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Hi Everyone! I am seeking advice on a possible move to Tennessee in the next two years. I am seeking a big change (from Florida and Texas--where I have worked with the same company for 9 years). I am looking at towns of approximately 8,000-30,000 people 30 minutes to an hour from Nashville. It will initially be myself and dogs and eventually my mother (retired). I would like 4-10 acres in the country/outskirts of town where mini-horses, goats, rescues will be welcomed. We would prefer areas that have semi-affordable land/topography that is flat to gently rolling because we have mini horses and a mini donkey currently and hope to also get 1-2 horses soon. Occasionally we will need to haul animals and would like to keep it simple for two women. I am able to transfer in healthcare/counselor to several locations in Nashville or Bowling Green, KY. I currently work as a counselor on weekends and as a dog groomer/pet-sitter during the week. I am hoping to continue with my normal routine and eventually open a small dog-daycare/kennel. This is a business I have previously looked into in several counties in Nashville and the rules seemed quite rigid 3 years ago. I was not a trained groomer then. I did check with several counties regarding zoning (grooming or boarding) and after several hours of trying to get an answer and 3 houses falling through (one in Columbia, TN, one in Westmoreland, TN and one in Lebanon, TN) took a transfer to Ocala, FL from Texas.
I would really appreciate any advice from people in the Nashville area as well as anyone who has previously lived in Ocala, FL or Gainesville, FL area. Mom is loving the Horse capital of the world (Ocala)at 65 and being retired, but I really miss Nashville, the people, the scenery, variety of things to do, country music, laid back feel, more career opportunities, less heat and humidity. I don't think Ocala is the place for me long term (34 years old and redhead) as I really have tried and don't feel the sense of community, friendliness, weather, people, drivers, tourists, crime, etc. I do not have children, but hope to so pretty good school would be great. I know I cannot afford Franklin so I am looking North and East mostly. I am a little concerned about crime in Nashville but Florida and Texas also have crime, in certain areas. The reason I say two years as I will need time to be able to travel there between my jobs and may end up having to go the route of buying land with water and utilities on them and later have a cabin, small house or a mobile home built or brought in because last time it took 8 visits and ended in not having a house in Tennessee. All of the houses looked beautiful before inspections and needed more repairs than the owners could afford or the other realtor put us in a contract that we were 4th in line. Ocala had many places meeting our needs and was more affordable.
I am really excited about the growth happening in Nashville. I am not sure why many local people say to stay away from Columbia, Shelbyville, Kingston Springs/Dickson (seemed really hilly/steep cliffs). There seems to be much more to offer long-term than the Florida retirement experience/mid career working person opportunities. Any advice, recommendations, warnings, etc. will be greatly appreciated. I completely understand that no area is perfect and I hope that Nashville will be where I spend the rest of my life. Thank you for your time and advice. :-)
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Last edited by JMT; 02-19-2017 at 05:17 AM..
Reason: Please do not mention city-data competitors.
We are relocating to Nashville this spring from Washington DC but prior to this we lived in Micanopy (Evinston actually) and I worked in Ocala. We were just back in FL a few weeks ago and I was reminded how much I loved it there. I am hoping we can find a similar feel around Nashville because DC just has not done it for us.
I hope I can come back in 6 months and give you some advice or at least share what we learned and where we end up in the Nashville region.
Sorry I have nothing to really help you with now, just wanted to say best of luck. I will be following your thread
Cookeville is like a smaller version of Gainesville: college town, beautiful countryside, lots of horse farms. I was born in Gainesville and lived on a horse farm in Micanopy as a kid off Wacahoota Road. I love visiting Florida, especially Micanopy and Gainesville, but would never live there again. I'm about an hour east of Nashville in the Cookeville area and love it. There are lots of horse farms around here. I have several friends around here who have horses and who have moved here from all over - California, Florida, Kentucky, Utah, Iowa, Arizona.
Shelbyville is a growing town that is the horse capital of Tennessee. It's a nice community with beautiful countryside, too.
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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
Thanks bet1550 and JMT. Yes, I meant Cookeville. We stayed there one night when we were learning the Nashville area and maybe we should have focused more on that area. Crossville looks close on a map to Cookeville (35 miles) but it is hard to tell when taking in a whole metro area from far away. Micanopy is a beautiful small town. I plan on enjoying Florida and will see how the next year goes before making any big decisions on moving. I figured this forum would be a way to get others opinions who have lived near Nashville. I am curious why you wouldn't live in Florida again, some of the same reasons I wrote about or family and friends in Tennessee? Just so other people know, I was honest with my mom that I would give Florida a try and didn't see myself staying in FL forever and she said she understood (we were both at a point of needing a change and FL has been better than Texas was the last few years for us) and we both do enjoy going to the beach once a month and visiting local areas. It is good to know that there are many people in the area that have moved from other states, too. I think maybe that is why it seems harder to get a strong connection with many people in Florida as they don't plan to stay long term, are snowbirds or do their own thing. Not that everyone in Texas or Tennessee are always friendly but several families or a lady in the Nashville area would hug me or us when we were looking at their home and seemed really genuine. Our realtor said that is normal in Tennessee and that is hard to find these days. Hopefully, in late spring or summer, I can visit with mom as a surprise trip and just see if I still feel this way on a 3 day long weekend. Thanks again for your help.
Thanks bet1550 and JMT. Yes, I meant Cookeville. We stayed there one night when we were learning the Nashville area and maybe we should have focused more on that area. Crossville looks close on a map to Cookeville (35 miles) but it is hard to tell when taking in a whole metro area from far away. Micanopy is a beautiful small town. I plan on enjoying Florida and will see how the next year goes before making any big decisions on moving. I figured this forum would be a way to get others opinions who have lived near Nashville. I am curious why you wouldn't live in Florida again, some of the same reasons I wrote about or family and friends in Tennessee? Just so other people know, I was honest with my mom that I would give Florida a try and didn't see myself staying in FL forever and she said she understood (we were both at a point of needing a change and FL has been better than Texas was the last few years for us) and we both do enjoy going to the beach once a month and visiting local areas. It is good to know that there are many people in the area that have moved from other states, too. I think maybe that is why it seems harder to get a strong connection with many people in Florida as they don't plan to stay long term, are snowbirds or do their own thing. Not that everyone in Texas or Tennessee are always friendly but several families or a lady in the Nashville area would hug me or us when we were looking at their home and seemed really genuine. Our realtor said that is normal in Tennessee and that is hard to find these days. Hopefully, in late spring or summer, I can visit with mom as a surprise trip and just see if I still feel this way on a 3 day long weekend. Thanks again for your help.
Since you meant Cookeville, I changed the title of your thread. I hope you don't mind.
I've found that I like the mountains, lakes, and waterfalls of Tennessee more than the beaches of Florida. I love the change in seasons up here (particularly fall), the folksy and friendly nature of the people of Tennessee, and especially the lack of snowbirds. I still have family in Florida, but my cousins are almost all either already moved out of Florida (to TN and NC) or are making their exit strategies. I do miss the fresh seafood and the sunsets at the beach, but I absolutely do not miss the gosh awful Florida summers, the banana spiders and other giant insects, but especially the masses of Northern snowbirds who invade every winter.
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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
The kind of acreage you want is fairly steep in Gallatin. It's there, but not cheap. You might consider areas like Cottontown, Westmoreland, Castalian Springs...these are all close to Gallatin but are cheaper in general. Definitely look around Portland, especially if you're considering a job around Bowling Green or Nashville as it's fairly central to both areas.
The commute time from Gallatin (and just about everywhere else mentioned in the thread) is at least 45 mins - 1 hour plus at to the downtown core. Cookeville is a 90 minute commute at least.
Not necessarily. It's exactly 70 miles on I-40 from Cookeville to the Nashville airport which can almost always be done in less than an hour unless there's an accident on I-40 in Nashville (which does happen). I make it from my house just west of Cookeville to my job in Hermitage in 50 minutes.
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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
I'll defer to your experience, but I was thinking it was easily 90 minutes from Jefferson St exit to downtown Nashville in rush hour. I guess it depends on the timing and good old fashioned luck.
I'll defer to your experience, but I was thinking it was easily 90 minutes from Jefferson St exit to downtown Nashville in rush hour. I guess it depends on the timing and good old fashioned luck.
Oh absolutely, from the center of Cookeville to the center of Nashville during rush hour it would easily be 90 minutes, and more if there's an accident.
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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
Thanks for more of your ideas. There is Cedar Grove in Murfreesboro and Hermitage Hall in Nashville that are locations of uhsinc.com. I would really love to be able to open a small shop in a town and that is why I was thinking at least 8,000 people or more there would be enough people willing to give a new dog groomer in town business or pet sitting. I probably will do counseling (long shifts on weekends if I can get the schedule) and only have a long drive 2 days a week, with an occasional helping a co worker on a day off or sick day. I could find another hospital or rehab center not associated with current employer. Home loans seem to like to see the long term stability so that was why I was thinking transferring would be a better idea.
Does Castalian Springs or Westmoreland have a little downtown area or is it more rural? (I drove on the main road through Castalian Springs North from Lebanon) and in Westmoreland only with the realtor, so have seen these areas on most of the trips to Tennessee. I am not familiar with Cottontown. When calling county zoning offices in those counties 3 years ago it seemed they did not have much of an idea about dog grooming or kennel or dog daycares, but there are people doing this. They have them all over in Texas--in town, in suburbs, in the country. The advice they had was buy the place and later petition neighbors to have a license to do business, but it would seem smarter to know areas of town that allow it before buying acreage or a home set up in the country. If it has to be in certain areas of town or a business area it would seem zoning should be able to tell someone the rules/laws or where to rent space that will allow a dog business. Portland area did seem to be pretty accessible to many areas. Shelbyville is a really pretty area. I love helping people and animals so any ideas of areas I can make this work and has welcoming churches/ senior center with some activities for mom would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your time and help.
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