Wanting to Move to TN, but need some help :) (Knoxville: attorney, new home)

[DubbleT]

Here's a plug for the tri-cities.
Where else can you live within 30 minutes of three different cities, each with an average population of 45- 50k, and be only two hours away (give or take) from either Knoxville or Asheville NC?
//www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv21337.php
//www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc43099.php
//www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv15266.php


The tri-cities area just has a little bit of a different feel to it IMO. Nearly everything I want within easy driving distance, but more open spaces, and green. I get to enjoy seeing mountains, pastures and barns along the roads I travel every day. Hard to explain, but let's just say that I find the area very laid back and restful, after having spent too much time living in a big city.

[LissieAnn]

Thanks Dubble! Wow, so beautiful! I really enjoyed the pictures!! So you said, IMO it had a different feel, what kind of feel compared to other areas of TN? (I ask because I have heard the that the tri-cities are a little different, but "different" is vague and subjective.

Oh and I would love seeing mountains, pastures and barns around the community I lived in. Ur very lucky, I live in Central CA..and I get to see a whole mess of roach coaches, drug addicts, and over sized rims and tires on old beat up Cutlasses, LOL

Thanks for the info!

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by LissieAnn

So you said, IMO it had a different feel, what kind of feel compared to other areas of TN? (I ask because I have heard the that the tri-cities are a little different, but "different" is vague and subjective.

Different to me because there are a lot of the advantages of living in an area with a good sized population, plenty of shopping restaurants, health care, etc. OTOH the population is spread over three small cities, so you avoid a lot of the crowding and congestion you get with a large city.

I think a big part of it for me has to do with traffic. Coming from a big city, I was used to having to go everywhere on roads that are 5or 6 lanes or wider, stoplight after stoplight, after stoplight. Or taking the interstate through town, or the loop around town, bumper to bumper, trying to avoid construction, hoping traffic doesn't bottleneck or come to a standstill because everybody slows down to rubberneck an accident.
Other than one crazy little intersection in Johnson City I just haven't seen that here, at all. Shoot, if I find myself 10 cars back in the turn lane here it makes me wonder "where is all this traffic coming from?" LOL
I'm not real sure how to explain this but I also don't feel like I have to drive through a city to get to where I'm going if I don't want to. Everything seems to be conveniently located within just a few minutes of one easy highway exit or another. My days of road rage have long since disappeared.

Another part of it is having a small, friendly downtown. Going downtown to the library, or to grab a bite to eat or listen to some music is easy for me here. It's not like I have to worry about finding a safe parking lot close to where I want to go, or meters that need to be fed every hour, no worrying that I might stray into a street that's unsafe to walk. I've seen some homeless people but they don't seem to be belligerent, I haven't been hassled for money. Bristol and Kingsport downtowns even have free weekly concerts in the summer. How great is that?

It's also very easy to move from "city" to "country" here, no having to drive for miles and miles just to get from one kind of area to the other. Having three small cities surrounded by more rural areas is a unique situation to me. I like the arrangement of it. It doesn't hurt that there are more parks in this area than you can shake a stick at either.

On a slightly different note~

Christianity here is much more open than I'm used to seeing. Walking into a chain retail store and seeing a huge selection of Jesus t-shirts and hats for the first time threw me a little bit. Going to a Christmas light show sponsored by a local business and hearing some un-PC remarks about non Christians, as a part of the show, surprised me. I think businesses in larger cities may have to be more... generic, for lack of a better term.
Calling folks Bible thumpers might be going a bit too far though, I haven't had anybody ostracize me, or try to convert me yet.

We have drug addicts and beat up cars around here too. Dumpy looking trailer parks even. In spite of which, I think moving here was the best decision I ever made. Have to take the good and bad together in any area I guess.

[Botts]

Technically speaking, you're correct - I just included whatever surrounds the Tennessee Valley to be 'mountains'. My main point was to leave the thought that there are three distinct regions in the state and that is what the three stars in the flag represent. Also, there are geographic similarities to what I am sure these folks are familiar with in California - I remember - I used to live there.

[nbourbaki]

I do not know much about the other metro areas than Nashville. Chattanooga and Knoxville are very nice, although both much smaller than Nashville. They might have more autonomous small towns within 30 min, but a small pool of jobs.

Lots of people near Nashville have the ideal as you, Mayberry near jobs (I mean that well). It is available near Nashville, it is just not cheap, and frankly is more suburban than you describe. Franklin comes first to mind, but it is perhaps the priciest town in TN (for all the reasons you listed).

If you choose Nashville area, you would be better to look for a few acres in an isolated setting (rural) and use nashville as your town. If you are really set on the feeling of a small town (with a cute downtown, shops, sense of community and neighbors) then you might be best looking in E. Tenn. Jobs could be harder.

good luck.

btw, if I were just looking to "randomly" pick up and move to TN, I would choose Knoxville area, or consider Asheville NC (quite pricey but lovely) for natural beauty. But I like Nashville very much. It is a real city.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by nbourbaki

I do not know much about the other metro areas than Nashville. Chattanooga and Knoxville are very nice, although both much smaller than Nashville. They might have more autonomous small towns within 30 min, but a small pool of jobs.

Nope. Knoxville has the lowest unemployment rate in the state. Lower than Nashville. And it's more expensive than Nashville.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Nope. Knoxville has the lowest unemployment rate in the state. Lower than Nashville. And it's more expensive than Nashville.

You mean Knoxville is less expensive, right?

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by JMT

You mean Knoxville is less expensive, right?

Whoops! Yes! Knoxville is less expensive.

More jobs! Less expensive! Less traffic! Less transplants!

[leonard]

I just relocated to the Knoxville area after living in Calif for 9 years. My wife likes it so much she has told me that if I want to move again, she will buy me a pen and some paper and tell me to write often.

[LissieAnn]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

Different to me because there are a lot of the advantages of living in an area with a good sized population, plenty of shopping restaurants, health care, etc. OTOH the population is spread over three small cities, so you avoid a lot of the crowding and congestion you get with a large city.

I think a big part of it for me has to do with traffic. Coming from a big city, I was used to having to go everywhere on roads that are 5or 6 lanes or wider, stoplight after stoplight, after stoplight. Or taking the interstate through town, or the loop around town, bumper to bumper, trying to avoid construction, hoping traffic doesn't bottleneck or come to a standstill because everybody slows down to rubberneck an accident.
Other than one crazy little intersection in Johnson City I just haven't seen that here, at all. Shoot, if I find myself 10 cars back in the turn lane here it makes me wonder "where is all this traffic coming from?" LOL
I'm not real sure how to explain this but I also don't feel like I have to drive through a city to get to where I'm going if I don't want to. Everything seems to be conveniently located within just a few minutes of one easy highway exit or another. My days of road rage have long since disappeared.

Another part of it is having a small, friendly downtown. Going downtown to the library, or to grab a bite to eat or listen to some music is easy for me here. It's not like I have to worry about finding a safe parking lot close to where I want to go, or meters that need to be fed every hour, no worrying that I might stray into a street that's unsafe to walk. I've seen some homeless people but they don't seem to be belligerent, I haven't been hassled for money. Bristol and Kingsport downtowns even have free weekly concerts in the summer. How great is that?

It's also very easy to move from "city" to "country" here, no having to drive for miles and miles just to get from one kind of area to the other. Having three small cities surrounded by more rural areas is a unique situation to me. I like the arrangement of it. It doesn't hurt that there are more parks in this area than you can shake a stick at either.

On a slightly different note~

Christianity here is much more open than I'm used to seeing. Walking into a chain retail store and seeing a huge selection of Jesus t-shirts and hats for the first time threw me a little bit. Going to a Christmas light show sponsored by a local business and hearing some un-PC remarks about non Christians, as a part of the show, surprised me. I think businesses in larger cities may have to be more... generic, for lack of a better term.
Calling folks Bible thumpers might be going a bit too far though, I haven't had anybody ostracize me, or try to convert me yet.

We have drug addicts and beat up cars around here too. Dumpy looking trailer parks even. In spite of which, I think moving here was the best decision I ever made. Have to take the good and bad together in any area I guess.

Oh my goodness, you absolutely rock!! Thank you so much for elaborating as much as you did, that was great. You painted a very lovely picture and it was almost as if I could vividly imagine everything as I read it. I have a huge smile, because I feel in my spirit this is where I belong. I JUST WANT TO SAY A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO REPLY TO MY MESSAGE AND GIVE THE FEEDBACK YOU ALL HAVE!!
To expand-
All of you from TN, your making this hard on me. God, you all are so kind and taking the time to respond to someone else’s post you never met, well it is beyond me, but I find myself hating this place more and more everyday longing to start over in yes, God’s beautiful country- where the cows moo, people say “hi” and just take the time……LOL, that is take the time to do anything especially invite others into their state.
I can’t wait until March, I will be there checkin’ everything out, then come Oct. 2010..I will be callin’ it home!!

Oh and when you said, “We have drug addicts and beat up cars around here too. Dumpy looking trailer parks even. In spite of which, I think moving here was the best decision I ever made. Have to take the good and bad together in any area I guess.”
I FELL OUT! HAHAHAHA Hey if that is all I have to deal with, I don’t think that will be an issue.