Please help me find the perfect place in Tennessee (Memphis: rent, low crime)

[efseil]

I'm checking out different states for retirement, and will be visiting TN this fall. I'd like to narrow down my search ahead of time.

My perfect place would have/be:

1. Away from the hustle and bustle in the heart of the city. The outskirts of a city or a nearby smaller town not far from the city would work. I want reasonable access (15 miles) to a city for the medical facilities and shopping.

2. Good medical facilities. I've been told I'll need a knee operation in the future, so I want someplace with good orthopedic surgeons.

3. The flatter the better as far as terrain. I don't mind mountains in the distance, but I don't want to be constantly having to drive on mountainous roads or live in a house that's on a lot that's not level.

4. Although I'd rent first, I'd like a small house with about a half acre for less than $200G if I can find one. I want a place to garden and have a place for cats to enjoy.

5. I like living in an area where crops are raised. I love farmer's markets.

6. It would be nice to have a senior center to meet people.

7. I like stores like Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Fresh Thyme, and Publix is my favorite supermarket.

8. Low crime rate.

That's my wish list.

If you have any suggestions on locations that may include many of the items above, please post. Or if you know of places to avoid because they have few or none of the above, please post. Thanks in advance!

[mattec]

Checkout Collierville, a suburb of Memphis. I believe it checks off every item on your wish list.

[NY Annie]

Jackson area - Bell's would be my choice for $200K or less - it's northwest of Jackson but a quick drive. Of course, there are even some areas in the city that would work - really nice homes near Union University (just north of I-40). In your price range of $200K, you're going to find larger homes and probably more than 1/2 acre.

We are south of Jackson, 30 min to S. Jackson for us but since you actually want to be on the outskirts, I would think this would work. It's pretty flat, 1 hour to Memphis airport, 2 hrs to Nashville. Pretty good medical care - I see a retina eye specialist at the regional hospital and I'm impressed. Having had one of the premier eye specialists in the country when I lived in NYC (who teaches at Manhattan Eye), it takes a bit to impress me.

There's a farmer's market in downtown Jackson every day (not sure about Sunday, though). You'd have to tough it out with Kroger, sadly there's no Publix anywhere near here or any of the other markets you mention.

I have a lot of friends who live in/near Jackson and no one complains about the crime rate although I've read on this forum that Jackson's crime rate is high. Must be the folks that live in old Jackson or it's the way TN reports crime - everything is reported as individual - a robbery could be reported 3 ways: break-in; theft; selling stolen goods - and possibly more.



Under $200K:
https://www.crye-leike.com/50-emeral...r_wnpxfba-ln-2

https://www.crye-leike.com/26-overlo...r_wnpxfba-ln-7

https://www.crye-leike.com/26-overlo...r_wnpxfba-ln-7

[hiknapster]

Knoxville.

Not every property is flat, of course, but there several in our area. We are in a valley with the mountains about 25 minutes away AS THE CROW FLIES. It's 45 to 60 minutes away by car, depending on where you are and where you are going. Bear in mind, this isn't the Plains or the Midwest. We have hills, some small, some large. But if you want an area in Tennessee that has many flat lots and all of your boxes ticked, you can't do better than Knoxville. The only place that is comparable is Nashville, but there is a lot more traffic and prices are much higher, especially for housing.

About 10 to 15 minutes in any direction from the center of Knoxville you can be in rural to semi-rural areas.

Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic is one of the best in the world, they take care of the athletes at UT. My daughter had surgery through them when she was a child. World class!

We have a lot of excellent hospitals here, including the University of Tennessee Medical Center. My daughter and myself exclusively deal with them and their doctors.

Our Saturday Farmers Market on Market Square is nothing short of amazing. Also, we have many other farmers markets throughout the city and county on numerous other days.

We have all of the stores that you mentioned, except for Sprouts and Fresh Thyme. However, we have one of the oldest Food Co-ops in the country. It's gorgeous. We also have Earth Fare, Fresh Market, Whole Foods (although you didn't mention, may not like it), and a few specialty markets around. We are surrounded by excellent farms too numerous to mention. The milk and ice cream from Cruze Farm is divine.

Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic: Orthopaedic Specialists Serving Knoxville and East Tennessee

https://www.utmedicalcenter.org/

https://nourishknoxville.org/

https://nourishknoxville.org/local-food-guide/

Three Rivers Market | Everyone Welcome!

Cruze Farm

https://www.visitknoxville.com/

[grampaTom]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Knoxville.

Not every property is flat, of course, but there several in our area. We are in a valley with the mountains about 25 minutes away AS THE CROW FLIES. It's 45 to 60 minutes away by car, depending on where you are and where you are going. Bear in mind, this isn't the Plains or the Midwest. We have hills, some small, some large. But if you want an area in Tennessee that has many flat lots and all of your boxes ticked, you can't do better than Knoxville. The only place that is comparable is Nashville, but there is a lot more traffic and prices are much higher, especially for housing.

About 10 to 15 minutes in any direction from the center of Knoxville you can be in rural to semi-rural areas.

Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic is one of the best in the world, they take care of the athletes at UT. My daughter had surgery through them when she was a child. World class!

We have a lot of excellent hospitals here, including the University of Tennessee Medical Center. My daughter and myself exclusively deal with them and their doctors.

Our Saturday Farmers Market on Market Square is nothing short of amazing. Also, we have many other farmers markets throughout the city and county on numerous other days.

We have all of the stores that you mentioned, except for Sprouts and Fresh Thyme. However, we have one of the oldest Food Co-ops in the country. It's gorgeous. We also have Earth Fare, Fresh Market, Whole Foods (although you didn't mention, may not like it), and a few specialty markets around. We are surrounded by excellent farms too numerous to mention. The milk and ice cream from Cruze Farm is divine.

Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic: Orthopaedic Specialists Serving Knoxville and East Tennessee

https://www.utmedicalcenter.org/

https://nourishknoxville.org/

https://nourishknoxville.org/local-food-guide/

Three Rivers Market | Everyone Welcome!

Cruze Farm

https://www.visitknoxville.com/

I live 30 miles from Knoxville and all the above is accurate. The Saturday morning Farmer's market is quite good (I have lived in Fayetteville, Ar. which is reputed to have one of the top 10 FM's in the USA).
It is easy to get around in.
I am retired from the medical field and recently had surgery at Park West and was very favorably impressed.
If you can I recommend spending time here and Nashville both.
If you move to Memphis area I hope you like "air that you wear" -- it's in the Mississippi River Valley for cryin' out loud.

[NY Annie]

While choosing a city to move to, I would have loved to move to Knoxville but the prices for property were quite a bit higher than further west. In fact, I began my searching quite a bit east of Knoxville in Greene County where I had gone to college 40 years before. Considering only property outside of all the big cities (Johnson City, Knoxville, Nashville, Chatt, and Memphis, the prices go lower the further west you go so that may be a consideration. What we were looking for was not isolation, but privacy. When I was looking for a retirement location, we were still living in NYC - albeit on a national park on Staten Island - and didn't want to deal with heavy traffic or shopping in crowded stores. I haven't spent a lot of time in Knoxville but do drive through it and have visited friends and it's like shopping back on Staten Island - UGH! but that may be not a problem for you.

Knoxville isn't for us. Neither is Nashville or Johnson City. Do I miss the plays and fine dining we had in NYC? Not really. We did all that. The two things I miss are having an airport within a half-hour drive with the accessibility to low airfare and a sandy beach. River "beaches" don't do it for me.

Hiknapster really loves Knoxville - you can see it in her posts - and I'm happy for her. But I will say that meeting others in Knoxville, I've had to deal with mountains. The mountains extend from the northwest corner to just short of Nashville. I have a big problem driving on mountains or "big hills". Despite her calling them hills, the areas around Nashville (the plateau) has BIG hills and that area is not for me. We wanted flat, no mountains, and we still have some BIG HILLS not far from us - over in Waynesboro those are little mountains and I get angst when I have to drive there.

It's a matter of weighing what is important - Knoxville absolutely does have excellent medical care and great shopping and lots of crowds and crowded highways.

Don't overlook Jackson - it's midway between Nashville and Memphis so there IS 1 more place to consider on the ride across the state. Plus it's a lot warmer than Johnson City/Knoxville and Nashville. We get far less snow and it melts faster. Our summers are longer and the winters are shorter. And there isn't the crowds that you find in the other big cities.

[mattec]

I'd recommend visiting the western part of the state and drive around the Memphis suburbs and Jackson to get a feel for the areas. West Tennessee is the flattest portion of the state, by far, and heavily agricultural.

Other Memphis burbs to check out include Lakeland and Arlington, which are adjacent to eachvother. Both are smaller than Collierville, but they're also cheaper. There is a Sprouts in Lakeland and both are close to the hospitals in East Memphis (St. Francis and Baptist). Not sure about the farmers market scene, but there are usually several roadside stands when I am in the area. Memphis also has several farmers markets if you want to venture into town.

[DaveinMtAiry]

The OP did not mention weather and that was surprising as that is usually near the top of most retiree's lists. When evaluating Tennessee you simply have to factor in the heat and more importantly the humidity. As you do not want the higher altitudes that will give you relief you really should understand just what 89 degrees with 57% humidity for 3 straight months feels like.

Knoxville, well specifically Maryville, is in our final 2 along with Johnson City as our list is very similar to the OP's and it seems to check most all our boxes. But after a week with a dew point over 70 here is Maryland, which was pretty uncomfortable and only happens a few weeks a summer, we need to ask ourselves if we could really live where that weather is more the rule than the exception.

I suggest you do what we are planning, take a trip in late July and see for yourself.

[SPLIT]

From the S.E. part of state , HIXSON should check off all your items... North of the city of Chattanooga,
Hospitals are in this stretch of Rt # 153... Have a PUBLIX or two.... ALDI is the value market & the brother of TRADER JOE owner..
My neighbor & another church friend had both their knees done in the past 3 months...

[BeeHoyal]

Kingston Springs or Fairview