2nd Ave North, Sulphur Dell (North Capital Area)

Downtown Nashville as a place to live is not really what it should be given that it has a) fabulous nightlife b) the Ryman c) The Frist d) a riverfront and e) did I mention a fabulous night life. Maybe that's the problem. The old converted warehouse lofts in this part of town are simply awesome, with exposed metal and brickwork, and one with its own roof-garden/pool, but the simple fact is that this is, at the end of the day, a club district. People from Nashville - and more so from other places - come here to eat, drink, hear music and perhaps even attend a football game. This makes their awareness of a resident's need to sleep of minimal concern at best. It's true that some of the louder clubs are farther up Broadway, but there are still plenty of places for nighttime entertainment quite literally under your nose. There is a wish in Nashville - or perhaps a marketing ploy - to make downtown a hip place to hang out and to live, but if it is a movement at all, it is a slow one. Downtown Nashville actually has loads to offer, so it's sad to think that the movement may never truly take off. But many believe that once the real estate market picks up and The Gulch (premier midtown/downtown development) fills up, the enthusiasm for living here will spill over into the rest of older, and in this case historic, downtown. For now unless you're a club promoter, music promoter, club goer or someone who simply prefers not to sleep, I'd look elsewhere.