Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Tennessee > Cookeville
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Closed Thread Start New Thread
 
Old 03-03-2022, 06:51 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
4 posts, read 3,731 times
Reputation: 21

Advertisements

I recently moved to Sparta from out of state and am finding myself feeling isolated and homesick. I have been met with a mix of kindness and rudeness that I came from out of state, but I love the beauty and peacefulness here. I miss the weather in my old state but I find TN beautiful and my son will be able to attend college here easier than where we used to live. Being a single female in my 50's I wanted to move to a place where I would feel more safe retiring at some point. I work remotely and would like to find opportunities to make new friends. I appreciate suggestions.

 
Old 03-03-2022, 07:32 AM
 
30 posts, read 56,382 times
Reputation: 83
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjw-usa View Post
I recently moved to Sparta from out of state and am finding myself feeling isolated and homesick. I have been met with a mix of kindness and rudeness that I came from out of state, but I love the beauty and peacefulness here.
I remember when we first moved to TN that we felt the same way, we had left our friends and family behind and missed our old home and town, it's totally normal, you will get over it.

In just about any rural town that you move to you are going to face some rudeness, small town locals are very skeptical of newcomers, for the most part they like to keep their town the way it is. Also, keep in mind this is a very red area and when you say you come from CA, some may see you as the devil.

Lastly, in my opinion maybe Sparta may not have been a good choice, something like Cookeville, Fairfield Glades, Cumberland Cove and other communities made up of mostly transplants may have been a better choice. Usually these communities have daily/weekly activities were you get to meet your neighbors and get to make new friends.
 
Old 03-03-2022, 07:54 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
4 posts, read 3,731 times
Reputation: 21
Thank you for your response. I am very conservative and was deliberate about choosing a red area. I remember a time when people could move to different states without it being such a stigma. It is sad how CA has been destroyed. When I left I felt like I was living in a different country. Those of us who speak up are called racist and I am not up for that fight anymore. I was told that Sparta is made up of mostly transplants, so this is interesting. I have found most people to be nice, but a few contractors from Cookeville were not that nice. I lived in Georgia for 6 years and I did get used to it so hopefully I will make friends and get over being homesick.

Last edited by sjw-usa; 03-03-2022 at 08:36 AM..
 
Old 03-03-2022, 08:47 AM
 
529 posts, read 491,427 times
Reputation: 1354
I moved to Cookeville almost three years ago, via Texas, from California, grew up in Ohio. When I first moved in, my neighbors were great, but I did get some negative comments around town, most being "you are not from here" in a negative tone. Not sure what changed, but I have not gotten any of those in a long time, and find even in the rural areas, that I am no longer an "outsider". You need to understand that it will take some time to be "accepted" in a smaller town. People are leery of "outsiders". When I first moved to California, I flew back to my hometown several years later with a friend, and was amazed at how people I did not know would talk to me, as what little accent I lost came back, but they avoided my friend.

Not sure how long, but you will notice people will accept you, and yes, the California thing, although not warranted in most cases, is real.

About the contractors, they suck. When I have had to use them, it takes a long time to even find one that will respond to you, so it ain't just you. Took me a year to find a concrete contractor for some work, and for a friend, it took almost that long to find someone to fix the tile in a shower at his house.

I had the double whammy, of being retired (we are supposedly driving prices up), and an outsider.
 
Old 03-03-2022, 09:47 AM
 
13,354 posts, read 39,963,688 times
Reputation: 10790
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjw-usa View Post
Thank you for your response. I am very conservative and was deliberate about choosing a red area. I remember a time when people could move to different states without it being such a stigma. It is sad how CA has been destroyed. When I left I felt like I was living in a different country. Those of us who speak up are called racist and I am not up for that fight anymore. I was told that Sparta is made up of mostly transplants, so this is interesting. I have found most people to be nice, but a few contractors from Cookeville were not that nice. I lived in Georgia for 6 years and I did get used to it so hopefully I will make friends and get over being homesick.
Who told you that Sparta was made up of mostly transplants? Sparta has barely grown in the last 70 years, going from 4,300 in 1950 to just under 5,000 in 2020. By comparison, in that same time period Cookeville went from 6,900 to 35,000.

It's too bad you didn't discover this forum before you moved as we could've offered you advice on where to move to. I happen to think Sparta is a lovely town, and I have many friends there, but I can also understand how it would be difficult as a newcomer, particularly from California, to fit in right away.

There are many Californians at my church in Cookeville who have recently moved here and who love it here. Their kids are thriving, they have lots of friends, and they're enjoying being in an area where most people share their political views.

If you're on Facebook, check out groups like Social Cookeville Connections, Cookeville Strong, and Cookeville Moms Club. Also, do things like join the YMCA, volunteer at schools or museums, even volunteer for some political organizations. Check out nature hikes at the area state parks. I'm a transplant to the area, too (8.5 years now), and I've found the locals to be very friendly and accommodating.
__________________


IMPORTANT READING:
Terms of Service

---
its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
 
Old 03-03-2022, 01:40 PM
JRR
 
Location: Middle Tennessee
8,166 posts, read 5,661,013 times
Reputation: 15703
This is an interesting thread for me as we have now been here for five years, having been retired from Florida.

I remember some people on C/D making comments about how we would be resented for being from Florida and one guy said we should get used to being called "Floridiots". From the very beginning, that has not happened to us. Everyone here has been friendly (much more so than in the Orlando FL area) and we have not had any problems with getting whatever work we needed on our home performed.

Politics wise I don't fit in with the deep red conservative feelings of some people around here, but so what? I don't live and breathe politics 24/7. All in all, we consider the move here as working out great for us.

We looked at closely at Sparta when we first checked out the area but figured out that it probably was not the best place for us. The more diverse Cookeville seemed a much better fit.
 
Old 03-03-2022, 10:07 PM
 
Location: Cumberland Plateau
67 posts, read 107,821 times
Reputation: 273
We moved to Sparta a couple of years ago, as well, from WI - also mid-50's age here...we have made a TON of friends. Check out Hip Sparta on FB, I know the page has a group that gets together regularly for dinners and events. Also Sparta, TN Chit Chat - plenty of conversations about what's happening locally.

Also look at Tennessee Transplants - TN Residents from other states/counties on FB- we arrange meets and greets in different areas East/Middle/West TN during nice weather. Make sure you answer the questions, the group owner is a stickler about that!

Everyone has been SO welcoming to us and we have met plenty of people who have moved from CA too, no one seems to care especially as you said you are more conservative.

There are hiking groups you can join too, if that's something you enjoy. Cookeville is very close for bigger events, Crossville has the Cumberland County Playhouse with great theater. Sparta, TN is a great place to live for sure.
 
Old 03-04-2022, 01:35 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,193 times
Reputation: 21
sjw-usa, I too am a single female in my 50’s. I’ll be moving from CA to Cookeville in a couple of months. Feel free to DM me, it sure would be nice to have a friend when I get there.
 
Old 03-04-2022, 05:38 AM
 
667 posts, read 763,382 times
Reputation: 1208
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjw-usa View Post
I recently moved to Sparta from out of state and am finding myself feeling isolated and homesick. I have been met with a mix of kindness and rudeness that I came from out of state, but I love the beauty and peacefulness here. I miss the weather in my old state but I find TN beautiful and my son will be able to attend college here easier than where we used to live. Being a single female in my 50's I wanted to move to a place where I would feel more safe retiring at some point. I work remotely and would like to find opportunities to make new friends. I appreciate suggestions.

We moved to Putnam county 10 years ago from SoCal. It did take about year get fully acclimated to Tennessee living but never once thought we made a mistake. We love living here and wish we had moved out sooner when our kids were still kids. The quality of life here is so much better than California.


People here are generally very friendly and courteous here. They just want you to be friendly and courteous back.
 
Old 03-04-2022, 06:04 PM
 
Location: Putnam County, TN
231 posts, read 585,902 times
Reputation: 262
We moved here from South Florida in 2011. Yes, it is definitely a different lifestyle, but then again, you couldn't pay me to move back to South Florida. I have friends here from California, Florida, New York, Michigan, etc. My California friends love it!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Closed Thread


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Tennessee > Cookeville

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top