Living On Campus In Historic Downtown Franklin, TN

08/07/2009

Lifestyle

Many of you have asked me lately about what it means to live on campus in historic downtown Franklin, TN. This question pops up as a result of conversations on twitter between a few of us who “live on campus”.

Historic-Downtown-Franklin-TN

You see… There are a few of us who are really close friends that live within a three block radius of each other in downtown Franklin. We are all friends on twitter and we are all friends in real life. We share meals together, work together, celebrate birthdays and special occasions together… we experience life together. We are much like family and we all support each other very well.

I mean… that’s what friends do.

The whole concept of living on campus actually came from our friend Brock Gill (who visits campus often) as a few of us were sitting at Merridee’s having breakfast one day.

Brock said, “you know… if you live in downtown Franklin, then you live on campus. You can walk to anywhere in downtown Franklin right from your house. There’s a book store, places to eat, places to shop, and as you walk back and forth you get to know the shop owners like they are on staff as professors. Then you have Merridee’s – This place is like the student center. It’s not open for dinner but those living on campus come by here during the day for coffee or a quick bite and in the process you run into all these people you know. Just like going into the student center.”

As we sat and listened to Brock, we all laughed and said “you know… you are right!”

And he is… we even have a post office, 3 churches, a starbucks, 4 incredible bars, a Ben and Jerry’s, an outdoor apparel store, a round about and some of the best restaurants in the Nashville area…right here in downtown Franklin, TN. Not to mention the historic Franklin theatre, which we would all love to see open back up, and an incredible amount of civil war history that surrounds us.

All of this… in three blocks. Pipe in a little Disney or John Williams music, throw in a castle at the end of the street and who needs to go to Orlando! Main Street USA IS downtown Franklin, TN!

Me, Randy Elrod and Michael Hyatt at one of the many festivals in Downtown Franklin, TN

Campus Dwellers - Me, Randy Elrod and Michael Hyatt at one of the many festivals in Downtown Franklin, TN

For us, it’s about community and living life well.

Enjoying those spontaneous gatherings, great meals, and masterful bottles of wine. The conversations are never lacking and the friendships grow with no agenda except to live life as neighbors building a community that strives to make a difference.

Some of you might not live on campus like we do, but you live in community with several friends. What do you love about your neighbors, your community, or your campus? Are you taking advantage of growing friendships and building each other up? Are you coming together to make a difference?

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  • http://intensedebate.com/people/stephanieinlex stephanieinlex

    Great post. If only everyone had this kind of community and spontaneity! My two closest friends here live three houses away and 6 miles away. The six-mile-away one rides her bike out to our houses, and we cook together, have tea/coffee, and talk (yes, we ride to her house, too). We also go cycling with each other on a whim. There are 5-10 other members to my 'urban family,' including my small group members and their family units. I have a mentor (well, not officially, but I consider her one) who is from Montreal, and she and I have discussed how much value there is in community–dropping in and having tea and just doing life together. We need to be breaking down those walls that privacy fences, busyness, and pat answers like "I'm fine" have built up.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/DerekDRobertson DerekDRobertson

    I know how you feel cause I live in Lenox Village and they are going after the same goal. Now granted its not historical but everything is in walking distance.

  • Melissa Fitzpatrick

    Love this, Spence! Makes me want to move!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/MaureenTA MaureenTA

    Wow, its beautiful! I'm a bit jealous :)

  • http://mandycsingleton.blogspot.com MandySingleton

    I was born and raised in Franklin but not in Historic Downtown so I'll be honest, it's always kind of intimidates me. Like visiting the campus of your rival and you don't connect because it's not YOUR campus. Maybe you have to live there to get it but maybe I could give it another try. I've actually wanted to just go spend a day downtown looking at the shops and seeing what goes on because I don't even know my way around. We'll see how it goes…

  • http://thelmabowlen.blogspot.com Thelma Bowlen

    DTF was one of the deciding factors that made me and my daughter pack our bags and move to TN from Orlando. I interviewed for a job and the first place we were taken to after landing at BNA was Puckett's. After our first taste of sweet potato fries and a pulled pork bbq sandwich, we were in love.

    As for where we live in Nashvegas, it's not a campus but we did live on one when we were in the Philippines. It was a high-rise condo in the middle of a thriving city, right next to three malls (the Philippines has dozens!), across the street from the radio station I worked at, and a block away from the Light Rail Transit (LRT to the locals).

    I miss the convenience and the bustle of being in the center of all the action.

  • http://debsperfectbite.blogspot.com/ Debbie

    this is East Nashville in a nutshell. Except we're more like a commune than a campus. You know, since we're all really hippies at heart. :o )

  • http://www.nextgenerationlaw.com Kevin Thompson

    Awesome blog, Spence. I love downtown Franklin. I think you and I have similar interests i.e. travel, sports, virtual offices, etc. Glad to meet you.

  • Veronica Jones-Brown

    Nice article, sounds like living in Franklin is an extraordinary experience.

  • http://flowerdust.net anne jackson

    we sound like a cult.
    i like it.

  • Randy Elrod

    Here's to the road less traveled. I'm glad I have the rare opportunity to walk it! With you and others!
    Isn't is a sad commentary that real community and sacremental living sounds "cultish".
    A fellow traveler, student, cult member, whatever you choose to call it.

  • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/torybee torybee

    I admit; I'm jealous. Where I live it's such a large city, so spread out, I rarely bump into anyone I know while out and about. In fact, we're all so busy that it's hard to schedule time to do anything with community, or even great friends. I do have neighbours but rarely do much with them.
    When my husband and I were first married we lived in Seattle for a few years. Seattle is also a fairly large city with several distinctly defined communities. First we lived on Queen Anne Hill and would walk to church, walk to coffee houses, places to eat, shop. etc. Many of our church friends also lived on the Hill so we'd bump into them often since we all seemed to "haunt" the same coffee houses, bakeries and restaurants. Plus, life was simpler then with less money, less demands and no kids.
    Now where I live it's just harder and I don't know if it's just where I am in life, being a wife and mother of 3 or just the fast paced lifestyle of the area I live in. There's so many demands and yet even I, a self proclaimed introvert, desire community and connection. So when I see your tweets or your blog I do miss the tight knit sense of community I lack here and wonder what to do to achieve what you and your friends possess. (plus, you really seem to like each other; what to do if you have someone in your group you don't really like so much?…. random question, I know!)

  • http://www.kristensbookjungle.com Kristen Howe

    Spence, thanks for the follow. I'm amazed you're an triathlon runner. That's inspiring, especially during the Iron Man Competition. I wish you luck. Nice photo of Tennessee.

  • http://www.coolsprings.com Cool Springs

    Thats awesome. I can appreciate the simplicity, efficiency and community one has when truely able to live, work and play in one area. The first chance for that in Cool Springs TN will be the new McEwen Town Center. Its unfortunate the Cool Srings area doesnt have that type of atmosphere already.

  • http://www.twitter.com/pirch pirch

    That's what my town is like, a huge campus. The engineering crowd has their hang out, the poli-sci crowd theirs, etc. etc. We all are in the same school but don't have classes together, but do see each other all over. What a great analogy.

  • http://www.callwhenyougetthere.com Jenn Calling Home

    Community to me is all spread out, not contained in a neat little microcosm or campus (how I wish it were!). Usually, all it takes is a trip to our local coffee shop and I'm bound to bump into someone I know. Franklin sounds very inviting. I imagine the music scene is pretty awesome there, as well. Is that right? Maybe you can share a little on that in a future post. Blessings!

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