AboutJan Duke Expertise Whether you are visiting Nashville for a day or a lifetime,I can humbly show and guide you through every aspect of what this great city has to offer.
Experience Currently, I'm the Guide to Nashville.About.com (AllExperts.com sister site).I'm a longtime resident of Nashville, having Tennessee Lineages that date back to the 18th century.
Organizations Lifetime member the local historical society, as well as an avid genealogy buff.
You are here: Experts > Nashville > Counties north of Nashville?
Expert: Jan Duke Date: 7/22/2006 Subject: Counties north of Nashville?
Question Thank you so much for helpful advice!
My wife asked me to ask you specifically about Goodlettsville, although that's perhaps not as far north as we might like to go. But is Goodlettsville a good place to live, based on commute, crime, schools, etc.?
Thank you again for your help!
Liam
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Followup To
Question -
Hi,
My wife and I would like to relocate to the Nashville area. We're originally from western KY, and our families are mostly in that area, but I believe that I stand the best chance of finding work in Nashville, plus we always loved that city.
However, we'd prefer to live in a more rural area, and prefer to be closer to the Kentucky border to make trips to see family quicker. Do you have any advice about areas we could live in that would be north of Nashville, but hopefully not have a horrible commute (I know rush hour can be awful)?
Thanks!
Answer -
Hi Bill,
The 4 counties in the North/Western Nashville Area that I would look at would be: Montgomery, Robertson, Sumner, and Cheatham.
Montgomery would have the largest population, mostly because Fort Campbell is located there, but is also the most NW located in the Metro Area The commute time in rush hour is about an hour, otherwise it is about a 45 minute drive.
The next largest area would be Sumner county with a similar commute, maybe a bit less. Both of these area's are growing extremely fast so I would take care when purchasing land or a home to ensure that the area you choose would be rural for awhile.
The other two Cheatham and Robertson are pretty rural counties with much smaller populations where less infrastructure exists so they would typically be the last to develop and are. The commute into Nashville is 30-45 minutes or during rush hour otherwise it's about a 15-30 minute drive, depending on how rural you get.
If there are children in your family, I tend would make my final decision based on the school systems as they vary greatly. I would rate the schools like this:
1. Sumner (best)
2. Montgomery
3. Robertson
4. Cheatham (worst)
As far as crime goes, based on what I've seen,I would have to rate them like this,
1.Cheatham (least crime)
2.Sumner
3.Robertson
4.Montgomery (most crime)
Demographics:
Montgomery county has the most diverse community followed by Robertson and Sumner with Cheatham County being the least diverse and changing.
I, in fact, live in Cheatham County and am within about 7 miles from Montgomery, Robertson and Davidson (Nashville)County lines on 20 acres and love everything about the area except for the local school system and the (lack of) public services/amenities that the county offers. Robertson County is very similar to Cheatham County, but IMHO a bit better, in this aspect, but we chose Cheatham as we liked the lower crime rates, demographics, the fact that it was closer to a military installation, and located directly between to large cities (Clarksville and Nashville).
Two of my good friends live in Sumner County and say that they love the schools and have plenty of public service/amenities, but wish that they had more privacy space/farmland/acreage and also that the construction on their main interstate (I-65) would finally come to an end to lessen their drive time to Nashville.
We have found that in every county there are very differing communities/cities within its boundaries and that one needs to research each community to get the best fit for your family.
Hope this helps and thanks for the question,
Jan
Answer Hi,
Goodlettsville has some great pockets of rural area around it, but it also has a large mall Rivergate Mall a few miles away from downtown which can cause some traffic problems.
It is also actually part of both Davidson and Sumner Counties- it's split. I would suggest moving to the north of town (sumner) vs the south (davidson) The schools in Sumner County have a better reputation and I expect the taxes would be lower too.
