Moving to Nashville

Nashville, known informally as “Music City” is a unique city that offers a great place to live and work. While Nashville is best known as the capital for country music, the city had its start as a river shipping port and major railroad hub. In the past several years, Nashville has made the move to become an international city due to a thriving job market and a low cost of living. As of the 2000 census, the median age was 34 years old, and the average home price was $259,000. There are over a half million people in Nashville city limits, and over a million and a half in the thirteen-county metro area. Nashville is a young city with an abundance of recreational areas and a lively cultural base.

recreational areas and a lively cultural base.

Nashville is located in Davidson County and is second to Memphis in population in the state of Tennessee. The city is situated on the Cumberland River. Considered “Middle Tennessee”, the greater Nashville area includes the counties of: Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Hickman, Macon, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson and Wilson. The cities that lie just outside Nashville include Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Lakewood, Oak Hill, Goodlettsville, Ridgetop, Franklin, Smyrna, Goodlettsville, Murfreesboro, Lebanon, and Germantown.

Nashville has a diverse job market that offers fairly consistent job creation. The labor force is well-trained, largely in part to the educational institutions located within the city. The major industries in Nashville are health care, music, publishing and religious publishing, insurance, finance, banking and transportation. The Music Row area is the second largest music producing area in the world, following New York. The music industry accounts for 19,000 jobs and over $6 billion a year. However, the largest industry in Nashville is health care. There are over 250 health care companies, including the largest private operator of hospitals in the world. The health care industry contributes over 90,000 jobs and over $18 billion a year to the city. Additionally, Nashville is home to the corporate headquarters for Nissan North America, Dell, HCA and Dollar General. The music industry also offers a significant number of jobs in the Christian pop music industry. Religious publishing is also an affluent industry. With over 700 churches, Nashville is also the world’s largest producer of Bibles. National television networks including Country Music Television (CMT), Great American Country (GAC) and RFD-TV are all based in Nashville.

The City of Nashville has operated as a metropolitan government since 1963, meaning that the outer-lying areas of the city and the city itself are governed by a mutual legislation, officially called the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson Count or “Metro Nashville”. By operating as a unit, Metro Nashville has shared resources of police, fire, water, sewage and electricity. The area is divided into two districts – the “urban services district” – that serves the City of Nashville, and the “general services district” – that serves the outer-lying areas. The legislation is administered by the mayor, vice-mayor and 40-member Metropolitan Council.

The Grand Ole Opry was founded in 1925 after the publishing industry began to thrive. Other city landmarks include the Gaylord Entertainment Center (Sommet Center), the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the Music City Convention Center, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Nashville Children’s Theatre, The Nashville Opera, Nashville Ballet, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Tennessee State Museum, Fisk University’s Van Vechten and Aaron Douglas Galleries, Vanderbilt University’s Fine Art Gallery and Sarratt Gallery and the Parthenon. The Country Music Association Awards are held annually at the Grand Ole Opry in November. TV shows that have been filmed in Nashville include Hee Haw, Pop! Goes the Country, and Nashville Star. Movies filmed in Nashville include: The Green Mile, The Last Castle, Gummo, The Thing Called Love, Coal Miner’s Daughter, and Nashville. Additionally, Nashville is home to the Nashville Predators (NHL) and the Tennessee Titans (NFL) as well as several other minor league teams.

Nashville is known to have a fairly moderate, but humid climate. There are hot summers and cool winters. Nashville experiences a long spring and autumn. Snow is on the lighter side, but there are occasional thunderstorms and tornadoes in storm season, which is March through September.

In education, Nashville is nicknamed the “Athens of the South”. The colleges and universities in the greater Nashville area include: American Baptist College, Aquinas College, the Art Institute of Tennessee, Belmont University, Fisk University, Free Will Baptist Bible College, Gupton College, Lipscomb University, Meharry Medical College, Nashville School of Law, Tennessee State University, Trevecca Nazarene University, Vanderbilt University, and Watkins College of Art, Design & Film.

The main highways in Nashville are I-49, I-24, I-65 and Interstate 440. Nashville is part of the Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion for rail and air traffic. In addition, the city hosts the Metropolitan Transit Authority bus transportation, the Nashville International Airport - a mini-hub for Southwest Airlines, and the Music City Star passenger commuter rail system.

Nashville also boasts many famous people. Those moving to Nashville or greater Middle Tennessee might be interested to know that the city has been home to celebrities like: The Allman Brothers, Bill Bellichick, Young Buck (rapper), Miley Cyrus, Bill Frist (former US Senator), Bettie Page, Annie Potts (actress), Hank Williams, Sr., Hank Williams III, Del Wood, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ben Folds, Faith Hill, Dwight Yoakam, Alan Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Josh Gracin, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Andrew Jackson, Bill Frist, Nicole Kidman, Fred Thompson and Dinah Shore.