Northerner moving to Tennessee (Knoxville, Johnson City: transplants, rentals, house)

[stagman]

Hi. I have a family member looking into moving into eastern Tennessee. All they have done is vacation a few weeks in the area. They are looking a little outside of the Gatlinburg area. I have heard really good things about the state. I was hoping people could give me insight on a person moving from northern michigan to this area. Also what parts of the state may be an easier transition and maybe more welcoming than others. Thanks.

[Serious Conversation]

Gatlinburg is a tourist trap. You really don't want to live there. Trust me on this. Simple day to day errands in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge would be a major hassle. The NC side of the Smokies have far fewer tourists and less traffic congestion.

Metro Knoxville is a nice place. You'll have pretty much everything you need. Grand Rapids is similar in size to Knoxville. There is a lot of shopping, dining, medical care available, etc. The university brings in a higher level of sports and cultural amenities than you'd find in a city Knoxville's size that doesn't have a state flagship school.

For transplants, outside of metro Knoxville and Johnson City, I really wouldn't consider most of east TN welcoming. You have to remember most of east TN, especially small town and rural east TN, doesn't really attract transplants. Many small towns and rural areas are populated by people who have lived there most of their lives, and social circles are pretty closed and made up of friends, family, coworkers, and people we go to church with.

Middle TN is receiving transplants from all over. It's a melting pot of people from all over the country and world. East TN, not so much.

What are you looking for? Do you need a job? What kind of rough budget are you looking at?

Read the below thread from another Michigan resident posted in the last week or so.

//www.city-data.com/forum/tenne...d-east-tn.html

[stagman]

One of the persons is a nurse and the other in construction. At the moment they are actually looking about 3-4 miles east of Gatlinburg. Would that be considered rural ?

[Serious Conversation]

I would not want to be that close to Gatlinburg. I'm guessing that would be somewhere along Highway 321. Anything from that whole Sevierville - Gatlinburg corridor is probably going to have tourists passing through and traffic congestion. I'd look into more rural areas of Sevier County, not just a couple miles off the tourist drags.

[hiknapster]

Three to four miles east of Gatlinburg is going to be out in the middle of nowhere. They have to work. My answer to you would be to advise them NOT to move to that area. When I say the middle of nowhere, I mean it and it will take a crazy amount of time to get to work, going up and down mountains. It will be insanity.

[Normashirley]

Would the Lenoir City/Tellico Plains area make more sense for the Op's friends? I have friends who moved from Michigan to that area and have always seemed happy there. They are retired. The wife stayed home with the horses and he did keep working for awhile.

That would put them on the outskirts of Knoxville which might make more sense since they need to work.

[JRR]

You might take a look at Cookeville. Construction is doing well here and Cookeville Regional Medical Center serves this area of Tennessee. People come from all over here; my immediate neighbors are from Tennessee, California and China. When I was at Ralph's donuts the other day a lady walked in who had just moved from California a couple of days earlier.

We moved here from Florida earlier this year and felt right at home from the very beginning

[stagman]

They actually are online looking at a house near Pittman Center. Anyone familiar with the area ? Looks like basically a suburb of Gatlinburg. Also I was wondering, without offending anyone, how open this part of Tennessee is to lifetime northerners ? I am assuming everything is fine but anecdotal stories are always out there. Thanks again.

[JRR]

We used to come over to the craft area at Gatlinburg from Waynesville NC and would come in through Pittman Center to avoid all the traffic.

Been a few years but here are my two cents. Beautiful area, but not much there except for maybe a few tourist things like cabin rentals or small shops. For almost everything you would need to go to Gatlinburg or up to Sevierville. And that would mean elbowing your way through the tourists at the popular times of the year. We made friends with a gentleman who did glass work and he told us that they never went into Gatlinburg at the peak tourist times. If they wanted to get groceries or go out to eat, they drove up to Sevierville.

Pittman Center always struck me as a great place to spend a week, but I would have serious second thoughts about living there on a permanent basis.

[hiknapster]

Suburb?

And they don't have jobs! Good golly!

Since it is not you that is moving, maybe you are mistaken.