relocating from Florida to Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga: day care, good schools, tile)

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by joni

mbmouse,
We were in Copperhill, Tn. We should have known it was the wrong area for us during our first breakfast when the waitress immediately pegged us as "florida real estate shoppers" and "kindly" instructed us to go back to Florida. In that particular area, many people are moving from Florida with their huge real estate profits and buying huge, relatively cheap cabins. This is wreaking havoc on their property taxes, which are rising rapidly.
What we also noticed is that those from the hotsy-totsy Florida towns are trying to make these quaint little mountain communities into hotsy-totsy mountain communities. The locals don't like it. As a result, they didn't like us.

Copperhill.....is that right on the GA boarder? If it is, I know right where you are talking about. Yes, I am afraid there are some small rural towns, and some larger ones, usually the further away from a large city (20k pop and over) you will find this, because yes, there are people who can't afford to live in Fl, CA, New England and else where that feel they were forced to move to TN for cost of living reasons and then want to change it. I suggest to EVERYONE wanting to move here the same thing "If you chose TN to live because you liked it enough to move here, leave it that way"
But it is sad that some native Tennesseans have had such a bad experience from others that they assume everyone from that state will be the same and become jaded and rude. I think they are afraid they will loose the way of life and it will turn into the next Fl and in 20 years or so they will be pushed out of their hometowns because they can no longer afford it. Talk to some native Floridians, they will tell you what it "used to be like before the NY'ers took over" My children are 5th generation Floridians and my new husband is a native Tennessean, and I am from CT, so yea, I understand it from all sides here!
Folks have to understand that the property taxes ARE low here, but you don't have all the amenities you sometimes get with high property taxes either. For example, when I lived in Greene Co, my property taxes (for a nice big old farm house on 3/4 acre) was $248.00 a year, but I hauled my own trash once a week to the "convenience centers" (bunch of dumpsters in a fenced in area) I also didn't have to ask permission to have some chickens or paint my house, but a single wide moved in right behind me. So it is a trade off. Now I live in a subdivision in an annexed town, my taxes are a bit higher ($500.00 a year but I get trashed picked up at my house. So you DO have to ask the questions, even if you think they are obvious, BEFORE you move. Because if you think you can get a bi-law changed, or an amenity YOU think should be offered for your tax $ after you move, you won't be happy and those around you that hear you complain about it sure won't be happy. Everyone has to make sure they not only "can live with" things as they are here in these respects, but understand that some of the people that have worked HARD on these farms that are now seeing the auction block, are going to be a bit upset, and rightfully so. But please don't let one or two people that are jaded against people moving from a certain state or what ever represent all in an area. Another suggestion I give to folks looking to move to a town, is to vist...and I mean VISIT..not just look at the land, property and talk to your Realtor. Go to the grocery stores, movie rental places, restaurants, gas stations, etc. look around, say hello to people, see what happens, you might realize that no matter how beautiful the land, it's not right for you or you might just meet your new best friend.
Just my 2 cents and suggestions.

[hiknapster]

It's not a knee-jerk reaction. I come from a very small town of Mass. Thought I was getting the same thing when I went to East Tenn.

It is not even close to the same thing.

People can claim that it is the relocaters fault. I researched this over and over. Never realized that this place would be this hostile.

It took me an entire year to know that just because people are nice to you does not mean that they like you.

What you see superficially will takes months to uncover.

[mbmouse]

I don't know of a single place in this world where you can take every person you come across at face value or where everyone is nice and will like you. And I really can't believe that EVERYONE has been hostile twords you or "superficial".

[joni]

hipnapster,

Where in East Tennessee? We were in Copperhill, right in the Georgia border.
I agree with you, the hosility can be pretty hard to take. Once in a local bar, a local person approached us and said (just like in a movie) "Y'all ain't from around here are ya?"
We were so intimidated that my husband's reply was "Yes, is that OK?"
We were afraid he was going to get the s**t kicked out of him in the parking lot.
We were overcharged for every service. They thought we were these rich Floridians in the big cabin on the hill. We had a running joke that every time someone knocked on our door we were going to have to give them a check for $500.00.
We have been gone from E. Tennessee now for 5 months and I still have a bad taste in my mouth.
Fortunately, we did OK when we sold the cabin, so we are just chalking it up to a good life lesson.

[joni]

mbmouse,
Yes, right on the Georgia border. I don't want to leave the impression that we didn't try. I got a job right away, working in a year round Christmas store and helped the local florist (I'm a designer) during the holidays.
We did not meet our best friends. We met a lot of people who had an obvious undercurrent of loathing for us. Even the one cop in town refused to wave to us as we walked the street of the town. Couldn't help but notice that he was friendly to everyone else.
We felt like big pink elephants that noone would talk to.

[mbmouse]

OK, yea I know where your talking about, I didn't want to bash a town before I was sure it was the one I was thinking of. I ran into some simalar issues at a gas station there and I have TN plates and picked up the accent (some words anyway) in the almost 10 years I have been here. Yea, that IS one strange town! Newport is the same. I don't know why but there are some towns, that it seems like the whole town is against anyone moving in. Or even driving through! But I have found that these are far and few between the farther out of the mountains you get.

[joni]

mbmouse,
I would never bash a town either, without having lived it. In any case, it was a good knock on the head that rural living was never going to be right for us.
My real message here is the same as yours. Make sure you know what you will do after the first week. What is right for a weekend retreat is not what is right for your life.

[SunShell]

My family and I moved here to TN from Clearwater, Florida area. I have to admit I did not adjust smoothly. Like the others, I was so use to the conviences and progressive ways of living. I was in culture shock! I went from living with people from everywhere to moving to an area where everyone has been born and raised together. They are like a unit. We absolutely love our home and our neighborhood. I am slowly enjoying the area. Yes you have to drive at least 15 miles for anything and there are no decent resturants (compared to a variety in FL). But down home living explains it to the T. Families for the most part of very wholesome and friendly. My kids love it. They feel more accepted in school. Me personally prefers living in Florida but we are giving it a couple of years to make a decision. One thing that I dislike the most is the weather. It rains here more than I ever thought. In Fl the rain doesn't dominate your entire day. Here the sky is gray and yucky and it rains 24/7. The summer felt like a month and we are already hitting winter. Winter is like 5 -6 months. I'm a FLoridian and this has got to be the hardest thing I have had to deal with. I tend to get lazy and down when so many days go by without sunshine. I miss the skies, breeze, palm trees, and swimming pools in FL. It's funny how your surroundings do play a big role in your mood. The leaves changing color are breath taking but it only lasts a few months. Some things actually cost more here. There is a 9 percent sales tax on everything, including food. Cable and internet are outrageous. The money we had to spend in our families WINTER clothes was more than I thought. We basically have always had a yearly set of clothes. FUNNY! So you have to be careful at all those little expenses other places include. We went to a Nashville outdoor bar and they were charging $20 for oysters. I do like it a little more than when I first got here but I still have a place in my heart that loves Florida.

[joni]

sunshell,

I know how you feel. Being a born and raised Floridian myself, I didn't realize how much I would miss all the Florida stuff. Palm trees, balmy breezes. Even Jimmy Buffet songs weren't the same.
I also was surprised at how much it rains there!
Anyway, I just thought I'd commiserate with you for a minute about missing Florida.
I only made it for six months and then we sold everything (for the second time in six months) and came to Savannah.
Gotta tell ya though, there's nothing like that beautiful blue Tennessee sky!

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

LOL!!! How funny! Nope, didn't even hear of it. Are you sure it wasn't Johnson City TX? If not, I guess now one here saw it as a big deal, not that it happens often but there are cows around, A LOT of them. You can't go 10 miles in any direction without seeing at least 1 or 2. Nice thing is there are not SO many that you smell them all the time hahhaha
But if it does happen again and I'm around, I'll be sure to get a picture for you! Hey, I'll scan in the picture of the bear that ran through our sub division last year!

It actually was 2 (a cow and a bull) on the loose on the streets of Johnson City. I saw it on Fox News and then looked it up on Google News. They escaped from some farm and were on some major Johnson City streets. Law Enforcement tried to taser them and that didn't work so police officers had to use a tranquilizer gun. I saw them running around the street on the news. There are still some places on Google News where you can read the AP news story:

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5621043

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....0382/1006/NEWS