So Many Moving to Tennessee WHATS THE EFFECT? (Monterey: appointed, neighborhood)

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by MovingBack2PA

Hi there
We are interested into the country living, but have to be close to a larger town, due to my husbands job (barmanager/ bartender). College would be an issue, due to our son attending college...he's 19.
That's pretty much it....we are happy people, want to (have to) make money to live. I am at the point to start believing this place my husband and I have in our heads doesn't exist.

I guess you could start with sending resumes and see if you get any bites?

It's terrible that you went through all of that and it didn't work out.

Pay isn't very good here, bear that in mind. Jobs are tight, but I think you can pretty much always find work in the hospitality industry. At least I THINK so.

I know what you mean about the place in your head. I have one too, but I think it's back in the 50s. In fact I think it was "Leave it to Beaver."

[MB2]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I guess you could start with sending resumes and see if you get any bites?

It's terrible that you went through all of that and it didn't work out.

Pay isn't very good here, bear that in mind. Jobs are tight, but I think you can pretty much always find work in the hospitality industry. At least I THINK so.

I know what you mean about the place in your head. I have one too, but I think it's back in the 50s. In fact I think it was "Leave it to Beaver."

LOL.....hiks....funny as EVER.
I think, you and I are so much alike..."leave it to beaver" sound pretty good to me too.... Hope, we will find it. (I will let you know.)

[MaimounaKande]

I just stumbled on this thread, but I am laughing big time. OK...so now in the TX forum everyone is complaining everyone is moving there and it's messing things up. And TN. And in the NC forum they are saying the same thing. And in the AZ forum they are saying the same thing. And in OR. And I"m sure I could find threads in most other states.

You'd think the midwest and NE would be empty by now with all the people who are supposedly messing up "everyone else's" states!

[daniellefort]

Well you haven't been on the FL forum yet. You'd think FL would be empty with all the people wanting to leave only they can't sell the homes down here to leave because nobody wants to live here. You won't see one thread complaining about people moving to FL just people complaining they can't leave.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by MovingBack2PA

LOL.....hiks....funny as EVER.
I think, you and I are so much alike..."leave it to beaver" sound pretty good to me too.... Hope, we will find it. (I will let you know.)

If I find it, I will let you know, too! And then, we won't tell anyone else!

[hoosier07]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

If I find it, I will let you know, too! And then, we won't tell anyone else!

If you don't tell anyone else, your property tax will be too high !!! Imagine, spreading the cost on two households !!!

[hiknapster]

Wow, is that wrong. I lived through Florida. When you build it, they will come, and then house valuations go up and so does taxes and rent.

That is a bunch of baloney.

[mrs1885]

Wow. Huge thread. Ok, my opinion. Keep in mind I read the first 3 posts from February before responding, so I have no clue what everyone else is talking about. After posting I'll have to go back and read!!

We left extreme SW FL for the central / middle TN area. For us, we have 5 kids and 4 of them are still in school. We moved from a very very affluent area of Florida. The schools were beyond jam packed and the kids, if they couldn't keep up with the rest of the class were left behind. Not a care from the teachers.

We had drugs and crime moving in from Miami like crazy. I'd grown up on a small little island on the southern Gulf coast of Florida and loved my childhood. But by the time I was married and had kids it was a retirement community and multi-gazillionaire land. Certainly nothing I could afford. I moved into town and found the drugs and crime.

I wanted my children to grow up in a safe small town community where the neighbors stopped over for coffee and offered help if you needed it. Where the teachers didn't make 6 figures and actually cared about whether the children were learning. Where you could still find Sunday picnics after church. Where young men held the doors for little elderly ladies at the grocery store. We wanted a garden and horses and room for the dogs to run and play. Quality of life is what it boiled down to. We didn't have the multi-million dollar annual income that would have taken in Florida. And quite frankly the heat, humidity, and bugs had really gotten to me. We'd just had enough.

So, we started looking everywhere. We checked other areas of Florida and found the cost of living was heading sky high like Naples had done. We checked Vermont and found housing and careers just didn't match up. Then we looked into TN. We spent a good 3 months solid on the internet checking different areas. Finally we narrowed our search and came up for a visit for a week. We saw our house - it was the 2nd the real estate agent showed us - and put in our offer the next day. The day after that we'd agreed on a price, signed the contract, had the house inspected, and headed back to Florida to pack. Within 4 weeks we were in TN.

Since then, our 2nd child who Florida told us had a learning disability and would never be able to pass through high school to graduate has. His graduation ceremony is this Friday. Our 3rd child who has severe ADHD and had teachers that told us he was no longer allowed in school unless he was under so much medication that it made it nearly impossible for him to even eat (he'd even begun losing weight from the medications side effects) is now totally off his medication and making honor roll. Our 4th child is a straight A student and top reader in the school. She was just given an all expense paid trip to Dollywood for the day for her reading and was given another at the end of the year for her straight As. Our youngest is now making As and Bs, up from Cs and Ds. The teachers in the school - even though they make very little - volunteer their time to tudor the children for free after school.

We just got done putting the garden in. It will be big enough to feed the entire family throughout most of the year without a trip to the store for veggies. Best of all, we go this fall to get horses, once we get a barn up!

Like I said, it was all about quality of life for us. We're just about making ends meet on my salary alone and my husband has retired. He's able to stay home to raise the kids, help with homework, coordinate them working with him in the garden, etc. We've had 2 friends move up since we have and have several others looking into it. It's just such an awesome place!!

[MB2]

Originally Posted by mrs1885

Wow. Huge thread. Ok, my opinion. Keep in mind I read the first 3 posts from February before responding, so I have no clue what everyone else is talking about. After posting I'll have to go back and read!!

We left extreme SW FL for the central / middle TN area. For us, we have 5 kids and 4 of them are still in school. We moved from a very very affluent area of Florida. The schools were beyond jam packed and the kids, if they couldn't keep up with the rest of the class were left behind. Not a care from the teachers.

We had drugs and crime moving in from Miami like crazy. I'd grown up on a small little island on the southern Gulf coast of Florida and loved my childhood. But by the time I was married and had kids it was a retirement community and multi-gazillionaire land. Certainly nothing I could afford. I moved into town and found the drugs and crime.

I wanted my children to grow up in a safe small town community where the neighbors stopped over for coffee and offered help if you needed it. Where the teachers didn't make 6 figures and actually cared about whether the children were learning. Where you could still find Sunday picnics after church. Where young men held the doors for little elderly ladies at the grocery store. We wanted a garden and horses and room for the dogs to run and play. Quality of life is what it boiled down to. We didn't have the multi-million dollar annual income that would have taken in Florida. And quite frankly the heat, humidity, and bugs had really gotten to me. We'd just had enough.

So, we started looking everywhere. We checked other areas of Florida and found the cost of living was heading sky high like Naples had done. We checked Vermont and found housing and careers just didn't match up. Then we looked into TN. We spent a good 3 months solid on the internet checking different areas. Finally we narrowed our search and came up for a visit for a week. We saw our house - it was the 2nd the real estate agent showed us - and put in our offer the next day. The day after that we'd agreed on a price, signed the contract, had the house inspected, and headed back to Florida to pack. Within 4 weeks we were in TN.

Since then, our 2nd child who Florida told us had a learning disability and would never be able to pass through high school to graduate has. His graduation ceremony is this Friday. Our 3rd child who has severe ADHD and had teachers that told us he was no longer allowed in school unless he was under so much medication that it made it nearly impossible for him to even eat (he'd even begun losing weight from the medications side effects) is now totally off his medication and making honor roll. Our 4th child is a straight A student and top reader in the school. She was just given an all expense paid trip to Dollywood for the day for her reading and was given another at the end of the year for her straight As. Our youngest is now making As and Bs, up from Cs and Ds. The teachers in the school - even though they make very little - volunteer their time to tudor the children for free after school.

We just got done putting the garden in. It will be big enough to feed the entire family throughout most of the year without a trip to the store for veggies. Best of all, we go this fall to get horses, once we get a barn up!

Like I said, it was all about quality of life for us. We're just about making ends meet on my salary alone and my husband has retired. He's able to stay home to raise the kids, help with homework, coordinate them working with him in the garden, etc. We've had 2 friends move up since we have and have several others looking into it. It's just such an awesome place!!

Wow....I am so moved by your personal life story!
I too have a son, who was diagnozed with severe ADHD, before we had moved to FL. We were assured, when we got there, that he would be well taken care of in class. Well, that was at the beginning of 2004. He failed miserably in the FL school, class sizes were exploding, the schools couldn't handle and weren't prepared for the influx of kids moving in, drugs and gang activity were on the rise, and, the school was not able to address the ADHD, with special ed. classes, like he recieved in PA.
So, he failed, has to repeat a grade, and after getting involved with the wrong kids, was finally send up to live with his dad. (He's 17). He tells me now thet he gat's B's and some C's (from pretty much all F's), and is doing very well.
ANother story is my stepson. He moved in with us 2 years ago, coming to FL from NC. He is a very bright kid, and a total sweetheart. Well, he came down to attend FL highschool, and we found out, that the stuff they were teaching, he already had a long time ago in the highschool in NC. So, guess what? He basically just repeated everyhting he had already known....lol... Graduated on the honor roll, and is now attending college. (He's 19). So, it tell's me, from what he was telling me, that the NC school he attended was/ is so much further ahead of the FL school. He also says, that class sizes are smaller, and teacher are more able to give more "one on one".
Now, my friends in Knoxville tell me pretty much the same thing about their schools, and that they are trying to keep the class sizes small, and trying to accomodate the children more.
I am so happy for you, and it turned out, that your move was the right thing to do!!!!
So far, whenever we have moved, it turned sour every which way.
And, that's exactly what I am boo-hooing about....lol.
Good luck to you and your family! I give you two thumbs up!!!
(It certainly gives me hope..... )

[MB2]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Wow, is that wrong. I lived through Florida. When you build it, they will come, and then house valuations go up and so does taxes and rent.

That is a bunch of baloney.

I totally second that motion....because exactly THAT happened to us down in FL!!!
In the beginning, everything was more reasonable, until more people moved in, taxes went up, more building was going on, and then of course the hurricanes finished it off. Now houses are dirt cheap (they can't give them away....I know, because we just SOLD our home on May 4th!!! down there), and expenses to actually KEEP a house are at absolut nonsense figures nobody can afford!
I am still in the process of looking for my piece of heaven......