A Guide To Moving To Nashville Alone

It’s no secret that Nashville has become a popular destination for Americans looking to relocate. The city’s relatively low cost of living, combined with a thriving art and business landscape, makes it a prized metropolitan area for good reason.

New Nashville

According to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce over 300,000 new residents moved to the city between 2010 and 2018. That means, in 2017, 83 new people moved to the city every day. Since 83 is an odd number, it can’t be comprised entirely of couples—but how does one make the move to Nashville alone?

The beauty of this city is that it’s a true beacon of southern hospitality and community bonding. It sometimes seems like there are more churches and music venues than gas stations, and locally owned businesses weave a strong fabric through every neighborhood. It’s the sort of place where patrons and bartenders or baristas are on a first name basis and a common greeting begins, “Hey so-and-so! How are the kids?”

New Orleans native Ainsley Messina moved to Nashville by herself after college.

“My two best friends lived here, I was newly single, stuck in a job where there were no opportunities for growth, and I have close family in town,” she says. “I moved to Nashville and immediately found hobbies that I never knew existed. I was hired at a school that brought me a totally new outlook on my career as a teacher, and people in Nashville just appreciate the outdoors, which is great for anyone’s mental health.”

Messina lives in the Hillsboro Village neighborhood and loves its blend of residential streets and walkable urban landscapes with plenty of amenities nearby. Most importantly though, she says:

“I found community … I have great coworker friends who meet for hikes. I have my people I can cook with and sit on the front porch with in the evenings, who invite their friends who invite their friends, and all of those things have just transformed into a community and lifestyle that I probably will never trade.”

Moving to Nashville

Whether you’re coming to Nashville with other people or by yourself, there are a few things to know about life here. Mainly: Expect to bring your car (although there are some walkable neighborhoods), get ready to talk to strangers (we weren’t kidding about the southern hospitality), and watch out for bachelorette parties. You may be relieved to know that if you work in healthcare, music, academia, or food and you’re moving to Nashville solo, you won’t be truly alone—those industries are booming in Music City.

Nashville Neighborhoods For Meeting New People

While one might argue that every neighborhood in Nashville is welcoming, there are certainly some areas that offer a community environment and the opportunity for friendship above and beyond the typical “howdy neighbor” experience.

The Nations

West Nashville’s fastest-growing and most popular neighborhood is beloved for its slightly more buttoned-up answer to the east side’s dive bar, rock-n-roll energy (another thing newcomers should know: the East Nashville vs. West Nashville rivalry is real).

The Nations isn’t exactly walkable, but it offers residents a sprawling, expansive landscape of breweries and restaurants geared toward social interaction. From local micro-breweries like Harding House to large-scale operations like Fat Bottom Brewing, The Nations is a haven for beer brewers and drinkers alike.

At the heart of the neighborhood Project 615 has set up shop. The beloved local brand is a social enterprise that creates Nashville themed apparel and donates a large portion of their profits to local and global humanitarian efforts. Community members also love the welcoming and familiar culture of Fifty-First Kitchen and Bar. The southern roots kitchen is dedicated to fostering community to the extent that they created a miniature dog park on the front lawn so patrons can socialize with each other and their canine friends.

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East Nashville

No list of popular Nashville neighborhoods would be complete without a mention of East Nashville. There’s no two ways about it—it’s got a lot going on, and it often seems as though everyone worth knowing in the city lives across the river. In addition to easy access to Downtown, East Nashville is affordable, semi-walkable, and popular. So many new restaurants, cocktail lounges, and tiki bars pop up every month that any mention of one, in particular, will likely be outdated by the time this article is published.

The greatest benefit of moving to East Nashville alone is the fact that the community in this neighborhood is tight-knit unlike any other. From a popular running club to a thriving LGBTQ+ community and with more coffee shops and breweries than you can count, East Nashville has it all.

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The Gulch

Emblematic of the city’s transformation, there’s a small urban area just south of the city center that has experienced a renaissance in the last decade. Once a site of urban decay, basically a run-down railyard, The Gulch is now an explosively popular urban center with maximum retail and dining to correspond with urban, condominium living.

What it might lack in rootsy community bonds, it makes up for in daily activities built for interaction. There are Instagramable murals, popular rooftop bars, the city’s largest independent brewery, and a hardcore bluegrass venue and dive bar all within two city blocks.

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Wedgewood-Houston

Home to Nashville’s art scene, Wedgewood-Houston is a refuge and font of inspiration for artists and art lovers. The neighborhood’s monthly art crawl, Arts & Music Wedgewood-Houston, officially replaced the more established Downtown art crawl years ago as the true place to be for serious artists and art appreciators. This community gathering is a free, public opportunity to forge a friendship over a shared love for visual art and creativity of all sorts.

The area’s local coffee shops like Falcon and Humphrey’s Street also serve as home base for many area freelancers who set up shop all day long, typing away on their laptops—alone together. In general, Nashville’s neighborhood cafes can be great places to make new connections.

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Events and Other Ways to Meet New People

Regardless of neighborhood, Nashville offers collective opportunities for bonding. Happening in Downtown Nashville, the annual Live on the Green Music Festival is free and open to the public. The festival takes place over the course of three weekends, and in the past, has welcomed such acts as Jenny Lewis, LP, Sheryl Crow, Cage the Elephant, and The Alabama Shakes.

For residents looking for a more interactive experience, Third Coast Comedy Club offers an extensive list of improv and stand-up classes as well as volunteering and educational opportunities. What better way to make friends and push the envelope than to try improv comedy with a group of strangers!

With its community-minded culture, southern hospitality, neighborhoods that are brimming with things to do, and booming job landscape, even if you move to Nashville alone, you won’t find yourself that way for long.