10 Questions For Those Who Moved To Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville: house, purchase)

[JoAnn5]

I loved your answers, especially #s 7 & 8!!

[mbmouse]

Great Idea LauraC as usual! And fun too. I too will add my answers to the quote in blue.

Originally Posted by LauraC

I saw this on the Florida forum and thought I'd modify it for Tennessee.

For those who moved to Tennessee:


1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Tennessee?
I moved here after a multi year stay in Jupiter FL , not much further north than Kim918. I was born and raised out in the country within CT. I have been in TN going on 11 years now.

2. What was the most important reason why you moved to Tennessee? For me there were two equally important factors that I could lump into one, I was NOT going to raise my children in FL. I wanted better, safer schools and give them safe room to run and play in a country atmosphere.


3. What made you pick the particular town in Tennessee that you moved to?
Well, originally we picked a town (Jefferson County) based on proximity to a job offer (In Knoxville), wanted to be out of the city but within a 30 minute commute to the city but be rural (sound familiar?? hahaahhah). I found that even though it looked good on the map, it wasn't the community I wanted to raise my children in and the school looked good on paper, but not so much in real life. The other reason we didn't stay was there were no houses to buy after renting a while, but glad we did that after I realized the school was not the right one for my boys. So after 2 years, moved again( to Greene County) to what was a step up school and community wise and found a house I loved. Lived there for 6 years and it was great but my boys grew out of the school, needed more extras that were not available there and I was having a major problem getting a better job as I was "over qualified" and ended up commuting over an hour each way for a year. As a single mom, that was to much. Then moved to where we are now (Washington County) and so far is the perfect spot for us. Close to work, great schools, lots to do.

4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move? Which one? hahahah I loved TN from the minute we got here it has felt like home so I believe in the context you are asking, we felt comfortable and accepted from day one.


5. If you had to do it over again would you still move to Tennessee? If no, would you have chosen a different town in Tennessee, moved to someplace other than Tennessee or returned to the place you left? YES!


6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Tennessee than where you moved from? MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better! Less traffic, nicer people, less stress, less traffic,easier to manage household funds with cheaper cost of living, the climate is such that we enjoy outside activities here and did not in FL.


7. Do you have friends of relatives in other states that tried to either directly persuade you not to move to Tennessee or showed their displeasure/disapproval/incredulity/disgust/non-enthusiasm in more subtle ways? Why, do you know? Family and friends all thought I was nuts! Comments like "Why in the world would you move to Appalachia?" was asked all the time. People would try to create a Southern drawl and joke about the people here. All stereotypes that kinda ticked me off....funny thing, my parents followed me here after a few years, now other family members are planning on moving here soon!


8. Do you think the town where you live now in Tennessee will eventually turn into the place you left? If so, how long will it take?I do think it will become more populated, but I do not think it will ever become EXACTLY like Jupiter FL for a few reasons. 1. There are mountains here, they can not be chopped down and cemented over so there will always be some nature here. 2. The "spread outness" (new term there) which will remain, again because of the mountains will never attract the true "metro/city life" folks. 3. There is no ocean here so all the ocean loving salt water fishing, surfing, sailboarding folks will just not even look at this area. 4. This region will never be "sub tropical" so there will not be any "sunshine dollars" offered, there will never be palm trees, palmettos, palmetto bugs, lizards or alligators here.


9. Since you got here, what has surprised you most either about Tennessee or your town in Tennessee? (good or bad)The biggest surprise is when I saw a police officer helping someone change a flat on the side of the road, have seen that 5 or 6 times, I was pleasantly shocked.


10. Would you recommend others move to Tennessee? Yes, if they are happy with the way it is and not try to change the way of life.


Extra Question: What haven't you done yet since moving to Tennessee that you would like to do?The list is endless! Got o Rock City, the Chatt aquarium, there are about 6 public caves in Tn we haven't done yet, walk the Appalachian trial from VA to NC, Hike the balds on Roan Mnt., sail boat on the lakes, canoe in the rivers. I could go on and on. almost 11 years and we aren't board yet!

[Kim918]

Originally Posted by JoAnn5

I loved your answers, especially #s 7 & 8!!

Why thank you Joann. I meant it sincerely.

People can be so ignorant when they have not been somewhere and form an opinion based on a preconceived notion they have about a place. As I was finally leaving, some of my friends and co-workers backed up a bit and said I was doing the right thing. Right then I knew that some things were said out of jealousy. They were staying in a place they hated, but didn't have the nerve to leave. It's hard to leave what is familiar sometimes even if you are no longer happy there.

I also meant what I said about Tennessee not changing too much. That is what destroyed Florida. The whole reason many moved there is gone now. It is full of crime, gangs, greed, and some of the worst political corruption I have ever seen. It's awful! This I do not wish for my new home in Tennessee. I want to be part of what is already here and not change it. Growth can make an area prosperous, that is fine, but out of control growth and too much change are the ingredients for destruction. People coming here should do so, because they love Tennessee for what it is now, not hoping to change it into what they left. I hope and pray that never happens here. I don't want to move again.

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Great Idea LauraC as usual! And fun too. I too will add my answers to the quote in blue.

Hi Mbmouse,

I must give you credit moving here as a single mom. That took guts!

Glad to see they made fun of you too though, the way they did me. LOL! In the same manner too! Did they tell you about the dry counties? I heard all about that from some people too. I just laughed at them. I knew they existed already, but they thought they were telling me info that was going to change my mind.

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by Kim918

Hi Mbmouse,

I must give you credit moving here as a single mom. That took guts!

Glad to see they made fun of you too though, the way they did me. LOL! In the same manner too! Did they tell you about the dry counties? I heard all about that from some people too. I just laughed at them. I knew they existed already, but they thought they were telling me info that was going to change my mind.

I was not a single mom when we moved here, that happened about 4 years after the move, had nothing to do with TN though, once a jerk always a jerk no matter where one is LOL!!!
I heard the same thing about the dry counties! ahahahhaaha

[Kim918]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

I was not a single mom when we moved here, that happened about 4 years after the move, had nothing to do with TN though, once a jerk always a jerk no matter where one is LOL!!!
I heard the same thing about the dry counties! ahahahhaaha

Oh I see! LOL!

[jimj]

Ruby falls,Rock city and Jack Daniels are a must see!! Loved the town around JD and some of the eateries are pretty darn good as well.

[shadowwalker]

1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Tennessee?
From Wyoming. Been here over three and a half years.

2. What was the most important reason why you moved to Tennessee?
Start a business and enjoy retiring in TN, Wife is from here. We lived here for one and a half years in 1998 and loved it.


3. What made you pick the particular town in Tennessee that you moved to?
Found what we wanted in a home and land. Believed the realtors answers to our questions. AND the county building and planning office when they answered our questions.

4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move?
Still not, nor is my wife

5. If you had to do it over again would you still move to Tennessee? If no, would you have chosen a different town in Tennessee, moved to someplace other than Tennessee or returned to the place you left? Maybe in another town, with answers to our questions in writing and notorized, and signed off by the governor. Or I'd just get a job and live somewhere I didn't plan on making a living off of the land.


6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Tennessee than where you moved from?
Worse, sunk life savings, time, energy. In getting started and keeping going. As for my health, I have never been so physically sick, so long. In my entire life.

7. Do you have friends of relatives in other states that tried to either directly persuade you not to move to Tennessee or showed their displeasure/disapproval/incredulity/disgust/non-enthusiasm in more subtle ways? Why, do you know? Wife has realatives all over middle tn. Said come on down glad to have you. People in my home state that had lived here said I would be back.

8. Do you think the town where you live now in Tennessee will eventually turn into the place you left? If so, how long will it take? Absolutely not. Could be though. But I don't see the town or state giving up that much control to the people of TN.


9. Since you got here, what has surprised you most either about Tennessee or your town in Tennessee? (good or bad)
Unless I'm cracking my wallet open and sometimes not even then to purchase something. People in business can't wait to get you off the property. Some of the charges and estamates here vary by as much as 40% on the same job! We have businesses that we go into weekly, bi weekly and they still treat us as it's the first time they ever laid eyes on us! And they have delt with us all this time.
I have made friends here, there are good people. But I am still treated like a outsider.

10. Would you recommend others move to Tennessee?Sure, I have met people that moved here and liked it. Most had no expectations when they drove in here. So they weren't set up for dissapointment. And I have met other people just like me. So goes both ways.


Extra Question: What haven't you done yet since moving to Tennessee that you would like to do?
I would very much like to enjoy a 6 hour afternoon on public land. Hunting or Fishing. With out competing with 50 to 100 other people doing the same thing in the immedeate area. Oh, I would like to leave my home without wondering. If I will have things stolen from me when I am away.

There are some good places and good people in the state of tennessee. It's not like everyday is one more day in Hell here. I have had things not turn out many times in my life as everyone has I am sure. I just worked my butt off, saved much and we did without what we considerd frivialities, to have start money when we got here. I took a lifes savings out of the retirement account. And we took the gamble. It didn't work. So now we are going home. I am still young enough (50) to make a decent savings by the time I am going to retire (it's just going to be alot later than I thought), without killing myself.

[hiknapster]

Okay, Laura, I'm a little more coherent today, so I'll try and answer your questions. By the way, I think it's fun, too!

Originally Posted by LauraC

I saw this on the Florida forum and thought I'd modify it for Tennessee.

For those who moved to Tennessee:


1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Tennessee? Lived in Florida for about ten years. Originally from Massachusetts. I've lived in Knoxville for 2 years, 2 weeks and 2 days. Imagine that!


2. What was the most important reason why you moved to Tennessee? Good place to raise our child.


3. What made you pick the particular town in Tennessee that you moved to? There were a lot of jobs in my husbands line of work.


4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move?
Well over a year. It took almost two years to really get comfortable, learn where to shop, things like that. I'm probably a slow learner. Having my friends at City-Data certainly helped.


5. If you had to do it over again would you still move to Tennessee? If no, would you have chosen a different town in Tennessee, moved to someplace other than Tennessee or returned to the place you left? Yes. I would have still moved to Tennessee. Even when I felt frustrated, I did research on other areas and although some places seemed interesting, they just weren't Tennessee.

6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Tennessee than where you moved from? It is unbelievably better than any place that I have ever lived. Bear in mind that I was moving away from crazy in-laws, but I haven't known them my whole life. My life has improved over living in Massachusetts, also. This may not be the case for everyone, but for us, moving here was the "perfect storm." it didn't happen overnight, but it did happen.

7. Do you have friends of relatives in other states that tried to either directly persuade you not to move to Tennessee or showed their displeasure/disapproval/incredulity/disgust/non-enthusiasm in more subtle ways? Why, do you know? My mom thought it was a great idea. She wasn't happy about the "crazy" relatives or the hurricanes. She was a wreck during Hurricane Charley, being 1,500 miles away from me. My dad withheld his opinion. He always does that, unless he thinks I'm going to be run over by a bus. The "crazy" in-laws thought that we'd be back, or they probably just wished it. When we left the state, they lost the ability to take our money!

No one said anything derogatory about Tennessee.


8. Do you think the town where you live now in Tennessee will eventually turn into the place you left? If so, how long will it take? Initially, I thought so. Now that the housing market has slowed down, I don't see that happening in the next couple of years. I really believe that this area is not for everyone, though, and the malcontents will not stay here, anyway. This is not Florida, where the transplants rapidly outnumbered the natives. Whiny behavior is not tolerated here.


9. Since you got here, what has surprised you most either about Tennessee or your town in Tennessee? (good or bad) I pretty much knew what I was getting into, and Tennessee is exactly what I expected, and that is a very good thing. I was surprised to see a lot of people moving here, too, though. Apparently, I am not the only bright person in the country. Imagine that!

Two bad things: I knew what Oak Ridge was, and that didn't bother me, other than realizing I wouldn't be eating fish out of their local lakes. But I was surprised the the US is bringing ALL of its enriched uranium there, and basically that Oak Ridge National Laboratory is alive and well.

I was also surprised about the air quality, especially in the summer. I definitely did not do my homework on that.

But you will have trade offs no matter where you move. No place is perfect.


10. Would you recommend others move to Tennessee? Yes. If you are polite, deplore rudeness, are down-to-earth and love waving at people, then you will fit in. If you are cranky, like to flip people off, cut people off in traffic and generally are not a "people" person, all this friendliness will drive you nuts.


Extra Question: What haven't you done yet since moving to Tennessee that you would like to do?

Visit Nashville, Memphis, Falls Creek Falls, the Tri-Cities, and attend a City-Data party.

[tennesseedreamin]

Originally Posted by LauraC

I saw this on the Florida forum and thought I'd modify it for Tennessee.

For those who moved to Tennessee:


1. Where did you come from and how long have you been in Tennessee?
I moved from Hemet Ca and unfortunately lived in Tn only 7 months

2. What was the most important reason why you moved to Tennessee?
I wanted to get my kids away from the corruption that is so prevalent here. To take them to a place beautiful where they could ride horses, play in the snow, fish in the rivers, picknic in the meadows and hike in the woods. Hemet is nothing but houses and stores, nothing for kids to do but get in trouble.

3. What made you pick the particular town in Tennessee that you moved to?
I chose Gatlinburg. Really, I couldn't care less about crowds, I'm from Ca. I chose G-burg because it had the best of both world, forest tranquility and tons of shopping and things to do. I knew if I got my kids there they would never want to go back to boring Ca.

4. How long did it take you to get comfortable with the move?
About 5 minutes.

5. If you had to do it over again would you still move to Tennessee? If no, would you have chosen a different town in Tennessee, moved to someplace other than Tennessee or returned to the place you left?
I'd go back in a heartbeat and sure, back to the sameish area would be fine with me.

6. Is your "overall " life better or worse in Tennessee than where you moved from?
It WAS better. I only wish my employers weren't such snakes, we would be there still.

7. Do you have friends of relatives in other states that tried to either directly persuade you not to move to Tennessee or showed their displeasure/disapproval/incredulity/disgust/non-enthusiasm in more subtle ways? Why, do you know?
Yes, they didn't want us to move away, but I saw it as an exodus of the entire family that I would begin so I wasn't dismayed. I have family that still dogs me about my love for Tennessee saying it's hillbillyvill, that they just got electricity and running water there and dumb remarks of the ignorant like that and those people say that because they don't like me and so they try to hurt me by bashing things I love.

8. Do you think the town where you live now in Tennessee will eventually turn into the place you left? If so, how long will it take?
Can't answer but I hope not. Here there are prostitutes walking down the streets, gang bangers, drug pushers and crackheads all over, graffiti on buildings and trash in the fields.

9. Since you got here, what has surprised you most either about Tennessee or your town in Tennessee? (good or bad)
I was surprised at how nice and helpful people were. I mean, the trolly drivers would pull over if they saw my son and I walking down the street and offer us free rides home, that sort of stuff does NOT happen in Ca.

10. Would you recommend others move to Tennessee?
Absolutely

Extra Question: What haven't you done yet since moving to Tennessee that you would like to do?
Stay :.(

Good questions, why did you ask these questions.

[Kim918]

tennesseedreamin I feel bad for you. You loved it here. How did you end up back in CA?
You got transferred?