How many of you are from Michigan and have moved to Tennessee? (Knoxville: neighborhoods, schools)

[jbrockmoore]

You are right, and this has been our experience here since we moved from Flint MI to Maryville TN. In fact, when asking people here where they come from, so many seem to be relocated from other states. All of these negative statements about Michiganders so very much upset me. In the 50's when the automotive plants were growing, many many southerners, and especially people from TN, moved to Michigan so they could get great jobs with benefits. Now those same people are moving back to TN and lumped in this category of "selfish mean Michiganders". When they came to MI for jobs, I did not hear people name calling, and complaining about their behaviors and attitudes. They were accepted, they made their homes and their families, and now they retire and move back to TN. Automotive workers are a small minority of the people in MI. Most of us work very hard for our money, pay higher rates for mortgages, food, cars, insurance, etc., because the economy is based on the autoworkers pay. So we struggled like most people do. My husband and I could never afford to own a home in MI, and were thrilled to retire here and be able to afford a modest home. Our home here cost $40K which in MI would have cost us easily double that. So we've made our home here and love it. We would never go back to MI. I said it before, and I'll say it again, one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch, but don't judge the bunch by the few bad apples.

[Barbiego]

We moved from Michigan to Tennessee last July. We love it! While our particular neighborhood is not particularly friendly (except for one...and to a lesser extent, another one), I have found people to be welcoming and nice. We moved because we were tired of long Michigan winters and about one month of summer. I hate cold weather. I would almost get depressed when August came because I knew it would start cooling down and that nasty winter was on its way. I couldn't appreciate the beauty of autumn because all I saw was a long winter coming soon. "Spring" (which didn't always come in Michigan) would be so late and slow coming most years and I'd get impatient for warm weather. Wow, did I enjoy autumn and winter in Tennessee this year!

Tonight we were at someone's house for dinner and we ate outside. No way could we do that in April in Michigan. Love it!

It does scare me a little bit that Tennessee will become overrun with people from other states and things will change and cost of living will go up. Hope that doesn't happen.

We weren't able to buy any nicer house here than in Michigan (that surprised me). We actually paid $23,000 more than what we sold our Michigan house for. All I can say is it is newer, but I don't have the storage, # of rooms, fireplace, etc. that I had before. But almost every other house I've been to has been huge. People from Florida, California, and several other states are able to definitely upsize their homes.

[John1960]

Hi, This place I moved to from Michigan I think has more people from Michigan then any other place in Tennessee. My Dad worked at General Motors in Michigan and then retired to Cookeville Tennessee.

John

[kellyjane]

I thought everbody from Michigan was here in FL??!!

[hiknapster]

Nope. They're following me!

[Shenandoah]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

[i]
I find it almost too ironic that the very unions that were supposed to protect the American worker were also the same unions that caused the rust belt to crumble.

Amen to that!

Try to tell that to a strong union sheeple, and you'll get an instantly enraged union sheeple. I've tried. They don't like to hear it. They'll blame just about anything else, but not the union for pricing themselves out of a job, just about shutting down the steel industry here in Pittsburgh PA.

Unions were good in the beginning. They've served their purpose, now it's time for them to go away - but hey - how on earth are you going to shut down such a profitive cash cow? Teachers unions are ruining our children, just as the USW ruined the steel industry in the US.

I'm happy to have Right To Work states such as Tennessee! And I'm talking to some influential people about working on Pennsylvania!

blessings, Shen

[JMT]

Originally Posted by shenandoah

Amen to that!

Try to tell that to a strong union sheeple, and you'll get an instantly enraged union sheeple. I've tried. They don't like to hear it. They'll blame just about anything else, but not the union for pricing themselves out of a job, just about shutting down the steel industry here in Pittsburgh PA.

Unions were good in the beginning. They've served their purpose, now it's time for them to go away - but hey - how on earth are you going to shut down such a profitive cash cow? Teachers unions are ruining our children, just as the USW ruined the steel industry in the US.

I'm happy to have Right To Work states such as Tennessee! And I'm talking to some influential people about working on Pennsylvania!

blessings, Shen

What an excellent post! I tried giving you another positive rating, but dang it I have to "spread it around" before I can do that again. I hate that.

Anyway, you might be interested to know that the teachers' union in Tennessee is nowhere near as political as their national counterpart. Apart from Memphis, most teachers in Tennessee don't even belong to the teachers' unions. It's truly refreshing!

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by shenandoah

Amen to that!

Try to tell that to a strong union sheeple, and you'll get an instantly enraged union sheeple. I've tried. They don't like to hear it. They'll blame just about anything else, but not the union for pricing themselves out of a job, just about shutting down the steel industry here in Pittsburgh PA.

Unions were good in the beginning. They've served their purpose, now it's time for them to go away - but hey - how on earth are you going to shut down such a profitive cash cow? Teachers unions are ruining our children, just as the USW ruined the steel industry in the US.

I'm happy to have Right To Work states such as Tennessee! And I'm talking to some influential people about working on Pennsylvania!

blessings, Shen

I also tried to give you a positive rating, but like JMT, I have to "spread it around" before I can do that. I totally agree with you. It definitely is time for unions to go away. Where I work, the unions make it extremely difficult to fire non-productive, worthless employees. This is so frustrating to our management. In California, ex-Governor Gray Davis signed legislation that made it mandatory for employees to pay union dues whether they join the union or not if they work for the state or the University of California. The public was not given an opportunity to vote for or against this.

[cohmusicman]

Originally Posted by warmheart

Just wondering, why would you make such a big decision in life at such a young age?

If you are looking for "the simple life" and want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, middle Tn is the place to be. It is gorgeous. The locals here are some of the most friendly people in the world. I moved here in January of 1993, and I have raised three children here. I am 48 yrs old and would not leave for anything. Good luck hope you enjoy it here as much as I do.

[gemkeeper]

This is the first time I have seen this thread (I think.) and do I ever have a lot to say about Michiganders (Yep, I am one - proud of it.) and unions!!

But, I have to go make the gravy right now, so I'll be back later.