Clarksville, Tennessee

which neighborhood is best within Clarksville? moving in from western Illinois burbs

First, let me say that everybody is Clarksville associates their "neighborhood" with their exit number off of the interstate. The higher the number (the further south), the more affluent the area. Avoid Exit 1 (some nice houses, but looks can be deceiving.). Exit 4 is hit or miss. Exit 8 is nice and upcoming. Exit 11 is almost a small town all to itself. It had it's boom about 20 years ago and left Exit 8 as almost rural. Exit 8 is now experiencing a small boom. I would stay in the Exit 11 area on the south side of town, especially if you have kids in school and plan to put them in public school. It is also the closest and easiest commute to Nashville, which greatly increases your job opportunities. Exit 8 will get you more land for your dollar, though, as will going out to Exit 19, which is truly rural. Most of the rental units are going to be on the north side of town, though, primarily because it is close to Fort Campbell. Rentals are available on the south side, but they tend to go quickly and have higher rents than the north side. Most of the rentals on the south side are homes with the occasional condo unit, and if you venture a few miles out of town, you can find rentals with acreage and sometimes even a barn. Stay around Exit 8 and Exit 11 and you won't have any problems in the neighborhood. Avoid Exit 1 as well as anything around Dover Rd., Dotsonville Rd., Liberty, Purple Heart, Peacher's Mill, Ft. Campbell Blvd, Lafayette, New Providence, and anything around the downtown area. Those are the worst areas. Exit 4 is hit or miss - there are nice neighborhoods intermingled with problem neighborhoods. Exit 4 is also where most of the retail is, so you also have to deal with traffic in that area. Exit 11 has a smaller retail area, but has all that you'll really need (it really is like it's own little town - you will hear the area referred to as "Sango" also, as they really don't want to be associated with Clarksville). Most of the chain restaurants and the mall are at Exit 4, though. The industrial park is also at Exit 4.

which neighborhood is best within Clarksville? moving in from western Illinois burbs

I live off of Exit 1 and am totally happy with our choice of location! We are in city limits which affords us lower water rates and our commute is minimal so we each fill up our vehicles apprx every 3 weeks. We have 2.5 acres about 2700 sq/ft 4 people. Our apprx monthly expenses $65 water/sewer, $300 city for power/cable/internet and then we also pay an additional 14 month for weekly home service garbage. We have a high school junior attending Northeast High School which was named as a U.S News Best High Schools Bronze 2012. There is only one school district for the entire county, Clarksville Montgomery County School System. Please don't base your future home solely on the school zone as they frequently change with the growth that Clarksville is experiencing. There is a new high school going in in the area above Sam's Club and guess what?? They are pulling children from the areas north of I-24 across exits 1,4 and 8! I should mention that I have only recently moved back to Clarksville after living in California for the past 25 years. I was born here and left because life offered me a better opportunity somewhere else. We are not a military family but there is an abundance of military families in my neighborhood along with city employees, teachers and law enforcement. I like the diversity!

What don't you like about living in Clarksville, TN?

I’ve lived in Clarksville now for about 4 months. I moved from Seattle.

The number one thing I hate in Clarksville is that NOBODY knows how to get the hell out into the intersection on a green light to turn left. It makes me insane. Maybe it’s a TN law, but if it were, nobody could ever turn left without a left turn arrow. Clarksville people are just STOOPID about this.

I have yet to honk people for this, because everyone in Clarksville is so nice and laid back, and I’m trying to abandon my big city ways, but I have been tempted to get out of my car and walk up and rap on the driver’s side window and say, bless your heart, would you mind moving your car into the intersection before the light turns red?

With that said, I love Clarksville. There are many things I miss from Seattle and a lot more that I don’t, since Seattle has become a crime-ridden asinine tax-oppressive socialist idiocracy in the last several years.

Salmon is more expensive in Clarksville. Like it’s not ridiculously priced in Seattle nowadays too.

Ethnic markets, that’s what Nashville is for.

Music and live shows? Pretty damn good. I miss Jazz Alley, but City Winery is pretty awesome.

Everything in Clarksville is 20% to 50% cheaper than in Seattle. Including groceries and housing is 75% cheaper. I get 10x the internet speed I got from Comcast in Seattle for half the price here.

There are a lot of black people in Clarksville, a lot more than in Seattle. And they have been sweet as pie to me. I’ve got a leg injury, and I’m a big old fat white guy, and black people I don’t know offer to help me in the Walmart parking lot. In Seattle, no white people offered to help me with the same injury.

Which brings me to neighborliness. Black or white, it’s wonderful how people offer to help each other out and I’m not afraid of black people and as far as I can tell from the black people who talk to me like I’m just another person, I just want to say again, race relations seem pretty damn good here.

What are the people like in Clarksville, TN?

It's really a mixed bag of a town. it's interesting because Clarksville has a liberal arts university Austin Peay State University. That school is pretty liberal and has some great programs. However the university serves the greater Clarksville area which includes Fort Cambell a military base containing the 101st airborne division. So you get all types at the school and everywhere around Clarksville. This make for a very varied set of people but can also create a lot of tension between various groups. Clarksville is still very much a part of the south so you have a lot of conservative, Christian, and unfortunately even still some racist issues that are still prevalent. Clarksville basically has a space for most types of people. Although that space and community is smaller for some groups than others you will find people you probably will love and fit right in with and you will also probably find people who you can't stand and drive you nutty. I grew up there until I was 27 then I moved to Japan. I haven't lived there the past seven years but my mother still lives there and I have family and friends there. Personally I left because even for how varied and interesting Clarksville is for me I never felt comfortable or accepted completely there for the type of person I am. But it's a place like any other with a wide variety of cultures, beliefs, ideas, and opinions. It's just slightly more volatile than other places because you have such a variety and such strongly held beliefs. Hope this helps.

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