Cookeville, TN - Small town living & a low cost of living (for rent, townhouse)

[firepower]

Great SKYSEA!

My mother/father in law live on Bear Creek Road.Out near Paran Rd.
Beautiful area!

Welcome,you'll love it!



firepower

[GreenAcres6660]

What is land going for per acre outside the city of Cooksville....say 5-20 acres?

Quality of the schools is not of paramount importance to me.

I live in the Dayton, OH area currently and am so sick and tired of seeing my real estate taxes going up and up so much to pay for schools. Its not that I am against good schools, but at 59, I have paid enough. On a $200k home I am now paying over $3,900 a year.

Happy holidays,
Steve

[Sparkman]

Originally Posted by GreenAcres6660

What is land going for per acre outside the city of Cooksville....say 5-20 acres?

Quality of the schools is not of paramount importance to me.

I live in the Dayton, OH area currently and am so sick and tired of seeing my real estate taxes going up and up so much to pay for schools. Its not that I am against good schools, but at 59, I have paid enough. On a $200k home I am now paying over $3,900 a year.

Happy holidays,
Steve

That's a bargain! Here in Illinois we're paying over $7000 on a $275,000 house. We're thinking about Cookeville by the spring of '09, but definately will be looking in town because the quality of the schools is VERY important to me. I already own a condo in Fairfield Glade and would love to live there, but wouldn't send my kids to school in Cumberland County.

[SKYSEA]

Thanks for the input. It's always good to get the locals opinion of an area. We only wish we could speed up time.

[Starwalker Fallen Angel]

Originally Posted by Sparkman

That's a bargain! Here in Illinois we're paying over $7000 on a $275,000 house. We're thinking about Cookeville by the spring of '09, but definately will be looking in town because the quality of the schools is VERY important to me. I already own a condo in Fairfield Glade and would love to live there, but wouldn't send my kids to school in Cumberland County.

Wow. In Jackson County TN. The house we have is appraised for 285,000 and we pay 600.00 a year.

[lifechanges]

Glad to here there are tons of jobs....Now are these for everyday folks of just the College knowedge type? We are heading this way in couple of weeks.
I'm interested in cashiering/clerk type for my daughtrer.
And I spent years at Servpro here in Panama City, FL. But now want to do something like laundry in commericial or hospital or uniform type companies.
Your town sounds charming. FL was my dream but it turned into a nightmare..ha ha.

[margarets12]

Originally Posted by JMT

There are thousands of jobs in Cookeville. While the town has fewer than 30,000 people, there are over 30,000 jobs in town. Keep in mind that the wages tend to be lower than in larger towns, although doctors, lawyers, and university professors seem to get paid the same no matter where they are.

What kind of job are you going to be looking for?

One thing that the article that jguillot posted didn't mention is that even though Cookeville is very popular with retirees, it's still a very young city because of the university. And, fortunately, it's not a party school, either, so while there may be 10,000 college students in town, they're generally not the drunken frat boys you see at other schools.

Hi: Just reading your post about the jobs, I wish that you could give us some info on one. My husband is a heavy equipment mechanic with 40 years experience. He's also been a service and parts manager. He also had his own business for a short period doing handyman jobs, painting, etc. We've put in resumes all over town and outside of town with absolutely no response. If you know of anything, please let me know. It would be so appreciated. Margaret

[margarets12]

Originally Posted by Wordy

There are definitely jobs in Cookeville, but it's not a job market like Philadelphia or Miami, etc., where the help-wanted section of the paper is pages and pages long. You also have to adjust to a lower wage scale. On the other hand, housing is much cheaper than both Miami and Philadelphia. I have a job with one of the county's largest employers and find the compensation to be more than fair and the benefits very good.

It would be hard to overestimate the value of the truly nice people in this area. It's not all sunshine and flowers--nothing ever really is, is it?--but the people from this area tend to be just generally courteous, considerate and since the pace here is a bit slower than the average, they take the time to look out a bit for their neighbors.

Hi: Is your employer doing any hiring? We're in desperate need of a job. Please let me know. Margaret

[galena]

Since I don't know how to "quote" a picture, I'll refer you to posting #55 on this thread. JMT said he stayed there when he visits Cookeville so I decided to stay there. I was up this month when it was snowing so the grass outside my patio had snow, but the view was great. The Alpine had a microwave, small fridge, cable, a desk, wireless, etc, but the part that I enjoyed most was the recliner. I've never stayed in a motel/hotel with a recliner. Because of bursitis, I often sleep in a recliner at home so I was in hog heaven. Also, it was quiet because it wasn't right in the middle of town; it was the exit where route 70 (Spring) goes into Cookeville. I'll certainly stay there again.

The saddest part of my trip is that the house in which I was interested, which was in the area of City Lake, had a sold sign on it. From the outside, it looked just as good as I thought it would. That house was one of my main reasons for leaving NC and going through TN on my way back to FL. I also wanted to visit Cookeville and Crossville. I must admit I was surprised how much traffic there was in Cookeville and how busy it was, but it is still a nice place. However, that lakefront house was sold so I also checked out Lake Tansi area. I didn't like Crossville as much as Cookeville, but there are more waterfront houses in the Crossville area.

Driving in the snow leaving Johnson City and then dealing with snow in Cookeville took a toll on this Floridian. I didn't actually go look at any houses because my house isn't quite ready to sell. I kind of just wanted to get back home where it is cool, not cold. If I lived there, it wouldn't be a problem because I would just avoid driving in the snow; I would stay in my house by the fire or with the heat on. I plan to return later and seriously look at houses. (This time, I went up because I had to check on my house in NC after the wind tore through the area. No tornadoes, just 60-mph winds.)

Since my ideal temperature is between 60-70, I have no problems living with the weather up there. I did want to check out whether I would find it bearable living there during the winter. It wasn't really too bad. I'm just rambling now, so I'll say thanks to all of you Tennesseeans who told my how great Cookeville and Crossville are.

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by galena

Since I don't know how to "quote" a picture, I'll refer you to posting #55 on this thread. JMT said he stayed there when he visits Cookeville so I decided to stay there. I was up this month when it was snowing so the grass outside my patio had snow, but the view was great. The Alpine had a microwave, small fridge, cable, a desk, wireless, etc, but the part that I enjoyed most was the recliner. I've never stayed in a motel/hotel with a recliner. Because of bursitis, I often sleep in a recliner at home so I was in hog heaven. Also, it was quiet because it wasn't right in the middle of town; it was the exit where route 70 (Spring) goes into Cookeville. I'll certainly stay there again.

The saddest part of my trip is that the house in which I was interested, which was in the area of City Lake, had a sold sign on it. From the outside, it looked just as good as I thought it would. That house was one of my main reasons for leaving NC and going through TN on my way back to FL. I also wanted to visit Cookeville and Crossville. I must admit I was surprised how much traffic there was in Cookeville and how busy it was, but it is still a nice place. However, that lakefront house was sold so I also checked out Lake Tansi area. I didn't like Crossville as much as Cookeville, but there are more waterfront houses in the Crossville area.

Driving in the snow leaving Johnson City and then dealing with snow in Cookeville took a toll on this Floridian. I didn't actually go look at any houses because my house isn't quite ready to sell. I kind of just wanted to get back home where it is cool, not cold. If I lived there, it wouldn't be a problem because I would just avoid driving in the snow; I would stay in my house by the fire or with the heat on. I plan to return later and seriously look at houses. (This time, I went up because I had to check on my house in NC after the wind tore through the area. No tornadoes, just 60-mph winds.)

Since my ideal temperature is between 60-70, I have no problems living with the weather up there. I did want to check out whether I would find it bearable living there during the winter. It wasn't really too bad. I'm just rambling now, so I'll say thanks to all of you Tennesseeans who told my how great Cookeville and Crossville are.

Glad to hear that you liked Cookeville. My wife and I visited in August and we loved the area as well. We hope to become permanent residents of the area in a little more than 6 years.