Wanting to Move to TN, but need some help :) (Memphis: transplants, rent)

[LissieAnn]

Oh well, hmm.. I have a few friends that drive cross country long haul and they stopped through TN plenty of times and fell in love with the geography, however they weren't a fan of the humidity. I have two other friends that have visited family in TN and both say they would move there given the opportunity. I guess personal referrals and narrowing the categories down to what weather I could deal with, the major cities, and overall lifestyle. I guess I never have felt like CA was my home and with my fiancé hating CA too, it makes it much easier to up and leave. We were thinking about GA for a while but something in my spirit keeps pulling to TN.

[JoeCartpath]

If being an hour from Nashville (and about the same from Knoxville) isn't a problem, you'd probably LOVE Cookeville. By "historic", I assumed you were picturing a quaint little town with the picturesque town square, etc. Cookeville does have a nice old downtown, but it's not like something in a postcard. I love the town, and have seriously considered moving there - but it's going to have to wait a few more years until retirement (my job - and, most importantly, my group health insurance - forces me to stay in Memphis for now).

By all means, pay a visit to Cookeville when you get a chance. There seems to be a fairly sizable population of former Californians there already. I guess the word got out!

Jobs, however, may be a problem anywhere in TN now since unemployment is so high.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by LissieAnn

Oh well, hmm.. I have a few friends that drive cross country long haul and they stopped through TN plenty of times and fell in love with the geography, however they weren't a fan of the humidity. I have two other friends that have visited family in TN and both say they would move there given the opportunity. I guess personal referrals and narrowing the categories down to what weather I could deal with, the major cities, and overall lifestyle. I guess I never have felt like CA was my home and with my fiancé hating CA too, it makes it much easier to up and leave. We were thinking about GA for a while but something in my spirit keeps pulling to TN.

You sound exactly like the kind of person we love to have move to Tennessee! Believe me, we've seen our fill of the whiners who just want to live someplace cheap. You don't sound like a whiner at all.

Cookeville is over an hour from Nashville so I don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for. Otherwise I would recommend it in a heartbeat. It's easily one of the nicest communities in Tennessee particularly when you take cost of living into consideration (Franklin is probably nicer but it ain't cheap to live there).

This recession has been particularly brutal on Nashville which has lost a couple of thousand jobs in the last couple of years although that's mainly because of the GM plant in Spring Hill and its suppliers cutting back dramatically.

Knoxville has the lowest unemployment rate among Tennessee's metro areas. In the Knoxville area you might want to look at Dandridge (one of the oldest towns in Tennessee) and Kingston (was Tennessee's capital for a day).

Good luck!

[hiknapster]

Hi LissieAnn!

I'm a transplant from New England, via Florida. We've been here four years and love it. We live in Knoxville.

First of all, I want to apologize on behalf of all Tennesseans for that outburst!

Probably RS had just been near an obnoxious transplant. I understand. It's happened to me, too, and I AM a transplant! However, most people that move here are wonderful. And if not, they leave!

Really, Tennessee is full of very, very friendly people. I'm sure you will love it here.

The first thing that I want to point out is that a very small town in Tennessee may not be what you are expecting. Just bear that in mind. Mayberry was not real.

When we first moved to Tennessee, we rented out in the country in a very small town. Now, I'm a small town gal, but we found the atmosphere to be a bit clannish. That may not happen to you, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

We ended up buying in Knoxville. The other thing about Tennessee is our cities aren't very large. In fact, due to the friendliness, it comes across more as a large town.

I also want to clarify something. Not all counties paddle the children. It is certainly not accepted in Knox County.

I understand that you don't have children, but I do, and thousands of other people read this forum.

[LissieAnn]

Thanks JoeCartpath!! I hear you on the high unemployment; I think CA is above 12%. YIKES!!! I will definitely check it out, I think we might be able to an hour away but that is awful far if we needed to commute to work. I love the idea of what you described and yep, you got what I was saying to a “T.” AWESOME. From what I’m gathering Memphis and Chattanooga are not the best of choices and plenty of folks have said, Cookeville, Shelbyville, Murfreesboro and the Tri-Cities. Just curious, what is Knoxville like?

[RS-1080]

Originally Posted by LissieAnn

Thanks ptin. I shouldn't have snapped back either and I apologize for the direct abrasive words, but that really was so uncalled for.. I agree that we are not all the same, especially since I grew up on a farm in rural Ca and just want that lifestyle back but far from here, lol.

Oh, I wasn't being snappy really. I said please didn't I? I also said that ya'll may not be that way, but other CA fokes we seen come and go hated it here cause they couldn't get along with our way of life.

Sorry for the offence, I now know whoever ya'll settle beside of won't have anything to worry about. I'll saddle up an extra horse or two for yun's.

[JoeCartpath]

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't want to commute from Cookeville to Nashville. You'd want jobs in that general area - Cookeville, Crossville, Sparta, etc. - but Cookeville is the largest town in that area, and it's about 25,000 or so (and growing).

I forgot about Maryville.....it's close to Knoxville, and may also be a place you like. And it's a short drive from there to the Smoky Mountains National Park - one of my favorite places!

[LissieAnn]

Hi hiknapster!!
Thanks for that insight! And thanks for the apology, even know it wasn’t you that is very kind of you to represent the people of your state in a respected and friendly manner and I commend that attitude very much!! Everyone that I have talked to is very friendly and that’s not something that is too common here, hence #587 reason why I want to move, lol. I am expected to encounter the unexpected. I grew up in a town with a population of 13,000 and my fiancé, a town of 300! That’s kinda what I want, I want something “stuck in time” so to speak, lol. If I can’t get it, I’m not going to sweat it, I’m 25 and working on my education so at this point having a stable career is more important than living like I’m retired. I can see what you mean describing small towns being clannish. I am a very outgoing and bubbly person and this might bring down my spirits, well if I get the feeling the attitude is forced or “for show.” I tend to be respectful yet very direct, not this pretentious demeanor. Also, thanks for touching on the children aspect. I know many people do read these posts and they DO have a right to punish their children accordingly. I was spanked as a child and my fiancé’ too, so we are used to seeing this method of discipline. Unless your BEATING your child, people should mind their own business. Thanks so much for your post, I really appreciate it. Can you tell me about Knoxville?

[LissieAnn]

Hi RS,
Yeah I took it as you were but it’s ok. I understand your frustration and I don’t blame you for your legitimate concerns at all. What took it from an innocent plea to an offensive statement was the fact that it was targeted to one person, me. If you would have posted it in a ranting section, it would have been completely appropriate; however; it was directed towards someone who was inquiring about moving to TN. For example, it’s like hating Germans for what Hitler did, it’s just not fair nor does it have a sound just of reasoning for it. Plus I’m a woman, and it hurt my feelings, lol. It’s ok and thank you for the apology. No hard feelings friend, I just don’t want you to think everyone shares the same culture as the rest of the population they reside among, that’s all.

[LissieAnn]

Thanks JMT for the kind words!! I would love to be there now!! I bet you have seen your fair share of cheapskates and that’s unfortunate, (same with CA’s central valley-low cost of living attracts well...) What is terrible though, look at our housing prices. I’m not talking about the statistics on citidata.com, I mean check out our craigslist for homes to rent. Where I am at now, Modesto, Ca and some cities in TN are quite comparable in cost.

I actually was surprised to see how comparable the cost of living is. Going into this search, I thought I was going to be able to rent a 2 bdr home on 1.5+ acres for under $800 a month and I’m finding out that isn’t as plausible as I hoped for.

Well, I know that things are bad across the country, but here in CA I think we top it all. When you live in a city of 200,000+ people and you can’t find any jobs outside of fast-food, that’s pretty bad. Now I know Knoxville is more east, is the weather/culture/economy vastly different than that of say, Nashville?