Pros & Cons Of Retiring To Cookeville, Crossville Or Greeneville ? (Knoxville: sales, house)

[DADDYO49]

.........I am still seeking all of the " pros " & " cons " of retiring to Cookeville ??....or Crossville ???......or Greeneville ????------How do Housing Costs compare between these 3 towns ??-----How do Health Care Services compare between these 3 towns ???------How do Amenities ( Shopping, Colleges, etc. ) compare between these 3 towns ????-----How does Environment ( suburb vs. rural; topography ( mountains, lakes ) compare between these 3 towns ????-----Lastly----How does acceptance of ' outsiders'/ retirees compare among these 3 towns ????---What, if anything, makes any of these 3 towns a great town to retire to ??

[SouthernStar]

There are a few other people on the board who know those areas better, but I'll do what I can. Cookeville and Crossville both have a lot of retirees. I haven't been to either in about a year and a half, but there was a lot of new construction geared toward retirees in Crossville (re:expensive!). The actual city of Cookeville is a little crowded and run-down IMO, but once you're out of the city it's beautiful. Mountains (baby ones ),lakes, lots of outdoor recreation--it's a great area. People are VERY friendly to outsiders, and it's not one of those towns where everyone knows everyone or it's the locals vs. the outsiders. Same with Crossville, only it's a little bigger and more shopping, etc... Cookeville has Tennessee Tech, and I know they take their football very seriously there. I'm not sure if Crossville has a college, but maybe a community college (not sure). If you're looking for more of a community of retirees, you'd probably be happier in Crossville (that being said, I wouldn't call it a retirement haven just yet--may get there though). If you're looking to retire in a community, I'd go with Cookeville. I don't know much about the other area you mentioned.

[JMT]

Greeneville is absolutely beautiful, it's closer to the mountains than Cookeville or Crossville. Crossville has housing developments marketed for retirees. Cookeville has a state university with 10,000 students and a community college with 600 students, Greeneville has a private university with 1,000 students, Crossville doesn't have anything but a state vocational school and a small satellite campus of the community college located in Roane County.

Greeneville is a lot older so has a more historic downtown. Crossville doesn't have much of a downtown. Cookeville's downtown is more impressive, full of good restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries, and other things you'd expect to find in a college town. Cookeville also has the big national restaurants that Crossville and Greeneville don't have (Red Lobster, Chili's, Outback, Starbucks, etc.). All three cities have good-sized hospitals, although Cookeville's is the largest, and it's also got a much larger medical district surrounding its hospital than do either Crossville or Greeneville.

As for accepting "outsiders" I think Cookeville has the edge since it's a university town with lots of faculty and students who come from other places, even other countries.

As for shopping, Cookeville is much larger. It has two Wal-mart SuperCenters, a Sam's Club, KMart, Kohl's, Belk, Sears, JCPenney, TJMaxx, Old Navy, Petco, Peebles, Staples, Office Max, Books-A-Million. In all, Cookeville does about the same amount of retail sales as Crossville and Greeneville combined, over $1 billion per year. Plus, Cookeville is closer to a large city than either Crossville or Greeneville, being only an hour from Nashville. This may not be a draw for some people, but it is for me, namely because of the airport. Nashville is the only airport in Tennessee with Southwest Airlines, so if you like to travel, you're better off being closer to the Nashville airport than to the Knoxville airport.

All three towns have lots of golf courses. Cookeville is closer to large, man-made lakes. Crossville has a hugely successful theater (Cumberland County Playhouse) but Cookeville, largely because of the university, has several community theaters as well as a symphony and lots of various concerts throughout the year. Cookeville also has more athletic events because of the university.

According to city-data.com, in 2000 the average home in Cookeville cost $102,600, in Crossville $86,300, in Greeneville $86,500. But those prices are somewhat misleading, since the Cookeville area actually spills into four counties: Putnam, Jackson, Overton, and White, and housing costs in the latter three counties are considerably cheaper. In fact, Algood, a bedroom community of Cookeville (it's surrounded by Cookeville on three sides) had a median house value of $72,800 in 2000, although since 2000 Algood has been experiencing a small population boom and is home to some very upscale developments that have resulted in housing values of well over $120,000.

In my opinion, housing is more expensive in Cookeville because there's more demand; more people want to live there. Unlike SouthernStar, I don't think Cookeville is run down at all, particularly compared to downtown Crossville (what little there is). If I had my druthers, I'd much rather live in Cookeville. Greeneville would come in second. I absolutely would not want to live in Crossville.

[JMT]

Speaking of the restaurant scenes in Cookeville, Crossville, or Greeneville, here's what I found when it comes to the big national restaurant chains (those that serve liquor by the drink):
Crossville has Ruby Tuesday
Greeneville has Applebee's
Cookeville has Applebee's, Cheddar's, Chili's, Logan's Roadhouse, O'Charley's, Outback, Red Lobster, Ruby Tuesday, and just last week Buffalo Wild Wings, TGI Friday's and Olive Garden announced their plans to build restaurants in Cookeville in a development that will also have a Panera.

[tismekll]

Originally Posted by Boris

Greeneville is absolutely beautiful, it's closer to the mountains than Cookeville or Crossville. Crossville has housing developments marketed for retirees. Cookeville has a state university with 10,000 students and a community college with 600 students, Greeneville has a private university with 1,000 students, Crossville doesn't have anything but a state vocational school and a small satellite campus of the community college located in Roane County.

Greeneville is a lot older so has a more historic downtown. Crossville doesn't have much of a downtown. Cookeville's downtown is more impressive, full of good restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries, and other things you'd expect to find in a college town. Cookeville also has the big national restaurants that Crossville and Greeneville don't have (Red Lobster, Chili's, Outback, Starbucks, etc.). All three cities have good-sized hospitals, although Cookeville's is the largest, and it's also got a much larger medical district surrounding its hospital than do either Crossville or Greeneville.

As for accepting "outsiders" I think Cookeville has the edge since it's a university town with lots of faculty and students who come from other places, even other countries.

As for shopping, Cookeville is much larger. It has two Wal-mart SuperCenters, a Sam's Club, KMart, Kohl's, Belk, Sears, JCPenney, TJMaxx, Old Navy, Petco, Peebles, Staples, Office Max, Books-A-Million. In all, Cookeville does about the same amount of retail sales as Crossville and Greeneville combined, over $1 billion per year. Plus, Cookeville is closer to a large city than either Crossville or Greeneville, being only an hour from Nashville. This may not be a draw for some people, but it is for me, namely because of the airport. Nashville is the only airport in Tennessee with Southwest Airlines, so if you like to travel, you're better off being closer to the Nashville airport than to the Knoxville airport.

All three towns have lots of golf courses. Cookeville is closer to large, man-made lakes. Crossville has a hugely successful theater (Cumberland County Playhouse) but Cookeville, largely because of the university, has several community theaters as well as a symphony and lots of various concerts throughout the year. Cookeville also has more athletic events because of the university.

According to city-data.com, in 2000 the average home in Cookeville cost $102,600, in Crossville $86,300, in Greeneville $86,500. But those prices are somewhat misleading, since the Cookeville area actually spills into four counties: Putnam, Jackson, Overton, and White, and housing costs in the latter three counties are considerably cheaper. In fact, Algood, a bedroom community of Cookeville (it's surrounded by Cookeville on three sides) had a median house value of $72,800 in 2000, although since 2000 Algood has been experiencing a small population boom and is home to some very upscale developments that have resulted in housing values of well over $120,000.

In my opinion, housing is more expensive in Cookeville because there's more demand; more people want to live there. Unlike SouthernStar, I don't think Cookeville is run down at all, particularly compared to downtown Crossville (what little there is). If I had my druthers, I'd much rather live in Cookeville. Greeneville would come in second. I absolutely would not want to live in Crossville.

Boris, city-data shows that the Cookeville area is much more prone to tornadoes. Is this indeed the case?

[JMT]

Hmmm I have no idea about tornadoes. All city-data.com says is Cookeville is near the state average for tornadoes. I don't recall ever hearing about a tornado touching down in Cookeville, but I suppose it could happen. I don't recall ever hearing about one in Crossville or Greeneville, either. I do remember the one that hit downtown Nashville a few years ago (1998?) and the ones that have hit West Tennessee in the last few years.

[SouthernStar]

Boris,

I agree, I'd much rather live in Cookeville also. Crossville was too full of strip malls for my taste. But I guess Cookeville must have grown a lot in the last year or two?? I don't remember a lot of the places you mentioned being there before. I know Cookeville was really working on revitalizing it's downtown area, so maybe I should drive down again soon and see how things are going!

[firepower]

Originally Posted by SouthernStar

Boris,

I agree, I'd much rather live in Cookeville also. Crossville was too full of strip malls for my taste. But I guess Cookeville must have grown a lot in the last year or two?? I don't remember a lot of the places you mentioned being there before. I know Cookeville was really working on revitalizing it's downtown area, so maybe I should drive down again soon and see how things are going!

All of what Boris has said is correct. Cookeville & TTU are growing but so far it's been very controlled. The "downtown" is "jumpin" right now,with new restaurants(Taiko!)Need to come downtown again!


firepower

[JMT]

I haven't tried Taiko yet, but it looks awesome. Hard to believe such a cool place is in Cookeville!

The chocolate shop a couple of doors down is GOOD. World Market around the corner is some excellent gyros, and so is the Cajun place (Crawdaddy's).

And, of course, the best doughnuts in the world are down the street at Ralph's.