Tennessee Relocation Advise for DINKS soon to be OINKS (Memphis: sales, insurance)

[4luvofk9s]

Hi All,
I know you probably haven't heard those terms for a while, Dual Income No Kids and One Income No Kids, I'm probably dating myself - well that's me and my husband (or is it my husband and I )
Here's some background so maybe we can get some feedback from this great forum that I was so fortunate to stumble upon -

My husband and I have been going through a dilemma of where to live.
My husband is from west Tennessee and I'm from Canada. We met in Atlanta (long story), lived there for 9 yrs and subsequently moved to Orlando area - that was a good move, but bad move at the same time (home appreciation good but slowing, hurricanes, snakes, gators, ticks, humidity). My parents and one brother remain in Canada and my husband only has one brother in Texas. We have tons of friends but they are scattered all over. We have no children, except two that wear fur coats. My passion is my dogs (I'm developing a website on the natural care of dogs). My husband's passion is golf. We love entertaining and enjoying friends, but are absolutely not 'swingers' We both currently work from home offices (me software tester) and my husband sales but he will be leaving his job of 12 yrs shortly because it is getting to him so much that it is now making him physically ill. We'd love to move somewhere that is a small city/large town, but where we may find people that share our interests. We enjoy children, but find that we don't really have a lot in common with young families - empty nesters we do. My husband will be 60 this year, but acts and looks 50. I am a young 48 - I'd like to think so anyways We've looked at Somerset KY as a place to live since we have friends there, but like so many others we are also looking at NC. My husband has a business trip to Tri-Cities shortly, and I'm thinking of tagging along and extending our stay to look at the area. We would love to hear some suggestions of communities we might consider looking at, in and around the area. We'd like a 3 bed 2 bath home on a 1/2 acre or more lot that I can fence so my fur children can romp (which they currently can't do too much, since we live on top of our neighbors). I don't wan't to live in a rural area, but would rather be in a community where I can walk my dogs, and where you can jump on a bike and not feel like you'll be run over by a car. I love theatre, shopping and bistro restaurants and garage sales, but it doesn't have to be close by. I have a home office that only requires that I have high speed internet, whereas my husband will be looking for something less stressful. My husband has severe allergies (which has created sleep apnea) to mold, mildew, dust mites... so Florida is not the place to be with those allergies. I miss the change of seasons. I'm tired of the humidity/heat for such long periods of time - I can handle a couple of months but not neverending. The cost of insurance here is ridiculous. Maybe the place for us does not exist, but we are really looking for quality of life where we have a handful of close friends to play golf with, walk with, grill with...
Does this exist in Tri Cities area?
PB

[4luvofk9s]

You know I said Tri-Cities but any suggestions for Tennessee area would be greatly appreciated.
PB

[mbmouse]

Tri-Cities might be very good for you. There are several developments in the area that have maybe 30 or so homes, 1/2 or so lots. Some bigger developments have 100 or so homes. All really depends on your price range, but they are certainly around, you just have to come up and look around. You are the only ones that can decide if this area is right for you. There are golf courses around and you can get your high speed Internet.
Tri-Cities are not just 3 cities, there are many many little communities in between those 3 cities. All of those areas are in easy drive to all the things you were saying you wanted, restaurants, theaters, shopping and there are garage sales all over east Tn every Friday and Saturday hahahaha, it is like a given that you can find a few garage sales every weekend! hahhhahha

[GrannyLois]

I agree.

I think you would really like Johnson City or any of the small towns around it. You've spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what you want, and I'd say you'll recognize it when you see / experience it.)

In addition to all of the things you said you want, J. City has a great senior citizen center. (I keep plugging the wonderful senior citizen centers in our area, I know. But I finally joined it this year and have learned to work with clay and make pottery - that is at the Kingsport Sr. Citizen center, though.)

Good luck to you!

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by 4luvofk9s

Hi All,
My husband has severe allergies
PB

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation that ranks the metro areas of US cities every year as the worst for allegry and asthma sufferers, the metro areas of these 15 cities are the worst in 2006 in this order: Hartford, CT (worst), Greenville, SC, Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Knoxville, Omaha, Sacramento, DC, Baltimore, NYC, Louisville KY, Rochester, NY, Houston, New Orleans.

In 2004 Knoxville was the worst and in that same year, Nashville and Memphis were also in the Top 10.

I took the 2006 information from a newspaper article but I'm thinking you could probably find the whole report online if you searched for it since I'm thinking your husband's health is probably the Number 1 factor in your relocation decision

[4luvofk9s]

Thanks so much everyone for your input. Especially the allergy/asthma list of worst cities. I see Orlando (where we are currently living) is on the list - isn't that just peachy. I'll have to do a search online for that and let my husband read it.
Again thanks!

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by 4luvofk9s

- well that's me and my husband (or is it my husband and I )

PB

Actually, I believe it's "my husband and me"

Bob

[AnotherBravesFan]

Scottsboro or Guntersville areas... You'd be about 45 minutes from the city life of Hunstville an about an hour from Chattanooga. Alabama has (I hope I'm getting this right! ) the Robert Trent Jones golf trail throughout the state. I'm not a golfer, but have heard lots of positive comments about it. Also, lots of open spaces for hiking with your pets and Lake Guntersville for fishing or boating. Very affordable housing on big lots, too. Good luck to you.

[JD5DAD]

you should check out Manchester I just moved here from Michigan I like this town so much I made a myspace about it check it out there are pictures http://groups.myspace.com/ManchesterTennessee