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(upbeat music)

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- [Narrator] Nashville is a city known

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for its deep-rooted country music,

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its infamous hot chicken,
and its southern hospitality.

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But the country music Mecca of the south

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is now known for something else, growth,

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attracting over 100 people to
move there every single day.

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So how did Nashville become the seventh

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fastest-growing city in America?

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As Millennials flee insanely pricey cities

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like New York and San Francisco in search

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of a better cost of living
and more opportunity

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for growth, Nashville's
relatively affordable

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lifestyle has made it a prime destination

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for young professionals.

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(upbeat music)

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Katie MacLachlan and Robyn Donnelly

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both had successful, well-playing careers

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in New York but decided
to leave it all behind

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to move to music city.

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- One of there reasons I
moved down and why a lot

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of people move out of
New York, even, you know,

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I had a good job there, I had an apartment

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but there's this sense of still being

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in that rat race and getting up every day

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and grinding but not
feeling like you're really

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getting anywhere.

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So while I had a, you know, a great job

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and a great apartment, I didn't see how

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that would translate in the future

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to having a house or
having work-life balance

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or other aspects of my life that I wanted

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to be more fulfilled in.

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I didn't feel like New York City had that

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to offer unless you're a billionaire.

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(upbeat music)

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- When I moved to Nashville, I was like,

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"You know what, I'm gonna start a bar.

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"I can do it here."

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And then I spent one day
writing a business plan

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and I was like, "This is so boring alone.

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"Do you wanna do this with me?"

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- And I was like, "Sure, I've never worked

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"in a bar before but it sounds cool.

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"Let's do it."

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- Yeah.

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We had a certain budget
that would've never flown

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in New York.

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We would have had to have
like probably multiple

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investors and basically we got this place,

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we had a budget for
redesign, we stuck to it,

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and we opened and we had
a little bit of runway.

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And we haven't had to
invest any more money

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to date so fingers crossed
that we can keep that up.

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(upbeat music)

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- Walden is a neighborhood
bar in East Nashville.

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So I moved here in 2015
and even in the last

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three years, East Nashville
has changed so much.

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There are so many new
businesses popping up

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left and right.

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- The startup community
in Nashville is great.

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There are so many people
here that are so creative,

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talented, successful, and very friendly.

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It's a very close-knit community.

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I think we're all kind
of supporting each other

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with all of our endeavors.

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- I would say the majority of the people

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that we meet are in a similar situation.

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They have moved from another city

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and the majority of them are seeking

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that work-life balance or they wanna start

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something on their own,
and there's not that sense

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that you can do that in
New York or San Francisco.

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I think the unique thing about Nashville

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is that, even though if it's a city,

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you can be in a neighborhood and be seven

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minutes from downtown
and there's still housing

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that's available.

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(upbeat music)

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- [Narrator] Nashville's vibrant bar

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and restaurant scene is booming.

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And across the skyline,
cranes and new luxury

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high-rise apartments are a symbol

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of the city's meteoric rise.

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And the city isn't only
beneficial for business.

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With the cost of living
in Nashville nearly 50%

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lower than in New York,
the city is a great

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place for younger people to plant roots.

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- My favorite things about Nashville

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are the sense of community.

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I think that even though there are a lot

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of transplants here, when
you move to Nashville

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you feel like you're a part of it

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and everybody's sort of in it with you.

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And so I think that has helped not just

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like in our business but in, you know,

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that quality of life and
connecting with people.

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- Yeah, I've never had a better income

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to cost of living ratio than in Nashville.

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So that's, you actually get to enjoy

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what you're working so hard for too.

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- Both Robyn and I have been
able to buy our own homes.

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We're purchasing a condo across the street

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from the bar to do an Airbnb.

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So seeing it working, like moving here

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and starting our own
thing and then being able

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to reinvest that money back into ourselves

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and our future, is really valuable.