Super Cheap (But Nice!) Small Towns in TN - Tennessee - Page 13 - City-Data Forum

NY Annie · 11-25-2014, 07:13 AM

We had some of that snow - not measurable and it was gone by noon. We left our snow shovels in NY. I think once last year the snow lasted a full day. What a pretty sight it was, too. A light dusting of snow on everything, blown off the trees within an hour or two.

Keep me posted on your plans.

Hoopy6700 · 11-25-2014, 06:05 PM

My sister-in-law said to that Clarksville, TN is a great city to retire. I live in NYS and I want to retire. Anyone can comment.

Thanks

to retire

NY Annie · 11-25-2014, 06:59 PM

Are you specifically asking about Clarksville or in general for the state?

There are quite a few NY/NJ transplants down here. There is a woman in the Nashville area who I went through school with - from K to 12. Then we each came to different areas of TN for college. She stayed here, I moved up to RI before moving to NYC 17 years ago. We've been here in TN for 2 years.

Warning, if you're from the city area, it's a major adjustment. If you're from upstate, you should just slide right in. I can't comment on Clarksville as I've never been there.

RBohach · 12-14-2014, 11:50 AM

Update: We have a solid contract on our rural IL home/farm and will be neighbors of NY Annie in another month or so. I am so excited about the move even though it will be in the middle of January and who knows how many feet of snow we will have. We will be coming with our 2 Labs and 5 outdoor/indoor cats so that is also making me very anxious. (Yowling cats for 10 hours - not the dogs. They are great travelers) If anyone has experience with moving long distance with cats, let me know.)

The plan was to have my husband drive the truck with the dogs in the back seat and pulling the camper. I would drive the SUV with the cats all in separate carriers. BUT --- I absolutely hate to drive - I am not a safe driver. I currently drive about once a month and no farther than the nearest grocery store which is 13 miles. So we are considering having a professional driver drive the SUV. Large extra expense, but we the cats and I will have a better chance of actually getting there. Still, we are both very excited about this move. NY Annie has given me great hope that this is a great move for us. We are retired, sort of old and think we have found the perfect place to spend the rest of our time here. (BTW, I feel people are friendly everywhere if you seek them out.)

utsci · 12-14-2014, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBohach

Update: We have a solid contract on our rural IL home/farm and will be neighbors of NY Annie in another month or so. I am so excited about the move even though it will be in the middle of January and who knows how many feet of snow we will have. We will be coming with our 2 Labs and 5 outdoor/indoor cats so that is also making me very anxious. (Yowling cats for 10 hours - not the dogs. They are great travelers) If anyone has experience with moving long distance with cats, let me know.)

The plan was to have my husband drive the truck with the dogs in the back seat and pulling the camper. I would drive the SUV with the cats all in separate carriers. BUT --- I absolutely hate to drive - I am not a safe driver. I currently drive about once a month and no farther than the nearest grocery store which is 13 miles. So we are considering having a professional driver drive the SUV. Large extra expense, but we the cats and I will have a better chance of actually getting there. Still, we are both very excited about this move. NY Annie has given me great hope that this is a great move for us. We are retired, sort of old and think we have found the perfect place to spend the rest of our time here. (BTW, I feel people are friendly everywhere if you seek them out.)

Talk to your vet about the cats. They can give you some mild sedatives, even some things you can purchase over the counter. Ten hours will be over with before you know it. We did 2500 miles in 4 days with cats. And we all made it just fine.

lae60 · 12-14-2014, 05:08 PM

I drove my 3 cats, 1 dog and 2 kids from CA to TN for out last visit. 2 of the cats were veteran travelers, one liking going in the car whenever possible. The other traveler had been in the car a few times, mostly vet appointments. And the third only once when we drove it home about 2 miles. The non traveler cat meowed for about 45 minutes then just decided to sit it out. On the second and third day there were no cat complaints, and for the 4 days return trip (one extra day on return as we hit a snow storm and sat behind an accident for 4 hours and another one for an hour), anyway on the return there were no cat complaints

I would recommend having a professional driver drive or a friend and not take a chance with an accident since you do not drive much. And the weather can be wicked this time of year

Even great drivers have a harder time with snow and icy roads.

46Barb · 12-15-2014, 08:20 AM

We drove here with 4 dogs and 2 cats. I bought a rabbit cage so I could put a small box with litter at one end just in case they needed to use it but they never did. I also got some pills from the vet in case the cats needed something to calm down but never had to use them. We actually stayed in 2 hotels/motels on the way down and none had a problem with us bringing in 4 dogs & 2 cats! We drove down here from the NY area too.

Relax, have a safe trip, and before you know it, you will be here.

RBohach · 12-16-2014, 07:18 AM

Thanks all for the encouragement!

Marie Joseph · 12-23-2014, 01:40 AM

I lived in TN in a smaller town (though it's a peculiarity in TN to refer to ANYTHING as a 'city') in the Western part of the state and have also traveled all over TN. Western TN is not a place that I would recommend living in, although it not expensive to live here, the infrastructure outside of the main city of Memphis is VERY poor. Want to go to the grocery store? Plan on driving for a while...unless you like the limited selection and high prices of the local and regional chains! Need to get something from the drug store? Good luck if it's on the weekend or later at night...you are going to end up having to haul it to Jackson or Memphis which could be a pretty major haul for you depending on where you live. I don't personally mind driving and in fact love to do so...just think it is crazy that my closest grocery store with any type of selection is 18 miles away.

Now, if someone is used to living away from an urban center than this could work out for them. I am used to living in areas where I drive 2 minutes and have 5 grocery stores to pick from, 24-hour drug stores, etc. Another issue with West TN is that the housing in many of the smaller towns (including the one I lived in) are VASTLY overpriced for what you get. My rent was $650 a month for a 1225 square foot house because it was in the premium school district area...we rented the house because it was one of the larger homes for rent. I am told that this is due to a shortage of rental properties in the general West TN area and that the cost of buying a home is much cheaper--to be fair on this. When I lived in KY, I had 2800 square feet and paid $750 a month.

Middle TN has a lot of nice smaller towns/villages in my opinion, and the cost of living is relatively low there. Even if you live not too far outside of Nashville, it is relatively low-cost. I think someone already mentioned it, but Waverly is a very nice small town and is fairly accessible to the main east-west thoroughfare through TN of Interstate I-40 in case you decide to go traveling. East TN is also relatively low cost and has a lot of smaller towns though it is somewhat economically depressed but not all areas are this way. There is a lot of gorgeous scenery, and it is a great place if you enjoy the outdoors or have a photographer/hunter/wildlife watcher/hiker/etc. among you! I like to visit this area in the Autumn for the colours as it reminds me of the Northeast which I miss so much.

So far you are doing all the right things by asking a lot of questions and getting opinions. I would recommend that you also do some research online about the cost of living on places that interest you, and if it is financially feasible, take a trip to TN and drive to the towns that particularly interest you and check them out. I wish I had done this before I moved to the town I lived in--I would have made a different selection had I done so. Good luck to you and I hope that you find what you are looking for.

NY Annie · 12-24-2014, 07:49 PM

I don't agree with you that living in WTN could work for someone used to living outside an urban area. I spent my life living in cities and large, urban towns in the northeast, including NYC. I was used to having 21 CVS and 14 Walgreens within a short drive on my island. I also had 4 of the largest supermarket chains (open 24/7) and 2 other regionals within 5 minutes. Yes, prices were lower as the competition was fierce. Imagine buying chicken breasts, boneless, skinless for $.99 a pound on a good sale. But it was NYC and the traffic was fierce, the shoppers always in a rush, parking and lines ridiculous. Imagine having to wait in a line for a shopping cart and then not being able to move around the store as it was jam-packed! I mostly shopped after 9 pm or before 7am.

So while I grumble about not being able to find my particular choice of a product here in SW TN, I'm glad I moved here. And I think the OP is going to be thrilled with her new location when she gets here in a couple of weeks. Her house sale went through and that means her house purchase went through. You may be right on the high rents, I don't know. When we bought our house, it was due to the low cost and the low taxes.

It also is a big difference between moving here when you need jobs or schools and moving here for retirement. So what that the nearest market is 14 miles away. We have time. So what that we need to run to Jackson for the really big shopping, we can wait for that trip. We can spend all day and go to all the stores in Jackson in one day that we don't have down here on the Mississippi border. I love those trips. My husband and I have made it a "day out". We shop in the morning, have lunch somewhere nice, shop some more and head home. We can take advantage of the sales and the stores aren't crowded, parking up close is great and the people are so respectful of my service dog.