Tennesse vs. North Carolina (Chattanooga, Cleveland: fit in, transplants, apartment)

[Pam& Bill]

Personally I say Tn. hands down over NC. But that is me and my experience. I live in Knoxville and love it here.
Pam

[JMT]

I love living in Knoxville. I love Tennessee.

My 2 brothers live in NC, one in Hickory and the other in Winston-Salem. My brother in Hickory hates it and would much rather live back in Tennessee, especially Cookeville which is similar to Hickory but with a university and better schools. (His wife is from Hickory so he's stuck there.)

Winston-Salem, however, is a wonderful city. I could live there very easily. It's about the same size as Knoxville, it has a wonderful university (Wake Forest) and is steeped in history.

But I still think Tennessee is a better place, over all. Besides our lower tax burden, TN seems to have better roads and nicer cities. Nashville and Chattanooga are fantastic cities, nicer to me than anything that NC has to offer.

But NC does seem to have better public universities, as a whole. And I loooove the Outer Banks in NC.

I like both TN and NC, but my nod goes to TN.

[Suzanne1945]

We have friends who purchased a golf home in Flat Rock, NC and love that. We have other friends who are leaving NC because of the higher taxes and living costs and moving to TN.

[jabogitlu]

Everyone else has pretty much said it all. The housing price difference between east TN and western NC is rather remarkable. I don't know about housing in Charlotte/Raleigh/etc. vs. Nashville, but I would *imagine* it's more or less the same.

Whoever mentioned west TN as cheaper is right on. If you can get into UT's medical in Memphis you might find some accomodating housing in MS or way out in TN and just do a commute... But Memphis is one of the most expensive areas in TN naturally, so that might not be a wise move overall. You'd have to do some research tailored to your specific needs and wants.

Of course, that's a world away from east TN / NC cultures. And there are no mountains. I know I live here, but I *still* maintain that as far as money and quality of education goes, you should move to Johnson City TN.

[OFeist]

It’s very interesting to read all the opinions about US cities. I and my husband just came back from our trip across the US all the way down from North Dakota to south Florida. Every time we go on the trip by car I think it’s for the last time but every time I’m glad we did it because it’s so interesting to see different life styles.
I love every aspect about living in Bismarck ND… except for the winds and winter. I find people here absolutely friendly. My husband is from North Dakota and doesn’t want to move anywhere else but he’s also tired to hear my complaints about the weather. So when we travel I keep my eyes open to see if there are cities nice and clean to attract our attention. We liked Cape Girardeau, Missouri but violent crime and little manufacturing are discouraging. It’s amazing how affordable real estate is in Missouri. In Tennessee we visited Shiloh Battlefield and I swear I could camp out there in late December. And that southern accent is so charming! I didn’t want to leave.
We liked Tennessee and Georgia as well as Missouri. Could anybody help me to narrow down my search for “promised land”? We are not moving in the near future: I have to finish my school and prepare my dear morally to take this step and move. Is it possible to find a nice clean city with population not more than 200K (the smaller the better), low crime rate, industrial, and with a mild climate? My dream is to have an acre or two to grow flowers, fruit trees and veggies, so long growing season is an issue. I’m tired of snow but I could take it for a couple of weeks in a year (love four seasons). Jobs is the first subject to explore, we need some kind of factory that uses robots since my husband works with robots. I’m going to be a programmer so I’d think it’ll be easier for me to find a job than for him. Crime factor is also a big issue since we basically never hear about it in Bismarck. I don’t like living in closed communities like they do in Florida. We don’t have children so schooling is not that important.
I’d love to hear what people think about their cities/towns, what they like and don’t.
Maybe our next trip we’ll plan to visit those places you recommend.

[TNRyan23]

Since Tennessee once was North Carolina.. there really isn't TOO much of a difference, You won't find much clay in Tennessee and we don't have beaches.

On the other hand, We don't have a state income tax and our land and houses are dirt cheap compared to N.C.

[jabogitlu]

OFeist, it sounds like you might like Chattanooga. Also, VW is building a manufacturing plant there. Chatty gets fairly chilly in the winter but the temps are usually 10 degrees warmer than the highlands (Boone, Mtn City, Southwest VA) and a few degrees warmer than Knoxville.

No clay in TN!? Come to NETN. You can have some red clay.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

No clay in TN!? Come to NETN. You can have some red clay.

I agree! I spent far too much time in my life trying to get red clay out of little boys play clothes!

[Rwrrrar]

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[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by TNRyan23

Since Tennessee once was North Carolina.. there really isn't TOO much of a difference, You won't find much clay in Tennessee and we don't have beaches.

On the other hand, We don't have a state income tax and our land and houses are dirt cheap compared to N.C.

WHAT? No clay in Tennessee? Then I wonder what all that orange stuff is in my back yard. Just think! For more than 50 years I've mistakenly thought that was clay!