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in your search. As I wrote, we bounced from one possibility to another, eventually finding this home in this town and couldn't be more delighted.
While Huntsville is a good town (strong economy), I'd suggest you look in some of the suburbs. A bit further afield but truly great towns are Arab (pronounced "EY-rab") and Cullman. If I were going to that area I'd definitely check them out. Nice, clean towns with a great housing stock in all price ranges.
I'd like to respond some more, if I may, a little later when I have a bit more free time.
Hi mrradio....yes, I've read some really good things about Arab and Cullman. Also, about Madison...whatever you can share about the area, I'm all ears.....or should I say, all EYES! LOL!
know the Huntsville area (and I include here Arab and Cullman). The latter two towns are very civic-minded and proud of their communities. I was always impressed with both of them and I, too, have heard quite a bit recently concerning their attraction for people working in the Huntsville area. They have a great deal of good housing at attractive prices and while we didn't actively look there, I would certainly investigate them.
Huntsville, of course, has every conceivable service available-malls, hospitals, parks, etc. Its climate, as all of northern Alabama, is slightly warmer on average than here in north central Tennessee but I wouldn't call it oppressive as is the climate of southern Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.
By the time the Gulf of Mexico air gets this far north it has lost quite a bit of its moisture. Coming from Long Island which is surrounded by water, I expected an equally humid climate here. Surprisingly, it is less humid for the reason I previously stated. While the warm (I didn't say hot) months stretch from mid-April to perhaps late September/early October, we have a true four season climate here. Snow averages perhaps 6-8 inches/year or so although I've been told there have been significant snowfalls over the years. Nevertheless, this climate is far better than the constant humidity/ high temps of Florida.
I always enjoyed cold weather and thought of moving north rather than south when I retired. However as one ages there is no doubt that one's tolerance for cold diminishes as has also been the case with both my wife and me.
One final comment about moving: We sold our home in 2000 and packed most of our own things rather than have the moving company do it. We had owned our own furniture company, were experienced packers and figured we could do a better job. We simply had the movers pick everything up and carry it to our new home.
We did a great job packing. Everything, and I mean everything, arrived here in absolutely perfect condition. However the unpacking, finding a new spot for everything, locating new services (doctor, dentist, etc.) was more stressful than I imagined. This was not due to anything other than our ages (I was 58 and my wife 56). I would counsel people moving to do it at an early age for this reason. I don't want to have to move at age 75. It was not the home (great), the community (great)-in fact everything was great .....it's just not being able to find something in the chaos of a move.
My advice: Be easy on yourself when arriving at your new home. You will find everything, both in the boxes and in the community, but it takes time. We are far happier now than at any time in many, many years. With due care you will be too. Just take it easy on yourself.
know the Huntsville area (and I include here Arab and Cullman). The latter two towns are very civic-minded and proud of their communities. I was always impressed with both of them and I, too, have heard quite a bit recently concerning their attraction for people working in the Huntsville area. They have a great deal of good housing at attractive prices and while we didn't actively look there, I would certainly investigate them.
Huntsville, of course, has every conceivable service available-malls, hospitals, parks, etc. Its climate, as all of northern Alabama, is slightly warmer on average than here in north central Tennessee but I wouldn't call it oppressive as is the climate of southern Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.
By the time the Gulf of Mexico air gets this far north it has lost quite a bit of its moisture. Coming from Long Island which is surrounded by water, I expected an equally humid climate here. Surprisingly, it is less humid for the reason I previously stated. While the warm (I didn't say hot) months stretch from mid-April to perhaps late September/early October, we have a true four season climate here. Snow averages perhaps 6-8 inches/year or so although I've been told there have been significant snowfalls over the years. Nevertheless, this climate is far better than the constant humidity/ high temps of Florida.
I always enjoyed cold weather and thought of moving north rather than south when I retired. However as one ages there is no doubt that one's tolerance for cold diminishes as has also been the case with both my wife and me.
One final comment about moving: We sold our home in 2000 and packed most of our own things rather than have the moving company do it. We had owned our own furniture company, were experienced packers and figured we could do a better job. We simply had the movers pick everything up and carry it to our new home.
We did a great job packing. Everything, and I mean everything, arrived here in absolutely perfect condition. However the unpacking, finding a new spot for everything, locating new services (doctor, dentist, etc.) was more stressful than I imagined. This was not due to anything other than our ages (I was 58 and my wife 56). I would counsel people moving to do it at an early age for this reason. I don't want to have to move at age 75. It was not the home (great), the community (great)-in fact everything was great .....it's just not being able to find something in the chaos of a move.
My advice: Be easy on yourself when arriving at your new home. You will find everything, both in the boxes and in the community, but it takes time. We are far happier now than at any time in many, many years. With due care you will be too. Just take it easy on yourself.
Best wishes from two people who did it.
Thanks mrradio, for the great post and info. I'm not into hot weather either, that's why FL is not for us! The summers are too hot and too humid and too LONG! We didn't like New Bern, NC at all...one lady I spoke with there said she lived there all her life and she doesn't understand why the weather has changed so much...it's
getting just like FL....and boy, it sure was! Way too hot
and humid. However, I must say, I loved the peple of NC!
Everyone was friendly and there was certainly a lot of southern hospitality there.
We're from the central coast of CA...Monterey area and it's really a cool climate, which I prefer, however, we can handle warmer summers as long as they don't stretch out for 7 months!
Know what you mean about moving....thought I'd never get things in order after the movers left! Boxes and boxes
of stuff! WOW...it seemed never ending...thought I've have boxes for years! LOL! Hubby's company has relocation services and they sent the movers who, by the way, packed everything and moved us. Nothing was damaged and they were really great guys. Guess we were lucky since some of the posts I've read about moving companies haven't been all that good! :-)
We will be going to the Huntsville area after Christmas, as I mentioned and for sure will look into the Arab and Cullman areas. We never intended to live in Huntsville proper anyway. While we're in the area, (so to speak), we'll also go to Iuka, but somehow I don't think that life style is for us!
I looked on the net for housing around Arab and Cullman,
and you are right about the housing in those areas! Really
some great houses...with acreage too! Just what we want!
Thanks so much for your time and insight....really appreciate it!
Well, I'm kinda partial to Mississippi, but... And I could write pages from here. In about two weeks my family an I will be moving to Pontotoc MS. I am a Field Service Engineer and have either lived or traveled through all the places your lookin. Iuka, nice LITTLE town. They have a very nice hospital, but I don't know anything about the schools. As for the town, it's small and there is not much to pick from when it comes to shopping. The Lake is called Pickwick Lake. It's a great place to get away from the world and have fun. Towns that are close are, Florance AL about 45 min to an hour, Corrinth MS about 30 min. Both these have places to shop and eat out.
Hope this helps. DJ
Well, I'm kinda partial to Mississippi, but... And I could write pages from here. In about two weeks my family and I will be moving to Pontotoc MS. I am a Field Service Engineer and have either lived or traveled through all the places your lookin. Iuka, nice LITTLE town. They have a very nice hospital, but I don't know anything about the schools. As for the town, it's small and there is not much to pick from when it comes to shopping. The Lake is called Pickwick Lake. It's a great place to get away from the world and have fun. Towns that are close are, Florance AL about 45 min to an hour, Corrinth MS about 30 min. Both these have places to shop and eat out.
Huntsville Al is great. You can live rural and be close enough to town that you don't have to travel all day. East of Huntsville is growing fast (Brownsville) but north, east west and south of Huntsville is nice. There are tons of places to move, so be picky, and you'll find something great.
Hope this helps. DJ
Well, I'm kinda partial to Mississippi, but... And I could write pages from here. In about two weeks my family and I will be moving to Pontotoc MS. I am a Field Service Engineer and have either lived or traveled through all the places your lookin. Iuka, nice LITTLE town. They have a very nice hospital, but I don't know anything about the schools. As for the town, it's small and there is not much to pick from when it comes to shopping. The Lake is called Pickwick Lake. It's a great place to get away from the world and have fun. Towns that are close are, Florance AL about 45 min to an hour, Corrinth MS about 30 min. Both these have places to shop and eat out.
Huntsville Al is great. You can live rural and be close enough to town that you don't have to travel all day. East of Huntsville is growing fast (Brownsville) but north, east west and south of Huntsville is nice. There are tons of places to move, so be picky, and you'll find something great.
Hope this helps. DJ
Hi Southerner....Thanks for taking the time to reply. I appreciate the info. Hubby and I are going to look over the area over the Christmas holidays. I did notice that Florence, AL was near Iuka when checking on the net. Just need to see how difficult or easy the commute would be.
We do like rural, but need some shopping. Schools aren't a problem since children are grown and on their own. The lake sounds WONDERFUL!
I agree, MsMuir...the lake DOES sound WONDERFUL! And give me LITTLE town compared to Big City ANYDAY!!!
I have lived in the Baton Rouge area for over 30 years now and since Katrina...well, I don't want to live there anymore and am NOT going to live there much longer.
Thanks for everyone's information...I've really enjoyed reading this thread!!! I think I will have to go look at Iuka for myself one of these days now for sure!
I assumed from your initial inquiry that you and your family were definitely relocating to the area around Iuka. I'm afraid that I really can't tell you more about it. My wife and I as part of my job used to travel a lot through the South, with the exception of Florida, on business. Having lived on Long Island for our entire lives, it seemed only natural to retire (or semi-retire-I still have business interests on Long Island) to the South. I had had enough of ever-increasing taxes, major highways that were in a perpetual state of construction without any benefit, rude people, high prices, and stratospheric utility costs.
We initially considered Mississippi (where we had a lot of acquaintances) and North Carolina, so we really zeroed in on them. We could locate where we wanted since I didn't have to earn a living. Mississippi, contrary to a national view, has a lot going for it-low taxes, friendly people, cheap housing and a good, if somewhat humid, climate. North Carolina, in the west, has gorgeous mountains and beautiful scenery.
We seriously looked at Natchez, having spent a lot of time there, but a long-depressed economy and the pervasive smell of a paper plant killed that idea. But what great houses! Still like the place....
We looked at Oxford, Hattiesburg (Nice housing, good economy) but very, very humid. Oxford, of course, has Ole' Miss and, again, great houses at reasonable prices. After looking at Holly Springs (very run down), Tupelo (not bad), etc., we started to gravitate northward to Tennnessee. We were looking for a not too large town (thereby eliminating Nashville, Knoxville (you're right! Lots of traffic!),and Chattanooga. Memphis has too many problems to even consider.
In Central TN, Cookeville and Crossville seemed to be getting an ever-increasing share of out of staters coming, some to retire, some to work at the University in Cookeville, as well as TN residents looking for something slower. The type of house we were looking for and the location happened to show up here in Cookeville but I could just as easily recommend many other great towns in TN including the Johnson City area, etc. Since we came here, many people from Michigan, Florida, the Northeast and, oddly, California have come here to live. They all tell me the same story of wanting more space, a slower pace, less taxation, a decent place to raise their family, etc. I don't see this migration to TN in the national media but I can tell you that it's a force in the economy.
We've been here almost three years and couldn't ask for more-low taxes, great shopping (and more on the way!), a large regional medical center with every specialty, low taxes, utility rates that are one-third of Long Island's, great neighbors...what's not too like? Well, I can't get a few NY specialty foods....big deal. We're east of Nashville so when I have to go back to NY, I don't have to go through Nashville to get to the airport.
My sister-in-law, fed up with NY City, is moving here. Bottom line: we're fortunate to live in a country that has so many great places to live. May you find yours!
Best wishes.
What a wonderful message! I have been very interested in living in Cookeville myself and hope to move there someday soon.
I've been to Iuka, and there is NOTHING there. The closest city is Tupelo, and that's still a very long drive away. If you want a "real" big city, you have to drive a long two hours to Memphis or Birmingham.
Hubby and I will be leaving FL for vacation to northern AL and are planning to give Iuka a look-see. However, from all the posts, and most especially from Mrradio, I doubt that Iuka will be a place that we want to live! We only
ask about it because hubby was offered a high paying job there. Think maybe Huntsville will be the better choice! LOL!
I have lived in Iuka,MS for a little over a year, moved hear from Indiana. Iuka is a good small rural lake community. It's 30min. to Corinth,MS..here you can do and get most your basic needs.(no indoor mall or Sam's Cub). I tend to gravitate toward the Florence,AL area. Florence has a mall, Sam's Club, Lowe's..all your shopping needs.Sometime for something different we will go to Huntsville,AL or Memphis,TN they both have nice shopping villages.Tupelo, is also o.k. it just takes forever to get there.
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I'm not familiar with Madison but I
