EAST TN: Relocation, Homeschooling, Carpenter (Knoxville, Chattanooga: foreclosures, car registration, buying a house)

[CA****4]

Hey everyone!

I'm new to this forum and I've got a handful of questions.
I welcome ALL information/advice/suggestions.
I want to hear from the people of TN, both the locals and the newcomers.

My family plans on relocating to Eastern Tennessee within the next year. My husband works for the carpenters union in NY state. I am a teacher for gradeschool. We are from upstate - small farm town. We love the outdoors and are artistic and would like to have a small farm (chickens, ducks, goats, horses). We are not from the city, we actually enjoy the country, 4-wheeling, nature walk, garden growing neighborhoods. We have 2 children (20 months, 6 months) and I plan on homeschooling them. We will be buying a house with 10 or more acres and have been watching the market in different areas for a few months now. It seems that forclosures are the cheapest way to get a house.

We just drove down to TN last week to look at different towns and areas to see where we might like to live. We have family near cookeville but do not want to live that far west.
The towns we looked at and liked were (no particular order): cleveland, dandridge, jefferson city, madisonville, sweetwater, union heights, greeneville, tusculum, jonesborough, gray, bluff city, butler.
I am looking for information from people that live in this towns or near these towns.
I would like to know:

1- do people in this town welcome newcomers?
2- is there a homeschooling community (group where homeschooling kids can get together to play sports/music/field trips?)
3- is there a job market for carpenters union or self employed contractor/carpenter?
4- is the area expensive or cheap to live in (compared to other areas)?
5- how are the local schools, are they overpopulated or are they small? (in case we dont homeschool)
6- are people generally open to making new friends and are there social groups that we can get involved in to meet new people?
7- Is the area kid-friendly....? (compared to a retirement area which doesn't have many children around)

That's it for now.
Thanks for reading & Thanks in advance for all replies.
Take care!
Amanda

[CA****4]

I read a few more posts and thought I might add counties.......
Maybe I wasn't asking the right way....

These are the counties we are interested in & would like to know more about....
Crime, schools, mountain views

Jefferson,
Green,
Hamblen
Grainger,
Union
hawkins
washington
cocke
Blount
Monroe
Loudon
Knox

THANKS AGAIN!

[mbmouse]

I can really only tell you about the Washington County area you are looking at. For the most part it has what you are looking for. Schools are good, I do not think they are crowded at all, the average student/teacher ratio is around 17 and I think that is good. I have two kids in the school system and we are very happy with it. Good teachers.
But if you do go the home school route, there are several home school groups around, mostly associated with a local church but they have lots of activities.
Very kid friendly area, several parks within a short drive. Bay's Mountain is a 10-20 minute drive (depending on where you start) and a wonderful day with the kids for a $3 a car load entry fee.
Yes, the area is welcoming to new comers.
As for the job......I do not think there is a carpenters union branch in this area. There are very few unions of any kind actually. His pay rate would be much lower, I believe than where you are coming from. I have heard several different reports/thoughts about the construction industry here. Some say it is about to take off, others say it will stay stagnated for a while yet, so not sure there. I will say from first hand knowledge, they will hire those who have already moved here, not those who are planning to move before they move and will hire locals first. This is not a discriminatory thing, they just want to make sure they are hiring someone to stay, not just get them any job until the employee finds a "real" job.
As for the finding a foreclosed farm in this area.......there are not as many foreclosures here and less so for the farms with 10 acres. Depending on where in upstate NY, you may not find the cost of living to be THAT much less except when it comes to property taxes and car registration fees. But as far as finding that farm, I would look to Harmony, Chucky, Telford, South Jonesborough, Limestone areas.
There are LOTS of different social, networking, hobby groups around here so that should be no issue at all.
Hope that helps.

[vlsaladin]

I live in Sweetwater and have for more than a year. The people here are very friendly and helpful but a little suspicious of "outsiders". The most popular comment from locals is "You're not from around here, are ya!" The elementary and middle schools in Sweetwater are fine but the high school "leaves a little to be desired". I homeschooled my kids as they grew up and I have always highly recommend homeschooling over public school any day.Tennessee is not necessarily homeschool friendly but not totally against it, either, and I would recommend checking the laws in Tennessee before you do. However, there are always ways to get around the public school vs. homeschool issue no matter where you live. Sweetwater is located between the major cities of Knoxville and Cleveland/Chattanooga which gives you reasonably quick access to the cities but yet you are still in the country. Madisonville is also close and a little more open minded about "newcomers". Sweetwater and Madisonville are both close and the gateways to the Smoky Mountains. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are less than two hours away. Tennesse has a lot to offer and I believe you will love it here. As for the job market, things have definitely slowed down as far as the housing market, the economy, and carpentry work, but there are still opportunities. Good teachers are always in demand. Hope this helps you as far as this area is concerned.