People who've moved from Florida to TN? (Knoxville, Sevierville: for rent, house prices)

[JBugz]

Hi all. This is my first post here, but I've been lurking for quite a little while now trying to gain as much info as possible on East Tennessee....and there sure is a lot of it here

We're planning a move in about 4 months and have pretty much settled on the Knoxville area. Not in Knoxville proper, but we haven't actually narrowed down the exact town just yet.

But my question for now is....for those that have lived in Florida, what are the big differences between it and Tennessee?

I'm especially wondering about things like....

How different is the drinking water? (ours is terrible here)

Is there a big difference in bug population? (mosquitos in particular)

What is the comparable gang situation?

Is there a big difference in housing prices?

Is the rainy season as long (and harsh) as ours?

Are the summers as hot as here?

How often does it snow? We'd love snow at least once a winter. (I've never actually seen snow)

We really want to be semi-close to Knoxville...and more precisely, if Knoxville were the center of a clock, we want to live in a small town anywhere from 9:00 to 12:00....clear as mud?

Thanks so much for any info from former Floridians or anyone else who cares to chime in.

Julie

[SPLIT]

J: Ex Brevard Co , Melbourne, Most of your questions have favorable answers. We are south of Knoxville , Dayton area, Good drinking water, Small town system $14/ month 2300 gal min.
. Was impressed with Tuscalum N.E. of Knoxville, but dont tell everyone. /
Can find a few Fire Ants here. Do have to watch SMALL Deer TICKS, did not have those in Fla.
We bought a Brand New house one acre total pkg, dead end st. 40 mile hill top view $132K.
A few days in Aug 100 degree, but live near watger, take a lake swim .
NIghts cool off in low 60 's.
One or two days of snow , schoold will close if 2 " in am , melt by 4pm in afternoon. May see more , or icy cond on those N.C. mtn roads.
NO rainy season. 2nd year of DROUGHT.
LOTS of outdoor activities here. Get a kayak , hike boots, mtn bike, etc.
People are more friendly / neighborly, also more churches .

[JEANNE61]

Ex wpb fl
just moved here 2 wks ago . But been coming to adamsville (west tn) for 2 yrs now ..
The prices of food are the same .. (i still find this hard to believe in a town of 2000 people .. C ompared to a town with over one million )
gas is about the same ... But did change a bit recently . .3.79 in adamsville today ,
snow , ''here''- only a sprinkling now and then during the winter . .tho i was here last feb , visiting , and we had ice .. They closed the schools for 3 days because of i t. Even tho 3 hrs later it was mud . . More specifically 'red clay' mud .. Ugh
gangs ??? Uh uh .. No way ..
People are wonderful .. Friendly and can t' do enough for ya . .but as in all things . .there's always the small minority of miserable s.o.b's in every communities .
I don't know much about utilities yet .. I do know that i was not able to get any cable or bellsouth in adamsville .
Had to go with directv . . Which , so far is ok .but v er y expensi ve .
Seems that each little town has its own phone co . . Same here. . I am on a first name basis with m y telephone lady . . Nelda . .what a doll !!!
Internet is thru the phone co also . .hughes.net which is who directv suggested was out of the world as far as expense . . I told them to forget it . .
I was paying 24.00 a mth to bellsouth for my isp , ,and here im paying twice that . .
I didnt' care for the drinking water .. It s cloudy . . Hot or cold .. So i put it in the fridge in a bottle and it seems fine .. As long as its ice cold i have no problem drinking it . And i am a serious water drinker .
Housing and land is cheap here. . Saw apts for rent in the 400 and 350 range .. Houses , my brother just built one for approx 65k. .
Land is ridiculously cheap . .still , ,probably cause nobody ever heard of adamsville .. Not even a lot of tenneseans . .
All i n all , it was a good move. . I love sitting on my porch . . People wave.. . Some do , s ome d on't .
B ut all in all , a good experience .and i 'm planning on stayng the rest of my life .
Jobs are not that prevalent . .but then , you're talkng kn oxville area , so i doubt you'll have a pr oblem . Its a much bigger town .
Good luck in your move . .
Jeanne

[JBugz]

Thanks so much for the responses.

SPLIT, you said there is no rainy season. Is that typical?

I'm also wondering if it would be okay (or even worthwhile) to cross post this in the Knoxville section. Do most people go directly to their "section" or look in the general TN forum as well?

[gailli]

Moved here from Florida 10 mths ago. Settled in Seymour which is a small town between Knoxville and Sevierville. Its quiet here and friendly people. I am estatic with my electric bill, highest bill was this month, $133, and I keep my house very cold so I consider that to be a good bill. Usually it runs around 54-65 dollars. Thats Central Air and Heat in a 1600 sq foot townhouse with 3 bdrms/2 1/2 baths.

I like living in /Sevier county as you get all the benefits of free or reduced show tickets for Pigeon Forge not to mention restaurant discounts and store discounts. I am about 20 min from downtown Knox and about 15 min from downtown Sevierville.

Weather is great, low humidity most of the time although it does get hot here occasionally, good thing is the hot mths arent near as long as they are in Florida. Winter we dont get much snow here in the Valley, they get more North and West of Knoxville but thats fine with me, I can always drive a short drive and see more if I want.

I am more than happy that we moved here. I am a Senior and lived in FL all my life so I wasnt sure how it would be but I love it, come on up, you will too

[mbmouse]

Hello, I moved here from S.E. FL 12 years ago and LOVE IT! I am further N.E. in TN than Knoxville, the Tri-Cities area, but I will still chime in here with what I see. My answers to your questions are in your quote, in red font.
I agree, there is a wealth of info here and lots of good perspectives from others, both good and bad, which is important to know too.
All in all, you just have to come visit and decide for yourself if TN is right for you.

Originally Posted by JBugz

Hi all. This is my first post here, but I've been lurking for quite a little while now trying to gain as much info as possible on East Tennessee....and there sure is a lot of it here

We're planning a move in about 4 months and have pretty much settled on the Knoxville area. Not in Knoxville proper, but we haven't actually narrowed down the exact town just yet.

But my question for now is....for those that have lived in Florida, what are the big differences between it and Tennessee?Less traffic, MUCH nicer people in general. Sure there are some jerks here, just like anywhere else, but for the most part people look you in the eye and say hello. The other thing for me is the schools. They are much better here for my children than they were in FL.

I'm especially wondering about things like....

How different is the drinking water?Totally depends on where you live. Which city/county, well water or public water. Some good, some awful. I suggest if you are house hunting and that is important to you, bring a cup and try it out while you are researching that house. (ours is terrible here)

Is there a big difference in bug population? (mosquitos in particular) Oh yes! sure we have bugs, but the bugs here (house flies, gnats, spiders and all the other normal cast or characters) are not NEAR as prevalent here as in FL nd we don't have palmetto bugs! (which I call huge flying roaches, cause, well, that is what they are eeewwwww)

What is the comparable gang situation?It is just not comparable in my opinion. Sure there are some here and there but again, not near as prevalent and there are many areas in East TN where you can be without any gang presence at all. Heck in the 12 years I have been here have only heard about them being around, never actually saw them like I did in FL.

Is there a big difference in housing prices?Again, depends where you are. In all of East TN I have seen house prices anywhere from 15k to 6 million. Other than that I really can't comment because I know the prices in most of FL are just kind of all over the place which makes it hard to compare apples to apples.

Is the rainy season as long (and harsh) as ours?
Umm, not much of a "rainy" season here. We do tend to get more in the spring. I like the fact that except for late summer (now) we don;t get the everyday afternoon storms like in FL. Sometimes it rains on and off for 4 days, sometimes clear for 4 or 5 days.
Are the summers as hot as here?
Heck NO! hahahahha Yes, sometimes in July and August we do have 90 plus degrees and humidity levels can be about as high as FL but it usually does not last more than a week or so without some relief. It sure doesn't last for 7 months straight! hahahah

How often does it snow? We'd love snow at least once a winter. (I've never actually seen snow) It snows more here in the N.E TN region but we are lucky to get an inch or two some years, less than that in some. The most I have seen in 12 years is in 2001 (I think) we got about 4 inches in one day but it was gone by the next.

We really want to be semi-close to Knoxville...and more precisely, if Knoxville were the center of a clock, we want to live in a small town anywhere from 9:00 to 12:00....clear as mud?Someone from Knoxville will have better info on that than I but I hope you find the place just right for you.

Thanks so much for any info from former Floridians or anyone else who cares to chime in.

Julie

[FLORIDA TO NIOTA 2010]

Palm Springs, FL (Lake Worth/West Palm Beach area) Grew up there. Can hardly wait to move to Niota, TN. Hopefully some time in early 2010.