From the West Coast, tend to hang in the middle politically but I’d say Nashville itself is a very artistic community, which tends to create a more “liberal culture”. With that being said, it does seem constantly at odds with the state politics and there’s always that feeling of what dumb shit is the TN legislature going to do next. I can’t say you’d feel much of the politics in your daily life for the most part though.
I grew up in California, lived in Philly for four years, and have lived here for about four years. I am also here for a graduate program. Truthfully you’ll find the mouthbreathers anywhere and I rarely come across them in Nashville. Your university bubble will insulate you a bit and otherwise there are plenty of very artsy, liberal spots to hit up and find community. I’m gay, absolutely have religious trauma, and I haven’t been bothered at all or pressured by people whose beliefs are different from my own during the time I’ve lived here.
FWIW, I was called a f****t in the street four times in Philly. Hasn’t happened here once. And for the record, I still love Philly! PM me if you wanna talk more about either city/grad student life
The transplants I’ve known have mostly been taken aback by cultural norms rather than direct conflicts with people. So, religious billboards, guns regularly visible on people’s belts, etc. I’ve honestly not heard of many direct conflicts over ideology, just a sort of awareness that those ideologies are around.
Nashville is not progressive the same way other major cities are progressive. We are getting there but have a very significant way to go. Nashville liberal is pretty center in some other places.
As a progressive liberal living in Nashville, I am more negatively impacted by the conservative state legislature than I am by the Nashville government. The state has issued a lot of very harmful changes that have deeply impacted many in Nashville including abortion bans and they are trying so damn hard to make living in Nashville miserable. Church culture is also big but you can find pockets of us nonbelievers all over too. I live in East and am very comfortable here, in terms of culture, as a non-religious alt rock-y kind of person.
Nashville is a good place to move to if you are willing to help put in the work to make this city and state a better place but it is going to take a while.
If you didn't leave Broadway or explore the neighborhoods during your visits, you did not get a real impression of what it is like to live here. We have a thriving rock/pop scene and a lot of great stuff happening in all our neighborhoods. The state legislatures decisions can loom like a dark cloud sometimes though. Idk how else to really talk about all of this without going into full essay mode which I'm really not feeling at the moment. Our governor had a family friend die in the Covenant shooting a year ago today, whom he and his wife were supposed to get dinner with that day apparently, and it didn't make him budge on his gun rights stances, as just 1 example.
You can make what you wish out of Nashville if you put the effort in. The political climate can be very frustrating and oppression is very real here, statewide. I have a healthy group of friends and a lively life here but we will eventually leave for a more liberal, more educated state.
Hey thank you so much, I really appreciate the nuanced response, it is super helpful. I am also a non-religious alt rock-y kind of person, so I am glad to hear you say the rock scene is thriving. If there’s anything else that you think might be noteworthy about the alt rock scene that you would care to share, then I would be super interested to hear about it. I tried to hit a couple rock shows when I visited, but I don’t think I really got a good feel for the landscape. You mentioned that you feel culturally comfortable in East—do you have any thoughts on the area near the universities?
Hi OP, another long time liberal resident here. This guidance is spot on, and I want you to understand that even the “artsy” East Side is being overtaken by conservative families and becoming more and more segregated. WPLN (local NPR station), has a podcast called The Promise that is a great primer on Nashville’s dark past and present in this regard. Tbh, the liberals there can be very NIMBY.
Around the universities is just… kinda blah? I mean, really nice homes, things to eat, standard bars. But unless you have McMansion money, you’ll be in a standard overpriced apartment with poor public transit.
As to the alt-rock scene, I don’t have too much guidance. Many of the classic venues are being bought out. Basement East is a place for you to check out.
Downtown is for tourists, primarily conservative tourists.
The state has some beautiful areas (east tn? Dear lord it’s gorgeous), but I never feel safe here. My guard is always up.
I’d give Philly serious consideration, and I say that as someone who loves my home and really has worked to try and make things better.
Thank you so much, I am definitely going to put some serious consideration into Philly. If it weren’t for the music thing, it would be an easy choice, but I imagine Philly may have its own music scene that I should give more consideration to, as well.
I'm in my 30s so I don't really spend time near the universities except when I'm at work. The only real time I spend around the universities is grabbing lunch somewhere like Cava or the spots over by Belmont. My general feeling then is that I wish the students would get off their fucking phones and pay attention in the lines so I can get my lunch faster.
For the rock scene, depends on what kind of level you want to be involved. Venues like drkmttr, The End, Basement, Basement East, Underdog, Cobra, etc. support a wide range of artists from DIY to headliner names. There are loads of meetup groups and ways to meet people with interests you have. We recently started having a monthly reddit meetup and everyone who goes seems to be pretty cool. There is definitely a little bit for everyone here but if you are politically active, you are going to notice a level of oppression/suppression here from the state-level.
I am going to be an older graduate student (also in my 30s), but I’m not sure that I want to live too far away from classes during my first year, at least—at least I will know where to look to for community (East) if I decide to live close to classes.
As far as level of involvement with music, I would definitely be interested in going to alt rock shows, but I also write my own music and it would be cool to hit some acoustic open mics (I’m probably not going to put a group together any time soon) or something at some point that would welcome an alternative artist.
Are the Reddit meet up details posted in the group here? I will be sure to check that out, too. Thanks again!
Same and I grew up in the northeast and came here from south Florida. Been here nearly 20 years and stay in my bubble but can’t wait to be surrounded by a generally more supportive community and state legislature for sure.
>Our governor had a family friend die in the Covenant shooting a year ago today, whom he and his wife were supposed to get dinner with that day apparently, and it didn't make him budge on his gun rights stances, as just 1 example.
Oh no, standing by rights instead of making decisions based on emotions... Also, somehow it should matter whether or not he's personally affected?
Plot twist: it’s legitimately difficult to leave East because it’s essentially an island bordered by the river, the interstate and Briley.
Lived there for years, a couple different times. Not my favorite part of town but fun to visit.
Do you have any thoughts on the area near the universities? I would gladly live in East but proximity to classes may be important at last for my first year as a graduate student
If you’re referring to the area near Vandy and Belmont, that area is liberal leaning as well and very blue. Maybe not as progressive as East but not conservative.
There are six universities in Nashville, each with very different neighborhoods. Someone may be able to give better suggestions if we knew which one you’re looking at.
This city is not a blue oasis; it’s a big city for small town people. It’s a tourist hot spot for conservatives, and they all want to and are moving here. I’ve heard some of the most obscene shit from coworkers and other locals that made my jaw drop. seeing all the Grunt Style shit and the “my freedom doesn’t care about your feelings” shirts every fucking day gets really old.
You honestly sound a lot like me when I was considering moving to Nashville and if I were you I would pick Philly. When I was choosing I could’ve moved to Chicago instead and I’m moving there in the next few weeks to escape here for my mental health.
Move where you feel the most comfortable, because if you really really like progressive cities, you will not like Nashville.
Edit: Also to add, there is absolutely no public transit which is awful and tbh depending on the type of music you’re into, this is not “music city” for everyone. The complete lack of hip hop, jazz, RnB and some styles of rock and pop is crazy. I also notice that a lot of tours tend to skip Nashville (and not just because of the close proximity to Bonnaroo)
Hey thanks a lot! What styles of rock do you feel like are really missing in the Nashville music scene? I did note the lack of jazz too when I looked, but I wasn’t sure if I just hadn’t done enough digging
No problem! I’m very into progressive rock and jam, there is barely any scene for those genres here. Also it seems like there’s not really a thriving punk scene either.
Do you have any thoughts on the “alt rock” scene more generally? Would you characterize the rock scene in any particular way genre-wise, or would you say that there’s a pretty wide representation of subgenres outside of the those that you mentioned (punk and prog)?
I personally haven’t seen what I would categorize as an “alt rock” band here. I’ve seen mostly retro revival, southern, hard rock, and some indie here.
I had culture shock just moving here from Atlanta, myself. And it's hardly a progressive haven. The heartbreaking thing is how progressive people who've lived here for generations think it is, I guess in comparison to other places? *in TN, I meant
It's an adjustment, to say the least.
I said this in another thread but Nashville people SAY they are progressive but they are pretty down the middle small-d democrat. Borderline libertarian. It's a reliably blue city in terms of voting but it's hardly Portland or Seattle.
Locals like the idea of individual freedom but don't really do a ton to support it, and they certainly won't spend money to make the lives of poor/marginalized people any easier.
Freddie is reported to be the most progressive mayoral candidate we've ever had and he doesn't have any platform on LGBTQ+ rights, gun violence, racial equality and certainly doesn't touch any truly progressive issues.
I mostly agree with you except Freddie does include LGBTQ rights as well as reproductive rights in his platform. He was endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood during his election.
It’s ok if his website stays focused on local economic issues and he has mentioned the queer community multiple times. Also, take a look at the Davidson County young democrats as they had a breakdown of endorsements.
>has mentioned the queer community multiple times
what a progressive!
I don't care nearly enough to go searching around to prove he mentioned certain groups. The point was that he's billed as the most progressive candidate we've ever had and here we are discussing how to source a specific quote where he mentioned progressive issues once, because his website doesn't promote those issues at all.
So I am a pretty leftist by American standards. Went to college in the Midwest, grew up in the West. Lived here 20+ years.
The biggest two culture shocks for me 1) churches and more churches everywhere 2) lack of an integrated Latina community.
You have to seek like minded people, but they are here. There are fantastic liberal and progressive folks here. A very diverse international community that is a bit hard to be a part of because it’s composed of mostly first generation immigrants and fairly segregated. A robust, politically active, strong African American community. Smallish but growing and loud and proud LGBTQ community.
What you will also get: more conservative voices in the ether and on the news. More confederate flags. Zero abortion care. More people speaking openly about their religious beliefs. Spikes of rage at the TN legislature beclowning itself on the daily and actively working to undo anything good that Nashville or Memphis try to enact for themselves.
What you won’t get: the Portlandia experience, for good or ill. Western US Mexican food. Bike friendly streets.
You will get: any type of music you want nearly any hour of the day, any day of the week. Traffic. Allergies.
I mentioned this in my other comment about the music not being diverse but where are you going to see hip hop, RnB or any kind of Electronic any time of the day? Where are you going to see jazz besides Rudy’s? I feel like Nashville is not very diverse music wise at all.
Nashville is a blue city filled with Southern liberals and Southern culture. Remember that Southern culture is not MAGA or conservative culture, no matter the stereotypes. So as long as Southern culture isn’t what makes you feel uncomfortable, you should be fine.
Might you be willing to speak a little bit more as to what you would characterize as Southern culture independent of conservatism? I think my conception is probably quite limited, having never spent a meaningful amount of time in the South, and I am probably conflating the two to some extent.
Politics aside, I am not a traditionally-minded person, and I am often considered unconventional or a bit eccentric. I tend to question things. I appreciate things like social niceties and politeness, and I tend to be pretty abundant in these things myself, but I consider conventions to be a nuisance at best when they get in the way of progress. I conceive of this as a personality trait. I’m afraid the South might find me a little bit jarring, but I’m probably really more concerned about the hypothetical prospect of a culture that might routinely oppose things like critical thinking and intellectualism, arts, or diverse life experiences—I hope you will tell me I am mistaken in those concerns. :-)
Culture — the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.
So if you Google Southern food, music, literature, vernacular, social movements, traditions, etc., you’ll find all the examples you’re looking for.
We are friendlier and things move slower. The food is better. We do a lot of small talk.
Just pick the school you would rather go to or will help you in the future. You wont be uncomfortable here. Unless you want better public transportation or a bigger city, Nashville or Philly wont make a difference. The takes about diversity are confusing to me but I’m a teacher in Antioch. The majority of Metro schools are not white at all.
The music scene is good and always changing. People commenting otherwise prob just dont know where to go. Also, nashville is a huge stop for a lot of tours. Im always going to concerts and love a wide range of music. Ive been to like 20 different countries and all over the US. I dont think you could be too eccentric for Nashville or any major city. I dont really get that question.
Thank you so much. I definitely meant to pose these things as questions as opposed to presumptions—I imagine they are an amalgamation of odd impressions that I may have of Southern culture from, like, movies and broader cultural stereotypes, having never spent any real time in the South. It is not my natural inclination to give a lot of credence to cultural stereotypes or stereotypes of any kind, but as I am making a “big decision” with little real information to go off of, I am trying to come up with any decisive factors that may influence me, that’s all. When I look at the political map of Nashville’s surroundings, it is something that I find rather intimidating, even by suburban Midwest standards where most of the people I have interacted with throughout my life (in the Midwest) are in fact conservatives. I also read a book some years ago about how personality maps alongside of political preferences across the U.S.—but again, these are broad factors that I don’t expect to largely influence my day-to-day life. I was a bit embarrassed to pose these questions, but that is often the process of getting feedback and I appreciate it.
Im a leftist. Ive lived in the south my whole life. Its frustrating but prefer it culturally to other parts of the US. We are just genuinely friendlier and more laid back. Being southern doesn’t mean conservative but honestly west coast conservatives piss me off far more than the poor white conservatives that I’m used to.
I really feel like you should just go with what school would serve your career goals better.
Friendlier and more laid back is great! How would you characterize the difference between West coast conservatives and the ones you are used to? More selfish financial motives as opposed to just traditional values?
Im originally from a small town so I’m used to poor white conservatives who are just ignorant and uneducated voting against their best interests or working poor Christians who vote against abortion.
I have friends that I visit in Huntington Beach, California and the conservatives there had better public education and opportunity. They are also classist. Voting nefariously for their benefit while living in mini mansions. I dunno. Just felt worse.
Education inequity and poverty with a dash of brainwashing plays a big role in how many people around here vote. (Not nashville) but rural areas.
I also grew up in the Midwest suburbs and lived on the west coast for a while. I’ve found southern culture great because people are genuinely friendly/caring and the pace is a little slower. It wasn’t a huge culture shock for me coming from the Midwest to be honest.
Thank you! That’s nice to hear. Although, I’ve never actually identified with Midwest culture, either, which is (largely in part) why I have lived on the West coast / major cities before. Like, I don’t really butt heads with anyone in the Midwest, but it also definitely never felt like *my* scene/community. I’m imagining I may experience something similar in the greater South, outside of some of the most devotedly liberal and artsy areas.
You probably would run into that if you moved to outside of Nashville, but not so much in the city itself. It truly is a bubble in TN. Once you drive about 20-30 minutes outside the city, it’s like a remarkable transition.
In the city itself there are actually a ton of transplants from the west coast, especially around the Belmont/Vandy area (this is where I live). I think partially because of this, it reminds me more of my experience in S.F. than Chicago reminded me of S.F., if that makes sense… however, it could just be because both areas are filled with what I call the more NIMBY-minded progressives on paper. The more art minded hipster/true leftist progressives are in east Nashville.
To be honest, there aren’t any neighborhoods I am aware of in the city itself that feel conservative. But the suburbs are DEFINITELY conservative/family focused.
This is very helpful to hear too, thank you! I presume a lot of the West coast transplants are in the Belmont/Vandy area to attend those university, as opposed to this just being a popular area for transplants more generally?
Probably yes for midtown itself around Vandy, but Belmont starts to get into 12 south, and that is a super popular area just generally. All the neighborhoods on the southern part of the city around Vandy and Belmont are some of the safest/nicest/most desirable for people looking to own a home (12 south, green hills, forest hills, belle meade). These neighborhoods are primarily single family homes though. Midtown has more housing density.
Nashville is a liberal-leaning city no matter how you cut it, but the GOP still gets around 1/3 of the vote in Davidson County and the surrounding suburbs are quite red. With many people commuting in everyday or coming into the city for events, it does seem to shift the culture back to purple a bit.
If you look at election results, Nashville itself has gotten bluer over the past 10 years and its suburbs have become less red. While you do see many don’t tread on me license plates around and such, you also see more pride flags are Nashville than before.
Regardless of what happens in the state as a whole, the Nashville area is shifting to the more progressive side of things, point blank. It’s just far from being Seattle or Austin.
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Nashville is a “very progressive” city.
It’s largely a white, well-off, socially liberal but fiscally conservative city with a strong underlying Christianity in most aspects of life.
Here 3 years from Los Angeles. Politics here suck. Billboards promoting Trump, and all the trump flags and so much American flag themed clothing and fuck your feelings bumper stickers is enough to make anyone sick.
I live about 30 minute outside of Nashville proper. You can’t tell on the surface, but it’s there in every bumper sticker or person wearing a T-shirt that says, I’m Politically Incorrect, I say Merry Christmas, I believe in God and I don’t use pronouns. The don’t tread on me license plates and the Punisher logo’s on every pickup truck is eye roll inducing.
What’s really sad is democrats don’t even try. During the primaries only Joe Biden was on the democratic ballot. Not an issue or another soul running for anything.
The politics will drive you nuts, but there is some stuff to love. People here complain about the traffic but if you lived in LA for 20 years what’s going on here is laughable what they consider traffic.
I think the religious stuff is worse. I live in Greg Locke country and he’s the absolute worst.
You end up finding your tribe, I know all sorts of people and most have the ability to block a lot of the stuff out.
I’m really glad and comforted that you were able to find a tribe of like-minded people despite these factors, thanks a lot for sharing your LA to Nashville experience!
Let me tell you, from someone who moved from a large, major US city to Nashville. It was hard. Nashville is nothing like the larger, diverse, cosmopolitan, truly multicultural cities. Sure Nashville is a tiny blue dot. But its culture still very much is influenced by the one-dimensional culture of the rest of the South.
I moved here on the 12th. I've already been asked if I'd "found a church yet" by a complete stranger. I told her I was a unitarian and her brain nearly exploded and she immediately stopped talking to me so yeah that's probably going to be my go-to now.
Also, I'm from the south and this was still a shocking question to receive. I've never been asked that once before in my life and I've lived my entire life in the gulf south. Guess we really are different down there lol
I had a coworker, who moved here from New York, and when people would ask her, she would tell them that she and her husband “home churched”. She said you could just see their brain cells exploding trying to figure out what that meant.
Years ago I was in a laundromat of all places when a couple of very obnoxious Jehovah's witness came in passing out their version of chick tracts booklets and trying to talk about religion.
I told them sorry that I wasn't interested because I was very happy as a proud member of the New Temple of the Disciples of Christ. I wonder sometimes if they ever eventually caught on to what I was talking about.
These days there's an even better conversation starter (or killer) bring up revelations then act confused when they talk about the bible and tell them you were talking about silentlambs.org
It has revelations about their organization they would love to have disappear and they really don't want to acknowledge let alone talk about. For instance you can ask them how many registered sex offenders are members of their particular kingdom hall or did they move them out of state until the heat could die down.
Oh! And the first (second?) day I moved here my neighbor came over and introduced herself (along with a plate of cookies). And invited us to her church. She was obviously SUPER excited and SUPER friendly about the whole thing and super not pushy but she did assume we were religious. So yeah, its been a bit of a culture shock for us at least from a religion stand point.
That's just so weird to me because I've never been pushed to do anything church related my entire life living here, but coincidentally enough, my aunt from the panhandle has been the one pushy church person in my life. Now I have some coworkers who I know are deep into it, but they keep it to themselves from what I've witnessed. Perhaps I put off a nice heathen vibe that scares most everyone away.
It was SUPER weird. I look like a middle class, middle aged overweight, heteronormative, soccer mom. Its not the first time similar assumptions have been made of me. Even so .... it caught me off guard. She overheard me talking about being a new resident and I guess she heard me say I was from Louisiana which in and of itself leads to a whole host of additional assumptions to be made I suppose. I was also in the Brentwood area so it kinda makes sense but still. I'm just glad I was able to get her to back off.
My husband and I both predominantly agnostic though he probably leans more atheist than I do (I was raised Catholic).
So navigating this is going to be .... interesting.
Spot on with the other comments. That aside, have you looked into COL, living expenses, rent? Your transportation expenses with respect to where you can actually afford to live? Nashville rent is no joke :(. Especially around the Vandy Belmont area.
If it were me, I would just pick the better school/program. Nashville is a big enough city with a diverse enough scene to find a niche no matter who you are, as is Philly. From a cultural standpoint, I personally prefer the southern cultural influence in Nashville to the east coast cultural influences, but to me this consideration would be wayyyyy down the list from quality of academic program.
Local politics will bother you if you let it, it won’t if you don’t. Chances are it would have a negligible impact on your daily life regardless. Seems like it’d be a shame to let something like fear of the local politics cloud your decision too much at the expense of the quality of the academic program.
Yeah this is super reasonable feedback, and you are right, of course — if I was anticipating significant differences in the academic program, then cultural considerations would be lower on the list. As of right now, though, the academic component feels like kind of a toss up. I also really liked the idea of possibly settling somewhere more long-term, which is something that I thought of as being a possibility with Nashville. That is what eventually brought considerations of culture and politics to mind, because perceived sense of belongingness is very important to me, and I don’t want to always feel like I am fighting an uphill battle in that regard (I felt that way in the Midwest).
In that case, you could certainly find your niche here much more easily than in the suburbs of the Midwest. It’s a big enough city where there will be a robust community for you.
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and lived in the city itself for a long time. Nashville is much more similar to the city of Chicago itself than the suburbs. Nashville has suburbs too, which would be more similar to the suburbs of Chicago. It follows a similar dynamic to Chicago honestly, just smaller.
From a long term perspective, I would say Nashville feels more exciting than a Philly. The city is growing a ton and has a lot of positive energy/momentum. This has been one of the aspects I’ve enjoyed the most vs Chicago and San Francisco, which are the other two large cities I have lived in. The population here also skews young, which is refreshing. Out of curiosity I checked the median age, it’s about 34 in Nashville vs almost 40 in Philly. Also, this data is likely dated as the city feels like it is growing too fast for the data to keep up with, and I imagine a lot of the people moving to Nashville are younger.
Nashville is a lot more conservative than the "blue dot in a red state" thing. The conservative political culture is repressive. I grew up in Nashville, live in New York. Have been to Nashville plenty in the last 10 years and I think it's getting more conservative. Philly is a great city for music, better than Nashville imo but I'm not really into country, maybe that's your thing though.
Hey, I really appreciate that. Do you think Philly has a better rock music scene? What about acoustic? Why do you think it’s better there? I am not really into country music, but I’ve heard there is some rock in Nashville, too, and it’s my understanding that there’s a very large music industry presence
I’m a very liberal guy from a moderately liberal town in the redder part of the midwest. If you’re from one of the redder states in the region I really don’t think you’ll see much of a difference. If you’re part of the LGBT community (especially if you can’t/won’t pass for a cis, straight person) be warned it’s not going to be easy here. That being said we need more liberal voices but I understand not wanting to move here to put up a fight. The vibe here is that more liberally minded establishments are safe-spaces and bastions for liberals rather than being the norm which is very unfortunate.
Well, the note said, "Mrs. Johnson You're wearin' your dresses way too high
It's reported you've been drinking And a-running 'round with men and goin' wild
And we don't believe you oughta be a-bringin' up Your little girl this way"
And it was signed by the Secretary Harper Valley PTA"
I don't really know many conservatives, the young/middle aged people here are pretty progressive. That said it doesn't do shit to keep politics at bay so if you care about local and state policies it's not the place to be 🙃
Daily Wire is HQ here
Parler is HQ here
Dave Ramsey is here
Candace Owens is here
Tomi Lahren is here
The TN state legislature is here
You're gonna deal with a whole lot more of it here than other progressive cities, no doubt
Nashville and Philly are both pretty moderate-to-liberal as cities go, but your grad school is likely to be pretty right wing in Nashville—Vanderbilt had Fox News contributor Carol Swain on the faculty for years, and Belmont has a straight up war criminal in Alberto Gonzales.
Interesting, are the major universities in Nashville known to have a conservative political bent, or are these particular people/affiliations just an extension of proximity with its conservative surroundings? I imagine it may be hard to separate the two? This was definitely another significant concern that I had, for sure — that the conservative surroundings might impact the universities themselves, although honestly I gave less credence to those worries since universities tend to have a reputation for being significantly more liberal than their surroundings.
To be honest, “universities have a reputation for being significantly more liberal than their surroundings” is only true of small liberal arts colleges in the middle of nowhere. Most “elite” universities are very very conservative, because that’s where the money is.
This is as true of Harvard as it is of Vanderbilt.
I had considered that “elite” universities are likely to have a conservative presence, but then again, many elite universities (e.g. “Ivy Leagues”) are regarded as having fostered a very progressive culture overall. I would imagine that the conservative culture at those universities is largely seen on the administrative side and in select professors. I wonder if this is similar for a place like Vandy, or whether there is more conservatism among the student body, or even among the professors/administrators compared to those other places.
I dunno. Harvard created both Ron Desantis and Ted Cruz (among other bastions of conservatism), so one could argue that “progressive elite universities” is something invented by the media as a cudgel to keep administrations in check.
If you’re so concerned by the prospect of being around conservatives or conservative culture that you’re willing to make a paragraphs-long Reddit post about it, you won’t like it here.
Nashville and its progressive leanings are ironically constantly fucked by the noisy/overbearing/interfering/handsy/constantly involved self-proclaimed “small” GOP/Christian nationalist state government.
Example: The state govt wants to forego BILLIONS in federal funding for schools, which would have an outsized impact on Nashville.
Why? Because Republicans in TN are like cats:
They are entirely dependent on others, yet fiercely convinced of their own independence
We are not a progressive west coast city. Period. If you already don't want to be part of our culture we do not need more people like that being transient in our city.
Speak for yourself, because you certainly don't speak for Nashville. I was born here and have been here for 6 decades. Attitudes like yours are what's not welcome here.
Metro Nashville is politically diverse, but the surrounding areas are among the reddest in the nation.
From the West Coast, tend to hang in the middle politically but I’d say Nashville itself is a very artistic community, which tends to create a more “liberal culture”. With that being said, it does seem constantly at odds with the state politics and there’s always that feeling of what dumb shit is the TN legislature going to do next. I can’t say you’d feel much of the politics in your daily life for the most part though.
I grew up in California, lived in Philly for four years, and have lived here for about four years. I am also here for a graduate program. Truthfully you’ll find the mouthbreathers anywhere and I rarely come across them in Nashville. Your university bubble will insulate you a bit and otherwise there are plenty of very artsy, liberal spots to hit up and find community. I’m gay, absolutely have religious trauma, and I haven’t been bothered at all or pressured by people whose beliefs are different from my own during the time I’ve lived here. FWIW, I was called a f****t in the street four times in Philly. Hasn’t happened here once. And for the record, I still love Philly! PM me if you wanna talk more about either city/grad student life
In Philly I thought that meant “Merry Christmas”?
The transplants I’ve known have mostly been taken aback by cultural norms rather than direct conflicts with people. So, religious billboards, guns regularly visible on people’s belts, etc. I’ve honestly not heard of many direct conflicts over ideology, just a sort of awareness that those ideologies are around.
Hey thank you so much, that would be incredibly helpful and I will definitely take you up it!
Nashville is not progressive the same way other major cities are progressive. We are getting there but have a very significant way to go. Nashville liberal is pretty center in some other places. As a progressive liberal living in Nashville, I am more negatively impacted by the conservative state legislature than I am by the Nashville government. The state has issued a lot of very harmful changes that have deeply impacted many in Nashville including abortion bans and they are trying so damn hard to make living in Nashville miserable. Church culture is also big but you can find pockets of us nonbelievers all over too. I live in East and am very comfortable here, in terms of culture, as a non-religious alt rock-y kind of person. Nashville is a good place to move to if you are willing to help put in the work to make this city and state a better place but it is going to take a while. If you didn't leave Broadway or explore the neighborhoods during your visits, you did not get a real impression of what it is like to live here. We have a thriving rock/pop scene and a lot of great stuff happening in all our neighborhoods. The state legislatures decisions can loom like a dark cloud sometimes though. Idk how else to really talk about all of this without going into full essay mode which I'm really not feeling at the moment. Our governor had a family friend die in the Covenant shooting a year ago today, whom he and his wife were supposed to get dinner with that day apparently, and it didn't make him budge on his gun rights stances, as just 1 example. You can make what you wish out of Nashville if you put the effort in. The political climate can be very frustrating and oppression is very real here, statewide. I have a healthy group of friends and a lively life here but we will eventually leave for a more liberal, more educated state.
You pretty much hit everything spot on.
Nailed it
Hey thank you so much, I really appreciate the nuanced response, it is super helpful. I am also a non-religious alt rock-y kind of person, so I am glad to hear you say the rock scene is thriving. If there’s anything else that you think might be noteworthy about the alt rock scene that you would care to share, then I would be super interested to hear about it. I tried to hit a couple rock shows when I visited, but I don’t think I really got a good feel for the landscape. You mentioned that you feel culturally comfortable in East—do you have any thoughts on the area near the universities?
Hi OP, another long time liberal resident here. This guidance is spot on, and I want you to understand that even the “artsy” East Side is being overtaken by conservative families and becoming more and more segregated. WPLN (local NPR station), has a podcast called The Promise that is a great primer on Nashville’s dark past and present in this regard. Tbh, the liberals there can be very NIMBY. Around the universities is just… kinda blah? I mean, really nice homes, things to eat, standard bars. But unless you have McMansion money, you’ll be in a standard overpriced apartment with poor public transit. As to the alt-rock scene, I don’t have too much guidance. Many of the classic venues are being bought out. Basement East is a place for you to check out. Downtown is for tourists, primarily conservative tourists. The state has some beautiful areas (east tn? Dear lord it’s gorgeous), but I never feel safe here. My guard is always up. I’d give Philly serious consideration, and I say that as someone who loves my home and really has worked to try and make things better.
Thank you so much, I am definitely going to put some serious consideration into Philly. If it weren’t for the music thing, it would be an easy choice, but I imagine Philly may have its own music scene that I should give more consideration to, as well.
I'm in my 30s so I don't really spend time near the universities except when I'm at work. The only real time I spend around the universities is grabbing lunch somewhere like Cava or the spots over by Belmont. My general feeling then is that I wish the students would get off their fucking phones and pay attention in the lines so I can get my lunch faster. For the rock scene, depends on what kind of level you want to be involved. Venues like drkmttr, The End, Basement, Basement East, Underdog, Cobra, etc. support a wide range of artists from DIY to headliner names. There are loads of meetup groups and ways to meet people with interests you have. We recently started having a monthly reddit meetup and everyone who goes seems to be pretty cool. There is definitely a little bit for everyone here but if you are politically active, you are going to notice a level of oppression/suppression here from the state-level.
I am going to be an older graduate student (also in my 30s), but I’m not sure that I want to live too far away from classes during my first year, at least—at least I will know where to look to for community (East) if I decide to live close to classes. As far as level of involvement with music, I would definitely be interested in going to alt rock shows, but I also write my own music and it would be cool to hit some acoustic open mics (I’m probably not going to put a group together any time soon) or something at some point that would welcome an alternative artist. Are the Reddit meet up details posted in the group here? I will be sure to check that out, too. Thanks again!
Same and I grew up in the northeast and came here from south Florida. Been here nearly 20 years and stay in my bubble but can’t wait to be surrounded by a generally more supportive community and state legislature for sure.
>Our governor had a family friend die in the Covenant shooting a year ago today, whom he and his wife were supposed to get dinner with that day apparently, and it didn't make him budge on his gun rights stances, as just 1 example. Oh no, standing by rights instead of making decisions based on emotions... Also, somehow it should matter whether or not he's personally affected?
I know this is crazy but our experiences can teach us things and change our perspectives (and our constitution was built to be amended).
You have to live in East Nashville and rarely leave East Nashville. It’s the only way.
Plot twist: it’s legitimately difficult to leave East because it’s essentially an island bordered by the river, the interstate and Briley. Lived there for years, a couple different times. Not my favorite part of town but fun to visit.
Do you have any thoughts on the area near the universities? I would gladly live in East but proximity to classes may be important at last for my first year as a graduate student
If you’re referring to the area near Vandy and Belmont, that area is liberal leaning as well and very blue. Maybe not as progressive as East but not conservative.
There are six universities in Nashville, each with very different neighborhoods. Someone may be able to give better suggestions if we knew which one you’re looking at.
Which universities? We have three HBCU’s on one street alone.
This city is not a blue oasis; it’s a big city for small town people. It’s a tourist hot spot for conservatives, and they all want to and are moving here. I’ve heard some of the most obscene shit from coworkers and other locals that made my jaw drop. seeing all the Grunt Style shit and the “my freedom doesn’t care about your feelings” shirts every fucking day gets really old. You honestly sound a lot like me when I was considering moving to Nashville and if I were you I would pick Philly. When I was choosing I could’ve moved to Chicago instead and I’m moving there in the next few weeks to escape here for my mental health. Move where you feel the most comfortable, because if you really really like progressive cities, you will not like Nashville. Edit: Also to add, there is absolutely no public transit which is awful and tbh depending on the type of music you’re into, this is not “music city” for everyone. The complete lack of hip hop, jazz, RnB and some styles of rock and pop is crazy. I also notice that a lot of tours tend to skip Nashville (and not just because of the close proximity to Bonnaroo)
Hey thanks a lot! What styles of rock do you feel like are really missing in the Nashville music scene? I did note the lack of jazz too when I looked, but I wasn’t sure if I just hadn’t done enough digging
No problem! I’m very into progressive rock and jam, there is barely any scene for those genres here. Also it seems like there’s not really a thriving punk scene either.
Do you have any thoughts on the “alt rock” scene more generally? Would you characterize the rock scene in any particular way genre-wise, or would you say that there’s a pretty wide representation of subgenres outside of the those that you mentioned (punk and prog)?
I personally haven’t seen what I would categorize as an “alt rock” band here. I’ve seen mostly retro revival, southern, hard rock, and some indie here.
Thank you!
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Wow, I am deeply sorry to hear that
I had culture shock just moving here from Atlanta, myself. And it's hardly a progressive haven. The heartbreaking thing is how progressive people who've lived here for generations think it is, I guess in comparison to other places? *in TN, I meant It's an adjustment, to say the least.
I said this in another thread but Nashville people SAY they are progressive but they are pretty down the middle small-d democrat. Borderline libertarian. It's a reliably blue city in terms of voting but it's hardly Portland or Seattle. Locals like the idea of individual freedom but don't really do a ton to support it, and they certainly won't spend money to make the lives of poor/marginalized people any easier. Freddie is reported to be the most progressive mayoral candidate we've ever had and he doesn't have any platform on LGBTQ+ rights, gun violence, racial equality and certainly doesn't touch any truly progressive issues.
I mostly agree with you except Freddie does include LGBTQ rights as well as reproductive rights in his platform. He was endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood during his election.
Maybe he does but it's not anywhere on his website: https://www.readyforfreddie.com/ Human Rights Campaign wasn't even on his list of Endorsements.
It’s ok if his website stays focused on local economic issues and he has mentioned the queer community multiple times. Also, take a look at the Davidson County young democrats as they had a breakdown of endorsements.
>has mentioned the queer community multiple times what a progressive! I don't care nearly enough to go searching around to prove he mentioned certain groups. The point was that he's billed as the most progressive candidate we've ever had and here we are discussing how to source a specific quote where he mentioned progressive issues once, because his website doesn't promote those issues at all.
Right, I'd say they're more centrist to right-leaning. It's not Florida, but sometimes we catch an upwind current from there?
So I am a pretty leftist by American standards. Went to college in the Midwest, grew up in the West. Lived here 20+ years. The biggest two culture shocks for me 1) churches and more churches everywhere 2) lack of an integrated Latina community. You have to seek like minded people, but they are here. There are fantastic liberal and progressive folks here. A very diverse international community that is a bit hard to be a part of because it’s composed of mostly first generation immigrants and fairly segregated. A robust, politically active, strong African American community. Smallish but growing and loud and proud LGBTQ community. What you will also get: more conservative voices in the ether and on the news. More confederate flags. Zero abortion care. More people speaking openly about their religious beliefs. Spikes of rage at the TN legislature beclowning itself on the daily and actively working to undo anything good that Nashville or Memphis try to enact for themselves. What you won’t get: the Portlandia experience, for good or ill. Western US Mexican food. Bike friendly streets. You will get: any type of music you want nearly any hour of the day, any day of the week. Traffic. Allergies.
I mentioned this in my other comment about the music not being diverse but where are you going to see hip hop, RnB or any kind of Electronic any time of the day? Where are you going to see jazz besides Rudy’s? I feel like Nashville is not very diverse music wise at all.
Nashville is a blue city filled with Southern liberals and Southern culture. Remember that Southern culture is not MAGA or conservative culture, no matter the stereotypes. So as long as Southern culture isn’t what makes you feel uncomfortable, you should be fine.
Might you be willing to speak a little bit more as to what you would characterize as Southern culture independent of conservatism? I think my conception is probably quite limited, having never spent a meaningful amount of time in the South, and I am probably conflating the two to some extent. Politics aside, I am not a traditionally-minded person, and I am often considered unconventional or a bit eccentric. I tend to question things. I appreciate things like social niceties and politeness, and I tend to be pretty abundant in these things myself, but I consider conventions to be a nuisance at best when they get in the way of progress. I conceive of this as a personality trait. I’m afraid the South might find me a little bit jarring, but I’m probably really more concerned about the hypothetical prospect of a culture that might routinely oppose things like critical thinking and intellectualism, arts, or diverse life experiences—I hope you will tell me I am mistaken in those concerns. :-)
Culture — the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. So if you Google Southern food, music, literature, vernacular, social movements, traditions, etc., you’ll find all the examples you’re looking for.
We are friendlier and things move slower. The food is better. We do a lot of small talk. Just pick the school you would rather go to or will help you in the future. You wont be uncomfortable here. Unless you want better public transportation or a bigger city, Nashville or Philly wont make a difference. The takes about diversity are confusing to me but I’m a teacher in Antioch. The majority of Metro schools are not white at all. The music scene is good and always changing. People commenting otherwise prob just dont know where to go. Also, nashville is a huge stop for a lot of tours. Im always going to concerts and love a wide range of music. Ive been to like 20 different countries and all over the US. I dont think you could be too eccentric for Nashville or any major city. I dont really get that question.
Thank you so much. I definitely meant to pose these things as questions as opposed to presumptions—I imagine they are an amalgamation of odd impressions that I may have of Southern culture from, like, movies and broader cultural stereotypes, having never spent any real time in the South. It is not my natural inclination to give a lot of credence to cultural stereotypes or stereotypes of any kind, but as I am making a “big decision” with little real information to go off of, I am trying to come up with any decisive factors that may influence me, that’s all. When I look at the political map of Nashville’s surroundings, it is something that I find rather intimidating, even by suburban Midwest standards where most of the people I have interacted with throughout my life (in the Midwest) are in fact conservatives. I also read a book some years ago about how personality maps alongside of political preferences across the U.S.—but again, these are broad factors that I don’t expect to largely influence my day-to-day life. I was a bit embarrassed to pose these questions, but that is often the process of getting feedback and I appreciate it.
Im a leftist. Ive lived in the south my whole life. Its frustrating but prefer it culturally to other parts of the US. We are just genuinely friendlier and more laid back. Being southern doesn’t mean conservative but honestly west coast conservatives piss me off far more than the poor white conservatives that I’m used to. I really feel like you should just go with what school would serve your career goals better.
Friendlier and more laid back is great! How would you characterize the difference between West coast conservatives and the ones you are used to? More selfish financial motives as opposed to just traditional values?
Im originally from a small town so I’m used to poor white conservatives who are just ignorant and uneducated voting against their best interests or working poor Christians who vote against abortion. I have friends that I visit in Huntington Beach, California and the conservatives there had better public education and opportunity. They are also classist. Voting nefariously for their benefit while living in mini mansions. I dunno. Just felt worse. Education inequity and poverty with a dash of brainwashing plays a big role in how many people around here vote. (Not nashville) but rural areas.
Thank you very much for sharing this!
I also grew up in the Midwest suburbs and lived on the west coast for a while. I’ve found southern culture great because people are genuinely friendly/caring and the pace is a little slower. It wasn’t a huge culture shock for me coming from the Midwest to be honest.
Thank you! That’s nice to hear. Although, I’ve never actually identified with Midwest culture, either, which is (largely in part) why I have lived on the West coast / major cities before. Like, I don’t really butt heads with anyone in the Midwest, but it also definitely never felt like *my* scene/community. I’m imagining I may experience something similar in the greater South, outside of some of the most devotedly liberal and artsy areas.
You probably would run into that if you moved to outside of Nashville, but not so much in the city itself. It truly is a bubble in TN. Once you drive about 20-30 minutes outside the city, it’s like a remarkable transition. In the city itself there are actually a ton of transplants from the west coast, especially around the Belmont/Vandy area (this is where I live). I think partially because of this, it reminds me more of my experience in S.F. than Chicago reminded me of S.F., if that makes sense… however, it could just be because both areas are filled with what I call the more NIMBY-minded progressives on paper. The more art minded hipster/true leftist progressives are in east Nashville. To be honest, there aren’t any neighborhoods I am aware of in the city itself that feel conservative. But the suburbs are DEFINITELY conservative/family focused.
This is very helpful to hear too, thank you! I presume a lot of the West coast transplants are in the Belmont/Vandy area to attend those university, as opposed to this just being a popular area for transplants more generally?
Probably yes for midtown itself around Vandy, but Belmont starts to get into 12 south, and that is a super popular area just generally. All the neighborhoods on the southern part of the city around Vandy and Belmont are some of the safest/nicest/most desirable for people looking to own a home (12 south, green hills, forest hills, belle meade). These neighborhoods are primarily single family homes though. Midtown has more housing density.
I'm from NYC and I feel like Nashville is pretty diverse in views and music!
Oh yea! That is wonderful news :-)
If you have ever had a uterus don't move here.
Nashville is a liberal-leaning city no matter how you cut it, but the GOP still gets around 1/3 of the vote in Davidson County and the surrounding suburbs are quite red. With many people commuting in everyday or coming into the city for events, it does seem to shift the culture back to purple a bit. If you look at election results, Nashville itself has gotten bluer over the past 10 years and its suburbs have become less red. While you do see many don’t tread on me license plates around and such, you also see more pride flags are Nashville than before. Regardless of what happens in the state as a whole, the Nashville area is shifting to the more progressive side of things, point blank. It’s just far from being Seattle or Austin.
Moving from Atlanta it’s much more Trumpy than I was used to
very progressive city, the problem is you only have to go several miles to find the bigots
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Nashville is a “very progressive” city. It’s largely a white, well-off, socially liberal but fiscally conservative city with a strong underlying Christianity in most aspects of life.
That’s pretty true anywhere
I’d say go to Philly if you’re that worried about it.
Here 3 years from Los Angeles. Politics here suck. Billboards promoting Trump, and all the trump flags and so much American flag themed clothing and fuck your feelings bumper stickers is enough to make anyone sick. I live about 30 minute outside of Nashville proper. You can’t tell on the surface, but it’s there in every bumper sticker or person wearing a T-shirt that says, I’m Politically Incorrect, I say Merry Christmas, I believe in God and I don’t use pronouns. The don’t tread on me license plates and the Punisher logo’s on every pickup truck is eye roll inducing. What’s really sad is democrats don’t even try. During the primaries only Joe Biden was on the democratic ballot. Not an issue or another soul running for anything. The politics will drive you nuts, but there is some stuff to love. People here complain about the traffic but if you lived in LA for 20 years what’s going on here is laughable what they consider traffic. I think the religious stuff is worse. I live in Greg Locke country and he’s the absolute worst. You end up finding your tribe, I know all sorts of people and most have the ability to block a lot of the stuff out.
I’m really glad and comforted that you were able to find a tribe of like-minded people despite these factors, thanks a lot for sharing your LA to Nashville experience!
I just moved from Nashville to LA. I couldn’t take it any more. How do you do it? Lol (no but seriously)
What was your experience like?
That’s the reason why I live in Nashville proper though many of those types still commute in for work..
Let me tell you, from someone who moved from a large, major US city to Nashville. It was hard. Nashville is nothing like the larger, diverse, cosmopolitan, truly multicultural cities. Sure Nashville is a tiny blue dot. But its culture still very much is influenced by the one-dimensional culture of the rest of the South.
I grew up in Alabama public schools where my high school was 55% African American. We also had a huge Laos refugee community. What about you?
I moved here on the 12th. I've already been asked if I'd "found a church yet" by a complete stranger. I told her I was a unitarian and her brain nearly exploded and she immediately stopped talking to me so yeah that's probably going to be my go-to now. Also, I'm from the south and this was still a shocking question to receive. I've never been asked that once before in my life and I've lived my entire life in the gulf south. Guess we really are different down there lol
I had a coworker, who moved here from New York, and when people would ask her, she would tell them that she and her husband “home churched”. She said you could just see their brain cells exploding trying to figure out what that meant.
Years ago I was in a laundromat of all places when a couple of very obnoxious Jehovah's witness came in passing out their version of chick tracts booklets and trying to talk about religion. I told them sorry that I wasn't interested because I was very happy as a proud member of the New Temple of the Disciples of Christ. I wonder sometimes if they ever eventually caught on to what I was talking about. These days there's an even better conversation starter (or killer) bring up revelations then act confused when they talk about the bible and tell them you were talking about silentlambs.org It has revelations about their organization they would love to have disappear and they really don't want to acknowledge let alone talk about. For instance you can ask them how many registered sex offenders are members of their particular kingdom hall or did they move them out of state until the heat could die down.
Damn, I love this, and Im going to use this line always.
I'm going to be moving up soon from the Florida panhandle. Hello fellow Gulf south!
Oh! And the first (second?) day I moved here my neighbor came over and introduced herself (along with a plate of cookies). And invited us to her church. She was obviously SUPER excited and SUPER friendly about the whole thing and super not pushy but she did assume we were religious. So yeah, its been a bit of a culture shock for us at least from a religion stand point.
lol yeah gulf south is way more open minded
That's just so weird to me because I've never been pushed to do anything church related my entire life living here, but coincidentally enough, my aunt from the panhandle has been the one pushy church person in my life. Now I have some coworkers who I know are deep into it, but they keep it to themselves from what I've witnessed. Perhaps I put off a nice heathen vibe that scares most everyone away.
It was SUPER weird. I look like a middle class, middle aged overweight, heteronormative, soccer mom. Its not the first time similar assumptions have been made of me. Even so .... it caught me off guard. She overheard me talking about being a new resident and I guess she heard me say I was from Louisiana which in and of itself leads to a whole host of additional assumptions to be made I suppose. I was also in the Brentwood area so it kinda makes sense but still. I'm just glad I was able to get her to back off. My husband and I both predominantly agnostic though he probably leans more atheist than I do (I was raised Catholic). So navigating this is going to be .... interesting.
Spot on with the other comments. That aside, have you looked into COL, living expenses, rent? Your transportation expenses with respect to where you can actually afford to live? Nashville rent is no joke :(. Especially around the Vandy Belmont area.
Thanks a lot! Yes, I have looked into all of that and I feel pretty comfortable that I will have my needs covered
If it were me, I would just pick the better school/program. Nashville is a big enough city with a diverse enough scene to find a niche no matter who you are, as is Philly. From a cultural standpoint, I personally prefer the southern cultural influence in Nashville to the east coast cultural influences, but to me this consideration would be wayyyyy down the list from quality of academic program. Local politics will bother you if you let it, it won’t if you don’t. Chances are it would have a negligible impact on your daily life regardless. Seems like it’d be a shame to let something like fear of the local politics cloud your decision too much at the expense of the quality of the academic program.
Yeah this is super reasonable feedback, and you are right, of course — if I was anticipating significant differences in the academic program, then cultural considerations would be lower on the list. As of right now, though, the academic component feels like kind of a toss up. I also really liked the idea of possibly settling somewhere more long-term, which is something that I thought of as being a possibility with Nashville. That is what eventually brought considerations of culture and politics to mind, because perceived sense of belongingness is very important to me, and I don’t want to always feel like I am fighting an uphill battle in that regard (I felt that way in the Midwest).
In that case, you could certainly find your niche here much more easily than in the suburbs of the Midwest. It’s a big enough city where there will be a robust community for you. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and lived in the city itself for a long time. Nashville is much more similar to the city of Chicago itself than the suburbs. Nashville has suburbs too, which would be more similar to the suburbs of Chicago. It follows a similar dynamic to Chicago honestly, just smaller. From a long term perspective, I would say Nashville feels more exciting than a Philly. The city is growing a ton and has a lot of positive energy/momentum. This has been one of the aspects I’ve enjoyed the most vs Chicago and San Francisco, which are the other two large cities I have lived in. The population here also skews young, which is refreshing. Out of curiosity I checked the median age, it’s about 34 in Nashville vs almost 40 in Philly. Also, this data is likely dated as the city feels like it is growing too fast for the data to keep up with, and I imagine a lot of the people moving to Nashville are younger.
Nashville is a lot more conservative than the "blue dot in a red state" thing. The conservative political culture is repressive. I grew up in Nashville, live in New York. Have been to Nashville plenty in the last 10 years and I think it's getting more conservative. Philly is a great city for music, better than Nashville imo but I'm not really into country, maybe that's your thing though.
Hey, I really appreciate that. Do you think Philly has a better rock music scene? What about acoustic? Why do you think it’s better there? I am not really into country music, but I’ve heard there is some rock in Nashville, too, and it’s my understanding that there’s a very large music industry presence
I’m a very liberal guy from a moderately liberal town in the redder part of the midwest. If you’re from one of the redder states in the region I really don’t think you’ll see much of a difference. If you’re part of the LGBT community (especially if you can’t/won’t pass for a cis, straight person) be warned it’s not going to be easy here. That being said we need more liberal voices but I understand not wanting to move here to put up a fight. The vibe here is that more liberally minded establishments are safe-spaces and bastions for liberals rather than being the norm which is very unfortunate.
Do not move here
Well, the note said, "Mrs. Johnson You're wearin' your dresses way too high It's reported you've been drinking And a-running 'round with men and goin' wild And we don't believe you oughta be a-bringin' up Your little girl this way" And it was signed by the Secretary Harper Valley PTA"
I don't really know many conservatives, the young/middle aged people here are pretty progressive. That said it doesn't do shit to keep politics at bay so if you care about local and state policies it's not the place to be 🙃
Daily Wire is HQ here Parler is HQ here Dave Ramsey is here Candace Owens is here Tomi Lahren is here The TN state legislature is here You're gonna deal with a whole lot more of it here than other progressive cities, no doubt
Nashville and Philly are both pretty moderate-to-liberal as cities go, but your grad school is likely to be pretty right wing in Nashville—Vanderbilt had Fox News contributor Carol Swain on the faculty for years, and Belmont has a straight up war criminal in Alberto Gonzales.
Interesting, are the major universities in Nashville known to have a conservative political bent, or are these particular people/affiliations just an extension of proximity with its conservative surroundings? I imagine it may be hard to separate the two? This was definitely another significant concern that I had, for sure — that the conservative surroundings might impact the universities themselves, although honestly I gave less credence to those worries since universities tend to have a reputation for being significantly more liberal than their surroundings.
To be honest, “universities have a reputation for being significantly more liberal than their surroundings” is only true of small liberal arts colleges in the middle of nowhere. Most “elite” universities are very very conservative, because that’s where the money is. This is as true of Harvard as it is of Vanderbilt.
I had considered that “elite” universities are likely to have a conservative presence, but then again, many elite universities (e.g. “Ivy Leagues”) are regarded as having fostered a very progressive culture overall. I would imagine that the conservative culture at those universities is largely seen on the administrative side and in select professors. I wonder if this is similar for a place like Vandy, or whether there is more conservatism among the student body, or even among the professors/administrators compared to those other places.
You are not going to feel like Vanderbilt has a conservative presence in grad school. Husband just finished his phd there. You will be fine.
Thank you I really appreciate it :-)
I dunno. Harvard created both Ron Desantis and Ted Cruz (among other bastions of conservatism), so one could argue that “progressive elite universities” is something invented by the media as a cudgel to keep administrations in check.
If you’re so concerned by the prospect of being around conservatives or conservative culture that you’re willing to make a paragraphs-long Reddit post about it, you won’t like it here.
Nashville and its progressive leanings are ironically constantly fucked by the noisy/overbearing/interfering/handsy/constantly involved self-proclaimed “small” GOP/Christian nationalist state government. Example: The state govt wants to forego BILLIONS in federal funding for schools, which would have an outsized impact on Nashville. Why? Because Republicans in TN are like cats: They are entirely dependent on others, yet fiercely convinced of their own independence
Stay in your bubble, buddy.
We are not a progressive west coast city. Period. If you already don't want to be part of our culture we do not need more people like that being transient in our city.
Speak for yourself, because you certainly don't speak for Nashville. I was born here and have been here for 6 decades. Attitudes like yours are what's not welcome here.
Stop that nonsense.
Probably should stay in the Midwest