why so many people move from Florida to Tennessee? (Knoxville: for sale, homes)

[JRR]

I live in Altamonte Springs which is on the north side of Orlando. My wife and I did our usual grocery shopping at the nearby Publix on Thursday around noon. A couple of hours after we were there, there was a robbery of an armored car driver at the store. They shot him in the head as he came out the first set of doors to where the carts are and grabbed a bag of cash. The violence of the Orlando area seems to be creeping more and more to the outer areas. Last month armed men robbed an AT&T store that is nearby.

I realize that crime can be anywhere, but I sure am hoping that Cookeville will be a bit less on the scale of that type violent crime when we get there.

[2mares]

Originally Posted by JRR

I live in Altamonte Springs which is on the north side of Orlando. My wife and I did our usual grocery shopping at the nearby Publix on Thursday around noon. A couple of hours after we were there, there was a robbery of an armored car driver at the store. They shot him in the head as he came out the first set of doors to where the carts are and grabbed a bag of cash. The violence of the Orlando area seems to be creeping more and more to the outer areas. Last month armed men robbed an AT&T store that is nearby.

I realize that crime can be anywhere, but I sure am hoping that Cookeville will be a bit less on the scale of that type violent crime when we get there.

But, but Tennessee is ranked #1 for violent crime.

Do be wary of renegade bovine wrecking havoc in the parking lot when shopping at Wal Mart.

[JRR]

Originally Posted by 2mares

But, but Tennessee is ranked #1 for violent crime.

Do be wary of renegade bovine wrecking havoc in the parking lot when shopping at Wal Mart.

That is what has us concerned. During our visits to Cookeville, we have got the impression that it is pretty much a Rough-and-Tumble town

[wantouttafla]

I fell in love with the Lawrenceburg - Ethridge area, visiting Amish farms and meeting friendly people. Tennessee is beautiful - period - but that area is really calling to me. I can't wait to sell to move up there.

[june0602]

We've been in FL for 30 years, moving down from the Midwest. We are so over FL it isn't funny. Tired of the heat/humidity lasting for months on end and miss the change of seasons. Also the area we live in is a huge snowbird town. In the winter months, you can't go anywhere - restaurants are packed, takes 1-2 hours for seating (most don't take reservations either), stores are packed, and there is 1 main highway where everything is located so everyone is driving and the accidents are a daily basis. Too hot in the summer to do anything, too crowded in the winter to do anything. Not to mention homeowners insurance. After the hurricanes of 2004, if the companies didn't leave FL, the ones that stayed jacked their rates up. Ours went from approximately $800/year to $2700/year. We are in the middle of the state and had very minimal hurricane damage here. What's holding us back some is the fact we have kids here and grandchildren. But TN is only a 9-10 hour drive so can come and visit several times a year. I just feel if this is what we want to do know before we get "too old", then we should at least give it a try - can always come back down here when we need to be closer to the kids for our "old age." Been checking out Cookeville/Crossvile areas and like what we see. Maybe soon we can do this !

[Drift Away]

Originally Posted by june0602

Been checking out Cookeville/Crossvile areas and like what we see.

Could I also suggest you go about 45 minutes east of there and check out areas west/SW of Knoxville. Beautiful area with lots of water and outdoor activities and just outside the city with lots to see and do.

[june0602]

Yes thank you!!! We do love to be outdoors especially fishing and hiking, but like I said, way too hot here and too crowded in winter. We'd love to find a place on at least 1 or 2 acres. A great view wouldn't hurt either - I can already see myself sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee just chillin -

[Fltaz]

Originally Posted by june0602

We've been in FL for 30 years, moving down from the Midwest. We are so over FL it isn't funny. Tired of the heat/humidity lasting for months on end and miss the change of seasons. Also the area we live in is a huge snowbird town. In the winter months, you can't go anywhere - restaurants are packed, takes 1-2 hours for seating (most don't take reservations either), stores are packed, and there is 1 main highway where everything is located so everyone is driving and the accidents are a daily basis. Too hot in the summer to do anything, too crowded in the winter to do anything. Not to mention homeowners insurance. After the hurricanes of 2004, if the companies didn't leave FL, the ones that stayed jacked their rates up. Ours went from approximately $800/year to $2700/year. We are in the middle of the state and had very minimal hurricane damage here. What's holding us back some is the fact we have kids here and grandchildren. But TN is only a 9-10 hour drive so can come and visit several times a year. I just feel if this is what we want to do know before we get "too old", then we should at least give it a try - can always come back down here when we need to be closer to the kids for our "old age." Been checking out Cookeville/Crossvile areas and like what we see. Maybe soon we can do this !

Hi there! We too lived in Florida for 35-40 years near Naples. We left two years ago and moved here to the Crossville area. We too grow very tired to the non stop heat and humidity, high cost of living, the snowbirds and the traffic and just the general poor attitudes of so many of the newcomers to the area. They all acted like they had come to save us and that we owed them something. Also the cost of living in that area had gotten out of control particularly home owners insurance. Between home ins and flood ins we were shelling out about $3,000 a year not to mention almost everything is more expensive there. Our home owners ins dropped to about $800 a year, no flood ins and our auto insurance was cut in half. The general cost of living here is very low over all. Housing costs are very reasonable here also.

The weather here is generally mild overall. The coldest months are January and February. You will see some snow but it does not amount to much most of the time. The spring and the fall are wonderful. The summers are nice most of the time but yes there will be some hot weather here and there. Crossville in particular has milder and less humid summers than many of the surrounding areas due to our higher elevation here on the Plateau.

There are a couple of nice resort communities here that are very welcoming to retirees. Fairfield Glad and Lake Tansi. Fairfield is more upscale and will cost you more to purchase there along with their monthly fees. Tansi is more moderately priced but still a nice area. The monthly fees are very reasonable.

I hope you can find what you are looking for. I think you will be happy here in Tennessee compared to Florida.

[june0602]

Thank you !!! I think we will be happy there also -

[Nomadicus]

While it's not carved in stone the stone is in place for a move to TN as soon as my better half retires. We have made the trek to TN for 2 years and in a few weeks we will be back spying out the land. No place is a utopia but TN has somethings I miss. Being a FL native I know a lot of the sections of this state and none offer to me what TN can. I studied a lot of places for over a year before joining this forum. About the only thing we will be giving up is saltwater fishing. 4 seasons vs 1 1/2. We have spent 20 years of our adult lives scraping ice and shoveling snow either in MO or MI. That can happen in TN we know but not having to get out and go to work and keep a tight schedule it doesn't bother us. TN is more central to other areas of the US that we would like to travel to. FL has a big drawback in that to see Yellowstone tack on a whole lot more miles. We have met a lot of very nice folks in TN. Never saw the low life types of big cities in a smaller TN town we have been looking very hard at. Change is gonna come.