Not many retirement threads on Western Tennessee? (Memphis, Knoxville: for sale, real estate)

[ILikeEveryone]

We are in Arizona and love it, but are very concerned about the water situation here. We have been mulling over a move back East.
I see very little information on retirement in Western Tennessee. There's great fishing and birding and parks and places to visit.
I was looking at listings for Paris, Union City, Martin, Henderson, Savannah, Lexington, Trenton, Camden and other smaller towns and cities and prices seem reasonable.
Any folks who have moved here to retire care to comment on how they like it?
We are only considering all age communities without HOAs.
Thank you.

[rossn2]

Just sold my house in TX and moving to Perry County end of June and retiring and we can't wait! Small town, mostly forests and farming community, 5-10miles from TN or Buffalo Rivers. We have city Water, Gas, and electric at the street for our home site.

[DubbleT]

Western TN is more humid and less scenic than middle and eastern TN, and it doesn't generate as much interest as a retirement destination, so fewer threads are created.
Basically there are only Memphis and Jackson for any 'bigger city' type needs, maybe Union City too because of UT Martin. If it's at all important to you definitely check out health care options, emergency services, how far you might need to travel for any kind of more upscale shopping, dining, or entertainment options, etc.
There have been a few threads about Paris and Union City in the past, you might try the search function for those at the top of the page. You could also search for 'land between the lakes' on both the TN and KY forums, I think there my be some threads with info about that area in general.

[jguillot]

I agree with what DubbleT has posted. I've been in Tennessee for more than 4 years and during this time, I've found that weather in west Tennessee is often more severe than weather on the Cumberland Plateau, where I live. We are at a higher elevation on the Cumberland Plateau, so the humidity problem is slightly less severe here. Many people who are considering Tennessee seem to like the hills and mountains of east Tennessee with its abundance of beautiful state parks, caves, bluff overlooks, streams, lakes, hiking trails, etc. East Tennessee is a nature lover's paradise. Consider central or east Tennessee before you make a final decision.

[GWoodle]

Middle TN from Nashville to Clarkesville has been the #1 destination for some years now. East TN from Knoxville to Chattanooga may be #2. Some like the far eastern Bristol & Johnson City area. Not many may want to move to Memphis. Other counties in west TN may be slowly losing population. So there isn't much interest in west TN.

[jabogitlu]

West TN is a good option if you want to be left alone and are desirous of a lifestyle where you provide most things for yourself. Not food, necessarily, but things like socialization, house repairs, etc. are very small town in operations/networks.

West TN both geographically and culturally is much more Mississippi Delta-style living, so it's comparable in a lot of ways to rural Arkansas or Missouri or North Mississippi. The remainder of Tennessee is also varied but is a lot more homogenous - similar mountains/valleys/plateaus, generally similar culture revolving around the origins of country and bluegrass music and small town farmers, etc.

West TN also has a very different history with regard to enslaved people and agricultural plantations. Middle and East TN of course also participated in this economy, but in a very different way. Long story short and as a result, West TN has a permanent underclass of both white (former sharecroppers and small scale farmers) and black (descendants of enslaved folks and ultimately also former sharecroppers) people, and the tensions between these folks are still largely outstanding; as a result, West TN feels (to me) very racialized and segregated. The region has largely not participated in the economic success and growth of Middle and East TN.

It's very possible to live within a 60 to 90 minute driving distance of Memphis (say, Covington, Summerville, maybe Brownsville) and have access to all of the basics of life (medical care, Macy's/IKEA-level retail amenities, etc.). Living in the Memphis metro itself is a different discussion and it is not overly comparable to living in a rural/agricultural part of West TN.

[ILikeEveryone]

Good luck to rossn2 and thank you all for your sage advice. It is very much appreciated and will look into the areas mentioned as well.
Part of the reason for West TN is the price and the lower populations. When we moved to AZ over 8 years ago it was much less populated in the West Valley of Maricopa County. Now the building and the amount of people moving in from the West Coast and the Northeast is unbelievable. Add to that water issues and it's very concerning, to say the least. People were more polite when we first moved here, there was less crime and the traffic was not as bad.
We're very down-to-Earth people in good health and we live simply. As long as there is a grocery store, a medical center, decent internet sufficient for work at home in a safe area with clean utilities and no HOA we will be fine. Husband fishes and will work on a project car in retirement. I will volunteer, garden, hike and bird and work from home.
If it's one thing we learned from the pandemic is there is a lot of unnecessary things we thought we needed but can easily do without.
Thanks again and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. Last time we visited TN was 1993. There were billboards on the road announcing the upcoming casinos in Tunica. We really need to come visit again.

[patmadmom]

I lived in west TN for over 40 years. It is hot and humid in the summer, there's nothing to look at besides flat land, it has several tornados every year, and has ongoing severe racial tension year around. We are both from Memphis, our families are still there but we moved 12 years ago and have never regretted it. Also, Memphis has always been on the top 10 highest crime cities in the country forever.

[Normashirley]

Originally Posted by ILikeEveryone

Good luck to rossn2 and thank you all for your sage advice. It is very much appreciated and will look into the areas mentioned as well.
Part of the reason for West TN is the price and the lower populations. When we moved to AZ over 8 years ago it was much less populated in the West Valley of Maricopa County. Now the building and the amount of people moving in from the West Coast and the Northeast is unbelievable. Add to that water issues and it's very concerning, to say the least. People were more polite when we first moved here, there was less crime and the traffic was not as bad.
We're very down-to-Earth people in good health and we live simply. As long as there is a grocery store, a medical center, decent internet sufficient for work at home in a safe area with clean utilities and no HOA we will be fine. Husband fishes and will work on a project car in retirement. I will volunteer, garden, hike and bird and work from home.
If it's one thing we learned from the pandemic is there is a lot of unnecessary things we thought we needed but can easily do without.
Thanks again and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. Last time we visited TN was 1993. There were billboards on the road announcing the upcoming casinos in Tunica. We really need to come visit again.

Ditto what all of the above posters said. FWIW, Perry County is actually considered the far west side of Middle Tennessee but you still couldn’t pay me to live there.

Based on your comments that I quoted, look into the Ag/rural counties in Middle Tennessee or just into East Tennessee.

Much as I absolutely hate that this happened, a beautiful forty acre hay field on a hill not far from me has had ten homes built on it by the same builder within the last year. I refuse to drive that road anymore but my husband tells me two of those 600+K homes (with ~5 acres each) are still for sale. We have two great hospitals with helipads for the Vanderbilt Hospital’s helicopter and plenty of middle class shopping & dining. The finer things are 75 miles away in Nashville.

We are rural but not so rural your friends might ask “what were you thinking”.

People who want to “mind their own” might just as well live in one of those homes, as opposed to people who want to change everything about being country and ask when are the street lights going in.

There is great fishing in a handful of areas, all less than an hour away.

If that is appealing to you and you are ready to buy, PM me and I will get you the real estate agent’s contact information

[rossn2]

Update: we moved to Perry County mid-July and absolutely love it here. Our nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile away. Yes, its humid during the summer but you get used to it. Had our first frost the other night and leaves are changing. We're enjoying our new little homestead, great neighbors and learning about the area. We have plentiful wildlife (deer/turkey/squirrels/owls/rabbits/armadillos/ground hogs) to keep us entertained. We have a campfire almost every night and look at the clear sky full of stars. we're surrounded by hills and enjoy being able to leave our vehicles and house unlocked with no issues. Neighbors look after each other here and we love the small town-community atmosphere.