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After being here a few months on the Cumberland Plateau I've found a dream place. Rush hour traffic jam 2-3 minutes. No love bugs. Dang fire ants, can't win them all. Soil even if rocky instead of sand... Sand should be on the beaches only. With the exception of one person this has been the most friendly place we have ever lived.
Last edited by Nomadicus; 06-12-2017 at 11:28 PM..
Reason: Adding comment.
Hey, don't put the sign out there and make yourself too loud that it will catch the attention of others. You don't want the same thing that happened to Florida to end up happening to Tennessee. It's already getting packed there. More people = more problems.
Trust me it wont. Tennessee is land locked and not near the ocean, but pretty mountains in East Tennessee I have to say. My family moved from Orlando to Chattanooga 10 years ago minus me. Parents are moving back to be closer to the ocean and warmer temps when they retire in a few years.
After being here a few months on the Cumberland Plateau I've found a dream place. Rush hour traffic jam 2-3 minutes. No love bugs. Dang fire ants, can't win them all. Soil even if rocky instead of sand... Sand should be on the beaches only. With the exception of one person this has been the most friendly place we have ever lived.
Welcome to the Plateau. We moved here from SWFL after spending 40 years down there. That place had become far too overdeveloped and so very expensive. Add the constant heat and humidity and traffic and it was a no brainer to get out of there once we retired. We do not miss that place at all. We spent a few days there back in January sitting in traffic and all that did was to reaffirm our decision to leave.
Your money will go a lot further up here also as I suspect you have found out. One of the nicest things about here are the people. Both the locals and most of the transplants have been nothing but nice to us. It is very easy to make friends and get involved here.
Welcome to the Plateau. We moved here from SWFL after spending 40 years down there. That place had become far too overdeveloped and so very expensive. Add the constant heat and humidity and traffic and it was a no brainer to get out of there once we retired. We do not miss that place at all. We spent a few days there back in January sitting in traffic and all that did was to reaffirm our decision to leave.
Your money will go a lot further up here also as I suspect you have found out. One of the nicest things about here are the people. Both the locals and most of the transplants have been nothing but nice to us. It is very easy to make friends and get involved here.
I totally agree. My grandparents camped with a mule drawn wagon on the shores of Charlotte Harbor a century ago. Now the area is a concrete jungle. Here on the plateau I can still at least photograph really nice mule competitions. People do wave and greet everywhere I've been. It's like stepping back in time to a better time. We looked at a lot of places from GA to MO before deciding on the Plateau. Glad we did.
Welcome to the Plateau. We moved here from SWFL after spending 40 years down there. That place had become far too overdeveloped and so very expensive. Add the constant heat and humidity and traffic and it was a no brainer to get out of there once we retired. We do not miss that place at all. We spent a few days there back in January sitting in traffic and all that did was to reaffirm our decision to leave.
Your money will go a lot further up here also as I suspect you have found out. One of the nicest things about here are the people. Both the locals and most of the transplants have been nothing but nice to us. It is very easy to make friends and get involved here.
My wife and I keep joking that we are still waiting to come across a nasty, unpleasant person, as we figure we will sooner or later. But the closest thing so far, in our 11 weeks here, is a cashier at Walmart who was a bit abrupt. So far, so good!
I live in Duval county and work for the largest trauma hospital in town. Lived here for more than 20 years. Crime is terrible here. I can't let my daughter safely play in our neighborhood. The price of housing is outrageous. Orlando is fun but expensive and full of tourists, which many are extremely rude. I love the beaches. I love seafood. I love our southern accents and that we wear flip flops year round but for the sake of my family, I've decided to move to TN. I don't care for busy city life. I'm okay with driving into town for things. I want a few chickens. People, listen, Florida is pretty to visit but it's no longer a safe place to raise a family.
The Treasure Coast (Se FL) went in the same direction. Florida is over, IMO. At least after 27 years of living there at least part time that is the way I see it. I saw my neighborhood there cycle out 3 to 5 times (on average) per house over those years. Very transient. People move there, over pay for real estate, and then the glitter wears off and the summer heat and humidity wears them down.
Someone is tail gating you wherever you go. Everything is more expensive. Crime, as you said, is constantly on the rise and the police state seems to be growing unchecked. I'm pretty sure smiling is a misdemeanor there now.
Whole different vibe up here compared to where we were in Florida. Went to a free concert this evening by a jazz band from Nashville at Dogwood Park in Cookeville. Whole spectrum of people from seniors like us to families with young children. Everyone smiling and enjoying the evening. Then we stopped by Cream City for an ice cream cone before heading home. May not be everyone's cup of tea, but it sure works for us.
One big part of our moving from Florida was times like this. So glad to not be having to watch every update from the Hurricane Center, with that sinking feeling that Hurricane Irma just might be paying a visit. Been there, done that, too many times.
I've seen people make this move and ultimately I want to go the other way.
First, there is nothing comparable to Naples, a largely retiree, super affluent community, in the entire state of Tennessee. We have affluent areas in and around Nashville - Belle Meade and Brentwood come to mind, but they are totally different areas than Naples. Comparing Naples to some retirement area in TN is nowhere near an apples to apples comparison - Naples is far more affluent, and that drives up the cost of living.
I'm 31 and single, and have lived in larger metros since 2012 before coming back to Tennessee last year. I live in Kingsport, on the far northeast portion of the state. I just got back from a vacation in the Tampa area today, and have taken four other trips there since 2015. I love it there, and while I recognize no place is perfect - for me, it is much better than the Kingsport area.
I am in a white collar profession. There's virtually no demand for what I do in the local area. While I have a good job now, there are some storm clouds on the horizon in the form of a possible merger. If I were to lose my job in this merger, it is likely my pay would be cut by a third, possibly half, to simply stay in the area, and dozens of similarly qualified professionals would be dumped into the local market. There are not enough openings to absorb us.
Given that my career was pretty much stalled until I was 28 (and ultimately had to move away from TN to get any momentum at all), staying here and taking a significant pay cut is not an option. There are virtually no options for me locally if something happens to my current employment - in metro Tampa, I could probably find something decent without having to leave town. That's a huge benefit, especially for families with kids that do not need that kind of life upheaval should something adverse happen.
I've heard cost of living complaints. I took tons of pictures of various groceries in St. Petersburg this weekend at Publix. While I haven't been back to my comparable local grocer (Food City) yet, a few highlight items I buy regularly were cheaper at Publix than Food City. I will compare the Tampa prices to my local prices this week - in short, I expect Tampa's grocery prices (which Florida is known to be a high cost area for groceries) to be no more expensive to slightly cheaper than the local groceries. Food prices in this part of TN are extremely expensive. I took my list to Nashville a few months ago, and the Nashville Kroger was routinely cheaper on staples than up here in rural northeast TN.
I've heard car insurance cost complaints in Florida. I left TN when I was 27. My six month payment with State Farm for full coverage on a 2013 Hyundai Elantra with only one small claim for about $1,000 for a bumper repair, no tickets/DUIs, was $900/six months. When I moved to Indiana, my insurance dropped to about $300/six months, with the same carrier and the very same coverage. At 31, with no claims or tickets since I've left, driving a 2006 Escape, my insurance is still $600/six months. It is completely outrageous.
A modern 1BR in the few nice apartment complexes around here will run you roughly $700. A 2BR is between $800-$900. While cheaper than Tampa, it isn't much so, and Kingsport-Bristol is the lowest wage metro in the entire state, which is a low wage state in and of itself. Jacksonville is probably as cheap as here, with significantly better job prospects, better amenities, etc. With the exception of the last few years, the rental stock here is old, dated, and expensive for what you get. New construction is practically stalled. That doesn't happen in significant Florida metros.
I'm a lifelong native, and there is no dating scene in this part of the state for me. I need a larger area. This is more of a metro size/lack of professional women problem than something specific to Tennessee, but it's a problem for me nonetheless. I went on a date in St. Petersburg Saturday night over Tinder - I can't remember the last time I matched via Tinder in the Tri-Cities. With that said, given how few women in this area are doing reasonably well, and that those who are doing decently are almost certain to be married off, it is unlikely I'll find a good relationship in my current area. In a more cosmopolitan area with more people, a better jobs base, etc., I'm more likely to find someone.
The airport is another sore point. Aside from a few flights to specific destinations in Florida, going anywhere requires a connection in Charlotte or Atlanta, and those are the only places this airport flies to. Review the TRI schedules for confirmation. The small airport is convenient and fine for what it is, but flying out of here is expensive. Many common destinations can easily be $500+, even planning months ahead of time. The closest truly major airport is Charlotte - roughly 3.5 hours away. Aside from a handful of places in the western panhandle, which is lightly populated, you're unlikely to find anywhere in FL so isolated from a major airport as where I am in Kingsport.
I don't like winter at all. While our winters here are usually pretty mild, November-March are still dead, brown, and full of grey skies. I'd take a Tampa winter anytime over what we have. While summers in FL are hotter than here, I was outside for at least four hours per day each full day I was there, and I wasn't really bothered by it. I sweated a bit, but had water with me and didn't notice it.
Aside from a city park on a mountain and a local state park, I am no closer to great outdoor recreation than Tampa proper is to the gulf beaches. If I lived in Johnson City, that would be a slightly different equation.
No place is perfect, but the major FL metros (aside from Miami) would work much better for me than my current location in Kingsport or Nashville. I'd like to go to Knoxville or Chattanooga, but jobs remain a problem in these smaller metros, much more of a problem than in the larger FL metros. Everywhere but Miami in FL is likely to be cheaper than Nashville. Small towns in Tennessee have significant economic problems that while not significant to a retiree, are problematic to working age people. Many of the complaints about Florida - low wages, poor worker rights, etc., can also be said about TN.
I've seen people make this move and ultimately I want to go the other way.
No place is perfect, but the major FL metros (aside from Miami) would work much better for me than my current location in Kingsport or Nashville. I'd like to go to Knoxville or Chattanooga, but jobs remain a problem in these smaller metros, much more of a problem than in the larger FL metros. Everywhere but Miami in FL is likely to be cheaper than Nashville. Small towns in Tennessee have significant economic problems that while not significant to a retiree, are problematic to working age people. Many of the complaints about Florida - low wages, poor worker rights, etc., can also be said about TN.
No Place is perfect. I moved from CA to E. TN 8 years ago and love the area I am in. BUT the air quality stinks. I need to move to the coast and decided against going back to SoCal where I as born. I will be moving to the East Coast, Central in FL and while hot and humid, it is nor really any different than E. TN in the Summer, just lasts longer and is mitigated by the breeze off the ocean which E, TN does not have. However I prefer the Winter in Fl to E. TN, so next year we will be in FL.
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