Looking for a place in Tennesse! (Memphis, Knoxville: apartment complex, rent, low crime)

[carolmora]

Hello everyone! I am considering moving to Tennessee and have a few questions. I am looking for a place that has LOW crime rate and is sunny most of the time. Cold weather does not bother me but I do like the sun. Would like good schools and quality health care for my son. If I do decide to move I will rent for the first year to see how I like it. Would like rent under 2,000 a month. Would be nice if the area also had clean water and air. I would say that I wan a beautiful place but it looks like most of Tennesse is beautiful!

[yarddawg]

Well, whether you'll think any of Tennessee is sunny most of the time will depend on where you are now. Pacific northwest yes, southwest probably not. Some statistics for Tennessee handy from my latest solar daydreaming:

Average Days Clear - Partly Cloudy - Cloudy

Tri-cities 89-112-165

Chattanooga 104-106-155

Knoxville 97-107-162

Nashville 102-106-156

Memphis 118-96-151

Slightly more sun on the west side of the state but not much.

[carolmora]

Could you please tell me where you got those stats?

[yarddawg]

It's National Weather Service data but it was pulled from a university GIS database so I'm not sure if the NWS has it available somewhere pre-averaged or if you have to do that yourself.

The NWS is part of NOAA and has an extensive website here: NOAA's National Weather Service

Note! I said extensive. I don't guarantee user-friendly. .gov sites for the scientific branches are often............. well, "labyrinth" comes to mind offhand. The data is all there, somewhere.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by carolmora

Hello everyone! I am considering moving to Tennessee and have a few questions. I am looking for a place that has LOW crime rate and is sunny most of the time. Cold weather does not bother me but I do like the sun. Would like good schools and quality health care for my son. If I do decide to move I will rent for the first year to see how I like it. Would like rent under 2,000 a month. Would be nice if the area also had clean water and air. I would say that I wan a beautiful place but it looks like most of Tennesse is beautiful!

Well, you've certainly come to the right place! There are a lot of friendly people in this forum who will give you some good advice.

But first, help us with some more details. Do you want to live in a larger city? Are you looking for a suburb, or do you want to live out in the country? Do you need to get a job, and if so, in what field? Do you need to be near an airport? Do you prefer being up in the mountains, near a lake, etc.?

In most places in Tennessee you can rent a mansion for $2,000/month, so you won't have any problems finding a place in your price range.

[carolmora]

Here is the info JMT. Hope to hear from you soon. I would prefer the city to be 30,000 or less. Maybe within an hour of a larger city. Job market does not matter at all. We run an online business. Don't fly so no need for an airport. We love beautiful scenery. So mountains, creeks, lakes are great. Would like to live in country but not to far from the town and would like at least a few neighbors.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by carolmora

Here is the info JMT. Hope to hear from you soon. I would prefer the city to be 30,000 or less. Maybe within an hour of a larger city. Job market does not matter at all. We run an online business. Don't fly so no need for an airport. We love beautiful scenery. So mountains, creeks, lakes are great. Would like to live in country but not to far from the town and would like at least a few neighbors.

Thanks for the info. That definitely helps.

Here are some smaller towns in Tennessee that I would recommend:

Greeneville. About 15,000 people, nice historic downtown area, breathtaking views of the mountains, about an hour from Knoxville. Schools are ok.

Athens. About 13,000 people, nice historic downtown area, close to the mountains, located less than an hour from both Chattanooga and Knoxville. Schools are ok.

Tullahoma. About 18,000 people, not really close to mountains but close to a couple of lakes and is a little more than an hour from both Nashville and Chattanooga. Excellent schools.

Cookeville. About 30,000 people, at the edge of the rugged Cumberland Plateau, close to lakes, an hour from Nashville. Excellent schools.

Of those four, Greeneville probably has the best views of the mountains, Athens is closest to larger cities, Tullahoma is closest to lakes, Cookeville has the better schools and more restaurants/movies/shopping.

[carolmora]

JMT we would like to talk to you. We could call you on our dime to ask you questions about the area. I have been trying to find pics of the areas you mentioned but have not found much.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by carolmora

Hello everyone! I am considering moving to Tennessee and have a few questions. I am looking for a place that has LOW crime rate and is sunny most of the time. Cold weather does not bother me but I do like the sun. Would like good schools and quality health care for my son. If I do decide to move I will rent for the first year to see how I like it. Would like rent under 2,000 a month. Would be nice if the area also had clean water and air. I would say that I wan a beautiful place but it looks like most of Tennesse is beautiful!

If you rent in an apartment complex, until you see if you like it here, you will have no problem renting a 3 bedroom apartment/townhouse for $2000 or less per month in the best complexes. A bigger problem will be finding those best complexes in towns that meet your other criteria assuming your goal would be to not move your son out of his school twice.

[Pocketplayer]

Speaking of Greenville, as an example, could you hone in zip codes of the nicer areas?

Looking on Realtor.com, it can be a bit confusing when searching because the price might be attractive, but only a local would know the actual area and surroundings.

I'm trying to work around this challenge.

Thanks!