My parents may be moving to TN from Montana! (Knoxville: condo, low crime)
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I'm very excited for them. Montana is stale and tired for them, for a number of reasons. Mom's been there 20 years, dad even longer. They're not even in the pretty part. It's more part of the plains region than the mountain region. Ironically, the pretty part of MT begins just as you leave their town going west or south. (It starts to get really cool-looking going south.) But it's all plains and rock starting right where they live, going east.
Anyway.....
I don't really know their full criteria for what they want, but I know the basics.
- Mild winters (It's top of the list, because dad's back pain has gotten steadily worse over the years in cold weather. This is also a big reason TN appeals to them.)
- The best combo they can get of mountains/greenery/water. Mountains is what dad is used to, being from the Pacific Northwest, Mom grew up in the Midwest around a lot of lakes and trees. She has missed that living in the plains of Montana.
- Low crime
- Least humidity (This is a dumb one, I know... it's humid down there, period. And it's something they've decided they're willing to live with in return for the mild winter. But if there is a part of TN a little less humid, please bring it up. haha)
- Close line of work to what they have now. Office management/medical office.
- Within 1-2 hours of a place they could watch live college football. They currently cheer on the Montana Griz. That's one of the few things they'll miss.
- Reasonable cost of living. They're middle class, not upper.
They have a couple other ideas in mind. Western Virginia. My mom's been in love with Boston, Massachusetts area ever since she visited. But the winters get pretty darn hairy out east, so that's probably off the table. (Honestly, unless they were in some sort of townhouse/condo/gated community situation, where snow removal was taken care of, I'd be quite worried about them.) Southern Illinois... same problem.
Any ideas, TN? I have the feeling this kind of vague, not to mention I fear sounding lame, knowing little-to-nothing about TN. hehe I do have a distant cousin who lives there, but we aren't close enough to call her and say "Hey, what's up/what's it like down there?" Thanks.
Also, no school district quality to worry about. No school age kids anymore.
Based off of the criteria, I think the best fits are Knoxville and Chattanooga (or communities just outside the two). I would consider copying and pasting this post in those forums. For college football, the best choice will be near Knoxville. Chattanooga does have a FCS team (same classification as Montana). UT (Knoxville) is FBS (major program).
Humidity is not something you can escape in Tennessee. While there are some areas where the humidity is generally lower, compared to Montana, I think the differences will be negligible.
Based off of the criteria, I think the best fits are Knoxville and Chattanooga (or communities just outside the two). I would consider copying and pasting this post in those forums. For college football, the best choice will be near Knoxville. Chattanooga does have a FCS team (same classification as Montana). UT (Knoxville) is FBS (major program).
Humidity is not something you can escape in Tennessee. While there are some areas where the humidity is generally lower, compared to Montana, I think the differences will be negligible.
Thank you. Mom grew up with the humidity, dad did not, so he'll have to adapt. I'll definitely copy and paste in those forums. Thanks!
I completely agree with what NashVols wrote. I'd stay away from West Virginia. Their winters aren't that mild. And I'm from Mass. You definitely don't want them to move there!
I completely agree with what NashVols wrote. I'd stay away from West Virginia. Their winters aren't that mild. And I'm from Mass. You definitely don't want them to move there!
Oh not West Virginia, the western part of the state of Virginia. Sorry for that confusion.
...From Montana! I'm very excited for them. Montana is stale and tired for them, for a number of reasons. Mom's been there 20 years, dad even longer. They're not even in the pretty part. It's more part of the plains region than the mountain region.
.... From Montana! I posted this in the main TN forum but was encouraged to copy and paste here in the Chattanooga forum, as that person said that this area hits a lot of my parents' below criteria:
- Mild winters (It's top of the list, because dad's back pain has gotten steadily worse over the years in cold weather. This is also a big reason TN appeals to them.)
- The best combo they can get of mountains/greenery/water. Mountains is what dad is used to, being from the Pacific Northwest, Mom grew up in the Midwest around a lot of lakes and trees. She has missed that living in the plains of Montana.
- Low crime
- Least humidity (This is a dumb one, I know... it's humid down there, period. And it's something they've decided they're willing to live with in return for the mild winter. But if there is a part of TN a little less humid, please bring it up. haha)
- Close line of work to what they have now. Office management/medical office.
- Within 1-2 hours of a place they could watch live college football. They currently cheer on the Montana Griz. That's one of the few things they'll miss.
- Reasonable cost of living. They're middle class, not upper.
Any ideas for areas of Chattanooga they may be happy? No school district quality to worry about. No school age kids anymore. Thanks!
Well, we got mild winters. February will be the coldest month. IF is snows around here it's usually gone by lunch time, but the city will still shut down for a day or two. Silly Southerners.
We do have Mtns (at least they are Mtns to us) water (lots and lots of water) and greenery.... we are eat up with greenery.
Low crime? That's debatable. Stay away from certain sections of the "inner city" and you will be fine.
Humidity...... we got it. I don't know that it's any less anywhere around here. We have so much greenery and water you just can't get away from it. The weather during the summers is a little more pleasant on the mountains but only be 5 degrees or so. In the winters the mountains are a bit colder too.
There are lots of medical facilities and offices around here so that should be okay.
They can watch UTC play ball or go to Knoxville, Birmingham, Athens, GA, Nashville to see the bigger SEC teams play. Also playoff games in Atlanta are a big hit.
The areas of town are more centered around their lifestyle instead of the weather. What do the like to do during the day, do they mind a long (and by long I mean 30 to 45 minutes) commute to work? Do they enjoy walking to coffee shops and local restaurants? Would they prefer more metropolitan area with chain restaurants and shopping centers? Old homes vs new homes? That kind of thing.
Well, we got mild winters. February will be the coldest month. IF is snows around here it's usually gone by lunch time, but the city will still shut down for a day or two. Silly Southerners.
We do have Mtns (at least they are Mtns to us) water (lots and lots of water) and greenery.... we are eat up with greenery.
Low crime? That's debatable. Stay away from certain sections of the "inner city" and you will be fine.
Humidity...... we got it. I don't know that it's any less anywhere around here. We have so much greenery and water you just can't get away from it. The weather during the summers is a little more pleasant on the mountains but only be 5 degrees or so. In the winters the mountains are a bit colder too.
There are lots of medical facilities and offices around here so that should be okay.
They can watch UTC play ball or go to Knoxville, Birmingham, Athens, GA, Nashville to see the bigger SEC teams play. Also playoff games in Atlanta are a big hit.
The areas of town are more centered around their lifestyle instead of the weather. What do the like to do during the day, do they mind a long (and by long I mean 30 to 45 minutes) commute to work? Do they enjoy walking to coffee shops and local restaurants? Would they prefer more metropolitan area with chain restaurants and shopping centers? Old homes vs new homes? That kind of thing.
I know my mom likes old homes, but I don't think she'd like a money pit or a fixer-upper. They just wouldn't be able to afford that. In fact probably the more updated/renovated for their budget, the better. (No clue what that budget would be.) They don't need too much house either, just being the two of them. Two bedrooms, maybe. One for them, one for visitors. They may want a third room for an office, I don't know. A decent yard for a couple of small dogs. Nothing too extravagant. They're not big entertainers. They don't currently have pets. The last died a couple years ago, but they'll probably get one or two small dogs again on down the road in the future. They've lived 2-3 decades now without a garage in Montana winters. So I doubt that would be a requirement with milder TN winters.... just some sort of off-street parking. A garage would be a nice bonus though. Nice neighborhood, friendly and quiet neighbors. The neighborhood they're in right now is a lot of older people/middle-aged people who've been there a while and raised their kids. There's not really any kids running around anymore. They'd like some place similar to that. I would have to venture to say..... little to no commute, if possible. Heavy traffic would be a definite unwelcome adjustment. Looking back, I don't believe my mom has ever commuted for work in her life. She has always been a rough 10 minute drive, give or take a couple minutes depending on traffic, from work. If my dad ever has, it was sometime before the mid '80s. haha His work is about the same distance, 10-15 mins. roughly. No getting on a freeway or highway, no real traffic in comparison to a real city.
They don't get out a whole lot.... hehe. They'd like to be near some good restaurants and shopping, for convenience. In Tennessee, they may be more interested in seeing some live music.
If you want a little less humidity look at the higher elevations. Of course the trade off is that the winters will also be a wee bit colder than the lower elevations.
Since we are coming up on the most sweltering part of the year my suggestion would be to find a weather site (I use wunderground) and keep up daily with the dew points, in a variety of locations that you might consider moving to. Dew points are a better indication of the 'icky sticky' factor than humidity percentages. Lower is better, and when you start edging up towards a 70 degree dew point it starts becoming noticeably 'sticky' and uncomfortable. Wunderground also has a great weather history that lets you go back and look at all sorts of interesting info, you can get a great idea of how cold, how much snow, etc a particular has had in any given day/month/year.
You don't mention what size city your parents would be comfortable with, but if a smaller city would work I would encourage them to also look as far north as the tri-cities area of TN (Johnson City/ Bristol/Kingsport)or Abingdon VA, keeping in mind that jobs might be more difficult in smaller cities.
If you want a little less humidity look at the higher elevations. Of course the trade off is that the winters will also be a wee bit colder than the lower elevations.
Since we are coming up on the most sweltering part of the year my suggestion would be to find a weather site (I use wunderground) and keep up daily with the dew points, in a variety of locations that you might consider moving to. Dew points are a better indication of the 'icky sticky' factor than humidity percentages. Lower is better, and when you start edging up towards a 70 degree dew point it starts becoming noticeably 'sticky' and uncomfortable. Wunderground also has a great weather history that lets you go back and look at all sorts of interesting info, you can get a great idea of how cold, how much snow, etc a particular has had in any given day/month/year.
You don't mention what size city your parents would be comfortable with, but if a smaller city would work I would encourage them to also look as far north as the tri-cities area of TN (Johnson City/ Bristol/Kingsport)or Abingdon VA, keeping in mind that jobs might be more difficult in smaller cities.
Somewhere in the middle. I'd say 60,000 or 70,000? I think they'd only be fine with a small city of like 10,000 or less if it were on the outskirts of a major city, where they could get to it in say... 15 minutes. Or some reasonable amount of time.
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Thanks.
