Eastern Tennessee Move- need help with finding town (Maryville, Greeneville: rent, house)

[gingerpeaches]

Hi everyone, My family and I , ( teens 13 and 14) and dh and I , are planning on moving to tennessee in the next three-six months from alabama. I love the gatlinburg area and the areas close to the foot of the smokey mts. I want to live in the country , or a small town no bigger than 5000 people. I need it to have a good school (we have horrid schools where i live and dd is in regular school but has mild special needs) she can do for herself but needs a bit of direction. I would like for my new town/city to have a good grocery store, maybe a dollar store of 2, churches, drs office, post office, nice place to eat out, major thing is the schools and maybe dentist, you know the basics. I like small cities and am a country girl at heart. I like nature and the quiet too. Could anyone suggest a town/city like this along the base of the smokey mts or not far from it with light traffic? We will rent a house first but work on buying a fixer upper old house thats livable, maybe old farmhouse with a few acres of land eventually. I have been to tenn lots , I love it there, my children are excited about it too, I belong there in my heart. I love to play my guitar and my family loves music and crafts too. I make my children behave but we have fun too. Would love a good clean community where we would feel welcome. My younger 2 children (the teens) are adopted (doesnt matter) but they are hispanic and i am tired of them being called racist words at school. I would want to live where they would be welcomed. Thanks for any and all input. Cant wait to find our town and come home to Tennessee! Please help me find our town/city. Thanks so much, Gingerpeaches

ps forgot to add , about jobs, dh has been in truck part salesman (mack) for 20 something years, needs less stressful but related work, I have am a LPN but want to work for circuit city or petsmart (have to do paperwork to change to tenn nursing license, not sure what else). thanks again for any replies. Gingerpeaches

[SPLIT]

G.P: Welcome to very nice area of state. You should find your piece of
Heaven along rt #411 or #321 north towards Greeneville.
. After this morning newspaper very surprized you mentioned "Circuit City".!
These threads have quite a bit of info, especially about schools. Also medical , read recently, most of Tenn will help nursing upgrade to state standards.
.. Yes , music quite popoular here and should find jam sessions a few night a week.

[gingerpeaches]

Hi Split! thanks so much for your reply! I will look at that spot on the map to see which cities it is close to. I only mentioned circuit city b/c i am working there now here for christmas help and really love it alot. other jobs like that would be fine too or something i can grow and learn and advance in . I am 47. I want to help with finances and enjoy my job too. I love to fish , hunt too sometimes and garden. ttyl, gingerpeaches

[Forest Breath]

Try looking at the towns from Benton/Delano up HWY 411 (this runs along the foot of the mountains pretty much) up to Maryville. You will find, Benton, Etowah, Tellico Plains, Englewood, Athens, Madisonville, Vonore, Maryville. Benton/Delano is a bit more redneckish than the other semi-hillbilly towns and I say that in the fondest of ways as I am one of those smiling hillbillies with lots of redneck cousins in all the above mentioned towns.

We are not ALL bad