Berry Farms Development, the Cool Springs of South Williamson County

[fieldmarshaldj]

I'd say Clayton is more comparable to Fort Lauderdale. Though Ft. Laud is much bigger... and NOT a suburb..

I'm sure that some 20 years ago Clayton had no downtown... probably was just a suburb, and probably had some office parks..

Clayton is the county seat of St. Louis County with roughly 1,000,000 (3 times what St. Louis City is now), and it was building substantial structures as long ago as the 1950s (when the county was matching or exceeding the population of the declining old city, which once had close to 1,000,000 itself). Its small population of about 16k belies the fact that it has a skyline on par with cities 20 times its size.

[linclink]

People around Murfreesboro do mostly consider themselves a suburb of Murfreesboro, yet most of them drive to Nashville for work. I always ask them where they say they are from if the travel to, say, Chicago or NYC???

I'd guess they say they are from Murfreesboro. Likewise, my friends who live in Franklin never say they are from Nashville, they always say they are from Franklin. When they com down and friends ask them where that is, they say, about 40 miles from Nashville. That way the person can visualize where they are from, and yet know that they don't live in Nashville, but in Franklin. I've always found it a bit silly to say you are from one city (always the big one), when you'r really NOT.... and it seems especially silly when you are not even in the same county. I don't know, I guess counties don't really mean anything in Middle Tennessee... but down here, if your not in the same county, you might as well be in a different state. So, I guess thats why it seems so strange to me to be worried about what someone does or says a county away.

As for Clayton, it seems to me like its own city. And thats cool. Now St. Louis has to work to get people and businesses to come to town. But it can't sit and complain that its all Clayton's fault that they lost their downtown residents. StL is an AWESOME city, with amazing architecture, and I am sure lots of people would love to live in those beautiful buildings downtown... they just need to improve what needs improving, and to really be proactive. Same goes for Nashville... downtown is great, and only getting better... be proactive and don't sweat the competition!!!

[Relient J]

Sounds like it would be in the best interest of Murfreesboro to help Nashville land jobs???

I don't follow you. It seems to me that Murfreesboro should continue trying to attract jobs to Murfreesboro, which they've been doing.

People around Murfreesboro do mostly consider themselves a suburb of Murfreesboro, yet most of them drive to Nashville for work. I always ask them where they say they are from if the travel to, say, Chicago or NYC???

I certainly can't speak for everyone who lives here in Murf-vegas (I've only been in the state for just under a year myself), but whenever I tell people where I've moved to, I try to always say, "Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which is about 30 miles southeast of Nashville." After all, I don't live in Nashville.

[Rural King]

I personally view everything not in Davidson County, as not Nashville. I have never associated Murfreesboro or Franklin as suburb towns, but rather as cities in their own right, just like Clarksville. I can see the viewing and association of the area towns into a single metro economy to SOME extent, but not to the point of viewing them as losing their seperate identities to Nashville. Just my take on this current discussion.

[linclink]

I personally view everything not in Davidson County, as not Nashville. I have never associated Murfreesboro or Franklin as suburb towns, but rather as cities in their own right, just like Clarksville. I can see the viewing and association of the area towns into a single metro economy to SOME extent, but not to the point of viewing them as losing their seperate identities to Nashville. Just my take on this current discussion.

Thank You Rural King!!!!!!!!! Finally... the voice of reason!! hehehehe... need I say I agree 100%!?!?!?!?

Clayton is the county seat of St. Louis County with roughly 1,000,000 (3 times what St. Louis City is now), and it was building substantial structures as long ago as the 1950s (when the county was matching or exceeding the population of the declining old city, which once had close to 1,000,000 itself). Its small population of about 16k belies the fact that it has a skyline on par with cities 20 times its size.

Hey FieldMarshalJ,

Thanks for the info on Clayton.. I didn't know all these facts about it...

[fieldmarshaldj]

Hey FieldMarshalJ,

Thanks for the info on Clayton.. I didn't know all these facts about it...

Sure thing. It's funny, I knew about the population stats regarding Clayton and STL County for a long time, but until someone mentioned that Clayton had a high-rise downtown the other day (because, after all, if someone says a town of 15-16k has high rises, it does sound a little suspicious !), I was surprised and didn't know that it had one. I always assumed Clayton to just be a residential suburb with a small downtown just containing the county offices (while I've been to the county, stayed out by the airport, and in St. Louis City, where a relative of mine was once the city's most famous Mayor in the early 20th Century, I never had been out to Clayton). As they say, you learn something new every day.

[Lexy]

I don't follow you. It seems to me that Murfreesboro should continue trying to attract jobs to Murfreesboro, which they've been doing.

I certainly can't speak for everyone who lives here in Murf-vegas (I've only been in the state for just under a year myself), but whenever I tell people where I've moved to, I try to always say, "Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which is about 30 miles southeast of Nashville." After all, I don't live in Nashville.

I say Nashville. Nobody has ever heard of Murfreesboro, and nobody probably cares about it. Which is just fine with me. But you figured that I am sure. LOL!!! And really, I have lived in this part of the country all my life and Murfreesbor and Nashville are one long conitunous city via Murfreesboro Road. The development doesn't stop at the Davidson County line and pick up at 840. Lets be real here people. The two cities, which it's actually four cities, are all one be aglomeration. Murfreesboro IS a suburb by all census definitions. Commute patterns lend credance to that clearly.

[Relient J]

^ If you tell people you live in Murfreesboro, that'll be one more person in the world who has heard of the city. We don't have to leave promotion of the city up to the government!

[LA_TN]

Agreed. I knew when I posted last that it would produce interesting comments - it did.

There are people in the surrounding counties that consider themselves from Nashville and some that consider themselves from their respective communties. I'll let you draw your on conclusions.

[Relient J]

^ It's the same problem with Atlanta. I lived in North Georgia for a few years, and its so tempting to just mean "metro Atlanta" when you say "Atlanta." However, this doesn't always do justice to those communities. I have a friend from Smyrna, Georgia (just north of the Perimeter) who is very much of the opinion that nothing outside of the Perimeter (I-285) should be considered Atlanta. Now, this isn't logical at all purely in terms of the MSA, but it is indicative of the pride she has for Smyrna and the way she feels about Atlanta.

[LA_TN]

I think you will find that the people that view themselves as Smyrna or Doraville or Murfreesboro or Franklin rather than Atlanta or Nashville are the ones who are 'fleeing' the city due to crime/taxes/etc. They all think they live in Utopia but in 10 years they will move again to New Utopia.

[Rural King]

^ I respectfully disagree. Now there may well be lots of folks who move from Nashville to those towns, or to them and not Nashville from other regions for those reasons, but I completely disagree with the notion these towns can not, have not, and cannot keep their own identities. They are county seats in many cases, they are seperate entities all together, and simply legally and physically aren't Nashville, nor should they have to fall in line to the interests of their neighboring city if they choose not to; being that they and their counties are completely seperate and sovereign legal entities.

If I was to move to Murfreesboro or Franklin or their respective counties, I wouldn't claim to be a Nasvhillian either, because I would not view myself as one nor legally be one, since I would simply not be living within the boundaries of the Metro Government of Nashville/Davidson County.

[Relient J]

I think you will find that the people that view themselves as Smyrna or Doraville or Murfreesboro or Franklin rather than Atlanta or Nashville are the ones who are 'fleeing' the city due to crime/taxes/etc. They all think they live in Utopia but in 10 years they will move again to New Utopia.

I consider myself a Murfreesboro resident because I am one. I am not a Nashville citizen, nor am I ashamed of my city. Rural King is right on. I don't view Nashville as either a utopia or a dystopia. I have mostly positive feelings about Nashville. I'm not here to escape Nashville. My wife and I moved from Tallahassee, Florida to Murfreesboro, Tennessee so that I could work on a masters degree from MTSU.

[Lexy]

^ If you tell people you live in Murfreesboro, that'll be one more person in the world who has heard of the city. We don't have to leave promotion of the city up to the government!

You see though, I would rather them NOT know that Murfreesboro even exsist. That's my thing, LOL!

[cheeriokid61]

So would you not like people to know that Nashville can survive so well with a large city in a neighboring county, or that Nashville can have a suburb that has 80,000 people? I know that when I see a city with a large suburb, I think, "Wow, that must be a big city to have such a large suburb." That's just the way I look at it.

[Lexy]

So would you not like people to know that Nashville can survive so well with a large city in a neighboring county, or that Nashville can have a suburb that has 80,000 people? I know that when I see a city with a large suburb, I think, "Wow, that must be a big city to have such a large suburb." That's just the way I look at it.

No. I just don't like Murfreesboro. LOL!!! I could care less what other people think about Nashville or Murfreesboro honestly. In all honesty, if they think sprawling masses of infrastructure and vinyl sided homes makes Nashville that much more huge, then more power to them. I would rather they get a positive experience of Nashville from the urban life of downtown and around the CBD, as opposed to the suburbanites life in Franklin and Murfreesboro. That is not to belittle anyone who lives there because that is their perogative and ultimatly, they contribute to the overall growth of Nashville.

Did I ramble a bit?

[Relient J]

^ I, on the other hand, would love to show them Murfreesboro's downtown square, the beautiful old houses on Main St., the Stone's River Greenway Trail, a football game at MTSU, the beautiful new Gateway Overlay District, and the Stone's River National Battlefield (of which I've only seen the McFadden Farm area up close unfortunately).

Then I'd take them up to Nashville to see the sights there.