Hello to all,

My wife and I are thinking about flying into Nashville next month. We are going to get a rental car and drive around snooping and relaxing. Plan on retiring in 10 years or so and Tennessee is looking very interesting. Thinking the surrounding Nashville area and parts East/Southeast.

Looking for a town anywhere from 10,000-30,000 population wise. A nearby rifle/pistol range is a plus.

Thank you and look forward to hearing some ideas.

Franklin is nice, but getting expensive. Lots of great fishing in the area. Don't know about rifle ranges. Hendersonville if you want to live close to Country Western stars.

Check out Hendersonville.

Murfreesboro.

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Originally posted by 357fuzz:
Nashville area and parts East/Southeast.
Looking for a town anywhere from 10,000-30,000 population wise.

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Originally posted by Paddy314:
Murfreesboro.

Kidding? The Boro is the 6th largest city in the state and at ~150k is hardly a "smaller" town.

Son in law was raised in Lebanon and lives in Cookville now. Far as I know he like both.
East of Nashville is Lebanon, quick zip on I-40 into the big city if needed and is about 35k pop. A bit further east is the collage town of Cookville, about the same size and is only ~2 1/2 hours to the Smokies if you like that sort of thing.

Lots of more rural towns around.
I love my town, Bell Buckle, about an hour south of Nashville, but at less then 500 population it a bit below your minimum! No red light, but we do have a 24 hour convenience store... however, it usually closes around sunset.

There are only 3 or 4 blue counties in the state out of 95.

Google Owl Hollow (Charlie Haffner Memorial Range) out 431 in the Franklin area. Tell Charlie (Haffner) I said HEY!!!! Enjoy!!!!!

I live in Nolensville, nice little spot. When you retire bring your money, you’ll need it to get a decent piece of property in middle TN!

Brentwood- Old Money.

Franklin- New money. Franklin is very nice and has a good feel to it, although it's bigger than you want.

Murfreesboro- Wants to be Franklin, but the city council is a little too good old boy, and they couldn't say no to a developement if you held a gun to their heads. Way too big for you, and the growth is terribly planned.

Smyrna- wants to be Murfreesboro. You will get a ticket if you're a half a mile an hour over the speed limit. New restaurants and developments popping up like crazy, but damn near everything is getting built on top of each other on one road, so traffic is getting to be a pain in the ass.

LaVergne- can't decide yet if it wants to be Smyrna or Antioch. Has some nice areas, and some shitty areas.

Nolensville- Nice, quiet, beautiful, small. Lots of rolling hills. Checks a lot of your boxes, bring your checkbook because that land is skyrocketing in value. I looked there a few years ago and decided I couldn't do it.

Christiana- not really much of a town, but it's well located just south of Murfreesboro and land is still fairly reasonable.

Woodbury- also a smaller town, decent land prices and lower property taxes. Decent gun range (OK Corral) with pistol bays, a shorter rifle range, and trap houses.

Bell Buckle/ Wartrace- small, quiet towns with good communities. Getting further from access to bigger city things, but that might be perfect for retirement.

Not exactly what you've asked for, but I'm going to try and sell you on my hometown.

Paris, TN, Population 10,057 as of 2018. Located west of Nashville.

Has a rifle/pistol/skeet range in the county.

Our annual festival is the "World's Biggest Fish Fry".

Paris Landing and Kentucky Lake for your lake getaway/fishing needs. Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is not much further.

Near the border with Kentucky so you can easily take advantage of the no sales tax on groceries by shopping in Murray, KY.

Nashville is about 1.5 hours away if you travel through Clarksville and then down I-24.

If you aren't locked into the Nashville area consider further east and north in the state outside Knoxville area. I have standing orders that if ever got an offer for a remotely comparable gig there to accept on the spot. My wife would already be gone before I got home.

Lived there only 6 years but loved it. Maryville at the foot of the Smokeys is a potential target.

I grew up south of Nashville and hope to return there on retirement.

There are several nice towns an hour or so south of Nashville, including Columbia (40K), Shelbyville (22K), and Manchester (10K-I could have sworn it was bigger than this!). All three are on or within 15 minutes of an interstate, have decent medical facilities, and have good shopping opportunites. Bell Buckle/Wartrace (mentioned by a couple above) is relatively close to Shelbyville, Manchester, and Murfreesboro, and is nice if you don't mind driving for supplies.

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Lived there only 6 years but loved it. Maryville at the foot of the Smokeys is a potential target.

^^^^^^^
It is pronounced Merrville. Say it slowly. Did they drop the Alcoa-Maryville label?? I lived in Knoxville for five years.

I'd probably choose to live a little farther away like Monteagle or something.

I live in Murfreesboro, and while I do enjoy living here, its not small town anymore, it is suburbia defined. Starting to get a lot of traffic as the planning is rather poor.

If you are looking for small town country living, the "Boro aint it.

You Probably want county property not city. Something between cities. Look at Rutherford and Coffee counties. Not anything in city limits.

As a spectator/shopper myself, I can tell you that Williamson County (Franklin is the seat) is commonly ranked as the most conservative county in the United States.

This would not bother me in the least.

Stay away from Spring Hill, it is a traffic nightmare. My wife and I looked at Chapel Hill a few years ago. It had a nice small town feel but was too far from anything. We found a spot in tbe rural part of Bell Buckle and we love it! We're 15 minutes from Murfreesboro and its quiet as can be. After living most of my life in Franklin, I dont miss it one bit. Check out Strategic Edge Gun Range in Chapel Hill. Last I heard the wait was two and a half years.

Lots of places down in Williamson county. Nolensville is good. There are smaller places around there too. Depends on what you want as far as property, local amenities, proximity to larger towns, etc.

No one has mentioned Columbia, a little south of Franklin. Brother used to work at the hospital there, and they moved back to Houston in 2005. So I haven't been there in YEARS, so don't know if the place has risen or sank in quality of living. Brother and his wife just retired to Cookeville, and it's REALLY nice!!

Thank you for all the info!!! Manchester looks pretty cool.