Greeneville (Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga: homes, living in, shoppers)

[J&Em]

We have looked through previous posts but really didn't see much info on this town. We have passed though Greeneville twice now and have looked around at possible places we'd like to live and found some very nice affordable homes. The mountain views when outside of town itself were incredible.

With places like Maryville and the Tri-Cities (also possible choices for us to eventually call home) it was easy to see where shopping for essentials as well as bigger ticket items (like furniture) could be done. Normally we are not big "shoppers" but when you move to a new place there are always tons of things you will need. So.... There seemed to be much less available in what we saw of Greeneville. Do people go to the TriCities area or to Knoxville or did we miss the best shopping areas of Greeneville?

[mbmouse]

No you didn't miss them, you are correct, folks have to go to Johnson City for the big ticket items. It is about a 20 to 60 minute (depending on where in Greene County you are, it is one of the largest counties in TN) to get to major shopping.
I lived in Greene County for about 5 years, it is ok. Great if you are retired. We now live just north of Johnson City and prefer it but you may prefer Greene County.
If you do a search using the search function at the top of the main TN page, you will find lots of info and pictures on Greeneville.
Good luck with your move to North East TN.

[J&Em]

Thanks Mbmouse. It has been hard to make any decisions based on short trips to Tennessee. An aquaintence of ours lives near Kingsport. She's never missed a chance to tell us it should be our next home. A good friend of our son has been recommending his home town of Chattanooga with as much enthusiasm! At this time both places and all points between are under consideration.

We like aspects of many of the places we have seen in TN, but then always have a reservation or two. I think we both feel the call of the mountains the most so we have been drawn to places closer to the Smokies, like Greeneville and Maryville.

Completely off topic....I lost track of your garden post from a while back and was wondering if you ever figured out what was making you plants stay small. I had wanted to post but with all our travels never got around to it. I've been a gardener for nearly 30 years, much of that time spent with a fairly dense clay soils. Wish I could figure out how many tons of compst and ammendments I have added to my garden to make it better!! The ground I did manage to see in eastern TN appears to be equally heavy in clay, just a different color. Number one reason for stunted growth in clay soil are stunted roots (they aren't strong enough to spread out through the clay) and second most common reason is too much watering causing root rot, because the soil does not drain well.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by J&Em

We have looked through previous posts but really didn't see much info on this town. We have passed though Greeneville twice now and have looked around at possible places we'd like to live and found some very nice affordable homes. The mountain views when outside of town itself were incredible.

With places like Maryville and the Tri-Cities (also possible choices for us to eventually call home) it was easy to see where shopping for essentials as well as bigger ticket items (like furniture) could be done. Normally we are not big "shoppers" but when you move to a new place there are always tons of things you will need. So.... There seemed to be much less available in what we saw of Greeneville. Do people go to the TriCities area or to Knoxville or did we miss the best shopping areas of Greeneville?

You might want to check out Newport as well or just outside of Newport. We just bought land out there ourselves. Small town but has all the stores you need like Lowes, walmart etc for everyday shopping and not too far from the bigger cities for the bigger shopping centers. The mountain views are spectacular if you can find the right area. We bought up on a hill, not a mountain top but just a hill and we've got some pretty spectacular views all around us.

[hilly7]

Originally Posted by J&Em

We have looked through previous posts but really didn't see much info on this town. We have passed though Greeneville twice now and have looked around at possible places we'd like to live and found some very nice affordable homes. The mountain views when outside of town itself were incredible.

With places like Maryville and the Tri-Cities (also possible choices for us to eventually call home) it was easy to see where shopping for essentials as well as bigger ticket items (like furniture) could be done. Normally we are not big "shoppers" but when you move to a new place there are always tons of things you will need. So.... There seemed to be much less available in what we saw of Greeneville. Do people go to the TriCities area or to Knoxville or did we miss the best shopping areas of Greeneville?

Other places to check out, White Pine, Newport, Parrottsville, Talbott, Witt, Bybee, Jefferson City, Dandridge, Muddy Creek just to name a few.

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by J&Em

Thanks Mbmouse. It has been hard to make any decisions based on short trips to Tennessee. An aquaintence of ours lives near Kingsport. She's never missed a chance to tell us it should be our next home. A good friend of our son has been recommending his home town of Chattanooga with as much enthusiasm! At this time both places and all points between are under consideration.

We like aspects of many of the places we have seen in TN, but then always have a reservation or two. I think we both feel the call of the mountains the most so we have been drawn to places closer to the Smokies, like Greeneville and Maryville.

Completely off topic....I lost track of your garden post from a while back and was wondering if you ever figured out what was making you plants stay small. I had wanted to post but with all our travels never got around to it. I've been a gardener for nearly 30 years, much of that time spent with a fairly dense clay soils. Wish I could figure out how many tons of compst and ammendments I have added to my garden to make it better!! The ground I did manage to see in eastern TN appears to be equally heavy in clay, just a different color. Number one reason for stunted growth in clay soil are stunted roots (they aren't strong enough to spread out through the clay) and second most common reason is too much watering causing root rot, because the soil does not drain well.

Thanks for thinking of me.
It was actually a major shortage of Nitrogen in the soil. I think I was using the wrong kind of bagged top soil to amend the clay, it was robbing the plants of the nitrogen. I have found and been using an additive for a few weeks now and it looks like they are now starting to grow. I am very glad I was able to fix it. Lots of great folks on this forum helped me come up with the right answer.
You should plan another trip and check out the Tri-Cities area.

[J&Em]

Thanks for all the recommendations!! I think what we are looking for from those of you living in Tennessee is not only good possibiities, but why they are good. We had really hoped to find something to move to by making short visits. Now we *know* we will have to be living in the area before we can really find the right place. So now we are trying to narrow down the number of possible places by what we think we will need and want.

We have driven through most of the towns mentioned by hilly and Danniellefort, and they are not off the table, yet. Mbmouse neither is the Tri-cities!

Mbmouse, I am so glad you found the problem with your garden... growing green stuff brings so much happiness to me that I always feel badly when someone claims a brown/black thumb.

[AppalachianAngler]

I grew up in Greeneville but live in Jonesborough now. Greeneville is slowing getting some new stores, but like mbmouse said, big ticket items you will want to go to Johnson City, Kingsport, or Bristol, Knoxville (an hour) or possibly even Asheville, NC (about an hour from Greeneville).

[sliverbox]

I can recall driving past Greeneville on the freeway when I was younger and you could tell you were doing so by the smell off rayon in the air. It smelled like rotten eggs and plastic. I wondered if the whole town smelled like that. They apparently made hosiery there. Does it still have that smell? Did they close the factory?

[hiknapster]

I want to say something about Greeneville.

I've spent the past two weeks talking to a LOT of folks from Greeneville. What NICE people!

I love the people in Memphis, but wow, the Greeneville people are just as nice!

Just a consideration. I really like nice people. It makes day-to-day living so much easier.