Should we move to TN??? Help (Knoxville, Johnson City: real estate, crime, home)

[REW]

My familyis looking to relocate from NJ to TN. I am from NJ, husband from Louisianna. Two kids, 13 & 10. Looking for East TN. Any ideas on neighborhoods and schools. Is it worth the move? Anyone have information on comparisons to NJ?

Thanks we really are feeling overwhelmed.

[mbmouse]

Hi, Welcome to the forum!
Read through several pages of these posts and note where people are from. There are several from NJ originally, or those also looking to move here from there. I live in East TN, (Tri-Cites) and have 3 children,19, 16, and 12. We LOVE it! Hubby and oldest are native to here, I am from CT and my two were born in FL. For me personally, comparing CT, FL and TN, there is no comparison, it is TN hands down! That is based on quality of life, education standards, opportunities (and lack there of as far as negatives go) for my boys, and how far our money goes here. My choice for schools and neighborhoods is Washington or Sullivan Counties, but that is me.
Tell us a bit more about why you want to move? What are you looking for in a "home town". That may give myself and others here a better perspective to enable us to answer your questions better.
In a nut shell....COME ON DOWN!!!

[REW]

Thanks for the information.

We are trying to find a nice middle ground between NJ (my home state) and LA (my husband's home state). I have visited TN before and loved it. I am looking for information on kid friendly neighborhoods and schools. What is Tri-Cities? How is the job market? Being from the Northeast, what is the true comparison for cost of living?

Thanks

[Cougargm]

Well this is funny coming from me, as not only have I never lived in TN but I haven't even spent a day there yet But our first trip is in three weeks and it's the result of a lot of research about the tri-cities area.
I'll let the pros like MBMouse (btw you're terrific, MB tell you about schools and neighborhoods...what I do know a lot about is NJ, having lived there and still having friends and family there, and I can tell you that the cost of living will be substantially lower in TN. Real estate taxes will pale in comparison, as will real estate in general. Not sure where you live in NJ (northern NJ is more expensive than central or southern NJ) but NJ is one of the most expensive places to live in the country.
We live in NE PA, close to the Pocono Mtns area and about an hr from the NJ border...and one of the reasons we're strongly considering NE TN for the future is that it seems remarkably similar to NE PA, expect for a better climate.
Since we're looking to the area for retirement (which is still a ways off) we haven't checked into the schools and employment outlook, etc, so the 'locals' will be able to help you with that (and the forum members have been very gracious and helpful
I can probably make more direct comparisons if I knew what part of NJ you're from, but I hope this paints a broad picture for you.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by REW

My familyis looking to relocate from NJ to TN. I am from NJ, husband from Louisianna. Two kids, 13 & 10. Looking for East TN. Any ideas on neighborhoods and schools. Is it worth the move? Anyone have information on comparisons to NJ?

Thanks we really are feeling overwhelmed.

East Tennessee is a wonderful place to raise a family, but it's also pretty big. What kind of area are you looking for? Small town? Big city? Do you need to look for jobs? Do you have a budget for housing?

Knoxville has the strongest and largest economy in East Tennessee, so if you're looking for jobs, Knoxville is hard to beat. There are excellent schools and excellent neighborhoods in Knox County and very little crime for a big city. As someone earlier in this forum said, Knoxville is like a big version of Mayberry.

Knox County has the state's lowest unemployment rate among the metropolitan counties, so your chances of getting a job here are pretty good.

But if a big city isn't your cup of tea then you might want to look at the Tri Cities.

[mbmouse]

Cugargm, thanks for the nice complement, I appreciate you! Please don't forget to stop in and say hello while on your trip here!

Rew, JMT can tell you more about Knoxville than I can. He is right it is a bigger city than the Tri-Cities, which btw consists of Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol. This area is considered Northeast TN, we are more hilly here than Knox because we are in the valley/foot hills of a horse shoe shape of Mountains that are the Smokie Mountains and the Clinch Mountains, all part of the Appalachian mountain range.
As far as size goes, Johnson City has 55k plus people, Kingsport has 45k plus people and Knoxville has 173k plus people. So that will give you a bit of an idea. We are talking about these 2 separate areas (Knoxville and Tri-Cities) because they have the best employment opportunities as they are more populated. I will leave JMT and others to tell you more about Knoxville and I will stick to what I know better. I LOVE the Washington County schools and the Kingsport city schools are good too. As far as "kid friendly" not quite sure what you mean, but I do know the folks around here love their schools sports and the PTO's here are very large and involved with the kids. There are a bunch of civic organizations, such as Kiwanis and Rotary that really support the schools and sponsor community sports and such. We have lots of fairs, festivals and parade's for the different seasons. Christmas time is a blast!
All 3 of the Tri-Cities have public pools, YMCA's and kid activities like karate, gymnastics, dance and such. The mountains are a short drive for hiking, fishing and camping, there are many caves to explore. What kind of activities do you kids like?
Employment: Johnson City and Kingsport have very low unemployment rates, below 4.3% I believe. The primary industries are manufacturing and medical fields. We also have quite a few national call centers located here. The small business sector also makes up a large amount of the business and employment in the region with the local governments offering lots of support to them.
As for cost of living, I would say it is a fair assessment to say you would make 15% to 20% less in income here verses NJ, however, your cost of living would be 25%-30% less if you are a home owner here. We have no state income tax and property taxes are NOTHING compared to NJ. Also with a more mild climate and TVA, utility costs are less than New England by far.
Traffic is a breeze here and guess what????......You can make a left hand turn at any intersection! LOL!! I was in NJ 2 years ago and couldn't figure that whole road system and the no left turn thing! Blew my mind hashahah, Oh, and something else you will enjoy....NO TOLL ROADS! If you have to use those now to commute to work, that will be a big plus for you here.
Hope that helps.

[mrradio]

My wife and I are both around 60 and are from Long Island. We've lived here in TN a little over three years. My business used to take me all over the South. Many years ago we decided that we had had it with New York with its constant promises of tax relief that never materialized, increasing traffic, ever-escalating costs/fees/crowding, a hostile business environment, etc.

We moved to Cookeville and I say without hesitation that it has been a whole new phase of life that has made us happy beyond our fondest hopes. We knew that life didn't have to be traffic-choked roads leading to crowded malls, endless hours on the Long Island Expressway and winter weather that didn't quit but what we found were new friends, neighbors that invite us over for dinner (and we invite them, too), people that wave at you (and not with just one finger), beautiful scenery, uncrowded roads,...I could go on and on.

We both took up exercising, lost weight and are in the best condition in many decades. Hard to believe but true. We ate and got out of shape because of the constant hassle of dealing with NY. Maybe that's a partial cop-out but the stress of living there was certainly a contributing factor. Being in shape builds on itself-you feel better, you look better and you do better.

If it weren't for our son who lives in New York, we'd never go back at all. We should have moved out decades ago.

You might well find a better place to live too, if not here in TN then perhaps someplace else. You CAN have a better life and I wish you all the success in the world in finding it!

[Ridgerunner]

Hello, REW. All things considered, you can't do any better than the Tri-Cities.