Cali Girl Back From Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville: mortgage, relocate, real estate)

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by tnboundsoon

Maybe Northwest Arkansas or North Carolina.

Wellll .... if you think NW Arkansas will be much different, you'll be wasting a trip I spent many a summer there with my grandparents; even lived there several years as a teen. Two years ago I took a motorcycle trip from NC to a family reunion thing in Eureka Springs, so I saw almost the entire northern section of the state. I gave myself a couple of extra days to visit some old haunts I knew as a youngster and came away as depressed as the days I had to live there. You'll find much the same: fairly well-to-do housing; even some ritzy places around the tourist areas and Bentonville (Walmart HQ); mixed with trashy places.

You'll see much the same visiting NC, too, outside the more prosperous cities. I don't so much look down on those people, they are just the flotsam of development that has passed them by. Folks have to remember that NC and TN were farming and textile states; the people who worked in those venues didn't have much and so lived simpler lives. I found that out from talking to them on my explorations of the back roads. Just last week we were looking at some land up in a holler of VA. We had to drive 2.5 miles off the main road to get to the valley floor. 90% of the people we met were old-timers who weren't in any way like the more modern people living in places like Raleigh and Charlotte. Once the textile jobs went and farming no longer paid, some people just gave up. The older people kept their pride, but their younger ones just didn't seem to give a d@mn. I expect time and development will clear them out eventually, anyway, especially in the "hot" areas. We were looking at a lot in a SW Virginia town that has become especially popular. We winced at the 50k asking price for 1/2 acre, but it was in a gorgeous spot. I kind of wondered why there was an empty lot in a town that was fully developed, then learned that a realtor had purchased the small, tumbledown house that used to sit there, tore it down, and put the lot up for sale. In other areas that transplants deem desirable, I suppose the same thing will happen.

[tnboundsoon]

I have been all over Arkansas. I have a couple of friends from California who both just happen to move to the Russellville area. I have visited a dozen times and have found the people there very friendly and the town quite appealing. It's not too big about 26,000 pop, with a huge lake for fishing. Housing is very affordable and its close enough for shopping or work in Little Rock or a drive up north to Eureka Springs or down to Hot Springs for the day. Most the people I have met through my two friends, work at the Hospital and there are quite alot of well-to-do doctors and professors who work at the University in town. Even the folks that live on much smaller incomes around town seem to show a sense of pride when it come to taking care of their homes, ect.
Unfortunately I didn't see as much as that in many parts E. Tn. especially in the more rural areas and smaller towns. Too bad, because E. Tn is very beautiful, and would look so much better if residents took more pride in their homes. (a little paint does wonders folks). The only place in Arkansas I have not visited is Ft. Smith area and Fayetteville. I will check out those areas but they will have to really offer something big for me to sway from the Russellville area. Tennessee may not be for me, but I'm sure its just the place for some. Everybody has their idea of the perfect place to live. I'm just not sure there is a perfect place. Good luck to all trying to find their perfect place!

[TomDale]

My wife and I are closing on a house 12/15 in Cookeville, escaping SoCal. Our thoughts on Cookeville, vs other parts of TN (and AR) include:
1 - college town - forces mix of younger people/ideas/facilities on community. Also ensures available arts & entertainment
2 - retirement town - generally brings some stability, less hussle, bussle - esp. considering #1 above, which ensures it doesn't become a retirement ghetto.
3 - medical center - biggest in region and growing in reputation and facilities - brings employment, upper middle class and there when retirees need it
4 - center of everything - at 26,000 (or so) it's the biggest thing going till you get to Nashville/Knoxville. Also, geographically centered
5 - Freeway access - intersection of 111 and I40, giving E/W and N/S access
6 - 97 miles to Nashville airport - about same distance as LAX is from Riverside (our SoCal location) but much nicer drive
7 -Regardless of the above, you're 5 minutes from open country from any point in the town
8 - Beautiful downtown area, well restored
9 - Rapidly growing 'new shopping/restuarant' area, servicing both community, freeway traffic and surrounding counties
10 - moderate climate, out of Tornado alley. Humid in summers but overall moderate. AR and western TN has tornados.

There's probably a bunch of other intrinsics, but overall, it just seemed like a town that met a whole bunch of reasons...

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by tnboundsoon

Just got back from Tn. These are my unbiased observations and opinions, and everyone is entitled to agree or disagree.

Nashville and surrounding suburbs: Lots to do and see, but pricey and a bit congested for someone who wants to escape traffic and high home prices.

Cookeville: nice town, lots of college kids, all in all not a bad place, just not what we are looking for.

Harriman and surrounding areas: very depressed area. Lots of trashy mobile homes. A few nice Victorians though.

Knoxville and surrounding suburbs: much like a typical California city, lots of restaurants and shopping and traffic, but very pricey in nicer areas.

Sevierville, Pidgeon Forge, Gatlinburg: fun for a day but way too touristy to live there. Its like Knotts Berry Farm on steroids. The Smoky Mountains were beautiful though.

Dandridge: Okay Lake, but again town had beautiful homes suurounded by trailer homes.

Morristown: has its good spots but the closer we got to Cherokee lake the less we liked it. Alot of illegals working there and again lots of run down homes and trailers.

La Follette, Norris Lake: surrounding farm areas were the nicest we had seen so far. But Norris lake again had nice homes surrounded by old old mobile homes. too bad.

Johnson City, Bristol and Kingsport: didn't make it up that way we were tired of driving. Although we had been past all those areas this last summer already. Couldn't tell much from the highway though.

In summary alot of the areas we visited were just not what we were looking for. Seemed liked there was not alot of good jobs to support most of the people living in those smaller towns. Welfare, disability, who knows? Doesn't seem to be much of a middle class in E. Tn. Most homes were either very, very nice or really bad. Maybe the transplants from everywhere else are the only ones that can truly afford to have a nice house in E. Tn. I just don't want to live in a town where I can afford to build a nice house, but everyone around me is barely surviving. Middle Tn, not a bad place, definitely beter jobs and amenities. I also found that most of the people were not that friendly in E. Tn. Not one person waved to us as we were driving through, so much for southern hospitality. Oh well we will continue to look for a place that fits us just right. Maybe Northwest Arkansas or North Carolina.

Your as Critical as I am hehe lol...
Sorry you didn't find what you hoped.
I love the Nashville/Franklin region, but I agree with your opinion of traffic and high prices. The way I look at it "you get what you pay for"

Best Regards,
DLS

BTW I'm going to PS,CA for a week...Yahoo!!!!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by TomDale

My wife and I are closing on a house 12/15 in Cookeville, escaping SoCal. Our thoughts on Cookeville, vs other parts of TN (and AR) include:
1 - college town - forces mix of younger people/ideas/facilities on community. Also ensures available arts & entertainment
2 - retirement town - generally brings some stability, less hussle, bussle - esp. considering #1 above, which ensures it doesn't become a retirement ghetto.
3 - medical center - biggest in region and growing in reputation and facilities - brings employment, upper middle class and there when retirees need it
4 - center of everything - at 26,000 (or so) it's the biggest thing going till you get to Nashville/Knoxville. Also, geographically centered
5 - Freeway access - intersection of 111 and I40, giving E/W and N/S access
6 - 97 miles to Nashville airport - about same distance as LAX is from Riverside (our SoCal location) but much nicer drive
7 -Regardless of the above, you're 5 minutes from open country from any point in the town
8 - Beautiful downtown area, well restored
9 - Rapidly growing 'new shopping/restuarant' area, servicing both community, freeway traffic and surrounding counties
10 - moderate climate, out of Tornado alley. Humid in summers but overall moderate. AR and western TN has tornados.

There's probably a bunch of other intrinsics, but overall, it just seemed like a town that met a whole bunch of reasons...

Very well said! But Cookeville is only 70 miles from the Nashville airport (exit 286 to exit 216).

You articulated very well the very reasons I plan on moving to Cookeville as soon as possible.

Good luck with your move! I know of many, many other Californians who have moved to the Cookeville area. Of the ones I know, most are from the La Jolla area. I hope you enjoy living in Cookeville as much as they do.

[TomDale]

Hi Boris - Look us up when you head this way. I amazed at the number of Floridians/Californians posting threads - all escaping to the Tennessee area - hope we don't all spoil it for the locals...

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by TomDale

Hi Boris - Look us up when you head this way. I amazed at the number of Floridians/Californians posting threads - all escaping to the Tennessee area - hope we don't all spoil it for the locals...

Or anyone else that doesn't want to see it turn into Florida.

[Kal-Torak]

From what I'm reading most of you simply aren't going to be happy
in E Tenn, You should probably try Florida instead

Like Cali just less insanity !!

[willowslady]

Sorry we are loyal to our locals. E. Tennessee has some of the nicest people, too bad you could not look through what they live in to see that. People here are not materialistic like some others are, sorry to hear that, but you probably do not want to move to Tennessee if you don't like a melting pot of people. Just to let you know, we accept all people no matter what they live in or what they do for a living. Most of us work in the larger towns while others still run farms that we have had for 100 of years. Hope you enjoy the corn, tobbacco or other products that we may have grown for you behind our doublewide mobile homes!

[willowslady]

And what are you talking about pricey in Knoxville when your willing to pay an astronimical amount of money for a 1000 sq ft house over there, sometimes, close to a million dollars! That seems smart. Knoxville has homes that are around 5000 sq ft that run under 400,000....seems pretty good compared to California's sq ft prices!