Sick of FL Need Info. On Johnson City (Knoxville, Franklin: for rent, employment)

[klc1279]

Hi I am new to the forum, my family and I are looking at the JC area as well...I have concerns with schools, as I have a son that is autistic. Are the school in the area decent with children with special needs like my son. We currently live in Florida, and things with education in Florida are not always the best, but i was lucky enough to find a school in myarea here that has a autistic program for children pre-k to k5. Do you know if they have that type of programming up there in the school district?? Any impute would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Lori

[WalterB]

"There's an old East Tennessee saying-'Only three generations from the plow handle to the silk hat'.." That's a quote from an old book written about East Tennessee. It's a remnant of my history in the area. Although I was born there, my parents moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1945 just after I was born. My Dad was born in 1911 in Johnson City. He was the second generation in his line to live as an urbanite. The Civil War had ended the agrarian lifestyle of 3 previous generations in Sullivan County, just north of Johnson City. Fast forward to today. I believe we are seeing people wanting to return to agrarian ways. Even the hardcore urbanites are admitting that there's got to be more to life than the complusive snatch, grab, and hoard mentality found in the big city. I for one got out of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County and South Florida after living there for nearly 60 years. We moved to a small town with remnants of old-fashion agrarian lifestyle. My faith is being restored in my fellow man and I am realizing am not just a commodity in some corporate scheme. Follow your dream......

[hamptonbulldogs]

The tri-cities area is indeed beautiful. I have lived in many areas (Clearwater FL, San Fran area CA, DC and originally from Nashville TN). I don't notice a pollution problem here, the breathing issues the others had, may have been due to allergies (pollen) and the humidity which both can be high in TN. The lung diseases someone mentioned is probably more due to tobacco use, which is higher here then other places I've lived. We live in Hampton (zip code 37658), which is about 5 minutes from Elizabethton. Its a beautiful area, surrounded by the Cherokee National Park and mountains, has the awesome Watauga Lake with 118 miles of shoreline (one of the cleanest lakes in the nation) good schools, really good churches, Bulldog DVD House (movie rentals & sales), several antique stores, a drive-in theater within a couple of miles, Quarterback's barbecue restaurant, Hillbilly Bob's catfish & BBQ, Pizza Plus, Copper Kettle diner, The Captain's Table by the lake, an absolutely FANTASTIC family-style restaurant by the lake named Shirley's (make sure you get the cornbread salad). Hampton is only 30 mins from Johnson City, Bristol and Banner Elk (snow skiing). Real estate is affordable, people are friendly, I've never seen any hostility toward people from other areas, and there have been quite a few moving here from other states, including FL. The town really supports the high school sports, the football games are typically packed. Someone asked about her husband (painting contractor) - Yes, he can find work, that was one frustration, we needed some drywall work done once and trying to find a contractor to actually show up and do the work was not easy. So if you are willing to work, you can find the jobs. Hampton is a great place to live with a convenient drive to bigger cities.

[GoVols2008]

This is my first time posting here. By the way, how about those Lady Vols? WOW...I knew they could REPEAT! Been a fan for a few years now. Anyway, when I first moved to wonderful St Pete it was a nice place to live. I wasn't crazy about the summers here, and no matter what anyone says, you never get used to the heat .
We are relocating to the JC area at the end of August, and cannot wait. We are completely over the excessive cost of living, the heat, the traffic, the hurricanes..if we had one headed for Pinellas County, there would be no way to evacuate since we are the most overpopulated county in FL, and everyone would be on the road at the same time I originally came to FL from Ohio about 12 years ago, and my mom thinks I've been on vacation long enough..LOL!
Anyway, we're TN bound..good or bad...can't be any worse than FL!
Would love some suggestions on affordable apartments and the job market there. I do contract processing for mortgage brokers and have worked the health professions,(I had my nursing license in Ohio)

[46Barb]

I have a question on tornado activity. My husband & I just moved near White House, TN (25 norht of Nashville) about 7 months ago from CT. We have had so many tornado warnings (storm alert radio went off 5 times last night). We want to stay in TN but move somewhere that won't have us needing to take cover every month. We can't take much more of this.

Are tornadoes a concern in the tri-cities?

[ljay42]

Yeah, it's brutal over your way isn't it? I'm a weather buff and follow weather patterns west of the rockies at least a dozen times a day. You actually have less then some folks east of you but, for my tastes, you have more then enough.

If you don't like tornadoes tri-cities is a great area. I'd move tomorrow if I were you.

(on the other hand, you can get Prince's Hot Chicken every day so there's that reason to stay where you are)

[luvmypons]

I am so excited to have found this forum, as, we too, are moving from Hot, humid, buggy, Florida. My husband has accepted a job in Johnson City that he will start by November 1st....sooner, if we can get all the details put together on our move. There seems to be so many knowledgable people on this forum so I'm hoping you'all can guide us along the way.

We really want to live in Jonesborough. We were up there at the beginning of June to celebrate my husband's 50th and stayed at a wonderful B&B on Main Street. We really loved the small town feel and the friendliness of everyone. Although it does sound like there are several other small towns nearby that might be possibilities as well.

We are in need of a place to rent or buy (lease option if possible until our home sells here in Ocala, Florida). We do not have any children but we have top Show Dogs, that are our "kids." We currently have the #1 ranked dog in our breed. We have won Best of Breed at Westminster and Eukanuba, and LOVE our dogs. We built our Florida home just for them 4 years ago. It is absolutely beautiful but neither the "kids" or us, can take this oppressive heat any longer. So, any suggestions on housing for us would really be appreciated.

Secondly, we'd like any referrals you may have on a great veterinarian. Also wonder if there is a veterinarian within the Tri-Cities area that specializes in Reproduction, should we ever need one.

We loved seeing all the information about all the car shows, festivals, fairs, etc. When we were there we had the great pleasure of bringing our lawn chairs down to the Music on the Square on Friday night, and had one of the most relaxing, fun evenings we've had in a long time.

As you can tell, we are really pumped about coming up there to spend the rest of our lives, so, anything you can suggest or share we'll be forever grateful.

Anybody want to buy a beautiful home in the gorgeous horse country of Ocala, Florida?

[williboy]

I'm not planning to move back any time soon, but Ocala would be # 2 on my list, right under Gainesville. We moved here last year from Jacksonville and now live in Telford just outside of Jonesborough. You'll love it here, once you learn to drive slow.

[kenstan]

We close Fri on our property we are buying in Hancock Co. Yea I know thats in the middle of nowhere,but thats what we want.The realitor we have says 75% of his sales are Fla people and he stays real busy. We hope to get moved in the next year. We have to sell here first and thats the problem unless you want to about give it away.We cant wait to get out of here either,been here for 20 years and thats long enough.

[tennesseenow]

also moved from fla
one thing you will have to get used to i didnt see in other posts is the 9.5 % sales tax
it is on everything including milk
not bitchin just saying