashville. Also check out the Gulch... pretty trendy but some gems. Somebody else could probably tell you more. One more thing though, Vandy hosts an annual weekend music fest called Rites of Spring. Pretty eclectic mix from country to hip hop. They just announced some of the acts for this year; I'm looking forward to The National, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, and Public Enemy. Here's the website: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ros/ Check out the history tab for past lineups to give yourself an idea.

2) Undergrads generally have to live on campus so they tend to hang out at the places near Vandy. The undergrads that do go to the same places as the grads are generally pretty cool.

3) Nashville is not very bike friendly in most areas, but the buses do have bike racks on them and students ride for free. That way you can do a hybrid commute. Either way, you can get by without a car for a while.

4) Nashville is much more urban than I thought it would be. Granted, I spend most of my time in the Vandy bubble, but there doesn't seem to be the animosity that you'd expect. It's actually a pretty culturally diverse place... not as many people with southern drawls as we expected. My wife and I moved here from Paris so that was a bit different, but before that we lived in Milwaukee. We felt like Nashville is a southern Milwaukee (if that gives you any point of reference). They have similar demographics and they're both friendly, laid back, not too big but plenty to do, inexpensive. They are also both great drinking towns. The local brewery, Yazoo, has a new tasting room downtown that's pretty cool. You can get their beer all over town and it's delicious. Their old location on the north side is in a terrible are but the building is awesome and the Corsair Taproom that moved in is a great place. The Corner Pub near campus has a 50% off taps and rails happy hour from 3:00- 7:00 and they have decent bar food. My LAS cohort goes there every Friday for a Portuguese roundtable (which usually devolves into a mix of Portuguese, Spanish, and English) and a bunch of people from the history dept. go there for trivia. Also try Flying Saucer in the old train depot downtown. If you like beer, they have about a hundred on tap and they have good specials during the week.

http://www.yazoobrew.com/

http://corsairtaproom.com/

http://www.cornerpubtn.com/CP_midtown/index.html

http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/nashville/

5) There are tons of reasonably priced restaurants but no good pulled pork or Mexican. There is San Antonio Taco Company (SatCo.) which is mediocre Tex-Mex and a new BBQ place next to it, but I haven't heard anything good and it's always empty. For the best Mexican, stick to East Nashville. There are a ton of taco trucks and taquerias as well as my favorite Mexican place in town, La Hacienda. There are a lot of hole in the wall BBQ places but I haven't tried many of them. There is a Tennessee chain called Calhoun's which is pretty good and the Loveless Cafe is a can't miss place for southern cooking. They are known for their biscuits and smoked meats. It's about a 30 min. drive from the campus area and you'll have to wait as much as 2 hours to get a table if you go during a meal rush, but it's a Nashville staple and well worth the wait.

For places close to campus, you have to go the Pancake Pantry. Copy everything I said about The Loveless, but with pancakes. For more everyday places I like The Dog (hot dogs), and Mellow Mushroom (a pizza chain that I was not familiar with until moving here), Mediterranean Cuisine (home of Mediterranean cuisine and creative names).

http://www.lahaciendainc.com/

http://www.coppercellar.com/Restaurant-Calhouns.html

http://www.lovelesscafe.com/

http://www.thepancakepantry.com/

http://www.thedogofnashville.com/

http://www.mellowmushroom.com/locations#/store/index/nashville

I hope that helps.

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Hey all,

I wanted to know how expensive it is to live near campus? Also, how are the undegrads? Does the campus get rowdy on weekends? Similar to a couple people on this post, I do not own a car and am not sure if I would get one before the fall, which is why I might just want to live as close to campus as I can for a year or so.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey all,

I wanted to know how expensive it is to live near campus? Also, how are the undegrads? Does the campus get rowdy on weekends? Similar to a couple people on this post, I do not own a car and am not sure if I would get one before the fall, which is why I might just want to live as close to campus as I can for a year or so.

I did my undergrad at Vandy, and I'm 99% likely to be back this fall.

Vandy's made a big push in the last few years to have all the undergrads living on campus, so that means that A) I can't really answer your first question, and B) the undergrads are fairly well contained.

From what I've been researching and know from past experience, living right next to campus gets pretty pricey, but it drops off pretty quickly as you go further out. Vandy's in a nicer part of town, and there are plenty of places to live nearby. I'm planning on finding something bike- or walkable. There are plenty of places to eat nearby, but grocery options are limited unless you can drive out to the bigger stores. There's a grocery store on West End near campus, but it's nothing like the stores a suburban kid like me is used to. Of course, I haven't lived there in 4 years, so maybe it's changed?

As for the rowdiness...the undergrads, like I said, are mostly contained on campus. Certain areas like frat row can get pretty bad on the weekends, but it's all on campus and not near any off campus residences. With the addition of the freshman commons after I left, I'm sure the feel of the different areas has changed now that there are more upperclassmen in formerly freshman dorms, but I can't imagine it's changed all that much. Otherwise, I have to say (having been one) that the undergrads are largely a sharp group.

Lack of diversity's an issue they've been trying to tackle, and you get plenty of people from southern, monied backgrounds, but I think it's something that's been improving. (My group of friends looked like the Small World ride at Epcot, so it wasn't an issue for me.) Owing to the wealthier, southern background, the student body tends to be a little more conservative than you might expect at a private university Vandy's size, but it's not in your face (like it is at the university I work at now).

Hope that answers some of your questions. I'm sure a native Nashvillian or one who hasn't only lived in the Vandy bubble has a different take on things.

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Actually your piece is very helpful! I appreciate it :D I guess I still am going back and forth about purchasing a car, but it seems that a lot of people suggest that it would be better to have one if I do head down to Nashville. I am from the Northeast so I have always depended on public transportation.

Lucy

I did my undergrad at Vandy, and I'm 99% likely to be back this fall.

Vandy's made a big push in the last few years to have all the undergrads living on campus, so that means that A) I can't really answer your first question, and B) the undergrads are fairly well contained.

From what I've been researching and know from past experience, living right next to campus gets pretty pricey, but it drops off pretty quickly as you go further out. Vandy's in a nicer part of town, and there are plenty of places to live nearby. I'm planning on finding something bike- or walkable. There are plenty of places to eat nearby, but grocery options are limited unless you can drive out to the bigger stores. There's a grocery store on West End near campus, but it's nothing like the stores a suburban kid like me is used to. Of course, I haven't lived there in 4 years, so maybe it's changed?

As for the rowdiness...the undergrads, like I said, are mostly contained on campus. Certain areas like frat row can get pretty bad on the weekends, but it's all on campus and not near any off campus residences. With the addition of the freshman commons after I left, I'm sure the feel of the different areas has changed now that there are more upperclassmen in formerly freshman dorms, but I can't imagine it's changed all that much. Otherwise, I have to say (having been one) that the undergrads are largely a sharp group.

Lack of diversity's an issue they've been trying to tackle, and you get plenty of people from southern, monied backgrounds, but I think it's something that's been improving. (My group of friends looked like the Small World ride at Epcot, so it wasn't an issue for me.) Owing to the wealthier, southern background, the student body tends to be a little more conservative than you might expect at a private university Vandy's size, but it's not in your face (like it is at the university I work at now).

Hope that answers some of your questions. I'm sure a native Nashvillian or one who hasn't only lived in the Vandy bubble has a different take on things.

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Actually your piece is very helpful! I appreciate it :D I guess I still am going back and forth about purchasing a car, but it seems that a lot of people suggest that it would be better to have one if I do head down to Nashville. I am from the Northeast so I have always depended on public transportation.

Lucy

I'm at Vandy now finishing an MA in Latin American Studies (see my post above). I live in west Nashville and I did not have a car for the first year. I took the bus to campus everyday with my baby girl in tow. It's definitely doable. Just look at the bus routes (http://www.nashvillemta.org/) when you're looking at apartments. Our apartment complex is on a direct line to campus. It takes about 30 minutes in traffic, but you can use that time to read. It's also free for students. My father-in-law gave us his old car this fall. I won't lie; it is nice to have but the bus isn't bad if you live in a spot that is convenient.

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I'm at Vandy now finishing an MA in Latin American Studies (see my post above). I live in west Nashville and I did not have a car for the first year. I took the bus to campus everyday with my baby girl in tow. It's definitely doable. Just look at the bus routes (http://www.nashvillemta.org/) when you're looking at apartments. Our apartment complex is on a direct line to campus. It takes about 30 minutes in traffic, but you can use that time to read. It's also free for students. My father-in-law gave us his old car this fall. I won't lie; it is nice to have but the bus isn't bad if you live in a spot that is convenient.

Thanks for the help!

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  • 1 month later...

I'm a Nashvillian, born and raised. I went to high school in downtown Nashville not too far from Vandy.

I dislike Vanderbilt as a university for a variety of reasons, but I'll be glad to talk about Nashville itself.

The city is a cultural melting pot, with some shooping centers being completely en español and many neighborhoods being entirely Arabic. Country music reigns supreme, and you have to see Titans (Football) and Predators (hockey) games.

I mean, it really depends on what you want to know about the city. You can get from one end to the other (taking the entire MSA into account) in about, say, 45 minutes. Davidson County is gargantuon. The traffic can get pretty bad around rush hour(s), especially around the Vanderbilt area. My mother is an apartment manager for a complex within biking distance of VU, so send me a pm if you are interested in a place to live. I'm very close family friends with a lady in the engineering faculty as well. VU is very much a Nashville tradition, for better or for worse, but Nashville is by no means a "college town" of Vandy. The University of Tennessee, on the other hand, IS Knoxville. Nashville has several other universities and colleges - Tennessee State, Belmont, David Lipscomb, APSU and MTSU within a short drive, etc., to name a few.

There are lots of places to shop, bars and cafes of virtually every imaginable type... music everywhere, and at least 5 malls within a 45-minute drive. 3ish hours to Atlanta, I think... 3 hours to Knoxville, 2 hours to Chattanooga, and a bit over an hour to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The cost of living varies widely depending on which end of Nashville you end up residing in. Public transportation isn't that swell, but our airport kicks butt as an international hub. Biking isn't really a good idea for the downtown area itself, but if you restricted your biking to just the Vandy campus you'd probably be all right. Vandy is notorious for confusing one-way streets and bad parking, but the campus itself is absolutely gorgeous - an oasis in the middle of the city, really.

I lived in Nashville from birth until high school graduation, and then moved to Knoxville for my undergraduate. I'm about to move to Syracuse, NY for grad school and I plan on moving back to East Tennessee upon my graduation. I love the area and the people and the sights and the sounds... Nashville lots a lot of its appeal when I moved away and I'm not quite sure why... but it's a great city. :)

Anything in particular you'd like to know?

I will be really glad if you could furnish some information about the housing scenario. I want a decent studio near Vanderbilt at reasonable prices. Thank you very much

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi!

I am moving to Nashville in August, for a 4 months stay in Vanderbilt! I am looking for housing, mainly in Hillboro.. but it seems that it is not easy to find something for such a short period.. or maybe it is because it is too early to start looking for.. Do you think is it a good idea to wait and look for housing once I am there or is it too risky? The option I've found is "Music City Hostel" condos, in Patterson street. It seems a quite convinient place, because I don't need to worry about anything, it is all included in the price, facilities, linnen, equipated kitchen.. but I don't know if it is a nice and safe area of the city.. Someone knows that neigborhood?

Thanks a lot!

Any advice will be very welcome!! ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm at Vandy now finishing an MA in Latin American Studies (see my post above). I live in west Nashville and I did not have a car for the first year. I took the bus to campus everyday with my baby girl in tow. It's definitely doable. Just look at the bus routes (http://www.nashvillemta.org/) when you're looking at apartments. Our apartment complex is on a direct line to campus. It takes about 30 minutes in traffic, but you can use that time to read. It's also free for students. My father-in-law gave us his old car this fall. I won't lie; it is nice to have but the bus isn't bad if you live in a spot that is convenient.

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