Eastern TN location advice (Memphis, Knoxville: 2014, lease, low crime)

[Leilanio]

HI! We are looking to move/eventually retire in the Eastern part of TN. I grew up in VA (Va Beach) and have lived in Southern California for the past 15 years and am ready to get out of the costly and unaffordable life here. I love the mountains and we are looking for:

unrestricted land (10 acres or more) with good hunting/farming

about 20 - 40 minutes from city/town that has shopping, restaurants, etc..

low crime

privacy without a bunch of bureaucracy and restrictions

good off-grid type of community (open to neighbors wanting sustainable living)

Ideally, we prefer to be where the humidity isn't brutal in the summer time since I don't do well with the wet heat...dry heat is okay but i know that isn't in TN.

So far I have been focusing from outside Chatanooga up the mountain range to Bristol but as I am not familiar with the area I am seeking your thoughts on this. Also, I have a strong background in administration at the college/university level and would like to work for a few years until we can fully retire. My husband is in construction and building. He is in his mid-50's and I am in my late 40's so I get to work a bit longer than he does until retirement.

We will be on a limited income so I do want to live where taxes aren't off the charts in relation to other counties in TN. Thanks !!!

[An Einnseanair]

You didn't describe yourself as a "doomsday prepper", but your self-description is in line with some of that mentality. If so, maybe look on the other side of the TN River Valley, up on the Cumberland Plateau:
Survivalists deem TN Plateau prime prepper property
Cumberland Plateau: A Popular Destination for Preppers
Prepping for doomsday: A growing industry in East TN

The main point of those links is you may have better luck finding an "off-grid community" than you'd hoped.

You also might try the self-sufficiency & preparedness sub-forum here at city-data.

[SPLIT]

"L" WELCOME.. I will also agree with ""J" above that up top on the Cumberland plateau / walden Ridge may be your cup of tea for bigger game hunting,, larger farm tract... Rt #111 off of rt #27 should get up the slope in shorter time....I heard ,one time, that a 15 acre tract may actually have lower taxes than a 5 acre tract because it will be labeled Green-Space .?? The dirt is good up that way, known as the Sequatchie valley towards Dunlap ... The ridge usually runs 6 degrees cooler in summer...
You would have access to DAYTON city ,,, or the bigger Chattanooga,, but actually HIXSON has the shopping / restaurants you asked for...
. We just got the "Trail of Tears" book this week.. Which has the Indian history to 1830 pre Civil War
thru our area... This is near Soddy-Daisy and up / across POE rd, so you will continue history freedom.
Again WELCOME,,, ask anything you need help with .

[llsmith42]

Sounds like the Crossville/Cumberland County area fits most of your needs. It is situated on the Cumberland Plateau, about 800'-1000' above surrounding places to the east and west. Because of this, summers are quite a bit milder than nearby cities. The temperature rarely exceeds 90 degrees. The other side to the higher elevation is the colder winters and increased snowfall, however snow is still relatively uncommon, and anything more than 3 or 4 inches is rare.

There is plenty of land for hunting, fishing, farming, etc. Mountains to the east can be seen from most of the county, and there are numerous streams and rivers criss-crossing the area.

Taxes are the 2nd lowest in the state, I believe. Because of this, it is a retirement haven. Fairfield Glade is the largest and most prominent retirement community, but if you're looking for privacy and few restrictions, you may want to look elsewhere.

Some obscure website reported that Crossville was the most dangerous city in TN (moreso than crime-plagued Memphis) based on crime statistics, but almost everyone agrees that it was ludicrous. That is not to say that crime does not exist in Crossville, but it certainly is nothing to be overly concerned about.

Crossville is located about 50 minutes - 1 Hour away from major shopping/restaurants in Knoxville, or about 25-35 minutes away from smaller but decent restaurants/shopping in Cookeville. Cookeville is also the home of Tennessee Tech University, which may be a possible place of employment for you.

[creeksitter]

Where you live will depend on where you find a job. My advice is apply at Tennessee tech and Lincoln Memorial (Harrogate). Lots of good farmland nearby. 3rd choice is etsu in Johnson city.

[Leilanio]

Originally Posted by jwkilgore

You didn't describe yourself as a "doomsday prepper", but your self-description is in line with some of that mentality. If so, maybe look on the other side of the TN River Valley, up on the Cumberland Plateau:
Survivalists deem TN Plateau prime prepper property
Cumberland Plateau: A Popular Destination for Preppers
Prepping for doomsday: A growing industry in East TN

The main point of those links is you may have better luck finding an "off-grid community" than you'd hoped.

You also might try the self-sufficiency & preparedness sub-forum here at city-data.

Thank you! This is a great place to start...my husband is more of the prepper mindset; however, not an extremist by any means. More of a live off the land as much as possible but still wants modern day conveniences. These are great links that are exactly what I neded to see to narrown down to a smaller area of the state.

[Leilanio]

Originally Posted by SPLIT

"L" WELCOME.. I will also agree with ""J" above that up top on the Cumberland plateau / walden Ridge may be your cup of tea for bigger game hunting,, larger farm tract... Rt #111 off of rt #27 should get up the slope in shorter time....I heard ,one time, that a 15 acre tract may actually have lower taxes than a 5 acre tract because it will be labeled Green-Space .?? The dirt is good up that way, known as the Sequatchie valley towards Dunlap ... The ridge usually runs 6 degrees cooler in summer...
You would have access to DAYTON city ,,, or the bigger Chattanooga,, but actually HIXSON has the shopping / restaurants you asked for...
. We just got the "Trail of Tears" book this week.. Which has the Indian history to 1830 pre Civil War
thru our area... This is near Soddy-Daisy and up / across POE rd, so you will continue history freedom.
Again WELCOME,,, ask anything you need help with .

Thank you! I have explored Walden and Jasper but they seemed to have more restrictions than not and we want to be able to not be stuck in HOA's or a planned community per se. We have had enough of that in California. I will definitely check out Sequatchie Valley area/Dunlap part of the state as an option. Thanks again.

[Leilanio]

Originally Posted by llsmith42

Sounds like the Crossville/Cumberland County area fits most of your needs. It is situated on the Cumberland Plateau, about 800'-1000' above surrounding places to the east and west. Because of this, summers are quite a bit milder than nearby cities. The temperature rarely exceeds 90 degrees. The other side to the higher elevation is the colder winters and increased snowfall, however snow is still relatively uncommon, and anything more than 3 or 4 inches is rare.

There is plenty of land for hunting, fishing, farming, etc. Mountains to the east can be seen from most of the county, and there are numerous streams and rivers criss-crossing the area.

Taxes are the 2nd lowest in the state, I believe. Because of this, it is a retirement haven. Fairfield Glade is the largest and most prominent retirement community, but if you're looking for privacy and few restrictions, you may want to look elsewhere.

Some obscure website reported that Crossville was the most dangerous city in TN (moreso than crime-plagued Memphis) based on crime statistics, but almost everyone agrees that it was ludicrous. That is not to say that crime does not exist in Crossville, but it certainly is nothing to be overly concerned about.

Crossville is located about 50 minutes - 1 Hour away from major shopping/restaurants in Knoxville, or about 25-35 minutes away from smaller but decent restaurants/shopping in Cookeville. Cookeville is also the home of Tennessee Tech University, which may be a possible place of employment for you.

This is awesome... I had read said "obscure website" about Crossville in my hours of looking / reading and it was a concern. I will look into more demographics that will substantiate "how" high the crime rate is... since it is relative. We do want to be near fishing/hunting and the mountains or more in the foothills. I will check out Cookeville too.

[2mares]

Originally Posted by Leilanio

This is awesome... I had read said "obscure website" about Crossville in my hours of looking / reading and it was a concern. I will look into more demographics that will substantiate "how" high the crime rate is... since it is relative. We do want to be near fishing/hunting and the mountains or more in the foothills. I will check out Cookeville too.

Cumberland Co. is pretty unrestricted as long as you steer clear of HOA's, but jobs are lacking.

Just a few points to consider. Ten acres is not really enough area to be doing much hunting on, squirrels and rabbits maybe but you need to be mindful of surrounding properties. Most large tracts of undeveloped property is leased out these days so for good hunting you will need to hunt public wildlife areas or buy a lease.

IMO the best way to really gauge the crime in an area is to read the local newspaper. You should be able to assess most on-line. Most of the crime in Crossville is drug related, thefts, possession, domestics and usually the same bunch of people. For grins you can pick up a paper, Cuffed, for $1, that publishes mugshots and list the crimes. Its good for a laugh.

[Leilanio]

Originally Posted by 2mares

Cumberland Co. is pretty unrestricted as long as you steer clear of HOA's, but jobs are lacking.

Just a few points to consider. Ten acres is not really enough area to be doing much hunting on, squirrels and rabbits maybe but you need to be mindful of surrounding properties. Most large tracts of undeveloped property is leased out these days so for good hunting you will need to hunt public wildlife areas or buy a lease.

IMO the best way to really gauge the crime in an area is to read the local newspaper. You should be able to assess most on-line. Most of the crime in Crossville is drug related, thefts, possession, domestics and usually the same bunch of people. For grins you can pick up a paper, Cuffed, for $1, that publishes mugshots and list the crimes. Its good for a laugh.

Thanks! I haven't even seen the paper and I was already laughing! Thanks for the chuckle. Ideally, my husband would love 100 acres; however, we really won't know what we can afford until we narrow down an area and find out the cost of living, taxes, jobs, etc.. We are in the research phase now and while it will be challenging for him to find a job, there are several for which I am qualified and will start to put feelers out later this year when we plan to go back out east and spend some time visiting the different areas. Really just wanting a simpler way of life and not having to work to live like we do in California.