Turning Tennessee into Florida? (Cookeville: new house, buy, schools)

[somewheresouth]

As I read over the posts in this forum I see that there is some concern about too many people moving into Tennessee from places like Florida. We had a discussion in a previous thread about why people in TN feel upset about newbies moving in. There were different positions of course. It is difficult to gauge tone when reading text as opposed to reading people face to face. I assume some were upset and others didn’t intend to ruffle feathers.

A little background on me. I am 29, grew up in FL most my whole life (since I was about 3months old). I now live in Montana. My family moved back to FL when I was an infant. We grew up hunting and fishing in a fairly rural area called Turkey Creek. Kinda between Plant City and Brandon. We had thick southern accents, gun racks, dogs, fish frys, squirrel hunting, orange groves, strawberry farms, hog hunting, mud slinging, etc.... I guess we could be classified as a bunch of rednecks (I have never been ashamed nor thought there was any reason to be ashamed of the term). Since those days all around Turkey Creek has grown up, and the southern accents are fading and there is less open space to do what we grew up doing.

All that aside I had a thought about the concern of FL'ians moving to and ruining TN. There are also a number of other states that have many relocating to TN. My guess is that they grew up under similar circumstances as me.

Maybe TN won't be ruined. Maybe, just maybe the people moving there are trying to escape where they are now because they are looking for a place that is like what they remember. Maybe their intentions are to relocate to a place and fit right in instead of trying to change it into new FL.

When we visited TN I noticed people were nice a little rednecky, and I couldn’t find a mechanic to check my truck out because it was Saturday and everyone was out deer hunting. Now that's my kind of place!!!

I sure hope TN doesn't loose what it has now, but I hope people are moving there because they want something like what I described earlier in this post about Turkey Creek, FL, and not to find a new place to ruin.

[mrs1885]

I sure hope TN doesn't loose what it has now, but I hope people are moving there because they want something like what I described earlier in this post about Turkey Creek, FL, and not to find a new place to ruin.

I think *most* of the people moving to the rural areas are like this. It's the ones that move to a farm and complain because the neighbors cow pooped in the field and it makes their house smell when they open their windows. That's what everyone here is tired of. It just gets really old. That and seeing the beautiful old farms being torn down to put in gated communities. Grrrr!!!

[Grizzlybear34]

SWS - Excellent post! Either returning to what they remember or finding a place to fit. Couldn't have said it better...

[CookevilleWeatherGuy]

My opinion is:

COME ON TO TENNESSEE...it's great here! Don't forget to bring your money to spend and don't come here EXPECTING government to do something for you....we expect you to pull your own weight.

We have hospitals if you get really, really sick. We have good docs if you're just not feeling well. We have great weather, great food, and plenty to do!

WELCOME TO TENNESSEE is my opinion for folks moving up here from Florida!

[TN Tin Man]

Originally Posted by CookevilleWeatherGuy

My opinion is:

COME ON TO TENNESSEE...it's great here! Don't forget to bring your money to spend and don't come here EXPECTING government to do something for you....we expect you to pull your own weight.

We have hospitals if you get really, really sick. We have good docs if you're just not feeling well. We have great weather, great food, and plenty to do!

WELCOME TO TENNESSEE is my opinion for folks moving up here from Florida!

Thank You..............

[TnHilltopper]

Originally Posted by somewheresouth

As I read over the posts in this forum I see that there is some concern about too many people moving into Tennessee from places like Florida. We had a discussion in a previous thread about why people in TN feel upset about newbies moving in. There were different positions of course. It is difficult to gauge tone when reading text as opposed to reading people face to face. I assume some were upset and others didn’t intend to ruffle feathers.

Well I don't think it is the people that is turning Tennessee into Florida, it is more likely global climate change.

Some people move to places hoping it will never change but never realize that their very moving there has changed things. Change is not bad or good, it is an inevitability. In rural areas of Tennessee or anywhere where there is a small population of people that make up a community, even a small number of people moving in has an impact. In my own experiences, I have seen folks move from Florida here and simply hate it, have the locals despise them and so on. On the other hand, there are others who just fit right in and life goes on like Cicada's in July. A large part of this is dependent upon the individuals attitudes.

Aside from the "people" either living here or moving here, there is also another thing to consider by residents in general. Florida should be a lesson well learned on what unrestricted and unfettered growth will do to the quality of living. I for one hope that our state truely cherishes its natural wonders as well as its people and industries and at least attempts to balance these things in a more ration way than other states. I won't hold my breath, but if you are going to dream, might as well dream big ehy?

This of course is all of our responsibility, and as Congressmen Bart Gordon knows, I am not shy about stating my concerns and amazingly enough, he often replies personally. I hope other folks take the time to make their voices heard as well.

[2mares]

Good post Hilltopper. Well said.

[gemkeeper]

That was an excellent response, TNHilltopper. Quite true.

Another thing that folks don't realize is that it isn't just a visual blight that is brought into an area by overdevelopment, especially in rural area.

The entire eco-system can be altered to such an extent that it can never recover. There are large animals of prey right down to the rabbits, acorns and necessary moldsand bacterium that live in those hundreds of acres of woods that some developer is eyeing. When the woods are mowed down for "progress" to move in, where do the animals go? Where do the food sources and habitats go?

Many of the animals, large and small, end up dead on the highways, captured by animal control officers and relocated or destroyed, or many simply die of starvation because their food sources have also been removed.

Land erodes because the vegetation has been stripped. Streams and lakes become barren because of the silt that has overwhelmed them and the diversion of their courses.

Life doesn't just change for better or worse for the good people of an area. It changes for the whole little world that makes up that area. Most of the time it isn't for the better.

It IS up to individuals to make sure that their town, county or state takes the proper, prudent steps to ensure that their state, Tennessee for all of us, does not become altered to the degree that it becomes a place to flee from.

I think there are more than enough caring individuals on this forum and in the state of TN to see that this does not happen here.

[LauraC]

I can't speak for everyone but it's the massive development in small towns that I hate. Everybody wants a NEW house and they can afford one, usually a bigger one, when they sell their old one and move to cheaper Tennessee. You know who you are. You're the ones looking for cheap and pretty. You don't even ask questions about what people like to do in the small town as long as you can save some money and see mountains/water. We're coming en masse. Move out of our way.

These NEW homes are going up in these big developments where they plow down trees, drive out wildlife and overwhelm small towns when the gang of newbies demand services they are accustomed to from where they came and want to change town laws to suit them. You moved to get away from crowds and traffic, said you were willing to drive 25 miles to go shopping or 30 - 40 miles to commute to work as long as you could live in small town America and as soon as you get here you're looking for Publix, Target or some other big store to be built where you live and get new roads to decrease your commute time.

When these huge developments go up in a small town, the roads need to be fixed/widened, more cops and firefighters are needed, the kids overcrowd the schools and then the locals have to get a property tax increase to absorb you and your kids and some have to leave. No sweat off your back, right? Maybe, you'll get your club to throw a benefit/raffle to help the poor locals and assuage your guilt about ruining the land, changing their community, increasing their property taxes and running them out of town. Hey, can't stop progress.

If you moved to a pre-existing home, moved to a city or you built outside of some big development on a single lot, the small towns wouldn't be getting such a shock to their system like they do when the demanding hordes move in to these massive developments in small towns.

I know, I know, you who are reading this, don't think this is you. It's the people you left behind that are rude and drive like maniacs, right? It's everyone else's kids who are druggies, cheaters, loafers and vadalizers. You only have some helpful suggestions on what could make the small town school/town better. It's for everybody's benefit to have more big stores and widen the roads, right? That piece of property on the lake where generations of local families went fishing is going to benefit by your presence and 500 other of your ilk when you beautify it...and put up the gate. Hey, the locals have the parks right? They don't need access on your land. There's always another tree for some bird to go sit in on some other piece of land...and guns, well they should be outlawed anyway, right? Oh yeah, and let's all vote for some politician that will give us what we want. There's enough of us now that we can vote out that hick mayor, police chief and school board. We need to educate these local people and their kids to be progressive and enlightened like we are. It's for their own good, right, but it's not like we want to change anything drastically...just a little tweaking here and there and after all, the majority (that would be us, now) wants it.

Don't you think when a couple of hundred move en masse to a town of a few thousand or less, you have a negative impact? Have you ever thought about how your current town became the expensive ugly rude crapfest you are now trying to escape?

[gemkeeper]

LauraC, I think that everyone on the forum knows what the "result" of this influx brings to a small town or community. Nothing very positive.

But, once again, I think the first line of responsibility lies squarely in the laps of the greedy developers, the politicians who accept their "favors", and lastly to the poor land-owners who cave to the all of the 0"s on the check they are going to get from their land sale.

Last in line are those folks who are looking for something better than where they are now. Sure, they should be aware of their impact, but most are totally ignorant of the fact that they are robbing generations of their fishing holes.

Most do not do any environmental or social impact studies before they buy a new home in TN. Most have no idea that just their presence might necessitate widening the roadways at the cost of eminent domain rights for some poor landowner. They are just people, albeit maybe with more money than most or maybe dirt poor, who want to move. They are not scholars, scientists or psychologists who will weigh their actions against the better good of a small town they hope to move to.

The politicians and developers on the other hand do have all of those studies and resources at their disposal. They KNOW what they are doing and the effect it will have on the town. Shame on them. And, shame on any of us who do not try to keep ourselves educated on the environment and economy that we are filtering into.