Please help me narrow!

[1111tmw]

Thanks so much for the info and the heads-up on "find-your-spot". It's easy to get caught up in those lists.

What about Bristol? It looks like it is near a lake and in that same nice area of TN. Schools? People? Landscape?

[Country_Girl68]

pineywoods you mentioned you're a Buckeye, what part of Ohio? I was born in Piqua and lived in Dayton & Covington Ohio...

[2mares]

I live in Cumberland Co. now, just moved from Monterey city and I work in Cookeville.
IMO Crossvilles crime rate isnt bad. Yes it is safe. I would speculate Cookeville having more crime than Crossville but then I read Cookeville news more than Crossville.

[tecauley]

Might try Selmer or Waynesboro. Both laid back communities with great community development and both offer colleges. Selmer (In McNairy County) has Univ. TN @ McNairy campus and Wayne county (a beautiful area with access to the Tennessee River) offers Columbia State at Clifton.

[mountainlady123]

I live in Cleveland, very close to the Bradley/Polk county border. There is a lake about 8 miles from here. Cleveland is a good size town with a hospital, shopping mall with a few major retail stores, and of course we have two (2) Walmarts, Home Depot, Lowe's, many many dollar stores, Tractor Supply. I don't have kids, but I have heard the schools are good here. We are about 1 1/4 hours south of Knoxville and 45 mins. north of Chattanooga. We can be in GA or NC in a few minutes. Real nice area - we moved here a short time ago from Jefferson Co, TN ....down here you get more for your money. Elizabethton - too cold up there.

[2coolcats]

Originally Posted by 1111tmw

Hello Again, My family and I would like to get out of FL and move to TN for the same reasons as most...lower crime, nicer people, better cost-of-living, beautiful landscape, and brick not stucco!!! I grew up in MO and never really adjusted to the FL lifestyle (been here 6 years). Anyway, narrowing down a town is proving to be a HUGE task....so many nice places.

My criteria: true small/mid-size town with its own identity (not just a suberb), population 5K-35K, safe, good schools, close proximity to a sailable lake.

We are planning a trip next spring and I'd like to narrow it down to 2 or 3 places to visit. If you can help me answer any/all of these questions, it would be VERY appreciated.

1. East Brainerd, South Cleveland, and Hopewell were all listed on Yahoo in the top 50 best places to raise a family. Are South Cleveland and Hopewell just areas of Cleveland, and is Cleveland just a suberb of Chatanooga? Do any of these places meet my criterea?

2. After reading other threads, Cookeville is beginning to peak my interest. Does it seem to meet my qualifications?

3. Crossville also seems to meet many of my criterea, but city-data showed a higher crime rate in Crossville that in some of the other areas I'm researching. Does that seem accurate? Is it safe?

4. What about Sparta? Seems to be a smaller town outside of Cookeville. How are the schools there? How remote of a place is it?

5. What other places would you recommend for me to look into?

THANKYOU so much!!

First of , you picked a fab state!! Been in
tn. numerous times and absolutely love it there. I have friends that live in east brainerd chattanooga and raised her family there. Great area and very beautiful too. I've been there couple of times and so love it. Other places you mentioned don't know but Sevierville county is awesome too!

[pineywoods]

Country Girl, I just saw your question to me...I apologize for not answering! I just now saw it. I'm from Kent, Ohio...graduate of Kent State University and married my sweetie whom I met in college. 32 years later and both of our children have moved to E TN and Western NC. We asked if they wanted to be close to us and they said yes. We found a farm to purchase and asked, "Would you build on the farm to be close to us?" and they and their spouses said yes. So the dream is starting to be a reality. Our home is being built on the high meadows. They have a way to go to save enough to build...but they're saving and are close to being ready to start the process. There's the story. Nice to hear from a fellow Buckeye! I've only been to Dayton once...I'm just not a big city kind of girl.

[BlueCuzco]

I live there, so I can offer more specifics. East Brainerd is a suburb of Chattanooga and definitely wouldn't exist if it weren't for Chattanooga, but it's growth stems from its own economic activities, not overspill from other areas of the city. (I consider Ooltewah a suburb of East Brainerd, in a way.) Because of this I do say that East Brainerd has its own identity, though its a rather generic one.

The development is essentially a bunch of residential sprawl clustered around a bunch of commercial sprawl clustered around Hamilton Place Mall. However, I don't consider East Brainerd a bad place to live at all; statistics in general are above average. There are two great nature preserves nearby: Audubon Acres and Elsie Holmes, as well as one new urban park that will be soon expanded, Heritage Park. A short drive (~20 min) is Collegedale with a great playground and fantastic green way. Schools are above average; I went to Westview and Ooltewah Middle and thought both were good, and a new middle-high school will open next to Westview next year.

So, I think it's worth looking into, and I think there are other options around Chattanooga that would also fit your parameters. I'd put it on your list.