Moving from California to Tennessee (Chattanooga, Hendersonville: car registration, school, income)

[Huckleberry3911948]

every time i think of moving to memphis i think of my last bike ride trip in january when it plunged below 32F and i got pneumonia. i know i know we have our shortcomings here, but we have no winter.

[12buttons]

Originally Posted by alicenavada

Mt Juliet is a great place to live, but a little pricey. If you're willing to go a little farther from Nashville you have great options in Lebanon and Gallatin. I live in Pleasant Shade, which is a tiny community close to Carthage and Gordonsville-very rural small towns w/ amazing views. Hendersonville is another option if you like Mt Juliet-and a little more convenient to Nashville, I think.

traffic is the worst I have ever been in - Hendersonville -dont' ask me why - I live in Lascassas - much less traffic - affordable, good schools and low taxes....plus this where TN "turns" greener , hillier, and prettier imo....cheaper than Murfreesboro which is ten minutes away - to each his own.

[BNB]

We live in San Diego, CA and are relocating to Nashville (area) in the spring. We originally were planning on an October move, but were hit with additional income taxes and that impacted our savings dedicated to our move, so we delayed it by 6 months to recoup some cash.

SD housing prices have dropped so low that it was recently reported that our homes are the most undervalued in the country (and finally affordable). That does not make a difference to me....we have many more core reasons for getting out of California--and none of those have changed.

As we look forward and plan for our retirement years, we desire a slower pace of living, with four seasons, in a greener state. We fell in love with TN and the people when we visited three years ago and have fallen deeper in love since our second trip back last fall.

We have made friendships with two couples in the city already--one from this forum and one from a website we rely on for research. And we have friends who live in Clarksville. We have wonderful friends here in CA as well as family, but we have raised our children and stayed put for them...gave them a good education and got them grown...now its our time to go where we want to go. In fact, one of our kids is married and already lives out of state, one lives three hours away from us and one is in the Navy and is FL right now...so only three of the six live in San Diego. We plan to fly them out to see us and come to SD to visit everyone.

My hubby's job will laterally transfer over and I have been considering my choices from my job experience. Paralegal, Manicurist (licensed), or Teacher's Assistant. I'm leaning toward the teaching assistant, and building a clientele as a manicurist, since that would take time to do. If I decide to continue as a paralegal, I want to work in entertainment law and I am not sure what is available in that area in Nashville.

We are excited about our move and getting settled.

[LeeB]

We moved here in April from Central Calif. (The Big Valley) and we like you. We retired and moved here to a slower pace and 4 seasons (do we are told) and GREEN. Not California Brown or Asfault Black... (Ha ha I know I spelled asphalt wrong) But you know what I mean. We live in Portland 30 miles north of Nashville. Small town and we love it..

[lakerat]

I have to chime in here. I am a native San Diegan. I always thought Southern California was the ONLY place to live. Now that my wife and I have had a place here in Hendersonville for the past couple years, I would never move back to California.

I had that California superiority mentality for 50 years. Boy was I wrong. Now, we still have some fantastic friends who still live in southern California and Arizona, but Hendersonville, Tennessee is where we want to be. The folks we have met here are great. They don't care that we are from California, but then again, we didn't move here to try to change this area into the way California is.

Bottom line is, the Nashville area is a great place to live.

If you want to know what I really think about the Nashville area send me a personal message.

[vlv723]

Well, I might as well introduce myself.

I moved here almost a year ago from West Covina, CA. So far, I have an opportunity to "reboot" my life here in Nashville. I had a roommate from hell and finally she's moving out in Feb with her boyfriend in New York. I've been looking at apartment communities that are affordable and safe. Hopefully, I found the right one and I'm going to check it out on Monday. I haven't found or made friendships as much lately considering that I work a swing shift.

Overall, Nashville is a great city. It's more settle and of course, the low cost of living.

Two things I don't like about TN (some you may agree/disagree):
1. Your sales tax is ridiculously high and you tax everything from my gym membership to parking.
2. I don't see why you guys cannot creep up on a non protected left turn lane (no left turn signals). Also the drivers won't even turn left when the light will go from yellow to red.

I have opportunities to move back home to CA or with my brother in Washington State but I'm still young and I feel that I can be successful in what I'm doing here.

[46Barb]

I didn't even realize #2 was something I wasn't supposed to do until I lived here awhile. Someone who lives here said if you go to the middle and the light turns yellow to red, it's a ticket. You can only start to go to th middle if you can make the turn while the light is green.

All I can say is that it does prevent gridlock like I had back in the northeast. Once you get used to doing this, it's second nature. I can hear the horns blowing at me if I ever did this visiting the northeast again.

[gbone]

Originally Posted by 46Barb

I didn't even realize #2 was something I wasn't supposed to do until I lived here awhile. Someone who lives here said if you go to the middle and the light turns yellow to red, it's a ticket. You can only start to go to th middle if you can make the turn while the light is green.

All I can say is that it does prevent gridlock like I had back in the northeast. Once you get used to doing this, it's second nature. I can hear the horns blowing at me if I ever did this visiting the northeast again.

Barb, I think you got some bad information on going to the middle and turning left. I've lived here a couple of decades and have never heard of someone getting a ticket for this or that it was a traffic offense. If there is a problem it would be when you go to the middle and not make the turn once oncoming traffic has stopped and thus cause a traffic jam. Happy left turns!

[LovnTN]

Originally Posted by vlv723

Well, I might as well introduce myself.

Two things I don't like about TN (some you may agree/disagree):
1. Your sales tax is ridiculously high and you tax everything from my gym membership to parking.
2. I don't see why you guys cannot creep up on a non protected left turn lane (no left turn signals). Also the drivers won't even turn left when the light will go from yellow to red.

In answer to #2, here is a direct quote from the State of Tennessee Drivers License Study Guide page chapter 4 page 29.

• Do not enter an
intersection unless you
can get through it
without having to stop.
You should wait until
traffic in front of you clears so that you are not
blocking the intersection. If your vehicle is left
blocking an intersection (with or without a traffic
signal), it prevents other traffic from proceeding and
you could be ticketed.

As for #1, remember that Tennessee does not have state income tax (unless investment) therefore the sales taxes are needed to make up for it. Since this is a high tourist area then the tourists help pay for us to live here without the income tax. The state we moved from charged anywhere from 7.5% to 8.9% sales tax depending on the city, had ridiculous high vehicle registration AND they also had outrageous income taxes; so bad that we usually had to take our federal refund and cut a check to the state for more than we received from the feds. I will take high sales tax any day over all that!

[lakerat]

Originally Posted by LovnTN

In answer to #2, here is a direct quote from the State of Tennessee Drivers License Study Guide page chapter 4 page 29.

• Do not enter an
intersection unless you
can get through it
without having to stop.
You should wait until
traffic in front of you clears so that you are not
blocking the intersection. If your vehicle is left
blocking an intersection (with or without a traffic
signal), it prevents other traffic from proceeding and
you could be ticketed.

As for #1, remember that Tennessee does not have state income tax (unless investment) therefore the sales taxes are needed to make up for it. Since this is a high tourist area then the tourists help pay for us to live here without the income tax. The state we moved from charged anywhere from 7.5% to 8.9% sales tax depending on the city, had ridiculous high vehicle registration AND they also had outrageous income taxes; so bad that we usually had to take our federal refund and cut a check to the state for more than we received from the feds. I will take high sales tax any day over all that!

I'm right with you on the higher sales tax vs. state income tax issue. And also the vehicle registration issue. Here in Tennessee the registration for our truck is $75. In Arizona it was close to $500. Here in Tennessee our motorhome is $75. In Arizona it was $2000.