why so many people move from Florida to Tennessee? (Knoxville: transplants, 2013)

[Fltaz]

Originally Posted by Nomadicus

I checked both Crossville and Cookeville today and both were good. The higher elevation may me the reason for improvement. Don't know. I just have a place for a large garden and some dwarf fruit trees waiting. To me a paradise. Most everything but citrus will grow there.

I live near Crossville. The air quality is very good here. Not being an urban area and the higher elevation does help the air quality here. You can grow many different varieties if fruits and vegetables here. We had a great garden going here this summer until the heat and dry conditions finished it off earlier than normal. I know it is a lot easier to grow a nice garden here than it was in Florida.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Nomadicus

Check the air quality out west of Knoxville. At least as far west as Crossville or even Cookeville. I am. No longer care for beaches.

We looked there before moving where we did and did not care for the area. I love the beaches.

Different strokes for different folks.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Fltaz

I live near Crossville. The air quality is very good here. Not being an urban area and the higher elevation does help the air quality here. You can grow many different varieties if fruits and vegetables here. We had a great garden going here this summer until the heat and dry conditions finished it off earlier than normal. I know it is a lot easier to grow a nice garden here than it was in Florida.

Yep, being at the base of the "Smokies" it is different. They are called the Smokies for a reason.

[Nomadicus]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Yep, being at the base of the "Smokies" it is different. They are called the Smokies for a reason.

Yes they are. Passed through them many times. That is why we went east to the Cumberland Plateau.

[DubbleT]

What Makes the Smoky Mountains Smoky?

[Whiskey Tango]

Thanks for that post Double T, I learned something new today reading that article.

[sknapp1]

Originally Posted by DigitalNomad143

Being from Florida I will say a lot of it has to be the idea that there are a lot of jobs and they believe the cost of living is cheaper up here in TN. In case anyone from Florida reads this, it isn't cheaper in Tennessee. Sure it is if you want to live in the country woods -- far from ANYTHING.

Here is a few examples...


If you live in Largo, FL -- a town in Pinellas County that is outside of Tampa, FL and you want to move to Franklin, TN
and you make a household income of 100K a year, you would need to make 147K in Franklin, TN in order to have the SAME lifestyle you had in Florida.


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Next example. IF you lived in Melbourne, FL and you wanted to move to Brentwood, TN, again making a household income of 100K a year... you will need to make $177K a year in Brentwood, TN.

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Picking another nice town that many are flocking to, Mount Juliet. Again, making 100K and moving FROM Orlando, FL

You would need to make 111K in Mount Juliet, TN to keep that same Florida lifestyle.

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I used 100K because it is a clean number, but you can switch the numbers around if you want to.


I have a philosphy of some of the people who are moving here. Some are "half backs" They are yankees who have moved from the Northeast US and moved to Florida. They miss their "seasons" and want to be a little closer to home. Maybe Florida was too hot, maybe too humid. So they move half way back to TN, NC, GA, SC -- there are a lot of them.

I believe true Floridians who lived near the beach will MISS Florida immensely if they move to Middle TN. Maybe not eastern or anywhere on water in TN, but if you live around only land in TN and you are used to living near water, you will miss Florida.

Now if anyone who lived in Florida for a few years bashes me for saying this, congrats you are one of the few. I would first like to know how long you actually lived in Florida, whether you lived near the water or not, if you were an outdoor person, liked sunshine and how long you have lived here. I'm sure there will be one or two.

Florida gets a ton of people who move there everyDAY. Some leave because they came down without a job. Some are running from somewhere else and when they see their lives don't improve moving there, they move somewhere else.

There are a TON of great paying jobs in the Nashville area right now. That is a huge draw. I'm from Florida, miss the water right now (we lived right on the beach). I know a family from the same town we lived in Florida who lives here too (Franklin, TN) and a job brought them here too (not the same company).

I miss how clean the city looks in the downtown Tampa and South Tampa areas. I miss the beaches. Great job here that pays A LOT is what brought us here.

Disadvantage of Florida is strip clubs everywhere. People vacation down there and let their hair down. There are GREAT areas to live with some of the best schools in the country, but you have to be smart with where you live. I will say that the outside of Nashville is very wholesome. Williamson county schools are GREAT, but so are Hendersonville and Mount Juliet. You can save a lot of money in those two towns. Downtown Nashville was a little surprising to me when I moved here -- a lot more of a party environment than I thought before moving here. We brought our son downtown one weekend and the peddling bars, people in hot tubs in the back of limos woo hooing and drinking looked like a blast, but wasn't necessarily where I thought my 11 year old son should be that day so we headed back home a little disappointed. We now know downtown is Nashvegas LOL

Anyways, hope that helps. Oh one last thing... there are a ton of people from NY, MN, California, EVERYWHERE moving to Nashville. There is quite a boom happening here. If you're an entrepreneur get going, there is money to be made in Nashville in 2015!!

I disagree, I live in SW Florida and the cost of living is ridiculously high. I've also compared jobs that I and my boyfriend would be looking for in Tennessee and the pay difference isn't really that significant. We could still afford a nice house, upgraded with a small amount of land for $150k less than what we live in now in Naples, where our house is on a tiny, tiny lot, and needs an insane amount of upgrades. His job (firefighter) there was about a $3,000 pay difference which essentially is about as much as our property and home owners taxes in SW Florida every year and that number wouldn't be that high if we moved to Tennessee. Really it's all relative to where you live. But I think a lot people move from SW Fl to Tennessee because you get more bang for your buck. Just my opinion.

[Fltaz]

Originally Posted by sknapp1

I disagree, I live in SW Florida and the cost of living is ridiculously high. I've also compared jobs that I and my boyfriend would be looking for in Tennessee and the pay difference isn't really that significant. We could still afford a nice house, upgraded with a small amount of land for $150k less than what we live in now in Naples, where our house is on a tiny, tiny lot, and needs an insane amount of upgrades. His job (firefighter) there was about a $3,000 pay difference which essentially is about as much as our property and home owners taxes in SW Florida every year and that number wouldn't be that high if we moved to Tennessee. Really it's all relative to where you live. But I think a lot people move from SW Fl to Tennessee because you get more bang for your buck. Just my opinion.

Very well said! It all depends on where you are coming from. We too use to live in Naples and grew tired of the high cost of living and the never ending heat and humidity. Our cost of living here in Crossville is much less than it was in Naples. The house we bought here cost a third of what we sold our old house for in Naples. Not to mention how much cheaper our home and auto insurance is here too. There is no comparison.

[Danigirl7]

I live in Duval county and work for the largest trauma hospital in town. Lived here for more than 20 years. Crime is terrible here. I can't let my daughter safely play in our neighborhood. The price of housing is outrageous. Orlando is fun but expensive and full of tourists, which many are extremely rude. I love the beaches. I love seafood. I love our southern accents and that we wear flip flops year round but for the sake of my family, I've decided to move to TN. I don't care for busy city life. I'm okay with driving into town for things. I want a few chickens. People, listen, Florida is pretty to visit but it's no longer a safe place to raise a family.

[floridaboy92]

Originally Posted by Danigirl7

I live in Duval county and work for the largest trauma hospital in town. Lived here for more than 20 years. Crime is terrible here. I can't let my daughter safely play in our neighborhood. The price of housing is outrageous. Orlando is fun but expensive and full of tourists, which many are extremely rude. I love the beaches. I love seafood. I love our southern accents and that we wear flip flops year round but for the sake of my family, I've decided to move to TN. I don't care for busy city life. I'm okay with driving into town for things. I want a few chickens. People, listen, Florida is pretty to visit but it's no longer a safe place to raise a family.

Hey, don't put the sign out there and make yourself too loud that it will catch the attention of others. You don't want the same thing that happened to Florida to end up happening to Tennessee. It's already getting packed there. More people = more problems.