Nashville has a lot more location variety than Broadway might lead you to believe.
Within a relatively compact area, you can move between historic residential streets, contemporary architecture, industrial warehouses, colorful storefronts, polished commercial districts and neighborhoods that can play as wonderfully anonymous American suburbia.
For producers, photographers and directors considering Nashville for a commercial, advertising campaign, branded shoot, music video or film project, here's a quick guide to some of the city's most useful neighborhoods from a location scouting perspective.
Downtown Nashville
The look: Urban, energetic, commercial, historic, unmistakably Nashville when you want it to be.
Downtown gives you some of Nashville's densest urban environments: office buildings, parking structures, historic architecture, bridges, hotels, alleys and city streets.
And then, obviously, there's Broadway.
If you need neon, honky-tonks, rooftop bars, live music and crowds, you know where to find them.
But downtown can also provide much more neutral city environments if you frame it carefully. Depending on the creative, certain streets and buildings can play as a more generic American downtown without putting a cowboy boot in the shot.
For productions involving public streets, sidewalks or production parking, you'll likely need to coordinate with the Metro Nashville Film + Special Events Permit Office.
Good for: City streets, hotels, nightlife, office looks, rooftops, parking garages, historic commercial architecture and unmistakable Nashville.
East Nashville
The look: Eclectic, residential, creative, colorful, lived-in.
East Nashville is one of the city's most versatile areas for lifestyle work.
You'll find historic cottages, Craftsman homes, bungalows, brick houses, contemporary new construction, neighborhood restaurants, bars, coffee shops, small commercial strips and plenty of residential streets with character.
Some pockets feel polished and design-forward. Others feel much more casual and lived-in.
That range makes East Nashville especially useful for commercial lifestyle photography where the location needs personality without feeling overly produced.
Areas including Five Points, Lockeland Springs, Eastwood, Inglewood and surrounding neighborhoods can all offer distinctly different residential and commercial environments.
Good for: Lifestyle, family, food and beverage, residential, fashion, neighborhood businesses and contemporary Americana.
Germantown
The look: Historic, polished, urban residential.
Germantown is one of Nashville's strongest options when you need historic architecture but still want to feel close to downtown.
The neighborhood combines brick sidewalks, historic homes, mature trees, restaurants, contemporary residential buildings and renovated commercial properties.
It can feel sophisticated without becoming overly formal.
For advertising and lifestyle projects, Germantown can work particularly well when the brief calls for a walkable, established urban neighborhood rather than downtown skyscrapers or suburbia.
Good for: Historic homes, upscale lifestyle, restaurants, residential streets, walkable neighborhood scenes and polished urban environments.
Wedgewood-Houston
The look: Industrial, creative, contemporary.
Wedgewood-Houston — usually shortened to WeHo locally — is one of the places we'd start looking when the brief calls for something a little less pretty.
Warehouses, industrial buildings, loading areas, studios and older commercial properties sit alongside newer developments, galleries and creative businesses.
That mix can give productions access to industrial textures without traveling far from downtown Nashville.
It also works well when you're trying to create something more contemporary or design-driven rather than traditionally Southern.
Good for: Industrial, fashion, automotive, warehouses, studios, gritty commercial environments and contemporary architecture.
The Nations
The look: Residential-meets-industrial, evolving Nashville.
The Nations is another useful neighborhood when you need a mix.
Former industrial properties sit alongside restaurants, breweries, newer homes, apartments and residential streets.
Depending on where you point the camera, you can get a completely different environment within a few blocks.
That makes it particularly useful for productions that need several complementary looks without making a major company move.
Good for: Residential, lifestyle, industrial, restaurants, breweries and contemporary Nashville.
12 South
The look: Polished, colorful, walkable, lifestyle-friendly.
12 South is one of Nashville's more recognizable lifestyle neighborhoods.
You'll find boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops, murals, renovated homes and tree-lined residential streets within a relatively small area.
It photographs well.
Which also means it's popular.
For a small footprint or the right private property, it can be a great option. For a larger production, you'll want to think carefully about parking, pedestrian traffic and where the production itself is going to live.
Good for: Fashion, retail, food and beverage, lifestyle, residential and colorful neighborhood scenes.
Belmont + Hillsboro Village
The look: Collegiate, historic, residential, classic Nashville.
The areas around Belmont and Hillsboro Village offer a useful combination of older homes, sidewalks, neighborhood retail and university architecture.
You'll find tree-lined residential streets, brick buildings, historic houses, cafes and commercial storefronts that can feel much more established than some of Nashville's rapidly developing neighborhoods.
If the brief needs college town, young lifestyle or classic residential Nashville, this area can be worth exploring.
Filming on university property is a separate conversation, so productions interested in campus locations should coordinate directly with the applicable institution.
Good for: College looks, residential, cafes, young lifestyle, historic homes and neighborhood retail.
Music Row + Midtown
The look: Commercial, music industry, urban neighborhood.
Music Row is one of those Nashville locations that can be surprisingly flexible.
Yes, there are recording studios and music-industry offices everywhere.
But there are also older homes converted into businesses, commercial buildings, restaurants, parking lots and streets that don't necessarily announce where you are.
Midtown adds hotels, bars, restaurants and a denser commercial environment.
Good for: Offices, music-industry environments, restaurants, bars, commercial streets and generic urban Nashville.
Sylvan Park
The look: Established, residential, approachable.
If the creative calls for a neighborhood that simply feels like home, Sylvan Park is a good place to start.
The area has older homes, front yards, sidewalks, mature trees and a small neighborhood commercial district.
It can feel charming without becoming too precious.
For family, healthcare, home and lifestyle advertising, that's often exactly what you need.
Good for: Family lifestyle, residential, healthcare, home, neighborhood restaurants and approachable Americana.
Green Hills
The look: Upscale residential, polished, suburban.
Green Hills gives productions access to larger homes, established residential streets, retail and a more affluent suburban environment while remaining relatively close to central Nashville.
Depending on the property, you can find traditional architecture, renovated homes and more contemporary residential looks.
This is another area where private homes can be more useful than the neighborhood itself.
Good for: Upscale residential, family, fashion, healthcare, retail and polished lifestyle.
Belle Meade
The look: Estates, acreage, traditional architecture, established wealth.
When the brief calls for something larger, Belle Meade is worth looking at.
The area is known for substantial homes, mature landscaping, stone walls, winding residential roads and larger properties.
Some locations can provide the combination productions love: beautiful architecture plus actual room to operate.
Access to private properties is obviously the key here, and larger productions should also consider neighborhood restrictions, parking and production footprint when scouting.
Good for: Luxury, automotive, estates, upscale lifestyle, fashion and traditional residential architecture.
Donelson
The look: Mid-century, suburban, accessible.
Donelson can be especially interesting for producers who aren't looking for the newest or trendiest version of Nashville.
You'll find ranch houses, mid-century homes, established suburban streets, older commercial properties and larger lots.
It's also conveniently positioned near Nashville International Airport.
For national advertising where Nashville isn't supposed to look specifically like Nashville, areas like Donelson can be incredibly useful.
Good for: Mid-century, suburbia, family, healthcare, automotive and classic American residential.
Madison
The look: Older commercial, suburban, retro, less polished.
Sometimes you don't need a cute coffee shop.
Madison has older strip malls, commercial roads, motels, mid-century buildings, residential neighborhoods and properties that haven't all been polished into the newest version of Nashville.
From a scouting perspective, that's valuable.
The locations that aren't trying to be photogenic are sometimes exactly the locations we're looking for.
Good for: Retro commercial, Americana, suburban, motels, automotive, character locations and everyday America.
Inglewood
The look: Residential, green, mid-century-meets-historic.
Just north of East Nashville, Inglewood offers a quieter residential environment with ranch homes, brick houses, older properties, mature trees and larger yards.
It can provide some of East Nashville's character without always feeling as commercially active as the neighborhoods closer to Five Points.
For lifestyle and residential work, there's a lot to explore.
Good for: Family, residential, mid-century, lifestyle, healthcare and suburban-Americana looks.
Which Nashville Neighborhood Should You Scout?
That depends entirely on what the creative needs to say.
If you need industrial, we'd probably start around Wedgewood-Houston.
If you need historic and polished, Germantown deserves a look.
If you need character-filled residential, start exploring East Nashville.
If you need mid-century suburbia, Donelson and parts of Inglewood become interesting.
If you need large upscale residential properties, look toward Green Hills and Belle Meade.
And if you need Nashville Nashville?
We'll see you on Broadway.
The bigger point is that Nashville doesn't have one look.
Within a relatively small radius, the city moves from dense downtown streets to historic neighborhoods, industrial corridors, suburban ranch homes and large residential properties. Go a little farther outside the city and you're quickly into farms, forests, small towns and open Tennessee countryside.
That's what makes Nashville such an interesting location market.
Need Help Finding the Right Nashville Neighborhood?
Nashville Location Company provides location scouting, sourcing, vetting, location management and permitting support throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Send us your creative brief, reference images or location specs and we'll help narrow down which Nashville neighborhoods — and which specific properties within them — make the most sense for your production.
Because sometimes the answer isn't finding a location that looks like Nashville.
It's finding the part of Nashville that looks exactly like your brief.