Tennessee--East to West (Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga: real estate, house, to buy)

[hopp49]

Looking for a little information about the differences in weather and terrain across the state. Contemplating a move from Ohio but gathering info is slow with LOWSPEED internet---reason enuff to move! I see the state is generally defined in three sections but what is the difference in weather? Is one hotter, windier, colder, foggier, cloudier, etc, etc. We are retired and looking for some ground--30-100 acres within say 50 miles of somewhere that has all the stuff we need, but don't want to live next to. Here, I can walk out the back door and start hunting, or drive 15 minutes and shop Walmart or 20 minutes to a first class hospital(us old folks have to think about such things). We have been looking at the Cookeville area, but only because they have had some good pr going on the net and in publications we have seen. Occurs to us that there has to be other good places in Tenn and we may be behind the pricing curve with that area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, very much

[Capt. Dan]

West Tenn is the most affordable on a retirement budget I think. West Tenn is a little flatter topography than central or east Tenn. Mild winters, hot humid summers. Real estate is still reasonable and finding acreage shouldnt be a problem. West Tenn is a hunters paradise. Shopping, nightlife and hospitals are all handy. check out the area around Jackson. Everything is convenient and Jackson-Madison County General Hospital is world class. Just south of Jackson is Hardeman County. Consistently produces the most and biggest deer in the state. You will find that west Tennessee is VERY SOUTHERN! Some adjustments may be required depending on ones thinking. I hope this helps.

[Capt. Dan]

As an afterthought-- Memphis has become a very dangerous place. AVOID!

[cherokeelake]

There's lots of places here in east Tn where you can walk up in the woods behind the house and hunt a large population of wild turkeys. The deer hunting is much better in middle and west Tn but there's still plenty of deer on the east side of the state. Temps are about the same, a little colder up in the mountains, but you don't have to worry much about tornados east of the Cumberland Plateau. By the time storm systems hit the plateau they start breaking up. East Tn has it's mountains and west Tn has it's flat land. After 42 years of living between the Smokeys and the Clinch Mtn range it would be hard for me to get use to the flat land. East Tn has plenty to offer as far as retail and hospitals. If you need to head to the big city you have Knoxville and Chattanooga, both have a lot to offer. Good luck on your search, east, middle or west, you'll be fine. Just stay away from Memphis

[JMT]

Originally Posted by hopp49

Looking for a little information about the differences in weather and terrain across the state. Contemplating a move from Ohio but gathering info is slow with LOWSPEED internet---reason enuff to move! I see the state is generally defined in three sections but what is the difference in weather? Is one hotter, windier, colder, foggier, cloudier, etc, etc. We are retired and looking for some ground--30-100 acres within say 50 miles of somewhere that has all the stuff we need, but don't want to live next to. Here, I can walk out the back door and start hunting, or drive 15 minutes and shop Walmart or 20 minutes to a first class hospital(us old folks have to think about such things). We have been looking at the Cookeville area, but only because they have had some good pr going on the net and in publications we have seen. Occurs to us that there has to be other good places in Tenn and we may be behind the pricing curve with that area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, very much

You hit the nail on the head, Tennessee is divided into what are called Three Grand Divisions, hence the three stars on Tennessee's flag.

As has been described, West Tennessee is flatter, hotter, poorer, more rural, has fewer job opportunities, and also is prone to more tornadoes than any other region of the state. Just Google how many times the Jackson area has been hit by tornadoes the last few years.

Middle Tennessee is growing the fastest, particularly around Nashville. It's more expensive to buy acreage in Middle Tennessee, but on the other hand because of the growth there are more hospitals, more shopping, more creature comforts than you'll find in West Tennessee.

East Tennessee is much more mountainous. Northeast TN is the coldest region of the state and gets the most snow. Southeast Tennessee (around Chattanooga) is a bit warmer and gets less snow.

The Cumberland Plateau is sometimes referred to as the "4th Grand Division" in Tennessee because it is so unique. It's where you'll find Cookeville, Crossville, Fall Creek Falls, Rugby, and a host of other waterfalls, gorges, and man-made lakes. Because of its higher elevation, its weather is less humid than Nashville even though Cookeville is only an hour from Nashville via I-40. Cookeville and Crossville have large hospitals, Cookeville's hospital is one of the state's 5 busiest heart centers. If you're looking for land, check out Overton, Clay, and Jackson counties where you can find bargains but be in close proximity to Cookeville.

Good luck!

[hopp49]

Thanks to all for their inputs, this is the kind of information I was looking for. I think we were generally on track but this helped for sure. Have pretty much ruled out the west because of the heat---we want to be warmer, but not roast. Sounds like the midsection will suit us best. We plan on coming on down for a few days in the near future and do a little exploring. Be nice to get away from snow for awhile---we typically get about 100 inches per season. In 58 years, thats a lot of snow Thanks again for the help!

[williboy]

We live in Telford, just outside of Jonesborough, in the Tri-Cities area. It is very beautiful here. Hilly to mountainous and very rural yet only 11 miles from our home to where my wife works at the VA Hospital in Johnson City. I drive 24 miles to Sears in Kingsport, but it is beautiful traffic free drive so I always enjoy it.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by hopp49

Looking for a little information about the differences in weather and terrain across the state. Contemplating a move from Ohio but gathering info is slow with LOWSPEED internet---reason enuff to move! I see the state is generally defined in three sections but what is the difference in weather? Is one hotter, windier, colder, foggier, cloudier, etc, etc. We are retired and looking for some ground--30-100 acres within say 50 miles of somewhere that has all the stuff we need, but don't want to live next to. Here, I can walk out the back door and start hunting, or drive 15 minutes and shop Walmart or 20 minutes to a first class hospital(us old folks have to think about such things). We have been looking at the Cookeville area, but only because they have had some good pr going on the net and in publications we have seen. Occurs to us that there has to be other good places in Tenn and we may be behind the pricing curve with that area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, very much

Wikipedia shows some comparisons between the three regions as far as weather and terrain go:

Tennessee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

May I suggest the book, Tennessee. It's a Moon Handbook that you can find in the Travel section of any decent bookstore. It won't tell you about living in the 3 regions but it will give you some ideas of cultural and physical (terrain) differences.

I can't advertise the website but if you do a Google search on the key words "city compare" you can compare any two places in Tennessee to each other on things like population, age, income, voting, doctors, housing costs, religion, voting, air and water qualty, snowfall, rainfall, temperatures, number of sunny/rainy days per year, etc.

[SandyOne]

Originally Posted by hopp49

Looking for a little information about the differences in weather and terrain across the state. Contemplating a move from Ohio but gathering info is slow with LOWSPEED internet---reason enuff to move! I see the state is generally defined in three sections but what is the difference in weather? Is one hotter, windier, colder, foggier, cloudier, etc, etc. We are retired and looking for some ground--30-100 acres within say 50 miles of somewhere that has all the stuff we need, but don't want to live next to. Here, I can walk out the back door and start hunting, or drive 15 minutes and shop Walmart or 20 minutes to a first class hospital(us old folks have to think about such things). We have been looking at the Cookeville area, but only because they have had some good pr going on the net and in publications we have seen. Occurs to us that there has to be other good places in Tenn and we may be behind the pricing curve with that area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, very much

I had to laugh when I saw your bit about good PR for Cookeville. I guess folks must have forgotten about the police shooting of that little harmless dog that made the national news back in 2003.