Are you thinking about moving to Clarksville, Tennesee? Are you wanting to make sure you have considered all the pros and cons before making the final call? If you are finding yourself in this position, this article can help you gain some more information about the reasons you should not move to Clarksville, Tennesee.
To learn more about some of the reasons you should not move to Clarksville, Tennesee, keep reading.
1. Summers are Hot and Humid
Summertime in Clarksville is very hot and very humid. If you haven’t experienced summers with intense heat and high humidity, you are in for quite the experience in Tennessee. During the summer it is common for temperatures to be around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but with humidity added to that, it can often feel like the temperature is above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are not used to extremely hot summers and don’t do well in hot environments, Clarksville isn’t the place to be.
Such a hot climate also means that you will miss out on most of the other seasons. During the winter, it rarely gets below freezing, so you likely won’t have any snow days.
2. It is Overshadowed by Nashville
Nashville is about an hour’s drive away from Clarksville. Since it is the capital of the state, it is a lot more popular and receives a lot more funding and attention. When concerts or events are coming to Tennesee, they are going to choose Nashville over Clarksville. Nashville has better nightlife and so many more fun things to do. If you want to make sure you have a lot of fun where you choose to move, you shouldn’t choose to move to Clarksville.
3. Many Military Families Live Here
The United States Army base Fort Campbell is less than 30 minutes away from Clarksville. Many people who work at the base choose to live in Clarksville because it suits their needs better than Fort Campbell. The military typically has really great people working for them, but they are very transient.
Most people in the Army have to move every couple of years and never end up putting down roots in their community. For the rest of Clarksville, this means that your neighbors will be changing all the time, which may make it difficult to make friends.
4. Severe Weather Happens Often
With Tennessee being on the edge of Tornado Alley, there are a lot of severe weather occurrences that will be avoided. However, that does not mean that Clarksville is completely free of any natural disasters. Because of where Tennessee is located on the map, in the lower Midwest and upper South, thunderstorms are frequent and severe. Tornados are also possible, though they are not as common as thunderstorms.
Thunderstorms can cause flooding and make driving extremely dangerous. If you are someone who hasn’t experienced a lot of intense weather conditions and doesn’t want to start, staying out of this part of the country would be a good idea.
5. Drugs and Crime are Prevalent
There is a high level of crime and violence in Eastern Tennessee, including Clarksville. During a 2018 FBI speech
, they recognized that Eastern Tennesee has a huge issue with illegal pain clinics and opioid abuse. The crime rate has dropped in the past few years but was at nearly 8% in 2021.
With this in mind, if safety is your number one priority, Clarksville is not the place you want to move to. While there are neighborhoods that have more drug use and violence than others, they are relatively hard to find if you don’t know the area well.
6. Politics Create a Lot of Conflicts
Clarksville has plenty of supporters for conservative and liberal ideals. There are a lot of people with vastly differing opinions, which creates conflict in the community. If you do not like getting involved in politics, or if you shy away from debates, Clarksville is not a good fit for you.
There are a lot of local churches contributing to the conservative population, but there is also Austin Peay State University that contributes to the liberal population. Residents say that the city feels mostly liberal, but the surrounding county feels very conservative. Election time is a big deal in Clarksville.
7. Traffic is Constant
While there are options for public transportation to help you get from place to place within the city of Clarksville, if you are wanting to travel from Clarksville to any other city within the state, you will need to learn to love being in the car for long periods of time. The traffic in this city is insane. Some parts of Tennesee are fairly quiet and empty, but not Clarksville. Everywhere that radiates from Nashville experiences heavy traffic, including Clarksville.
A lot of people go through Clarksville in order to go to Nashville, and thousands of people visit and move to Nashville every year. The I-24 highway crosses right through town. If you are someone who doesn’t do well with traveling and being on the road for long periods of time, you may just have to stay put in Clarksville or live in another town that has better infrastructure.
8. Tennessee is Landlocked
Tennessee is a landlocked state, which means that there are no large bodies of water surrounding the state. There are small lakes within the state, but as far as having access to any oceans, there is nothing. If you are someone who has grown up on the beach and close to the water their whole lives, this may be an adjustment. If all you have ever known is being landlocked, then you may be alright.
Being landlocked might not sound too terrible for your day-to-day life, but it is really frustrating if you ever try to plan vacations or a fun weekend trip. If you live in Clarksville, Tennessee, you will have to travel long distances and pay a lot of money if you want to go on a beach trip.
9. Clarksville Doesn’t Fit into a Category
Until you start going in the direction of Nashville, everywhere you look, there is farmland for miles and miles throughout Clarksville. This city is sometimes described as having “small town charm,” and many people live on farms.
However, there is also a small downtown area, a university, and a nearby military base, so this city is more than just a farming community. It has the population and crime of a big city but the layout and politics of a small town. If you are from a big city, Clarksville will likely feel too small and lack the progression you want. If you are from a small town, Clarksville will seem hectic and dangerous.
10. Outdoor Activities are Limited
The majority of the open land in Clarksville is farmland. That puts a limit on where you can go for any type of outdoor adventure like hiking or fishing. If you are someone who is constantly in the outdoors and would want to explore the backwoods of Tennessee, Clarksville is not a place where you can do that very easily.
If you want to find outdoor activities, you will have to travel to find good hiking trails or camping spots. Water activities are the most difficult to find since Tennesee is landlocked and has minimal lakes.
11. Tennessee is Always Growing
Many of the larger cities in Tennessee are rapidly growing, including Clarksville. Clarksville has been seeing steep and consistent growth over the last few decades that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. From 2015 to 2020, Clarksville had a 13% growth rate. The population density is going up, creating an increasingly crowded and busy environment.
Living in a place with a high population density can make it difficult to feel like you have personal space and aren’t always on top of other people. This can also cause issues on the business level with job competition, cause overrun public transportation systems, and cause large crowds to gather in public amenities such as restaurants, movie theaters, museums, and parks. Cities often have trouble keeping up with population growth and don’t give enough funding and support to expanding infrastructure.
12. Country Music is Everywhere
If you are a country music fan, anywhere you go in Tennessee will be heaven for you. If you are someone who doesn’t care about country music or even avoids it, don’t come to Clarksville. It is extremely hard to avoid country music while living in Tennessee, especially with Nashville being the country music capital of the world. If you can tolerate the music, you should be okay, but it is important to note that you cannot escape it while living in Clarksville.
13. The Food Scene is Centered Around Barbeque and Whiskey
There are many different barbeque restaurants in Clarksville that the locals love. If you live in Clarksville, it is a requirement that you love barbeque. Many of the barbeque restaurants in Clarksville specialize in the spicy dry rub they put on their meat, which can be a deterrent for those who don’t particularly love foods with lots of spice. This is not a great place for someone who loves to try a high variety of different cuisines, as most restaurants feature southern food.
Whiskey is the alcohol of choice in Clarksville and throughout Tennessee. If you are someone who doesn’t care for whiskey as much as the locals, they will make it their mission to make sure that you become a lover of whiskey during your time in Tennessee. Whiskey drinking is considered a community activity, and locals take it seriously as a way to spend time with one another and plan many social events around drinking. If you don’t think you can ever come to love whiskey and barbeque, don’t move to Clarksville.
14. The River is Full of Sewage
Though it is not advertised publicly, many locals have noticed and complained about sewage being dumped into the local river. The city has been reprimanded by the Environmental Protection Agency, but residents say that they have just switched to dumping it in the middle of the night instead. Keep in mind that this is a river that is open for public swimming. However, the smell is atrocious and the rumors are very concerning. If you end up living in Clarksville, don’t swim in the river.
15. Houses are Expensive
Population growth has increased competition for housing, making prices go up and selling times go down. The average home price increased by 15% in just one year and is now at a median of $290,000. It is already expensive to buy a home in Clarksville, and the longer you wait, the more expensive it will be.
Unfortunately, it is usually not a quick process to buy a home in Clarksville. The competition means that homes sell fast, and if you don’t move to the city first, you may miss out on the home and have to start searching all over again. Buying a home in Clarksville is frustrating and expensive.
16. Historic Sites Bring Lots of Tourists
Clarksville is home to a lot of historic sites that bring tons of tourists from all over throughout the entire year. There is The Customs House, the As the River Flows Museum, the Dunbar Cave Complex, and many more attractions that locals will only enjoy maybe once or twice but bring in hordes of outsiders.
The constant influx of large numbers of tourists coming in and out of town can be overwhelming. If you are someone who enjoys the smoothness of routine and doesn’t like the frequent change of pace, Clarksville wouldn’t be a good place to be. Tourists cause increased traffic and crowd popular places in the city.
17. Professional Sports Teams are Close By
Having professional sports teams close by is good news if you are a sports enthusiast. The downside to this is that not everyone is a sports enthusiast. If you fall into the latter category, you will be disappointed to know that multiple professional sports teams surround the Clarksville area.
The major way this would affect you in Clarksville is the frequent incoming of players and fans that would be passing through or staying the night in town. This causes a large influx of people to come into town during tourist, baseball, and football season.
