what dissappointed me about moving to East TN (coupons, buy)

[sherrenee]

Here in North West Arkansas a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with 1/2 lot will run you between $200,000 and 400,000.
A half gallon of milk is $2.06, gas changes day to day but last I check it was 3.09, fruit and veggies are kind of high this year due to not enough rain early on.

[sherrenee]

Originally Posted by amyevansmom

Meijer Retail and Grocery Supercenters - Higher Standards, Lower Prices throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky. Family-owned for over 75 years.

Awesome grocery store with everything you could possibly need. Think like this, it's 3am, I need (fill in the blank). You can find it at Meijer. Their prices are awesome, too!

In the South that would be Wal Mart.

[happyappy]

Originally Posted by southerngreen

please, please, please don't say anything else about this area. we've been telling people how wonderful it is for years & now they are all going there!!!
pigeon forge used to be a wonderful place - now it's just like any crowded city. if i ever find another beautiful place, i'm not telling a soul.

The developers and their buddies in local government are the people you need to hide the information from. There aren't enough people in this forum to overpopulate the neighborhood I live in.

[john t]

The price of houses is more expensive in east TN than Ohio or Michigan, ok maybe exclude Grosse Pointe, etc. I lived in Ohio and Michigan for awhile and liked it very much but when I came back to TN several years ago housing was still cheap here. All of this has changed. Its like anything, once people realize a good thing, it's too late to buy it...

I had two friends that moved to Prague after the fall, they bought a really nice house for a few thousand dollars. People started flocking to the city and asking prices shot up. Some still go there but the urgency is gone along with the deals.

If you want to move somewhere warm that still has reasonable prices try west TN, KY, AL, MS, and parts of GA, SC. Or rent here until prices fall to where you like them. The real estate market is just starting to take a dive now.

Good luck to you

[SuzieQFL]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

OK, but mind you it was back in 97-99 so things might have changed since then. We lived in New Market, just west of Jefferson City and just East of Strawberry Plains. I grew up in the country and wanted to get back to that way of life after years in FL and wanted my children to experience it and grow up with good people with good morals and values.......well after a while in Jefferson County I realized I didn't want THAT country. It took 20 minutes to get to a grocery store, and that was ok, but the grocery store was dirty and the majority of the people I was shopping with seemed very poor and very ........ I don't know how to put it into words. I guess the fact that ladies in their 40's that were so thrilled that their 15/16 year old girl was now pregnant and the boyfriend was now moving in to so the baby would have a daddy, they were all going to be living with them so that they can help them out, but they were so thrilled to be a grandma. Now mind, at first I liked the attitude considering the alternative, but after I heard that same conversation (from different people) about 20 times, well I realized this is what a lot of the teenagers aspire too. There seemed to be a very high number of people on disability from the government. A few conversations I had with teachers at the school led me to believe that a high number of children in that school also had aspirations in life to "draw" when they got older. I guess seeing a lot of 2nd and 3rd generations want nothing more for themselves than to do as little as possible in life to get by, well I didn't want that attitude to seem acceptable to my children. I want them to have options and choose what makes them happy, not "the norm as everyone else". Sure I can teach them that but you have to admit, if they are surrounded by that attitude day after day, it is hard to over come it at home. There is something to the phrase" It takes a village to raise a child", well, I wanted a different village is all.
Don't get me wrong, the people were as nice as nice could be for the most part, would give you the last shirt off their back if they thought you needed it. We made some really nice friends and some felt more like family. There was also that good ol boy network, the bus driver was also the town Constable, fire chief and had a seat on the city council. Which seemed to work just fine there, was not an issue, I thought it was kinda cool. There were some very close minded people who did not like us off the bat because we weren't natives. We bent over back wards to assimilate. But hey, at least we were of the right color for them, so they tolerated us, (that was a very few, but they were there) Even if we weren't the right religion, which to a few was worse than being the wrong color. Granted, those last few was not the norm, but it wasn't just one or two. It just wasn't the town for us. We needed just a bit more to do and available to us without driving for an hour. Better schools. After being in TN for a while and learning about a lot more areas, I found that there are many places that I could be in the country but be close enough to a larger town or city without having to fight Knoxville traffic or be out in the boonies. I personally wanted something more in between.

thank you for taking the time to post that info. I'm sure things have changed somewhat in the last 8-10 years, but I wouldn't like that either. I'm used to the grocery store being 5 minutes away, and I'm not THAT much of a country gal that I would want to live in such a remote area. That main thing is that you found your piece of paradise. I hope we do!!

[mjb62676]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Did you try the Food City behind the mall?

Yes...they don't carry much of what we are used to (I don't think they carry much in "light") and they seemed expensive. I'll probably still use them for a while until I get more used to everything, but for now, it looks like Kroger is the store of choice for us.

I'm just amazed at the milk prices.


I miss my HyVee.

[mjb62676]

Incidentally, is there any decent cottage cheese sold by anyone? I haven't tried Mayfield yet because it's like 4 bucks.

[Beretta]

I will give you one little tip about milk. Every other week Kroger has their store brand of milk on sale. So, if you stock up on the first day of the sale and the last day of the sale (which carries you through the non-sale week) you can usually do ok. They usually have their gallons on sale but sometimes their half gallons are what is on sale (like this week). Also, if you catch a great sale on milk you can freeze milk. You need to open the milk and pour off 1/2 - 1 cup, screw the cap back on and freeze upright. When it thaws it is just fine.

[hiknapster]

I like Kroger's, too. Also Fresh Market.

I like that Food City because it carries the seafood I like. I can get cod! I'm from New England!

They also have lots of LOCAL produce! It's also on the way home!

[knoxgarden]

Have you tried the Super Target in Turkey Creek? I really like their Archer Farms brand. Very easy store to get around in. I can get shampoo and aspirin when I'm grocery shopping without having to walk a block!
I love Earth Fare, also in Turkey Creek. Their store brands are excellent and reasonably priced. Wonderful meat and cheeses. They don't carry anything with growth hormones or High Fructose Corn Syrup. Much nicer group of shoppers and workers than Fresh Market and much lower prices. I like Fresh Market for bread, but that's about it.
I miss Bi-Lo. Loved their stuff. Wouldn't mind seeing a Publix move into town. I had those when I was living in South Georgia and miss it.