Nashville is a fascinating city, with so much to see and do. Even though it's undeniably a big city, it has all the requisite Southern charm that one expects. My best Nashville experience was encountering a man near the Ryman Auditorium, sitting in his van playing a banjo; he told me he was from Minnesota, and manufactures banjos.
I've lived in Nashville for over 23 years and here are my 5 Hates/Loves 5 Hates 1. Road Construction - The city is growing so fast that it's just a necessary evil. 2. No real rail system - although there is a small train that runs from downtown, there just isn't enough to handle the growth 3. Traffic - even outside the construction zones, it seems a clog of vehicles of all sizes (especially semis) have choked the roadways 4. Segmented City - Instead of thinking we are one big city, too many people that live in the surrounding communities don't want to associate with the city 5. Over-commercialization in food - It is really hard to find those local restaurants that are diamonds in the rough. There are just too many chains. 5 Loves 1. Sports Diversity - from the Titans to the Predators to the Sounds (AAA baseball) to college sports, there is something for every sports lover 2. Music - duh... it's everywhere 3. Ethnic Diversity - so many cultures and religions have chosen to come here. It really adds spice to the melting pot that is Nashville 4. Plenty of things to do - whether you love to shop, bike, golf, party, spend time outdoors, listen to music, etc, you will never run out of things to do 5. Friendly - This city is so friendly that it can put off some people that aren't used to it, and if you meet someone that isn't friendly, they're from out of state.
+Rocker Guy That's a loaded question. Depending on your requirements, depends on what part of town you want to live and to avoid. If you have family, you should probably live in Donelson (apartments start from $500/month), Hermitage (apartments start from $500/month), or Madison (apartments start from $475). If you are single or don't have kids, you could live in East Nashville ($550/month), Madison, or Antioch ($525/month). You can get in cheaper areas outside of Davidson County (Metro Nashville). If price is an issue, I would recommend Mt. Juliet ($475/month), Pegram ($500/month), and Murfreesboro ($400/month). I would recommend visiting one of these websites for renting: www.rent.com/ www.realtor.com/apartments/Nashville_TN www.rentalhouses.com/search/Nashville-TN
+Rocker Guy Rentals are at 97% occupancy. I am surprised by the rental rates referred to here as there is East Nashville which is very hip and expensive and there is East Nashville which is ghetto. Old Hickory Village is close to downtown and is on a lake. Nashville is not cheap these days. I have lived in the area since 1981 in Nashville and in the country. Best bang for the buck, the old Ford glass plant neighborhood. Nashville is mapped as a hub and spoke rather than a grid. My list is very similar to Michael's. I would add huge lovely and large parks for walking, running and hiking and a vibrant and increasing visual arts community.
BTW: Those prices were just from a cursory search, and could be a dump. If you are single and can afford it, I would recommend living inside Davidson County.
+Michael Hopkins Totally agree about the building work - spoiling the city in my opinion (the skyline and view across the city) - and yes, the traffic is terrible now. I've never seen it so bad.
I'm a native these are pretty much true especially #5 hate it's getting to the point that everyone who's here now is from somewhere else. You will not find locals downtown we can't afford it. It is becoming like every other American city. We are losing our culture. It's fading away but, that's what you get with growth. Unfortunately this happens every where all one needs to do is look at popular cities like Atlanta, Saint Louis, or Denver this is bound to happen . The best possible outcome is just to guide the growth without killing it or letting go unchecked. Remember everybody has a Hard Rock Cafe but only Nashville has a Bluebird Cafe or a Loveless. Peace.
From TN as well, but I hate country music. I think it's absolute shit. Old country is great. The Highwaymen and DAC is great, but I actually enjoy hearing non country artist in Nashville way more than country artist.
Where do the locals hang out? and what is Lovless peace? I onky been to Nashville once and it was for a concert thats it.. but i loved the vibe, im from Alabama so it felt like home to me.
Someone is being whiny about other cultures other than his own coming into the city. Grow up Nashville is still has its culture you just want to ignore to hop on other people
Nashville Native here. Great video review. One thing I disagree with is the comments on drunks. Yes, there's a definite party atmosphere here. Yes people drink in access at times, but in all of my years here, especially being downtown a lot for hockey games, I have never once had anyone disrupt my experience due to drunkenness. I understand you may have or just wanted to warn people. Here's my info for visitors. LOVE: 1) The people. Diversity & acceptance of all people thrives here. Our city is one of the most diverse & has some of the lowest numbers of hate crimes/issues involving prejudice in the US. 2) We're SO much more than country music. The arts & parks here are well worth the travel & more pop/rock/alt bands are coming out from here. 3) We don't have a great mass transit system. However, we have an incredible, beautiful & safe greenway system linking the Opryland Hotel/Opry Mills area to Hermitage/Donelson at Percy Priest Lake all the way to downtown. I've walked from Opry Mills & 2 Rivers Greenway to Downtown & it's always a great experience. 4) We have 2 professional sports teams. Currently our Nashville Predators NHL team have just won the Western Conference Championship for the 1st time & about to play for the Stanley Cup. If you ever get a chance to come to a game, you'll see why ESPN, NBCSports & the NHL call us the best fans in hockey. It's MORE than a hockey game bcz the crowd is amazing! We also have the NFL Tennessee Titans. (I'm keeping it positive so no comment on them 😂) 5) Our parks! The only to scale replica of the Parthenon is in Centennial Park. It is breath taking & rich with arts & history. A great tip is to read up on how the park came to be before going. We have the Warner Parks, Centennial park & my a favorite is the "dragon playground" aka Fannie Mae Dees Park, which is close to Vanderbilt. There is a giant mosaic tile dragon appears to come out of & dive into the ground in several places. Nashville is also less than 1-2 hours from a lot of amazing State Parks like Fall Creek Falls, Cummins Falls, Burgess Falls, Cedars Of Lebanon & many more. There are 2 lakes in the city. Old Hickory & Percy Priest. Hates: 1) Traffic! OMG we were ranked as the one of the most traffic congested cities in the US a few years ago! My tip is to get off of the Interstate ASAP! Try to look at the map or find an app to take you around town on actual streets. Murfreesboro Rd/Lafayette St are great. You can also go out of downtown on 1st/Hermitage Ave, which becomes Lebanon Pike & it is a great way to avoid the massive traffic problems. This will get you to Opryland Hotel or wherever you're staying easily. 2) Not having a proper train system, though we do have the Music City Star for commuters. You can look it up to see if it runs for tourists. Think it goes from Lebanon to Nashville. 3) Constant construction! 4) Not enough healthy restaurant choices, but it's slowly improving. A little know, but fantastic place to eat (inexpensive too) is Calypso Cafe. They have a few locations, but the one by 100 Oaks puts you close to many places to shop, a Walmart & a theater. They have the best food I've ever eaten! 5) We do have a large homeless population, but I have never had a bad experience with any of them. You won't experience much gang activity downtown, BUT our city does have a gang problem, so always be aware of your surroundings & if you get lost, drive until you find an established business to ask for directions. Don't pull up to someone on the street to ask them. Sadly, some of a family were murdered because they were lost & pulled up to a preteen standing on the sidewalk to ask directions. He robbed them & killed either 1-2 people in the family. The gangs usually stay in their area & it's definitely not something, which should keep you from coming here. Welcome to Nashville! Thanks for the video
WOW LAUREN! I NEED TO READ ALL THIS GREAT INFO! BUT, ONE THING OUR GREAT CITY OF BOSTON HAS ON YOU IS OUR TRAFFIC!!! IT SUCKS NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF DAY IT IS!!!!
Nashville is my home, always will be no matter where I end up. The best sights to see are no where near Broadway, though. I would suggest hitting up a real local show if you ever came here. Also, the chicken is better the further away from downtown you get.
I've lived in Nashville my entire life. Best places to visit: 1. Broadway 2. Parthenon 3. Country Music Hall of Fame 4. George Jones museum 5. The Bicentennial Mall is really cool if you like History 6. Antique Archaeology The worst part of Nashville in my opinion is all of the new developments in the Gulch area. They don't reflect Nashville at all and to build it they're tearing down some really cool historical buildings. The East Nashville area is pretty cool too, but I wouldn't personally say that it's one of my favorites. Really the coolest thing about living in Nashville is just the amount of artists and talent that has been a part of it's history. For example, I live 5 minutes away from a place where Hank Snow used to live and a place where Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis's manager) lived. The Nashville area also has a lot of really cool Civil War Battle Cites and attractions. Nashville is absolutely worth a visit especially if you're into Civil War history, Country Music, Good food, good times, or good weather.
I was born in Nashville in early 1979 and lived there until 2007. I left just before the huge population explosion for Socal when a very upscale salon offered me a chance to become a star in the business. I've done hair for numerous male and female celebs and worked NYFW. I visited Nashville again late last year for a wedding, and in 10 years, the city had changed so much, it was hardly recognizable from when I lived there. What once was farmland near our former house had now become many new subdivisions with houses as far as I could see. I had heard about how bad the traffic was there, and it is true. They have less lanes than LA, so the traffic is about as bad during certain hours. Trying to get from Bellevue to the airport to come home, we left to return our rental car at a time that we thought we would have about 2 hours to spare before the flight, but it took 90 minutes to get to the rental car return. Nashville better address its transportation issues before it is too late. I see that there is a resolution on the ballot back there this year, but this looks like a rotten attempt. You guys need real rail that goes all the way to Dickson, Columbia, Murfreesboro, and Gallatin. Light rail that doesn't even get past uptown is totally useless, because most of the commuters will then have to drive all but the final 1-2 miles of their commute. For instance, from where I once lived off Old Harding in Bellevue, and I wanted to come downtown for an event, I would have to drive to within 2 miles of lower broad to catch light rail over on Charlotte and then still have to walk or take a bus. Buses don't hack it on cities like LA and Nashville. Besides using the same roads as cars and being bogged in the same congestion, all the frequent stops make the commute much too long. On rails, there are no stop signs, no signal lights, and no congestion. A train can get from Bellevue to Union Station in 10-15 minutes, and still less than 30 with two stops along the way.
If you visit Nashville and would like a good place for an hour or so hike, go to Radnor Lake. A hike around the lake is so nice. It's actually in the middle of a highly-populated residential area, but you'll feel like you're out in the wilderness. Sometimes you see deer, wild turkeys, turtles, etc.
i live in Murfreesboro, TN, and i go to Nashville often to visit and go bike riding. it is a great place full of energy and friendly people. Thanks for "breaking it down" for those who have never been to Nashville before
nashvillian- 1. its safe, you are not getting pickpocketed, but of course lock your car door. 2. this isnt a family friendly place..people come here to drink. 3. actually there ate tons of local reataurants, im not sure what some of the other people on here are talking about. princes chicken is the original nashville hot chicken place, but i prefer party fowel. 4) seriously traffic is bad. 5) we don't wear cowboy boots..that more of a texas thing. 6) in the summer our ball park is very nice!
Yesss to Nashville being MUSIC city in general. The classical scene is great, I’d definitely recommend the Nashville symphony, or even performances at Vanderbilt or Belmont.
If you want to do outdoors, I’d suggest going to east TN. Get a cabin in Wears Valley or Townsend. You’re outside of the hub bub of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. But you can get to those places and all the gorgeous hiking of the Great Smokies in just a few minutes. For hiking, I’d suggest Abrams Falls (go early to beat the traffic in Cades Cove), Grotto Falls, and Laurel Falls. Word of warning: none of the trails in the national Forest are pet friendly. None.
Grew up in Nashville but moved away 10 years ago, I left bc I felt like much wasn’t going on, but now everyone is moving to Nashville and I don’t even recognize it much anymore. But I like to go to Opryland hotel for Christmas, it’s my favorite!
You forgot to mention the rain Out of eight days it rained 6 & 1/2. After, there's no denying, the scenery is beautiful. To love is driving on the freeways. Where's the people. Being from California, I was in heaven. White Creek is so nice. Barbara Mandrel's tour of her log cabin we loved.
One thing I love about Nashville(and I am a native) is the roads. Not many potholes and many truck drivers will tell u, Nashville is the smoothest rise. However, b/c of the growth, you will see tons of construction within downtown and along the outskirts. And yes, the transit system is pretty “thin” but the citizens of Nashville are currently voting/deciding whether or not to move forward with a huge transit expansion...also, u can’t go wrong with the people in Nashville..I may be a little biased, however I’ve been told by many tourist/visitors that Nashville citizens are the nicest they have come across! Enjoy your stay in Nashville!! Thanks for listening!
Speaking as a local, you should mention the high amount of deer that jump out into the roads (even within city limits). It's a real problem. People dent up their cars all the time here from encounters with deer.
Our only real problem is we are growing faster than our roads can handle. Even though our population is still nowhere near other major U.S. Cities, we have so many choke points that getting around can be a pain. It's hot af in the summer too, so if you're coming down from the north just be ready for that. I've been to downtown Memphis and Chattanooga. It's felt way sketchier in both of those places the times I've visited, but they're still awesome places to see too. Also, you need to make sure you get out and see our Appalachians if you've got the time. Just 4hrs east of Nashville But yeah, the music. If I was a richer man I'd be at a venue watching a band I enjoy every week of the concert season.
@ 6:49 that is NOT the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. That is actually the the Music City Center - a convention center. The CMHOF&M is across street. It's funny because the person filming is like right in front of two feet tall letters that say Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. LOL still a cool assessment of the city.
Public transport isn't too bad. When we come here we use the busses a lot. It's wheel and spoke and there are gaps, but for the us it's not too bad. I'm European. A great city with great people and food !!
I've lived in the Nashville area the majority of my life and I still find new things to get into all the time. With that said, the places he mentioned mostly revolve around the broadway area or at least close to it. There are several other parts of town that are just as cool and fun, if not more so. West End, 12 South, the Gulch, East Nashville, Mid Town, etc (the list goes on and on). All of them are great in their own way and offer a unique experience, branch out and check them out if you can. Also, he is not lying about the food here. There are TONS of great places to eat at!
+Whit Thompson YES, get out of the downtown and everything will be OK, for example, south about 8 miles is cool and great place. Remember you should have a CAR.
If you like country music. Next time you are in Las Vegas on Fri and Sat go to the Skyline casino in Henderson. Elton Hunt performs country classics like George Jones, Merle Haggard and he is very good
Being from Nashville I don’t get the hot chicken craze, everyone claims Nashville is known for it , but I had honestly never even heard of it until more tourists came down within the last 5 years and kind of made hot chicken a thing, because 5 years ago it really wasn’t.
i've lived in nashville all my life, yes there are some negatives. for example, there are many homeless people asking for money, and there are some bad areas in town that aren't the safest. the weather is also very unpredictable. one day it can be hot and sunny, and the next day it can be snowing, that has actually happened before awhile back. but, there are so many fun places to go. the nature and national parks here are beautiful, and there are safe areas in nashville too. if you are worried about the safety, go during the day, it's much safer. but overall, nashville is such a beautiful and fun city to visit!
Oh and u have to visit the Ryman Auditorium...hands down one of the top venues to see a concert in the world...yes..the world!! Don’t leave without seeing a show. The acoustics and the atmosphere is amazing!!
Just saw Mark in Nashville !!! Can’t wait for your new content !! We watch you before every trip, so helpful! You are just as kind and fun in person!! So nice to meet you, Thank you
I live in a small town near Nashville so I go there a lot. They often have dirt cheap shows of smaller artists at tiny venues. A lot of bigger bands come here as well. The traffic and tons of walking is a bit much sometimes but its worth it.
I lived in Nashville and now live just outside the city limits. I love other things in Nashville as well...Cheekwood Museum, the care at Vanderbilt Medical Center, the loveliness of Belmont University, and the Pancake Pantry, one block from Vanderbilt. You video was right on!
Agreed about Nashville being southern cosmopolitan. All kinds of music. All kinds of people. Now, everyone I’ve ever met has been polite and friendly to me. But, I’m native.
48 year veteran of Nashville. Its a great place to live, awesome place to visit. Food is spectacular. Must see: Concert at the Ascend Amphitheater and site see at the Gaylord Opryland resort.
Can anyone explain why all the tourist attractions close around 4/5pm? Actually, not just in Nashville, but in every state south of Indiana pretty much everything shuts down early. Being from the midwest it baffles me not to have restaurants/stores open till at least 9:00pm
Hipsters overan Nashville in late 2000's, created a real estate bubble and destroyed what was good about Nashville; distinct affordable neighborhoods and friendly neighbors. Now its just an over developed investment market with an insufficient infrastructure full of unfriendly people from everywhere else. Music's still the best in the USA though. ;-)
I love everything about Nashville. Each time I visit, I do drink a little too much as I never drink otherwise. Puckett's is amazing, the beer cellar is a laid back type pup with the cheapest beer I'm downtown. Also, I love getting a private room at Nashville downtown hostel. It's a great way to meet people from all over the world with it's lobby area.
I lived in nashville for almost 5 years now, have a love/hate relationship with it. Friendliest people ever (however some people hate tourists), great music scene (seems like country is actually only 40% of the music scene here), many good sports events (people here love hockey more than Canadians... well almost), great local beer, absolutely stunning scenery and nature, very prestigious colleges and universities, one of the best hospitals in the country (Vanderbilt), this is the only state in the union where you can get free 2 years college, but the weather is absolute garbage and tends to change drastically day by day (you will never get used to the weather here), high humidity and very hot (you WILL chafe, bring lots of Gold Bond), the roads are underdeveloped and driving is a nightmare sometimes because Nashville was never meant to be a big city but recently people have been moving here like crazy because it is a very business friendly state (im guilty), there's no income tax here, marijuana is unfortunately illegal here (it was briefly decriminalized in the city of Nashville but the state overturned it), lots of beggars and panhandlers, gentrification, ghettos (stay away from North Nashville and Antioch), and liberal hipster enclaves (West End Ave, Green Hills and parts of East Nashville)
I wish to thank you for letting me understand that Nashville is not exactly fo me. The lack of pubic transport added to the multiple museums made myself change my mind. Food and beverage won't never attract me to visit a certain location. I can just eat, drink and gamble if I wish where I am in Florida. The main topic is the lack of pubic transport. I do not drive and I always rely on public transportation for me to visit the city attractions and do day trips with inter city buses. I saw thousand of museums around the world and cannot catch any longer the interior but appreciate the structure. Thanks again!
I went to Vanderbilt, but hadn’t been back to Nashville in over 20 years. The city has changed more than I had ever thought possible. Centennial Park & the VU campus should be on the to-do list.
I moved to Nashville in 1986. It has changed tremendously since then. Broadway was dirty and ugly and if you wanted to go to a concert you could go to the Grand Ole Opry, or... that was it. To see an actual concert you had to go to MTSU in Murfreesboro, or if it was summer you could go to Starwood in Antioch for an outside show. There was no place in Nashville for a concert.
Thanks for sharing your insight on Nashville. I am was born in D.C and lived in Maryland my whole life, but the liberals have destroyed Maryland. There's hordes of MS-13 all around Maryland. I'm moving as soon as possible and Nashville is one of the cities I'm considering. What's the political climate like in Nashville?
I live in Nashville. I have all my life. It is a great city to live and work in and around. These are my pros and cons: Pros: Great sports Great food Many attractions Small Town feel Nice people Cons: Traffic No public transport Hipsters These weird scooter things (people do not know how to ride them) Too many transplants taking away the charm
I have lived in Nashville my whole life (literally)...tourists need to know it is not safe for the most part! Especially streets off broadway and at night, east and west Nashville.
And about the traffic, if there is a lot of it, in Nashville, there are plenty of alternate routes. I was born & raised here, & I know 3,4, different ways to get to a place. If there is a lot of traffic, you can turn here- turn there, & still get to where u need to get. I’ve heard in a lot of cities, there is only one way to get to a place, not in Nashville.🤫
I have the same gripe. You have to drive 3-4 hours to Dollywood, Holiday World, or Six Flags in Atlanta to get to a theme park. Beach Bend in bowling green doesn't count. Too small!
Don't forget the Songwriters Hall of Fame located at the Nashville Auditorium. Also, for those that don't know but now, the Grand Ole Opry Museum was lost during the flood of May 2010. I used to work there. It was a great free admission museum to visit. It will be sorely missed. R.I.P.
I love it there. I just did a video of a trip I took two weeks ago there. the only thing I really don't like is some of the homeless people don't know when to leave you alone. last year a guy asked me for some cash I never carry cash with me down town and I told him that and he followed us around to every store and would not go away not worried about him harming us because I stay strapped up. This year we ran into him agin. small world. And he was walking up to people handing them flowers he had picked then demanding that you pay him for it I seen him doing it and told my fiance to not even take it from him when we got closer to him and he remembered us and started to follow us agin but we was going to eat at Jack's bbq so he did not follow us in side he was saying things like your going to give me money. but some of the guys that are homeless are really kind just looking for some food. while some are looking for cash for a buzz.
SPEAKING OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION! A few weeks ago I decided to take a bus and we got stuck on the bus for over an hour because it broke down and a new bus had to get us. The plus side to the Nashville transportation is if you're under 18 its only a dollar to ride it!
I moved here about eight years back... some observations; Nashville is NOT a big city; it has less than 750 thousand residents, which is also very likely why it doesn't have a sophisticated mass transit system. While the traffic can get heavy, it is NOTHING like what you see in truly big cities such as NY, DC, or Atlanta. I moved from just outside NY, and believe me, I can see the difference! I agree with everything else in the video- all I'd add is that you shouldn't expect the same quality of food that you'd get in cities like NY or Boston. There just aren't many quality restaurants around. There are a very few high-end places that are reliable, but after that the quality drops precipitously.
Nashville is a small metropolitan area and home to the best sports medicine in the country. Your only minutes away from historical Civil War Site and Historic Franklin. Many of the music stars and pro athletes live in and the Franklin Area! Just come have a good Time I have yet to meet a tourist who complained and anything except to wish they could stay longer!*****
A small metro area???? Were larger in population than Boston... you people live in some alter universe. Number 13th largest in the country. smh thats NOT a small metro area. Geez...
i've been in Nashville with my wife during our Honeymoon trip...the reason we visited nashville beacause nashville airport is the nearest for National Corvette museum in Bowling green, Kentucky..yup i like corvettes.... Nashville is not a tourist city as i saw it but there is some nice places like the district and everyone MUST try mike's ice cream there ..and Cheekwood botanical gardens is very nice place to visit.
Lots of professional sports (football, hockey, soccer, grand prix racing, nascar, baseball), college basketball, and a new domed stadium is on the horizon.
Unfortunately where there are bars... especially "Lower Broad" there are "Drunks" :) Uber is an excellent way to get around downtown or get a ride on the "Joyride" golf carts! It is a fabulous city with a lot to see! It's not all country music as it has a diverse community of music genres... Proud to be a Nashvillian, Born and Raised! Thank you Mark for the Video!
The best tip I can give about nashville, if you're coming to explore the city, is to please, for the love of god, stay off of broadway. It's a complete tourist trap, and your time would be much better spent in a place like 5 points, or west end, which are actually very interesting vibrant places. The belmont/music row area is also pretty good, and you can see alot of music history. This being said, if you're coming for a bachelorette party, or just to come get drunk, please by all means stay on broadway.
Went to Nashville Monday to Thursday. Broadway didn't see too many drunks and some homeless people and they didn't brother us. Mass trainset was Ok we did take it to see museums outside of downtown. Stayed downtown so didn't have a car. Like the love. Would like to return on day soon.
The traffic problem is because Nashville is growing very very fast and the highways have not been updated for all the new people. Lived in Nashville all my life and even though I love my home city, I' don't know why it's booming right now. But being that it is in the south there's more to it than the bars, if you like history there's a lot of civil war history as well. Old plantation homes and civil war cites in and on the outskirts of Nashville. The home and property of Presidents Andrew Jackson and James Polk. The state museum is awesome with a lot of artifacts. The lakes are really nice and yes we have tons of more restaurants in redeveloped areas. Many of the older homes surrounding Nashville have been torn down (sad) to make room for new restaurants and clubs, so many of the lower class people who lived in Nashville were pushed out or forced to leave the inner city for the suburbs or where ever, I'm not sure where some of them went but the cost of living in the inner Nashville area is skyrocketing above what some of these people could afford. And then there are the country music home tours on land or on Old Hickory Lake. Anyway welcome to new Nashville, some good things and some bad things because it's not easy watching some historic building being torn down for condos.
+Lisa S (IsItJustMeme) Ah too cool!! Its my birth city but I am myself quite an "Anglophile" myself :) Hope that you'll enjoy it! I _LOVE_ England a ton
Hates 1- parking downtown is limited and expensive. 2- Constant road work has a tendency to clog up traffic, but is a necessary evil. 3- The fact you have to pay $30 to park at opryland hotel. Tons of restaurants and shops and beautiful scenery, but who wants to pay that much? 4- South East Nashville, it's mostly run down and ghetto 5- Traffic moves slow at times, and stop lights get very backed up. Loves 1- Green Hills/Belle Meade area. Beautiful architecture all over and some nice shops. Belle Meade Plantation and Harding house restaurant is a must do activity. 2- Country Music Hall of Fame, and downtown Nashville in general. So much to do, just that whole parking snag kinda ruins it though. 3- Some really nice music stores like Gruhn Guitars 4- The Rivergate/Madison area. True, it gets a bad rep, but there is a nice selection of stores and restaurants. 5- Opry Mills Mall
The comment about i24 being just 2 lanes in each direction is true northwest of the city... but that isn't indicative of the highways in Nashville. Just a few miles to the east, for example, interstate 65 is 5-7 lanes in each direction depending on where you are at. Also, interstate 24 and 65 are both minimum 4 lanes in each direction for nearly 25 miles in each direction.
Traffic at drive time is worse than NYC, LA, and as bad as Chicago. There are fewer lanes of traffic and fewer freeways, so fewer cars are funneled onto a minimum number of highways, and the few available highways need double the lanes; the cars per lane-miles are equal proportion to LA. To go 10 miles from 4th and Church to my former Davidson County house between 4PM & 6PM now takes 90 minutes when there isn't a pandemic. We moved to rural Williamson County, almost to Maury County, and we come into town no closer into town than Bellevue, Green Hills, and Belle Meade. The last time our family ventured inside Briley Parkway/White Bridge/Woodmont was to go to the Symphony in the Spring of 2019. And FWIW, music is not even in the top 10 in Nashville job numbers. Government is by far number one since there is local, state, and federal downtown. Vanderbilt University Medical Center employs the most in the private sector. Healthcare, insurance, education, telecommunications, and grocery make up the bulk of the rest. Country music is a small and shrinking part of the city, and Music Row is fast moving over the Berry Hill. As for food, forget hot chicken. Roasted fresh-killed free-range chicken from our farm makes hot chicken taste like the paper bag those places serve their fried goo. As for radio stations, I don't know a soul out here in WillCo that listens to anything other than talk radio these days. If they aren't listening to WLAC or WWTN, then they are listening online to Dana Loesch, Mark Levin, Mark Shapiro, and Michael Savage. Additionally, most of the people in our area have cut the cord and watch Newsmax, OAN, The Blaze, and The First on free Pluto TV.
a couple of comments: kudos for mentioning the vast natural resources here! there are so many beautiful state parks all around. and the cumberland plateau is a sight to behold. also: the mention of the variety of cultures and their foods could have expounded upon a bit more (all hail hot chicken!!!). case in point - nashville has the largest kurdish population outside of what would be kurdistan. lot's of korean, guatemalan, viet, mid-east, ethiopian, ... restaurants too.
another thing what I don't like about Nashville is it's located on the Eastern edge of the Central Time Zone and therefore it gets dark early (a little after 8pm on the longest day of the year), I prefer it being light out until at least 8:45pm, I also don't like that there aren't enough six lane thoroughfares in Nashville like there is in Memphis which therefore tends to be more traffic in Nashville than Memphis.
We don't have really old buildings in the USA like Europe, but there is a lot of interesting buildings around town. I missed hash browns, the Home Fries are bad (my opinion). Because so many people come to Nashville for a music career, you are just as likely to meet people from New York or Chicago. I say Nashville is a town in the south with a lot of northerners. Lynchburg Tenn is an hour and half south, it's where they make Jack Daniels Whisky. Go there, you'll see the south and a great tour of the distillery.
Lived in Nashville for over 10 years and plan to move back in a few years.Top 5 dislikes:The traffic, the stereotype people give us, Dickerson road, green hills prices, line at the pancake pantry.Top 5 likes:Centennial and Dragon Park, cheek wood botanical gardens, cafe coco, local events like the Sakura blossom festival and cultural festival, and prices( for a major metro city it is possible to live on your own with low wages.) I have way more likes than dislikes but only 5 right.
See the area downtown called the Gulch very trendy but good food . Good BBQ is Peg leg Porker, Not bad hot chicken at fowl on the run. Just a lot to do down town
There's a lot of vegan restaurant options in Nashville as well. Try Sunflower Cafe ("barbecue" sandwich is awesome), Wild Cow, Avo (raw vegan), or Sunflower Bakehouse.
As someone who has lived and /or worked in and has a large family presence in Nashville,I have 1 request. PLEASE STOP TRYING TO MAKE NASHVILLE LIKE WHATEVER PLACE YOU CAME FROM. No we don't need or want rail service ,round abouts,or any of the other things the other metropolitan cities have. West Nashville used to be a working class affordable neighborhood. Now they are making it look like Chicago or New Jersey with 2 skinny houses on a lot that used to house 1 nice family home and yard and selling them for $300,000 or more.Other sides of town are getting just as bad. People moved here because we had a good way of life and we were fine with it until people started getting homesick for where they left and started to try making Nashville more like those places. My family has been around here for at least 85 years so I am no newcomer.
I've lived in this city my entire life, and if there's one thing I absolutely hate about it, it's that so many of its poorer/working-class neighborhoods have become heavily gentrified so quickly. People will say that it's good for the economy overall and that it's "cleaned up" the town, but it also runs people out of their homes and makes it impossible for those people to live there anymore. Thankfully I live in a part of town which hasn't reached that level yet (matter of fact, the property values are dropping, so hopefully the hipsters stay away). Downtown's kinda fun, I guess. I like walking around there, especially around The Arcade area. It's an interesting city, but it has its shortcomings.
You didn’t mention weather... can you elaborate? And didn’t Nashville flood? I heard the Grand Ole Opry and other historic places flooded in the last 5 years or so?
I have been to Nashville twice...... once about 20 yrs ago and again about 15 yrs ago or so.....not ever once did I feel unsafe in Nashville...day or night,,,as a matter of fact I felt welcomed...very friendly city I thought...
I live in Ashland City which is about 10 miles outside Nashville and if you like home cooking the two best meat and three is Wendell Smith’s and dairy king and for ribs jacks bbq
Better than Nashville ,I loved Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Smaller more up in the mountains, still has a plenty of tourist their and of course Lookout Mountain,I highly suggest going to those places. This Texan didn't wanna leave Gatlinburg lol.
+BorderCity Bandit Ha ha yeah Nashville is my birth city and I am damn proud of it, but indeed: Its in middle Tennessee. East Tennessee, more closer to the Carolinas, is what truly has the glorious sites & an even friendlier population even though I am proud to be from Nashville myself as well too. Some WONDERFUL bbq joints there as well as trails to walk as well, too. Plus less traffic & urban congestion.
Nashville really does need public transit. Some of the most wonderful places are 10 miles from Lower Broadway, like Cheekwood, shopping at Green Hills and Cool Springs, and experiencing the best biscuits in the world at the Loveless. The new mayor is all about intelligent Mass transit, so keep your fingers crossed!
Wow, Woltersworld right in my backyard. And you nailed it too. I will say, the Hipsters make some good food. And yes, I-24 from Chattanooga to Nashville is horrible. I need to check out some of the museums, because, well, I've never really been a Nashville Tourist.
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Nashville is a fascinating city, with so much to see and do. Even though it's undeniably a big city, it has all the requisite Southern charm that one expects. My best Nashville experience was encountering a man near the Ryman Auditorium, sitting in his van playing a banjo; he told me he was from Minnesota, and manufactures banjos.
I've lived in Nashville for over 23 years and here are my 5 Hates/Loves
5 Hates
1. Road Construction - The city is growing so fast that it's just a necessary evil.
2. No real rail system - although there is a small train that runs from downtown, there just isn't enough to handle the growth
3. Traffic - even outside the construction zones, it seems a clog of vehicles of all sizes (especially semis) have choked the roadways
4. Segmented City - Instead of thinking we are one big city, too many people that live in the surrounding communities don't want to associate with the city
5. Over-commercialization in food - It is really hard to find those local restaurants that are diamonds in the rough. There are just too many chains.
5 Loves
1. Sports Diversity - from the Titans to the Predators to the Sounds (AAA baseball) to college sports, there is something for every sports lover
2. Music - duh... it's everywhere
3. Ethnic Diversity - so many cultures and religions have chosen to come here. It really adds spice to the melting pot that is Nashville
4. Plenty of things to do - whether you love to shop, bike, golf, party, spend time outdoors, listen to music, etc, you will never run out of things to do
5. Friendly - This city is so friendly that it can put off some people that aren't used to it, and if you meet someone that isn't friendly, they're from out of state.
+Rocker Guy That's a loaded question. Depending on your requirements, depends on what part of town you want to live and to avoid. If you have family, you should probably live in Donelson (apartments start from $500/month), Hermitage (apartments start from $500/month), or Madison (apartments start from $475). If you are single or don't have kids, you could live in East Nashville ($550/month), Madison, or Antioch ($525/month). You can get in cheaper areas outside of Davidson County (Metro Nashville). If price is an issue, I would recommend Mt. Juliet ($475/month), Pegram ($500/month), and Murfreesboro ($400/month).
I would recommend visiting one of these websites for renting:
www.rent.com/
www.realtor.com/apartments/Nashville_TN
www.rentalhouses.com/search/Nashville-TN
+Rocker Guy Rentals are at 97% occupancy. I am surprised by the rental rates referred to here as there is East Nashville which is very hip and expensive and there is East Nashville which is ghetto. Old Hickory Village is close to downtown and is on a lake. Nashville is not cheap these days. I have lived in the area since 1981 in Nashville and in the country. Best bang for the buck, the old Ford glass plant neighborhood. Nashville is mapped as a hub and spoke rather than a grid. My list is very similar to Michael's. I would add huge lovely and large parks for walking, running and hiking and a vibrant and increasing visual arts community.
BTW: Those prices were just from a cursory search, and could be a dump. If you are single and can afford it, I would recommend living inside Davidson County.
+Michael Hopkins Totally agree about the building work - spoiling the city in my opinion (the skyline and view across the city) - and yes, the traffic is terrible now. I've never seen it so bad.
Great List ! Yes our Traffic is a Nightmare !
It's called music city but you've only got 3 or 4 decent radio stations to listen to and its the same ole stuff over and over again.
I THINK THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT MORE THAN SOME RADIO STATIONS
Thats all radio stations which is why satellite radio is better.
Who listens to FM radio stations anymore?
@@nashscan I do
Wait... People still listen to radio?
I'm a native these are pretty much true especially #5 hate it's getting to the point that everyone who's here now is from somewhere else. You will not find locals downtown we can't afford it. It is becoming like every other American city. We are losing our culture. It's fading away but, that's what you get with growth. Unfortunately this happens every where all one needs to do is look at popular cities like Atlanta, Saint Louis, or Denver this is bound to happen . The best possible outcome is just to guide the growth without killing it or letting go unchecked. Remember everybody has a Hard Rock Cafe but only Nashville has a Bluebird Cafe or a Loveless. Peace.
Mike 1958 loveless is my favorite places to go when I visit my aunt in Nashville
From TN as well, but I hate country music. I think it's absolute shit. Old country is great. The Highwaymen and DAC is great, but I actually enjoy hearing non country artist in Nashville way more than country artist.
Where do the locals hang out? and what is Lovless peace? I onky been to Nashville once and it was for a concert thats it.. but i loved the vibe, im from Alabama so it felt like home to me.
Someone is being whiny about other cultures other than his own coming into the city. Grow up Nashville is still has its culture you just want to ignore to hop on other people
Nashville Native here. Great video review. One thing I disagree with is the comments on drunks. Yes, there's a definite party atmosphere here. Yes people drink in access at times, but in all of my years here, especially being downtown a lot for hockey games, I have never once had anyone disrupt my experience due to drunkenness. I understand you may have or just wanted to warn people. Here's my info for visitors. LOVE:
1) The people. Diversity & acceptance of all people thrives here. Our city is one of the most diverse & has some of the lowest numbers of hate crimes/issues involving prejudice in the US.
2) We're SO much more than country music. The arts & parks here are well worth the travel & more pop/rock/alt bands are coming out from here.
3) We don't have a great mass transit system. However, we have an incredible, beautiful & safe greenway system linking the Opryland Hotel/Opry Mills area to Hermitage/Donelson at Percy Priest Lake all the way to downtown. I've walked from Opry Mills & 2 Rivers Greenway to Downtown & it's always a great experience.
4) We have 2 professional sports teams. Currently our Nashville Predators NHL team have just won the Western Conference Championship for the 1st time & about to play for the Stanley Cup. If you ever get a chance to come to a game, you'll see why ESPN, NBCSports & the NHL call us the best fans in hockey. It's MORE than a hockey game bcz the crowd is amazing! We also have the NFL Tennessee Titans. (I'm keeping it positive so no comment on them 😂)
5) Our parks! The only to scale replica of the Parthenon is in Centennial Park. It is breath taking & rich with arts & history. A great tip is to read up on how the park came to be before going. We have the Warner Parks, Centennial park & my a favorite is the "dragon playground" aka Fannie Mae Dees Park, which is close to Vanderbilt. There is a giant mosaic tile dragon appears to come out of & dive into the ground in several places. Nashville is also less than 1-2 hours from a lot of amazing State Parks like Fall Creek Falls, Cummins Falls, Burgess Falls, Cedars Of Lebanon & many more. There are 2 lakes in the city. Old Hickory & Percy Priest.
Hates:
1) Traffic! OMG we were ranked as the one of the most traffic congested cities in the US a few years ago! My tip is to get off of the Interstate ASAP! Try to look at the map or find an app to take you around town on actual streets. Murfreesboro Rd/Lafayette St are great. You can also go out of downtown on 1st/Hermitage Ave, which becomes Lebanon Pike & it is a great way to avoid the massive traffic problems. This will get you to Opryland Hotel or wherever you're staying easily.
2) Not having a proper train system, though we do have the Music City Star for commuters. You can look it up to see if it runs for tourists. Think it goes from Lebanon to Nashville.
3) Constant construction!
4) Not enough healthy restaurant choices, but it's slowly improving. A little know, but fantastic place to eat (inexpensive too) is Calypso Cafe. They have a few locations, but the one by 100 Oaks puts you close to many places to shop, a Walmart & a theater. They have the best food I've ever eaten!
5) We do have a large homeless population, but I have never had a bad experience with any of them. You won't experience much gang activity downtown, BUT our city does have a gang problem, so always be aware of your surroundings & if you get lost, drive until you find an established business to ask for directions. Don't pull up to someone on the street to ask them. Sadly, some of a family were murdered because they were lost & pulled up to a preteen standing on the sidewalk to ask directions. He robbed them & killed either 1-2 people in the family. The gangs usually stay in their area & it's definitely not something, which should keep you from coming here. Welcome to Nashville! Thanks for the video
WOW LAUREN! I NEED TO READ ALL THIS GREAT INFO! BUT, ONE THING OUR GREAT CITY OF BOSTON HAS ON YOU IS OUR TRAFFIC!!! IT SUCKS NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF DAY IT IS!!!!
Lauren TheGingerMe what’s wrong with constant construction?
Finally a native who doesn’t complain about migration and hipsters 😂
LAUREN......NOBODY READ ALL THAT
Andre Suston I did.
The songwriting community in Nashville is something really special. Once you're inside it, it's like you're family.
I was born in New York City and been in Nashville for 5 years, and it's like any MAJOR city in this country, big or small, I LOVE BOTH CITIES. Amen.
Is it pretty liberal? I’m afraid the south would not be.
"Liberal's" are Communist's and destroy every City and State they invade! They're like Roaches!
New York is great and I also really like Little Rock and rural Arkansas. It’s like polar opposites in a fun way.
But....outta all the dislikes he mentioned the "65 yr old guys hittin on him on Broadway" worrys me the most!🤣🤣🤣🤣
Why maybe you’ll find a sugar daddy 🤑
Nashville is my home, always will be no matter where I end up. The best sights to see are no where near Broadway, though. I would suggest hitting up a real local show if you ever came here. Also, the chicken is better the further away from downtown you get.
You might be one of the Best sights to see!! Will you show me around when I get there??
Haha, lol Im coming there next week. Looking forward to it.
Lizsagna thanks for the heads up ☝
I've lived in Nashville my entire life. Best places to visit:
1. Broadway
2. Parthenon
3. Country Music Hall of Fame
4. George Jones museum
5. The Bicentennial Mall is really cool if you like History
6. Antique Archaeology
The worst part of Nashville in my opinion is all of the new developments in the Gulch area. They don't reflect Nashville at all and to build it they're tearing down some really cool historical buildings. The East Nashville area is pretty cool too, but I wouldn't personally say that it's one of my favorites. Really the coolest thing about living in Nashville is just the amount of artists and talent that has been a part of it's history. For example, I live 5 minutes away from a place where Hank Snow used to live and a place where Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis's manager) lived. The Nashville area also has a lot of really cool Civil War Battle Cites and attractions. Nashville is absolutely worth a visit especially if you're into Civil War history, Country Music, Good food, good times, or good weather.
I was born in Nashville in early 1979 and lived there until 2007. I left just before the huge population explosion for Socal when a very upscale salon offered me a chance to become a star in the business. I've done hair for numerous male and female celebs and worked NYFW. I visited Nashville again late last year for a wedding, and in 10 years, the city had changed so much, it was hardly recognizable from when I lived there. What once was farmland near our former house had now become many new subdivisions with houses as far as I could see.
I had heard about how bad the traffic was there, and it is true. They have less lanes than LA, so the traffic is about as bad during certain hours. Trying to get from Bellevue to the airport to come home, we left to return our rental car at a time that we thought we would have about 2 hours to spare before the flight, but it took 90 minutes to get to the rental car return.
Nashville better address its transportation issues before it is too late. I see that there is a resolution on the ballot back there this year, but this looks like a rotten attempt. You guys need real rail that goes all the way to Dickson, Columbia, Murfreesboro, and Gallatin. Light rail that doesn't even get past uptown is totally useless, because most of the commuters will then have to drive all but the final 1-2 miles of their commute. For instance, from where I once lived off Old Harding in Bellevue, and I wanted to come downtown for an event, I would have to drive to within 2 miles of lower broad to catch light rail over on Charlotte and then still have to walk or take a bus.
Buses don't hack it on cities like LA and Nashville. Besides using the same roads as cars and being bogged in the same congestion, all the frequent stops make the commute much too long. On rails, there are no stop signs, no signal lights, and no congestion. A train can get from Bellevue to Union Station in 10-15 minutes, and still less than 30 with two stops along the way.
If you visit Nashville and would like a good place for an hour or so hike, go to Radnor Lake. A hike around the lake is so nice. It's actually in the middle of a highly-populated residential area, but you'll feel like you're out in the wilderness. Sometimes you see deer, wild turkeys, turtles, etc.
i live in Murfreesboro, TN, and i go to Nashville often to visit and go bike riding. it is a great place full of energy and friendly people. Thanks for "breaking it down" for those who have never been to Nashville before
nashvillian- 1. its safe, you are not getting pickpocketed, but of course lock your car door. 2. this isnt a family friendly place..people come here to drink. 3. actually there ate tons of local reataurants, im not sure what some of the other people on here are talking about. princes chicken is the original nashville hot chicken place, but i prefer party fowel. 4) seriously traffic is bad. 5) we don't wear cowboy boots..that more of a texas thing. 6) in the summer our ball park is very nice!
Yesss to Nashville being MUSIC city in general. The classical scene is great, I’d definitely recommend the Nashville symphony, or even performances at Vanderbilt or Belmont.
If you want to do outdoors, I’d suggest going to east TN. Get a cabin in Wears Valley or Townsend. You’re outside of the hub bub of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. But you can get to those places and all the gorgeous hiking of the Great Smokies in just a few minutes.
For hiking, I’d suggest Abrams Falls (go early to beat the traffic in Cades Cove), Grotto Falls, and Laurel Falls.
Word of warning: none of the trails in the national Forest are pet friendly. None.
Grew up in Nashville but moved away 10 years ago, I left bc I felt like much wasn’t going on, but now everyone is moving to Nashville and I don’t even recognize it much anymore. But I like to go to Opryland hotel for Christmas, it’s my favorite!
Nashville is the best. The pedestrian bridge is my all time favorite place.
Boy stfu u damn well Nashville not the best place stop all that lying country ass city🤮🤮😕
I appreciate the time and effort you put into the information you are providing the world! Thanks!
You forgot to mention the rain
Out of eight days it rained 6 & 1/2.
After, there's no denying, the scenery is beautiful.
To love is driving on the freeways.
Where's the people.
Being from California, I was in heaven.
White Creek is so nice.
Barbara Mandrel's tour of her log cabin we loved.
One thing I love about Nashville(and I am a native) is the roads. Not many potholes and many truck drivers will tell u, Nashville is the smoothest rise. However, b/c of the growth, you will see tons of construction within downtown and along the outskirts. And yes, the transit system is pretty “thin” but the citizens of Nashville are currently voting/deciding whether or not to move forward with a huge transit expansion...also, u can’t go wrong with the people in Nashville..I may be a little biased, however I’ve been told by many tourist/visitors that Nashville citizens are the nicest they have come across! Enjoy your stay in Nashville!! Thanks for listening!
Speaking as a local, you should mention the high amount of deer that jump out into the roads (even within city limits). It's a real problem. People dent up their cars all the time here from encounters with deer.
With deer comes ticks and Lyme disease.
Our only real problem is we are growing faster than our roads can handle. Even though our population is still nowhere near other major U.S. Cities, we have so many choke points that getting around can be a pain. It's hot af in the summer too, so if you're coming down from the north just be ready for that. I've been to downtown Memphis and Chattanooga. It's felt way sketchier in both of those places the times I've visited, but they're still awesome places to see too. Also, you need to make sure you get out and see our Appalachians if you've got the time. Just 4hrs east of Nashville
But yeah, the music. If I was a richer man I'd be at a venue watching a band I enjoy every week of the concert season.
Just came back from a few days in Nashville. It's a great city, but I can see things you might not like about it. Great video!
@ 6:49 that is NOT the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. That is actually the the Music City Center - a convention center. The CMHOF&M is across street. It's funny because the person filming is like right in front of two feet tall letters that say Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. LOL still a cool assessment of the city.
Public transport isn't too bad. When we come here we use the busses a lot. It's wheel and spoke and there are gaps, but for the us it's not too bad. I'm European.
A great city with great people and food !!
I've lived in the Nashville area the majority of my life and I still find new things to get into all the time. With that said, the places he mentioned mostly revolve around the broadway area or at least close to it. There are several other parts of town that are just as cool and fun, if not more so. West End, 12 South, the Gulch, East Nashville, Mid Town, etc (the list goes on and on). All of them are great in their own way and offer a unique experience, branch out and check them out if you can.
Also, he is not lying about the food here. There are TONS of great places to eat at!
+Whit Thompson YES, get out of the downtown and everything will be OK, for example, south about 8 miles is cool and great place. Remember you should have a CAR.
Are they still trying to build that 2nd Downtown called "Maytown??" I remember that from when I lived there.
There is a lot of construction going on in the city, but I have not heard anything about a Maytown.
Stalled Maytown. Expensive bridge the city would have to build to it in West Nashville river bend.
If you like country music. Next time you are in Las Vegas on Fri and Sat go to the Skyline casino in Henderson. Elton Hunt performs country classics like George Jones, Merle Haggard and he is very good
Being from Nashville I don’t get the hot chicken craze, everyone claims Nashville is known for it , but I had honestly never even heard of it until more tourists came down within the last 5 years and kind of made hot chicken a thing, because 5 years ago it really wasn’t.
i've lived in nashville all my life, yes there are some negatives. for example, there are many homeless people asking for money, and there are some bad areas in town that aren't the safest. the weather is also very unpredictable. one day it can be hot and sunny, and the next day it can be snowing, that has actually happened before awhile back. but, there are so many fun places to go. the nature and national parks here are beautiful, and there are safe areas in nashville too. if you are worried about the safety, go during the day, it's much safer. but overall, nashville is such a beautiful and fun city to visit!
Oh and u have to visit the Ryman Auditorium...hands down one of the top venues to see a concert in the world...yes..the world!! Don’t leave without seeing a show. The acoustics and the atmosphere is amazing!!
Carnegie Hall is famous too
Just saw Mark in Nashville !!! Can’t wait for your new content !! We watch you before every trip, so helpful! You are just as kind and fun in person!! So nice to meet you, Thank you
In both of my homes as I grew up, I've lived about 45 minutes outside of downtown Nashville, and everything he's saying is completely true.
I live right in Nashville and almost none of this is true
I live in a small town near Nashville so I go there a lot. They often have dirt cheap shows of smaller artists at tiny venues. A lot of bigger bands come here as well. The traffic and tons of walking is a bit much sometimes but its worth it.
I lived in Nashville and now live just outside the city limits. I love other things in Nashville as well...Cheekwood Museum, the care at Vanderbilt Medical Center, the loveliness of Belmont University, and the Pancake Pantry, one block from Vanderbilt. You video was right on!
+Carol Ming ...mmmm pancakes
Agreed about Nashville being southern cosmopolitan. All kinds of music. All kinds of people.
Now, everyone I’ve ever met has been polite and friendly to me. But, I’m native.
48 year veteran of Nashville. Its a great place to live, awesome place to visit. Food is spectacular. Must see: Concert at the Ascend Amphitheater and site see at the Gaylord Opryland resort.
Can anyone explain why all the tourist attractions close around 4/5pm? Actually, not just in Nashville, but in every state south of Indiana pretty much everything shuts down early. Being from the midwest it baffles me not to have restaurants/stores open till at least 9:00pm
I lived in Nash Vegas as we call it from 2002 - 20016 he be spot on with all the points he makes.
Hipsters overan Nashville in late 2000's, created a real estate bubble and destroyed what was good about Nashville; distinct affordable neighborhoods and friendly neighbors. Now its just an over developed investment market with an insufficient infrastructure full of unfriendly people from everywhere else. Music's still the best in the USA though. ;-)
ha same thing here in Austin.
Our traffic is a nightmare! more than 100 people move here a day and we are growing but we need a rail systems here!
Many of my Cali buddies have moved there. All musicians.
I've been to Nashville and love it! it's a wonderful city. The food is excellent too!
I love everything about Nashville. Each time I visit, I do drink a little too much as I never drink otherwise. Puckett's is amazing, the beer cellar is a laid back type pup with the cheapest beer I'm downtown. Also, I love getting a private room at Nashville downtown hostel. It's a great way to meet people from all over the world with it's lobby area.
I lived in nashville for almost 5 years now, have a love/hate relationship with it. Friendliest people ever (however some people hate tourists), great music scene (seems like country is actually only 40% of the music scene here), many good sports events (people here love hockey more than Canadians... well almost), great local beer, absolutely stunning scenery and nature, very prestigious colleges and universities, one of the best hospitals in the country (Vanderbilt), this is the only state in the union where you can get free 2 years college, but the weather is absolute garbage and tends to change drastically day by day (you will never get used to the weather here), high humidity and very hot (you WILL chafe, bring lots of Gold Bond), the roads are underdeveloped and driving is a nightmare sometimes because Nashville was never meant to be a big city but recently people have been moving here like crazy because it is a very business friendly state (im guilty), there's no income tax here, marijuana is unfortunately illegal here (it was briefly decriminalized in the city of Nashville but the state overturned it), lots of beggars and panhandlers, gentrification, ghettos (stay away from North Nashville and Antioch), and liberal hipster enclaves (West End Ave, Green Hills and parts of East Nashville)
As a life-long Nashville native....your #4 thing is right on brother! Thanks for the post about our little city!
Tour the Ryman and cut your own record. I did just that last weekend. :)
I wish to thank you for letting me understand that Nashville is not exactly fo me. The lack of pubic transport added to the multiple museums made myself change my mind. Food and beverage won't never attract me to visit a certain location. I can just eat, drink and gamble if I wish where I am in Florida. The main topic is the lack of pubic transport. I do not drive and I always rely on public transportation for me to visit the city attractions and do day trips with inter city buses. I saw thousand of museums around the world and cannot catch any longer the interior but appreciate the structure. Thanks again!
Love love love General Jackson Showboat..I must do in Nashville Tn.Evening cruise
I would love to get the chance to ride on it someday.-wishes hard-
I went to Vanderbilt, but hadn’t been back to Nashville in over 20 years. The city has changed more than I had ever thought possible. Centennial Park & the VU campus should be on the to-do list.
I moved to Nashville in 1986. It has changed tremendously since then. Broadway was dirty and ugly and if you wanted to go to a concert you could go to the Grand Ole Opry, or... that was it. To see an actual concert you had to go to MTSU in Murfreesboro, or if it was summer you could go to Starwood in Antioch for an outside show. There was no place in Nashville for a concert.
For the people complaining about traffic here, maybe you should try L.A. or NYC. Traffic here really isn't that bad in comparison to other places.
There’s a high school right on broadway and I’m a student there and the people on broadway make so much noise and cause so much traffic.
Thanks for sharing your insight on Nashville. I am was born in D.C and lived in Maryland my whole life, but the liberals have destroyed Maryland. There's hordes of MS-13 all around Maryland. I'm moving as soon as possible and Nashville is one of the cities I'm considering. What's the political climate like in Nashville?
social / political conservative
Too many dummycrats
I live in Nashville. I have all my life. It is a great city to live and work in and around. These are my pros and cons:
Pros:
Great sports
Great food
Many attractions
Small Town feel
Nice people
Cons:
Traffic
No public transport
Hipsters
These weird scooter things (people do not know how to ride them)
Too many transplants taking away the charm
I have lived in Nashville my whole life (literally)...tourists need to know it is not safe for the most part! Especially streets off broadway and at night, east and west Nashville.
Erin Cross can you elaborate a little more, please. Planning a trip and this is one of my concerns. Which I assume every tourist has.
And about the traffic, if there is a lot of it, in Nashville, there are plenty of alternate routes. I was born & raised here, & I know 3,4, different ways to get to a place. If there is a lot of traffic, you can turn here- turn there, & still get to where u need to get. I’ve heard in a lot of cities, there is only one way to get to a place, not in Nashville.🤫
as a man of this state I must say the traffic is Bad and walking around noon and early night is fun
Opryland (which is no more) sucks, nothing but a mall now. Nashville needs a Class A theme park.
I have the same gripe. You have to drive 3-4 hours to Dollywood, Holiday World, or Six Flags in Atlanta to get to a theme park. Beach Bend in bowling green doesn't count. Too small!
Opryland closed for the same reason there isn’t a current theme park: weather closes it six months of the year.
We have some water parks. some big like nashville shores and some smaller ones here and there.
Don't forget the Songwriters Hall of Fame located at the Nashville Auditorium. Also, for those that don't know but now, the Grand Ole Opry Museum was lost during the flood of May 2010. I used to work there. It was a great free admission museum to visit. It will be sorely missed. R.I.P.
I love it there. I just did a video of a trip I took two weeks ago there. the only thing I really don't like is some of the homeless people don't know when to leave you alone. last year a guy asked me for some cash I never carry cash with me down town and I told him that and he followed us around to every store and would not go away not worried about him harming us because I stay strapped up. This year we ran into him agin. small world. And he was walking up to people handing them flowers he had picked then demanding that you pay him for it I seen him doing it and told my fiance to not even take it from him when we got closer to him and he remembered us and started to follow us agin but we was going to eat at Jack's bbq so he did not follow us in side he was saying things like your going to give me money. but some of the guys that are homeless are really kind just looking for some food. while some are looking for cash for a buzz.
SPEAKING OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION! A few weeks ago I decided to take a bus and we got stuck on the bus for over an hour because it broke down and a new bus had to get us. The plus side to the Nashville transportation is if you're under 18 its only a dollar to ride it!
I moved here about eight years back...
some observations;
Nashville is NOT a big city; it has less than 750 thousand residents, which is also very likely why it doesn't have a sophisticated mass transit system.
While the traffic can get heavy, it is NOTHING like what you see in truly big cities such as NY, DC, or Atlanta. I moved from just outside NY, and believe me, I can see the difference!
I agree with everything else in the video- all I'd add is that you shouldn't expect the same quality of food that you'd get in cities like NY or Boston. There just aren't many quality restaurants around. There are a very few high-end places that are reliable, but after that the quality drops precipitously.
The state museum is a must especially w family they have a treasure hunt activity for the kids to find items throughout the facility
Nashville is a small metropolitan area and home to the best sports medicine in the country. Your only minutes away from historical Civil War Site and Historic Franklin. Many of the music stars and pro athletes live in and the Franklin Area! Just come have a good Time I have yet to meet a tourist who complained and anything except to wish they could stay longer!*****
A small metro area???? Were larger in population than Boston... you people live in some alter universe. Number 13th largest in the country. smh thats NOT a small metro area. Geez...
i've been in Nashville with my wife during our Honeymoon trip...the reason we visited nashville beacause nashville airport is the nearest for National Corvette museum in Bowling green, Kentucky..yup i like corvettes.... Nashville is not a tourist city as i saw it but there is some nice places like the district and everyone MUST try mike's ice cream there ..and Cheekwood botanical gardens is very nice place to visit.
BB King’s restaurant in downtown Nashville is definitely a great place to eat good food and hear amazing blues music.
Lots of professional sports (football, hockey, soccer, grand prix racing, nascar, baseball), college basketball, and a new domed stadium is on the horizon.
Unfortunately where there are bars... especially "Lower Broad" there are "Drunks" :) Uber is an excellent way to get around downtown or get a ride on the "Joyride" golf carts! It is a fabulous city with a lot to see! It's not all country music as it has a diverse community of music genres... Proud to be a Nashvillian, Born and Raised! Thank you Mark for the Video!
The best tip I can give about nashville, if you're coming to explore the city, is to please, for the love of god, stay off of broadway. It's a complete tourist trap, and your time would be much better spent in a place like 5 points, or west end, which are actually very interesting vibrant places. The belmont/music row area is also pretty good, and you can see alot of music history.
This being said, if you're coming for a bachelorette party, or just to come get drunk, please by all means stay on broadway.
There alot of wonderful artists playing on the streets. I've always wanted to do that and so I have. And will do it again. Love It...
Went to Nashville Monday to Thursday. Broadway didn't see too many drunks and some homeless people and they didn't brother us. Mass trainset was Ok we did take it to see museums outside of downtown. Stayed downtown so didn't have a car. Like the love. Would like to return on day soon.
The traffic problem is because Nashville is growing very very fast and the highways have not been updated for all the new people. Lived in Nashville all my life and even though I love my home city, I' don't know why it's booming right now. But being that it is in the south there's more to it than the bars, if you like history there's a lot of civil war history as well. Old plantation homes and civil war cites in and on the outskirts of Nashville. The home and property of Presidents Andrew Jackson and James Polk. The state museum is awesome with a lot of artifacts. The lakes are really nice and yes we have tons of more restaurants in redeveloped areas. Many of the older homes surrounding Nashville have been torn down (sad) to make room for new restaurants and clubs, so many of the lower class people who lived in Nashville were pushed out or forced to leave the inner city for the suburbs or where ever, I'm not sure where some of them went but the cost of living in the inner Nashville area is skyrocketing above what some of these people could afford. And then there are the country music home tours on land or on Old Hickory Lake. Anyway welcome to new Nashville, some good things and some bad things because it's not easy watching some historic building being torn down for condos.
true and turned into an all white area
“The bums don’t bother you but they bother each other” LOL
I'm visiting Nashville in a couple of weeks for the first time and this video is really helpful thanks! Can't wait to visit :)
+Rich Mixon thanks! I'm from the UK & will be visiting Nashville, New Orleans & Memphis, I can't wait! will check out that list, thank you! 😃
+Lisa S (IsItJustMeme) Ah too cool!! Its my birth city but I am myself quite an "Anglophile" myself :) Hope that you'll enjoy it! I _LOVE_ England a ton
Hates
1- parking downtown is limited and expensive.
2- Constant road work has a tendency to clog up traffic, but is a necessary evil.
3- The fact you have to pay $30 to park at opryland hotel. Tons of restaurants and shops and beautiful scenery, but who wants to pay that much?
4- South East Nashville, it's mostly run down and ghetto
5- Traffic moves slow at times, and stop lights get very backed up.
Loves
1- Green Hills/Belle Meade area. Beautiful architecture all over and some nice shops. Belle Meade Plantation and Harding house restaurant is a must do activity.
2- Country Music Hall of Fame, and downtown Nashville in general. So much to do, just that whole parking snag kinda ruins it though.
3- Some really nice music stores like Gruhn Guitars
4- The Rivergate/Madison area. True, it gets a bad rep, but there is a nice selection of stores and restaurants.
5- Opry Mills Mall
You should park at Opry Mills for free and walk over to the hotel.
The comment about i24 being just 2 lanes in each direction is true northwest of the city... but that isn't indicative of the highways in Nashville. Just a few miles to the east, for example, interstate 65 is 5-7 lanes in each direction depending on where you are at. Also, interstate 24 and 65 are both minimum 4 lanes in each direction for nearly 25 miles in each direction.
Nashville kind of reminds me of Austin, but I think Austin has become more commercialized/yuppie, pretentious
East Nashville is yuppieville
Traffic at drive time is worse than NYC, LA, and as bad as Chicago. There are fewer lanes of traffic and fewer freeways, so fewer cars are funneled onto a minimum number of highways, and the few available highways need double the lanes; the cars per lane-miles are equal proportion to LA. To go 10 miles from 4th and Church to my former Davidson County house between 4PM & 6PM now takes 90 minutes when there isn't a pandemic. We moved to rural Williamson County, almost to Maury County, and we come into town no closer into town than Bellevue, Green Hills, and Belle Meade. The last time our family ventured inside Briley Parkway/White Bridge/Woodmont was to go to the Symphony in the Spring of 2019.
And FWIW, music is not even in the top 10 in Nashville job numbers. Government is by far number one since there is local, state, and federal downtown. Vanderbilt University Medical Center employs the most in the private sector. Healthcare, insurance, education, telecommunications, and grocery make up the bulk of the rest. Country music is a small and shrinking part of the city, and Music Row is fast moving over the Berry Hill. As for food, forget hot chicken. Roasted fresh-killed free-range chicken from our farm makes hot chicken taste like the paper bag those places serve their fried goo.
As for radio stations, I don't know a soul out here in WillCo that listens to anything other than talk radio these days. If they aren't listening to WLAC or WWTN, then they are listening online to Dana Loesch, Mark Levin, Mark Shapiro, and Michael Savage. Additionally, most of the people in our area have cut the cord and watch Newsmax, OAN, The Blaze, and The First on free Pluto TV.
Building up the riverfront and the Nashville Star, while adding a light rail from East Nashville to West End would make take it to the next level.
Nashville is one of my favorite cities. To be such a big city it has very friendly people!
a couple of comments: kudos for mentioning the vast natural resources here! there are so many beautiful state parks all around. and the cumberland plateau is a sight to behold. also: the mention of the variety of cultures and their foods could have expounded upon a bit more (all hail hot chicken!!!). case in point - nashville has the largest kurdish population outside of what would be kurdistan. lot's of korean, guatemalan, viet, mid-east, ethiopian, ... restaurants too.
i love how Nashville have saved it's culture and it's a unique and antique city :)
The statue behind you is Alvin c. York he was an amazing sharpshooter. They are still talking about replacing him with Davy Crockett
another thing what I don't like about Nashville is it's located on the Eastern edge of the Central Time Zone and therefore it gets dark early (a little after 8pm on the longest day of the year), I prefer it being light out until at least 8:45pm, I also don't like that there aren't enough six lane thoroughfares in Nashville like there is in Memphis which therefore tends to be more traffic in Nashville than Memphis.
We don't have really old buildings in the USA like Europe, but there is a lot of interesting buildings around town. I missed hash browns, the Home Fries are bad (my opinion). Because so many people come to Nashville for a music career, you are just as likely to meet people from New York or Chicago. I say Nashville is a town in the south with a lot of northerners. Lynchburg Tenn is an hour and half south, it's where they make Jack Daniels Whisky. Go there, you'll see the south and a great tour of the distillery.
Lived in Nashville for over 10 years and plan to move back in a few years.Top 5 dislikes:The traffic, the stereotype people give us, Dickerson road, green hills prices, line at the pancake pantry.Top 5 likes:Centennial and Dragon Park, cheek wood botanical gardens, cafe coco, local events like the Sakura blossom festival and cultural festival, and prices( for a major metro city it is possible to live on your own with low wages.) I have way more likes than dislikes but only 5 right.
See the area downtown called the Gulch very trendy but good food . Good BBQ is Peg leg Porker, Not bad hot chicken at fowl on the run. Just a lot to do down town
There's a lot of vegan restaurant options in Nashville as well. Try Sunflower Cafe ("barbecue" sandwich is awesome), Wild Cow, Avo (raw vegan), or Sunflower Bakehouse.
As someone who has lived and /or worked in and has a large family presence in Nashville,I have 1 request. PLEASE STOP TRYING TO MAKE NASHVILLE LIKE WHATEVER PLACE YOU CAME FROM. No we don't need or want rail service ,round abouts,or any of the other things the other metropolitan cities have. West Nashville used to be a working class affordable neighborhood. Now they are making it look like Chicago or New Jersey with 2 skinny houses on a lot that used to house 1 nice family home and yard and selling them for $300,000 or more.Other sides of town are getting just as bad. People moved here because we had a good way of life and we were fine with it until people started getting homesick for where they left and started to try making Nashville more like those places. My family has been around here for at least 85 years so I am no newcomer.
titans, sounds, and preds games are unbelievably awesome experiences
I've lived in this city my entire life, and if there's one thing I absolutely hate about it, it's that so many of its poorer/working-class neighborhoods have become heavily gentrified so quickly. People will say that it's good for the economy overall and that it's "cleaned up" the town, but it also runs people out of their homes and makes it impossible for those people to live there anymore. Thankfully I live in a part of town which hasn't reached that level yet (matter of fact, the property values are dropping, so hopefully the hipsters stay away).
Downtown's kinda fun, I guess. I like walking around there, especially around The Arcade area. It's an interesting city, but it has its shortcomings.
Gentrification/Decline are pretty natural things to happen to neighborhoods, I wouldn't stress over it too much.
I've lived here my whole life to
*too
That happens when you elect progressives who think a tax hike is the answer to everything. Karl " I Ain't Raisin Taxes" Dean anyone? F'g Liar.
Good lord the Hipsters down on Main Street and Edgefield. My poor city...what have they done??
You didn’t mention weather... can you elaborate? And didn’t Nashville flood? I heard the Grand Ole Opry and other historic places flooded in the last 5 years or so?
I have been to Nashville twice...... once about 20 yrs ago and again about 15 yrs ago or so.....not ever once did I feel unsafe in Nashville...day or night,,,as a matter of fact I felt welcomed...very friendly city I thought...
Nashville is a nice city. I had summer course at Vanderbilt university on 1997. It was fun.
I'm so excited about my Nashville trip! I'm okay with all of those cons haha
I live in Ashland City which is about 10 miles outside Nashville and if you like home cooking the two best meat and three is Wendell Smith’s and dairy king and for ribs jacks bbq
Better than Nashville ,I loved Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Smaller more up in the mountains, still has a plenty of tourist their and of course Lookout Mountain,I highly suggest going to those places. This Texan didn't wanna leave Gatlinburg lol.
Had a lot of fun at those as a kid back in the day. We stop there every couple years now with the kids.
+BorderCity Bandit Ha ha yeah Nashville is my birth city and I am damn proud of it, but indeed: Its in middle Tennessee. East Tennessee, more closer to the Carolinas, is what truly has the glorious sites & an even friendlier population even though I am proud to be from Nashville myself as well too. Some WONDERFUL bbq joints there as well as trails to walk as well, too. Plus less traffic & urban congestion.
Nice to see you back Mark, and always with good stuff to share with us. Was the weather in the video, a typical Tennessean weather?
Nashville really does need public transit. Some of the most wonderful places are 10 miles from Lower Broadway, like Cheekwood, shopping at Green Hills and Cool Springs, and experiencing the best biscuits in the world at the Loveless. The new mayor is all about intelligent Mass transit, so keep your fingers crossed!
Wow, Woltersworld right in my backyard. And you nailed it too.
I will say, the Hipsters make some good food. And yes, I-24 from Chattanooga to Nashville is horrible. I need to check out some of the museums, because, well, I've never really been a Nashville Tourist.
So true with the food my friend
+Mark Brockman He didn't mention that I-65 North of Nashville is 16 lanes.
Thanks for the support. I had a fun stay. And yes they make some good food ;)