So Many Moving to Tennessee WHATS THE EFFECT? (Knoxville, Oakland: low income, apartment complexes)

[HarleeGrlMS]

Well the reason we are looking in the Lebanon/Mufreesboro/Cookeville triangle is my husbands employer decided to move to Cookeville due to the negative effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Yes... the hurricane had an ENORMOUS effect outside New Nasty). We have lived on the MS gulf coast all our lives. The past two years have been hell. No matter what the influx of people and businesses to TN bring (i.e. traffic,suburban sprawl,etc.) believe me when I say I can tolerate that much better than seeing a 70 mile, 3 county area obliterated. This area will not rebound for 5-7 years. Also, our home insurance rates are skyrocketing as are home prices. We are looking in this area, because I am civil service with almost 20 years and will hopefully be able to find something in Murfreesboro or Nashville.
We plan on visiting this area the week of March 19. We have been on vacations to TN many times and have always loved it.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by HarleeGrlMS

Well the reason we are looking in the Lebanon/Mufreesboro/Cookeville triangle is my husbands employer decided to move to Cookeville due to the negative effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Yes... the hurricane had an ENORMOUS effect outside New Nasty). We have lived on the MS gulf coast all our lives. The past two years have been hell. No matter what the influx of people and businesses to TN bring (i.e. traffic,suburban sprawl,etc.) believe me when I say I can tolerate that much better than seeing a 70 mile, 3 county area obliterated. This area will not rebound for 5-7 years. Also, our home insurance rates are skyrocketing as are home prices. We are looking in this area, because I am civil service with almost 20 years and will hopefully be able to find something in Murfreesboro or Nashville.
We plan on visiting this area the week of March 19. We have been on vacations to TN many times and have always loved it.

My heart truly goes out to you. I went to Ole Miss and spent many wonderful weekends on the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast in some amazingly beautiful towns that have since evaporated. While the towns will eventually rebuild, it'll never be like it used to be.

At any rate, I hope you will be able to enjoy living in Tennessee as much as many of us here do. Cookeville is a choice community with a lot to offer. I hope you'll be able to find a job there so neither you nor your husband will have to spend much time commuting.

Best of luck to you!

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by doc1

Except for the finding a southern wife question (I'm happy with the one I have) those are some pretty good reasons to me. I'm a red state man, with a red state wife, living in a very strongly blue state. When the time is right, I'm gonna take my family, my F250, my guns and my bible and bolt.

I hear you. All of my life I have been living in blue states. Most of my life I have seen my vote go nowhere because of that. To address another poster's opinion, it very much matters to me that I'm moving to a red state. It's one of the reasons I chose it.

Totally unrelated, when I retire I plan to go back to fishing. I think about it a lot. I haven't fished since I've been in Maryland but I used to do all of my tackle shopping in the 70's, 80's and early 90's from the Bass Pro Shops catalogue. I went into an actual Bass Pro Shops store this past weekend and just about freaked. I couldn't handle all of the choices. It was like a kid in a toy store. I wanted everything. I was just overwhelmed at the size of it and it was packed with people. I left after buying a number of baits and a tackle box. Have to go back for the rod and reel after some research so I can just walk to directly what I want and leave without things just jumping in my shopping cart. My brain just froze. Too many choices. Couldn't figure out what I wanted when it was all in front of me. I can't imagine what the one in Kodak, Tennessee looks like in fishing season. You probably have to take a number to get in the front door on a weekend.

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by MOVIN-n-012

LauraC,
I think you forgot one of the main reasons people are on the fence about TN, That lack of divercity will do it every time........ East TN clocking in at 94% white?? It keeps me up at night just wondering what its like and if this ol NY prison CO can adjust

That's what makes TN so atractive i say...
Life is too short to have to be distacted by all the "Diversity for the sake of Diversity Police"...

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by Elrod

Good to hear. I've never really bought into the whole red state/blue state thing. My politics are moderately "blue" - mostly because we get only two choices in this country - but I often find myself more comfortable in "red" settings. I've lived in hard-core "blue" areas where people's politics mirror mine but they have no desire to look beyond their narrow worlds.

TN is really a reddish-purple state based on recent elections, and partisan voting doesn't always reflect ideology. Lamar Alexander isn't much more conservative than Lincoln Davis. Howard Baker wasn't much more conservative than Jim Sasser. Outside the extremes like Ed Bryant on the right and Steve Cohen on the left, Tennessee is pretty solidly center-right overall. It'll never be Georgia or Alabama and it'll never be New York or Illinois.

And I say: "Let Us swing it Red"...Muh-hahhah...

[lulumuf]

LauraC I think you would be very happy in maybe Berkerly or Boston, You know where all the upper crust are. Speak very clearly, have all their teeth, no poor people to be around, to drag your status down. Have a good trip and a wonderful life.

[jmarkey]

Originally Posted by lulumuf

LauraC I think you would be very happy in maybe Berkerly or Boston, You know where all the upper crust are. Speak very clearly, have all their teeth, no poor people to be around, to drag your status down. Have a good trip and a wonderful life.

Go back and read some of Laura's posts. You totally misunderstood what she was trying to say.

Her post was a compilation of complaints people have after moving to Tennessee.

Where's Berkerly?

[hiknapster]

My friend LauraC is being facetious. She is making fun of all those people that whine about all that stuff. It is a long running joke. LauraC is very down to earth and would probably die if she had to live in Boston!

[DaniLee]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Seems like TN is getting pretty desirable. I cant believe how low the prop. taxes and insurance are! Seriously only $385 a year for a $130k house? Thats less than 1/3 percent a year! Even in the northeast the insurers want like 1%, I have a friend paying $400 a year on a $40k house, no way would I pay that much insurance, ill just self insure if they want too much but $385 a year is very reasonable! Is prop. taxes really just 1%? Wow I could probably afford more than $50k of house with such low taxes/insurance!

Even in Oil city where I got my sight set, a $50k house carries $1500 a year prop taxes and a nice $100k house would be $3000 a year! Plus TN has no state income tax and mild winters(albet miserable summers) I would save like $3000 a year living in TN over Oil city, PA due to no state income tax and lower prop. taxes. A $50k mortgage costs $316.03 a month, a $100k mortgage double that. If I save $3000 a year living in TN, thats $250 a month therefore I could afford a $90k house in TN for the same cost as a $50k house in Oil city!


Oil city $50k house, $1500 taxes
TN $90k house, $700 taxes(is this true?)

Yes, it's true. You can log on to the State of Tennessee website and it will tell you that property is taxed at 25% of value. For example, a $100,000 house value x 25% = $25,000 for taxation @ $2-$3 tax rate = $500-$750 a year in taxes. In Florida most tax rates are about 21 mills or $21/per $1000 of valuation and we are supposed to be 100% value but it is really like 85% so in Florida a $100,000 would be taxed on $85,000 or 21 x 85 = $1785 IF you can find a place for $100,000!!! Average price of a home (not new) is $245K and new homes are $290k+. Except our esteemed legislature now wants everyone to pay higher sales tax so those who are fortunate to own real estate won't have to pay any taxes...gee, I wonder if they own property? Ya think?

We're moving to TN because we retire in 2 years and after working all of my life with pensions going broke, social security what it is, we can no longer afford to live in Florida. Also, at my age (60) I no longer wish to learn a new language (Spanish) as I'm already bi-lingual - I speak English and Southern!

I want to live where people don't look at me crazy if I say y'all or if I mention I can't attend their function because church is that night

I won't mind the cold because I'll have a generator if I have to to store extra food and can hibernate from Nov to April because I really like my husband of umpteen years and we can be together all the time and not go crazy

Because we like to read and be by ourselves

Because we don't like sitting in traffic

Because we don't want to be afraid to open our front door to a stranger

Because I like knowing who my neighbors are and that they raise their children to be respectful of my property

The list goes on and on - but it's time for me to make biscuits for dinner
So I'll see y'all on the Cumberland Plateau!

[moovin_on_up]

Not a full Tennessean yet but I'm getting there. Bought last July and am there as often as I can be. I like that many things about it are about 40 years behind time. I hate the fast paced life of city dwelling and not knowing your neighbors (and your neighbors are so close they could change your tv channel for ya), I love having non-alcohol places, no nudity bars, no street gangs, crime not making the news with every breath the newscaster takes, being able to drive down a 4-lane highway and seeing only a handful of cars at a time, no signs cluttering up the sides of the road blocking your view of the natural landscape, and landscape!...not concrete everywhere.

I've had enough, enough, enough. Tennessee, you are a breath of fresh air!
Sigh.....