another Maryville post (Knoxville, Johnson City, Kingsport: sales, crime, cheap home)

[phyll]

I have been reading the posts for a looong time.I am a "yankee", and am looking for a better place to raise my grandaughter whse now 3 yrs old .I like the area near the Smokies .I read somewhat on Maryville.I work in preschool, my husband will have a pension, but will work also. I have been to seiverville once and am coming to tn in july.I found the tn peolpe friendly and polite. I would like to know how far is maryville to the mnts, or good towns near it . I would appreciate ANY help.How is the schools ? Thank you very much for your time and help! phyllis

[jbrockmoore]

My husband and I moved from the bitter cold of Michigan winters to Maryville, TN and love it here! We would never consider going back. The winters are very mild with only occasional snow and yes, sometimes the summers get "sticky" but no worse than we were used to. The Great Lakes kept humidities high in Michigan but if you stay in your air conditioning on the high humidity days you'll do fine. The property taxes are low here but we do have a high sales tax (8%) which does effect your grocery and shopping costs. However we feel that not paying state taxes offsets the sales tax. Grocery prices are average. As far as the people go, this is a very friendly and caring state to live in and we will never go back. My husband (59) retired from an IT position in Michigan and has been able to find work in his field. Our home is located in the "foothills", and we are able to see the beauty of the moutains from our deck (they're about 3 miles away). From here it takes about 1/2 hour to get the SM National Park (Cades Cove). There is so much to see and do in and around the mountains. We love to drive the Foothills Parkway and do so frequently. I don't really know much about the schools, but from what I have learned, I wish I had raised my son in Tennessee. I know he would have had a better education here. When you come to visit, let us know and we'll be happy to meet with you and give you the highlights. All in all, we give living here a 10 out of 10! Hope this helps!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by jbrockmoore

My husband and I moved from the bitter cold of Michigan winters to Maryville, TN and love it here! We would never consider going back. The winters are very mild with only occasional snow and yes, sometimes the summers get "sticky" but no worse than we were used to. The Great Lakes kept humidities high in Michigan but if you stay in your air conditioning on the high humidity days you'll do fine. The property taxes are low here but we do have a high sales tax (8%) which does effect your grocery and shopping costs. However we feel that not paying state taxes offsets the sales tax. Grocery prices are average. As far as the people go, this is a very friendly and caring state to live in and we will never go back. My husband (59) retired from an IT position in Michigan and has been able to find work in his field. Our home is located in the "foothills", and we are able to see the beauty of the moutains from our deck (they're about 3 miles away). From here it takes about 1/2 hour to get the SM National Park (Cades Cove). There is so much to see and do in and around the mountains. We love to drive the Foothills Parkway and do so frequently. I don't really know much about the schools, but from what I have learned, I wish I had raised my son in Tennessee. I know he would have had a better education here. When you come to visit, let us know and we'll be happy to meet with you and give you the highlights. All in all, we give living here a 10 out of 10! Hope this helps!

That is a wonderful post! I'm so glad you enjoy it here. I think Maryville is a little jewel. It's next to the Knoxville airport and is also close to the mountains. It's got its share of growing pains, mainly traffic, but still nowhere near as bad as many big cities. Maryville has a very good city school system, and it's got the shopping conveniences of a big city (Home Depot, Target, Sears, etc.) with the charm of a small town.

When I go to the Smoky Mountains, I much prefer to drive through Maryville and Townsend than through the traffic nightmare of Sevierville-Pigeon Forge-Gatlinburg.

Phyll, I think you would do well to relocate to Maryville.

[phyll]

Oh yeah, I am soooo glad you both responded I thought Maryville was 1 hr away from the smokys ! I have visited tenn. I loved Cades cove , we have a photo of my grandaughter in one of the buildings .Is ANY part of Maryville really run down, it doesnt seem it.I have found a few cheap homes,we dont mind fixer upers, butwondered if they were cheap because of locatiion.i am
glad the shools are good. Your posts have me so excited ! Is there any childcare centers,like nursery schools? Thats what I have done for yrs. I cant wait to come again which is July! Is it summer yet?

[bfebets]

Hi, this is my first posting. I've been reading the notes from you folks and haven't seen any that seem to object to people from out of state moving to your area, unlike the folks in OR.

My wife and are are near retirement and would really love to get out of this "paradise" we live in. I'm speaking of Orange County, CA.,The "OC". It's not like the TV show by the way. I have been looking at several areas in TN and KY. We don't need to find work just a beautiful place without a lot of crime and traffic. We've looked at Crossville but it's a bit far away from a commercial airport. My wife is from MN and would like to have a little snow but we don't want to spend our "Golden" years shoveling the stuff. I'm sure my wife would need a little shopping too. We'd love to be on some water or at least able to see some but I know the closer you get the more the price goes up.

I've also been reading about Maryville and Kingsport areas. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Thank You

[mrradio]

than in Crossville, you might consider Cookeville, about 30 miles west of Crossville and about an hour or so to Nashville's airport. We retired here and love it.

[Suzanne1945]

We have been looking in Maryville and my question is 'would anyone of the readers of these posts identify some developments within county limits in the SE or SW quadrants of the Maryville area (zips 37801 or 37803) where you would suggest we look for new construction or homes a year or so old?'
Thanks in advance for any responses or other info you would share.

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by bfebets

Hi, this is my first posting. I've been reading the notes from you folks and haven't seen any that seem to object to people from out of state moving to your area, unlike the folks in OR.

My wife and are are near retirement and would really love to get out of this "paradise" we live in. I'm speaking of Orange County, CA.,The "OC". It's not like the TV show by the way. I have been looking at several areas in TN and KY. We don't need to find work just a beautiful place without a lot of crime and traffic. We've looked at Crossville but it's a bit far away from a commercial airport. My wife is from MN and would like to have a little snow but we don't want to spend our "Golden" years shoveling the stuff. I'm sure my wife would need a little shopping too. We'd love to be on some water or at least able to see some but I know the closer you get the more the price goes up.

I've also been reading about Maryville and Kingsport areas. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Thank You

Hi bfebets, welcome to the forum!
I can't tell you much about Maryville but I can help you out with Kingsport. It is one of the new "retiree" destinations according to Money magazine and there was a huge 30 page write up about Kingsport in the new Southwest Airlines magazine (or maybe it was American Airlines? can't remember hahhaha) We don't get much snow here, average is 12 inches a year....total, not at one time. We usually get maybe an inch, sometimes two and it is melted off in a day or less. We have several water ways and lakes, several parks that are river side. Lots of local owned shops (antiques and what not) in both downtown Kingsport and Johnson City. Crime and traffic are low compared to most areas in the US.
What else would you like to know? Tell us more of what you are looking for in a "hometown"? Hobbies? Organizations you are affiliated with or maybe like to be?
Hope we can help you out.

[rosestarlov]

Hi there,

Have a few questions. We just relocated from Florida to Oregon. We really aren't sure if we like it here. I have been hearing about Maryville, TN from alot of people. Has anyone been in both areas (we are in suburb near Portland right now) and Maryville or Knoxville tn????
have two boys so schools, job market (resturant), crime, cost of living- anything you have comparisions on. I did alot (ALOT) of checking before our cross country move to Oregon, so looking up things on the net doesnt really give you the whole picture.

[TC500]

Originally Posted by bfebets

We'd love to be on some water or at least able to see some but I know the closer you get the more the price goes up.

I've also been reading about Maryville and Kingsport areas. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Thank You

If you like lakes, check out Loudon County which is next to Blount County. The Tellico area is especially pretty. If you want to stay in Blount County, check out Vonore. It is very pretty and house prices are lower than other parts of Blount County. I think that is because it is a little further away from town.