Pros & Cons Of Greenville, Tenn. ? (Knoxville, Johnson City: gated, vacation, work)

[DADDYO49]

.............So far; In as much as I started looking at Kentucky & Tennessee to retire to & I also wanted my criterion to include: a Good Retirement Town ( not gated-community ), a Mountain Town, a College Town, a Good Hospital...all of the above seems to lead me to: ..... Greenville, Tennessee; So...I was hoping that a present or former resident of Greenville, Tenn. could advise me as to what are the Pros & Cons of this Town ?? Does it really fit all of the above criteria ?? What is the cost of living ( including housing ) like ?? Is there a Supermarket + Wal-Mart or Mall in Town or nearby ( 10 miles or less ) ?? What is the local scenery like ?? What is the crime rate like ??...I'm not a Golfer & I don't want large property ( in NY I had a corner lot 1/3 acre which was considered large ) nor do I want lakefront property or property on a Mountain, But it would be nice to know if there are Green Mountain views in Town or a small pond or lake nearby where I could fish ???...I would appreciate anything that anybody could tell me about living in Greenville ??? ...Don

[portiapriest]

I'm not sure about Greenville, but I can tell you about the community I live in. I'm 24 miles northeast of Carthage, TN (famous for the home of the ex vice president,AL Gore. The community is called Defeated Creek.(Smith County) We are 50 miles from Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, TN and 15 miles from a small outreach campus of TN tech. 45 miles from Nashville. It is very wooded and it is not uncommon to see deer and wild turkey walk across the yard. Defeated sits around a small lake called Cordell Hull. Fishing and boating are a weekend attraction. The local market is called Woodard Brothers. It's everything from building supplies to bread. Carthage is home of the local Wal-mart, which we are supposed to have a super wal-mart in the near future. But, Opry Mills is less that an hour away. People are friendly and property is cheap!!! But that's because the pay is not very good. You can purchase acres of land or a lot. Unimproved acres start at around $2,300. So there are a lot of options. Getting used to country life is an adjustment, but it is beautiful here.(and quite). Hope this answers some of you questions.

Originally Posted by MRDOOWOP

.............So far; In as much as I started looking at Kentucky & Tennessee to retire to & I also wanted my criterion to include: a Good Retirement Town ( not gated-community ), a Mountain Town, a College Town, a Good Hospital...all of the above seems to lead me to: ..... Greenville, Tennessee; So...I was hoping that a present or former resident of Greenville, Tenn. could advise me as to what are the Pros & Cons of this Town ?? Does it really fit all of the above criteria ?? What is the cost of living ( including housing ) like ?? Is there a Supermarket + Wal-Mart or Mall in Town or nearby ( 10 miles or less ) ?? What is the local scenery like ?? What is the crime rate like ??...I'm not a Golfer & I don't want large property ( in NY I had a corner lot 1/3 acre which was considered large ) nor do I want lakefront property or property on a Mountain, But it would be nice to know if there are Green Mountain views in Town or a small pond or lake nearby where I could fish ???...I would appreciate anything that anybody could tell me about living in Greenville ??? ...Don

[Joe P]

Originally Posted by MRDOOWOP

.............So far; In as much as I started looking at Kentucky & Tennessee to retire to & I also wanted my criterion to include: a Good Retirement Town ( not gated-community ), a Mountain Town, a College Town, a Good Hospital...all of the above seems to lead me to: ..... Greenville, Tennessee; So...I was hoping that a present or former resident of Greenville, Tenn. could advise me as to what are the Pros & Cons of this Town ?? Does it really fit all of the above criteria ?? What is the cost of living ( including housing ) like ?? Is there a Supermarket + Wal-Mart or Mall in Town or nearby ( 10 miles or less ) ?? What is the local scenery like ?? What is the crime rate like ??...I'm not a Golfer & I don't want large property ( in NY I had a corner lot 1/3 acre which was considered large ) nor do I want lakefront property or property on a Mountain, But it would be nice to know if there are Green Mountain views in Town or a small pond or lake nearby where I could fish ???...I would appreciate anything that anybody could tell me about living in Greenville ??? ...Don

Sounds like Greenville (pronounced green-vul) would be perfect for you. Housing is cheaper than here in Johnson City (which is pretty cheap in itself), they have a brand new Walmart, terrain in more rolling hill/pasture than actual mountains and it's not over crowded.

There is a historic section with smaller shops and stores and you're only about an hour from Knoxville if you need something in the 'big" city. Utilities are cheap and the over all cost of living is very affordable if you are coming from up north.

The uique thing about Greenville is that it's citizens tend to be very community focused and tend to want to spend their money on local companies and satisfy their consumer needs within town.

If I were at retirement I'd probably move there but since I'm still in my working years (only 30 more to go!) I needed to be someplace with more industry, hence I chose Johnson City instead.

If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me. I'm in Greeneville regularly.

Joe

[DADDYO49]

Thanks for the info. Joe...I'd like a nice town( not gated community ) to retire to & am seeking one with a local College, Mountain & Green Forest Scenery, local supermarket & Wal-mart or mall, local Hospital Affordable Housing( I don't want more than 1/3 acre ) and ( hopefully ) a nearby small lake or pond that I could fish in once in awhile ( I'm not a Golfer )--So far I'm considering Berea, Kentucky, McMinnville, Tennessee & Greeneville, Tennessee ?? I'd like to hear more about all 3 towns or others ??

[mrradio]

and liked it very much along with many other TN towns. We moved to TN three years ago from Long Island, NY and love it! It's been all we hoped for and more-no traffic hassles, tax-friendly, low costs, great neighbors, great shopping/health care, etc. We looked in Greenville, Johnson City area, Columbia, Crossville and Cookeville. The house we were looking for, i.e., the combination of land, proximity to services and the house itself happened to show up in Cookeville but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of the above cities and would have moved to any of them.

Good luck in your search!

[Mommylove]

After reading your thread, I looked Greenville up on the internet. Looks like we will have another town to visit on our trip!

Again, our family is particularly interested in the local schools as we have a small tribe of middle and high school age children. The Greenville website states that they are very proud of the city and county schools and looks like they have alot to offer.

Don- will be happy to share our news once we return from our vacation. Good luck with your search!

[tokyopapa]

Anything you need to know about Greeneville, TN, I can tell you. It is my hometown after all. Personally, I cannot stand it here and am anxious to leave. Lol, Greeneville is DEFINITELY in the mountains...But its also about one of the most redneck constipated places in the world. I would be confident in saying that about 80% of this towns population is racist, homophobic, or in any other way intolerant due to overly-inforced religious beliefs. Greeneville has a Walmart, but doesnt every small town on the face of Gods green earth? The average house here is worth 84,000$, but youll soon discover why. Greeneville is notorious for having way more grocery stores and supermarkets than what you would think a town of its size could support. 2 Food Citys, 2 Ingles, a Dollar General Market, a Save-a-Lot, a Big Lots, a Kmart, a Walmart Supercenter, a Food Lion, and a Food Country in addition to a plethora convenience stores. The nearest two malls are about 30 miles to either the north in Johnson City or the west in Morristown. Both are rather small. If you want GOOD shopping, try Asheville 75 miles to the east or Knoxville 82 miles to the west. Even there, however, the shopping isnt spectacular. The scenery is good but the intolarant natives keep it junked up with Coke cans constantly, and hardly any city beautification laws are in effect. There is little crime in this town, mostly because theres nothing worth stealing. Glad I could help. Tokyopapa

[tokyopapa]

As far as schools go, the City schools are ranked number 1 in the state, and the county schools...Well...-laughs-

[Mommylove]

Originally Posted by tokyopapa

As far as schools go, the City schools are ranked number 1 in the state, and the county schools...Well...-laughs-

Wow. Quite an endorsement for the schools. However, you mentioned that the city is a bit close minded? Is this true for the city of Greenville or just the county? We are interested in Tenn. for it's beauty and southern charm however we want to be careful not to culture shock the kids or ourselves too much and coming from South Florida this type of intolerance may be a bit much as we have many friends of different races and religious preferences. Our family is rather conservative but... that will be something to consider. Is the mindset here much different than other parts of Tennessee such as Johnson City which looks like a bigger town.
Thank you for such an honest view of your town.

[tokyopapa]

Mommylove, both the city and county are closeminded. The city tends to be a bit less closeminded, due to the fact that most of the industry that brings people from other areas is located within the city limits, but I would not personally recommend moving here if you are not a white, heterosexual Christian, preferably not Catholic or anything other than Baptist or Methodist. You simply will not find acceptance. Johnson City is definitely larger than Greeneville (about 60,000 people), but the same closemindedness can be found here as well. If you are looking for openmindedness in Tennessee, you won't find it anywhere if not in Nashville. It's just simply not something Tennessee prides itself on, I'm ashamed to admit.