New here and looking for advice (Knoxville, Chattanooga: appointed, apartment complex, houses)

[Future TN Resident]

Hey everybody. I wanted to see if I could get some advice. Currently, I'm in the Air Force and stationed in Nevada. After a year tour in Korea, starting in Feb, I'll be in South Carolina for about 10 months before I get out.

My wife and I have decided to move to Tennessee. I plan on looking for a job as a cop. I'm going to try out for Tennessee Highway Patrol, but I'll also be applying to city departments and sheriff's offices.

Anyway, the point is, I'd like to get some advice about good places to live. I would like eastern Tennessee. I'm ok with Nashville eastward, but ideally, we'd like to live from Chattanooga eastward (north or south). I have family in Elizabethton and Johnson City, but I'd like to get some adivce about some other good areas. Personally I like smaller towns, but my wife likes to have enough things around without driving for a couple hours to get somewhere (read: she wants to be able to go shopping and see the movies). Also, we both plan on going to school, so we've kind of narrowed it down to Chattanooga, Knoxville and Johnson City. Pretty much, what we'd be ok with is any cities within about 30-45 minutes. We drive 30 minutes just to get out of our apartment complex in Vegas (at least it feels that way), so thats nothing to get to school or the mall or whatever.

Also, can anyone give me a taste of what the cost of living is? From what I'm seeing I'll be making between $27k-$32k when we get there. Will that be enough to support two people? We're both hoping that my wife won't have to work (at least not full-time).

Any advice? Thanks and we look forward to living in TN.

[alleycat]

Two people could live on $32k a year here, but I'd hate to have to do it. You could afford the basics, but there wouldn't be much left over. Most of the cops I've known at the patrolman level also moonlight; sometimes as event security or working for a security firm or some part-time business. This is a little easier to arrange around a larger town.

Another possibilty might be for your wife to get a part-time job. Another consideration is promotion. Starting at $32k might not be so bad if you had some hope of getting a promotion or two in the coming years. That's always possible at a large police force or the THP, but if you work for a eight-man force, it might be slow in coming.

Good luck with it.

Oh, and if you do go to work for the THP and happen to pull over a silver Honda Accord for traveling at high rate of speed . . . give the guy a break, huh? ;-)

[RiverView]

Originally Posted by Future TN Resident

Hey everybody. I wanted to see if I could get some advice. Currently, I'm in the Air Force and stationed in Nevada. After a year tour in Korea, starting in Feb, I'll be in South Carolina for about 10 months before I get out.

My wife and I have decided to move to Tennessee. I plan on looking for a job as a cop. I'm going to try out for Tennessee Highway Patrol, but I'll also be applying to city departments and sheriff's offices.

Anyway, the point is, I'd like to get some advice about good places to live. I would like eastern Tennessee. I'm ok with Nashville eastward, but ideally, we'd like to live from Chattanooga eastward (north or south). I have family in Elizabethton and Johnson City, but I'd like to get some adivce about some other good areas. Personally I like smaller towns, but my wife likes to have enough things around without driving for a couple hours to get somewhere (read: she wants to be able to go shopping and see the movies). Also, we both plan on going to school, so we've kind of narrowed it down to Chattanooga, Knoxville and Johnson City. Pretty much, what we'd be ok with is any cities within about 30-45 minutes. We drive 30 minutes just to get out of our apartment complex in Vegas (at least it feels that way), so thats nothing to get to school or the mall or whatever.

Also, can anyone give me a taste of what the cost of living is? From what I'm seeing I'll be making between $27k-$32k when we get there. Will that be enough to support two people? We're both hoping that my wife won't have to work (at least not full-time).

Any advice? Thanks and we look forward to living in TN.

I think the city (Chattanooga) and county (Hamilton) are hiring new ossifers. THP looks like a cool gig. Wonder if you'd get one of those new Hemi powered Chargers

[Future TN Resident]

Originally Posted by RiverView

I think the city (Chattanooga) and county (Hamilton) are hiring new ossifers. THP looks like a cool gig. Wonder if you'd get one of those new Hemi powered Chargers

Is THP starting to drive the Chargers now? That would be awesome to drive those. Two years from now...I like my chances.

[Future TN Resident]

Originally Posted by alleycat

Two people could live on $32k a year here, but I'd hate to have to do it. You could afford the basics, but there wouldn't be much left over. Most of the cops I've known at the patrolman level also moonlight; sometimes as event security or working for a security firm or some part-time business. This is a little easier to arrange around a larger town.

Another possibilty might be for your wife to get a part-time job. Another consideration is promotion. Starting at $32k might not be so bad if you had some hope of getting a promotion or two in the coming years. That's always possible at a large police force or the THP, but if you work for a eight-man force, it might be slow in coming.

Good luck with it.

Oh, and if you do go to work for the THP and happen to pull over a silver Honda Accord for traveling at high rate of speed . . . give the guy a break, huh? ;-)

I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the info. If it comes down to it, we'll do what we gotta do about money. We'll see how it goes. Now we just have to figure out where in TN we're going to live.

[alleycat]

In places like Nashville, you don't have to actually live in the county to work for them. I think there's some sort of rule about someone either having to live in an adjacent county, or within 50 miles (something like that). You could live in a small town, and work in a large city.

[mbmouse]

Hello, and thank you for your service to our country, I appreciate you.
I would say look at the Tri-Cities. There is a lot of respect here for the police forces and they are good. You will also be closer to family which is very important. As for shopping and activites, your wife will not be disappointed. The economic growth and revitalization in Kingsport over the past year and a half has just been awesome. Check out some of these sites, they tell about all the new stores opened or opening and about the new Kingsport landing projects happening in the near future.
Area Links
Kingsport, TN
Also from hearing what other folks in TN are spending on houses, commuting, and other cost of living things, it seems that the dollar goes further in and around the Tri-Cities area.
Just my 2 cents.

[kamoshika]

Originally Posted by Future TN Resident

My wife and I have decided to move to Tennessee. I plan on looking for a job as a cop. I'm going to try out for Tennessee Highway Patrol, but I'll also be applying to city departments and sheriff's offices.

...Also, can anyone give me a taste of what the cost of living is? From what I'm seeing I'll be making between $27k-$32k when we get there. Will that be enough to support two people? We're both hoping that my wife won't have to work (at least not full-time).

The cost of living here is among the lowest in the country.

FWIW, TriCities.com has just published a list of salaries for all city/county govt. employees who make over $10K a year. You can find police officer salaries for Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, Bluff City, Washington Co. & Sullivan Co. here:
Salaries - TriCities.com

[Future TN Resident]

Thank you. I'm going to look at those sites now. I want to say I greatly appreciate all the advice I've been getting so far. The Tri-City area is definitely an area I've been looking at hard. As for living outside a city, if we do end up living in the Nashville area, that's definitely what we'll be doing. Are there any town around there we should look harder at? Besides the three obvious cities in the Tri-Cities, are there any towns/cities we should look at in that area?

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by Future TN Resident

Thank you. I'm going to look at those sites now. I want to say I greatly appreciate all the advice I've been getting so far. The Tri-City area is definitely an area I've been looking at hard. As for living outside a city, if we do end up living in the Nashville area, that's definitely what we'll be doing. Are there any town around there we should look harder at? Besides the three obvious cities in the Tri-Cities, are there any towns/cities we should look at in that area?

There are several little towns/areas just outside each of the Tri-Cities. I am not as farmiliar with Bristol, but as far as Kingsport, there would be Mount Carmel, Church Hill, Colonial Heights and Rock Springs.
Outside of yet close to JC would be Gray, Boones Creek (which is really Gray but locals call that side of Gray Boones Creek) Sulfer Springs, Jonesborough, South JC in Carter County, Pinney Flats. I guess kind of in between JC and Bristol would be Blountville and Bluff City. My personal choices of these are Gray (north side) Sulfer Springs and Jonesborough.