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Hey everyone. My company is going to be sponsoring a visa for myself and my family (wife plus baby daughter) to move to the USA, and we are looking at where to go. Because I work from home 100% of the time, we have nearly complete freedom of where to go. We're Europeans (as in from Europe) if it makes any difference.
Some things that are important to us:
Rural areas and towns over cities
We don't like cities. We would probably not want to live too far from one, but we prefer small towns and rural areas to cities. For immigrants like us, a small town where we can make friends probably makes sense. We would also like some natural beauty and things to do outdoors, like hiking etc.
Low cost of living
I mean, relatively speaking. We would like low tax states (mostly referring to income tax here), and property prices that aren't through the roof. I'll be earning a good salary but I don't want to waste it on expensive property.
Good climate
Our number one priority as far as climate goes is winters that are not too long. We don't mind cold and snow, but we hate winters that drag on until May. If the weather could start warming in March that would be ideal. I know places like Texas, Tennessee and Florida can get very humid in the summer (East Texas anyway) - we'd probably put up with that in exchange for not having terrible winters.
Conservative people but not too redneck
We're conserative/right leaning. 20 years ago we probably would have voted Democrat but... well without getting political, let's say things have changed. It would be nice to live in a community that shares our views but without being too redneck. I hope those two things aren't mutually exclusive.
Good communities - safe and with good schools
We'd want to live in safe communities - hopefully this goes along with small towns but not always. Also good schools are important to us.
Current places we are thinking about are places like Nolensville or Franklin in Tennessee or Oldham County in Kentucky. Hoping for more recommendations.
If you're looking at the Nashville area, then I highly recommend Cookeville. It's an hour'ish east of Nashville and checks all your boxes.
much more affordable than Franklin.
amazingly friendly people.
more immigrants than most small towns thanks in large part to being home to the state's flagship tech university and as Nashville continues to price itself into oblivion.
10 gig internet speeds even out in the country. I live 20 miles outside of town and have 10 gig internet at my house.
Very low property taxes. I live on 3 acres with a 3 bedroom home and pay $1000/year. No other local taxes, and of course TN has no income tax.
Gorgeous countryside. There are over 100 waterfalls and 1200 miles of lake shoreline within a half hour of Cookeville. Hiking, biking, camping, kayaking, boating are all very popular here. The state calls Cookeville "Tennessee's Waterfall Oasis." https://www.tnvacation.com/articles/...asis-tennessee
Excellent schools. Cookeville is one of the few towns in Tennessee to have the International Baccalaureate Programme at both the middle and high school levels. It's also an open school district, meaning you can live anywhere in the county and send your kids to the schools of your choice.
Here's a video of some Norwegians who came to explore waterfalls around Cookeville with their hopelessly hip friends from Oregon. If you can get past their insufferable hipness, it's still a pretty good video of showcasing the area's beauty:
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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
Franklin TN is a really good option but last time I looked housing is not cheap there. I would also include in your research the towns around Charlottesville VA. It’s a scenic area in the Shenandoah Valley region of the blue ridge mountains. Summers get hot/humid and winters are cold but the worst of both last ~2 months before you’ll feel the relief of seasons changing. People will scream that VA is a blue state the has income taxes but I think coming from Europe you’d find the politics of a state like VA to be quite moderate and the income taxes I believe are a flat rate that won’t increase the higher you’re salary grows. I’m no expert in this area so unfortunately I can’t offer more specific details around which towns to look into, but every time I drive through this region I think of what a beautiful area it would be to live.
How about like Harper’s Ferry WV. Cute small town, red state, mild winters, close to DC for when you want it. Lots of hiking (and some skiing) in WV as well
If you're looking at the Nashville area, then I highly recommend Cookeville. It's an hour'ish east of Nashville and checks all your boxes.
What's your experience with tornados over there? How often to you hear sirens every year? How big of a concern are they realistically? Maybe I should stop following "Ryan Hall Y'all".
I was taking a good look at Cookeville, it looks lovely, but then I heard it's in tornado land!
Don't mean to be a downer... looking for a balanced viewpoint from someone in the area.
Disclaimer: I grew up in So. California so I know people freak out about earthquakes, but most of them are smaller shakers that do very little damage. Was a kid during the 1971 Sylmar quake and then the other bad one was Northridge in 1993. Lol, even small earthquakes make the news and my hubby's mum calls from England to see if we're okay.
What's your experience with tornados over there? How often to you hear sirens every year? How big of a concern are they realistically? Maybe I should stop following "Ryan Hall Y'all".
I was taking a good look at Cookeville, it looks lovely, but then I heard it's in tornado land!
Don't mean to be a downer... looking for a balanced viewpoint from someone in the area.
Disclaimer: I grew up in So. California so I know people freak out about earthquakes, but most of them are smaller shakers that do very little damage. Was a kid during the 1971 Sylmar quake and then the other bad one was Northridge in 1993. Lol, even small earthquakes make the news and my hubby's mum calls from England to see if we're okay.
(That CBS video you shared actually inspired a friend of mine in Vallejo CA to move to Cookeville.)
Oh we get our share of strong storms in the spring, as does most of this part of the country, including Franklin and other fast-growing and hyper wealthy suburbs around Nashville. My house, built in 1967, doesn't even have a basement or anywhere to go to hunker down during a tornado. It's just not seen as a big enough threat to warrant the expense. The one that happened in 2020 was the first deadly tornado to hit here in 50 years, and it came as a complete surprise, zero tornado threat when we went to bed that night and only 1 out of 5 threat for thunderstorms. It was just a freak event, one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that we hope will never happen again. In Nashville that same tornado destroyed a couple of schools, so I guess it's a good thing it was in the middle of the night.
Those who've moved here from places where severe thunderstorms never happen do tend to hyperventilate anytime we're under a warning. But even my many friends who've moved here from California said they'd rather deal with an occasional tornado warning than an earthquake, which has no warning, or, God forbid, wildfires.
The only time I've been personally impacted by a severe storm in the US (I grew up in SE Asia so I'm used to typhoons and gigantic storms) was when I lived in Knoxville, outside of "tornado ally," and a tree came crashing down on my carport during a particularly strong storm (NOT a tornado).
Besides, brutally cold weather kills an average of 1,330 people per year in the US compared to 80 from tornadoes.
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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
Oh we get our share of strong storms in the spring, as does most of this part of the country, including Franklin and other fast-growing and hyper wealthy suburbs around Nashville. My house, built in 1967, doesn't even have a basement or anywhere to go to hunker down during a tornado. It's just not seen as a big enough threat to warrant the expense. The one that happened in 2020 was the first deadly tornado to hit here in 50 years, and it came as a complete surprise, zero tornado threat when we went to bed that night and only 1 out of 5 threat for thunderstorms. It was just a freak event, one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that we hope will never happen again. In Nashville that same tornado destroyed a couple of schools, so I guess it's a good thing it was in the middle of the night.
Those who've moved here from places where severe thunderstorms never happen do tend to hyperventilate anytime we're under a warning. But even my many friends who've moved here from California said they'd rather deal with an occasional tornado warning than an earthquake, which has no warning, or, God forbid, wildfires.
The only time I've been personally impacted by a severe storm in the US (I grew up in SE Asia so I'm used to typhoons and gigantic storms) was when I lived in Knoxville, outside of "tornado ally," and a tree came crashing down on my carport during a particularly strong storm (NOT a tornado).
Besides, brutally cold weather kills an average of 1,330 people per year in the US compared to 80 from tornadoes.
Thank you for the rational answer.
I remember someone on CD wrote hearing the tornado sirens go off freaked her out, so she moved somewhere else.
As for earthquakes, a friend said the good thing about earthquakes, is usually by the time you realize you know what's happening, you've most likely survived it. Of course, when they're bad, they're really bad.
The one in the 80's up in the Bay area was awful. The horror stories of some people trapped in their cars between the concrete on that two story bridge was stuff of nightmares for sure!
No place is completely safe... The Chicago area and surrounding is one of the only known places (or so I've read) of very few natural disasters (wildfires, earthquakes, floods, tornados etc.) but it has it's own risks including icy sidewalks that can be fatal if one falls on their head!
When my hubby went remote, (right before the pandemic) we moved to Vancouver, Wa. Really liked it there, but after 2 years, found out my older brother had Alzheimer's, so hubs and I packed up and moved down to where he lives in a little town outside of Redding, Ca. to take care of him. Been here for about 2 years now, but he'll soon be needing to go to a Memory care facility. Not sure where to go next, maybe back to Vancouver, but Cookeville is on my radar. Come to think of it, I seem to remember you sent me some info on Cookeville a while back in a message. Geesh I think that must have been a few years ago.
But yeah, speaking of wildfires, in Shasta county where we are now is high fire risk! My brother's house survived the Carr Fire of 2018, but the area was devastated! The heat here is over 100 plus many days in summer. 105 to 110 is pretty standard, so everything dries out. Scary when the wind starts blowing!
Thanks everyone! I'll have a closer look at some of these options.
What are your experiences of crime in places like Tennessee? According to the Internet, Tennessee is a very dangerous state. Outside of big cities like Nashville, do you find this to be true?
A few suggestions that might fit your criteria check into the suburbs and towns near these areas. They have mild climates and are in "conservative" areas but also have growth and outside influence like universities and colleges or major employment that attracts others.
The Lexington, ky bluegrass area.
Northern Alabama area around Huntsville
Cookeville TN
Upstate SC (Greenville area)
Roanoke / Blacksburg VA
The Winston Salem NC Piedmont triad region
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