Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi All,
I'm new to this forum and I have some questions about Tennessee
I currently live in Arizona and have for just about the last 13 years now.
I've never been to Tennessee but I think I would really like to move there.
I've always been a city girl but the south/country type lifestyle has really appealed to me the last 2-3 years now. I've grown tired of the big city lifestyle and with all the stress and go, go, go that goes along with it.
I'm in my late 20's, single and a christian. I'm a big country music fan and I just love going to country music concerts. Like I said I have never been to Tennessee before but from what I've heard about the state of Tennessee, it appeals to me for a number of reasons: I would love to live in a state that gets all four seasons atleast to some degree- my favorite season is Fall/Autumn it would be nice to have some snow but not brutal Winters like you hear about on the news happening in New England! lol. It would be nice to live in a state where life is more simple and laidback, not so rush, rush all the time. The whole southern hospitality deal really appeals to me- you know just being able to be friendly with your neighbors and wave when you see them down the street that sort of thing, that would be awesome. To be able to live in a smaller type town would be neat. Just the whole southern mentality of living in the south really appeals to me
Are there alot of areas in Tennessee where you can find nice but reasonably priced townhomes/condos with a garage in a good/safe area with low crime in a small town or city without the hustle and bustle with beautiful outdoor scenery around you or is just a short drive to view that type of scenery? Also isn't to far from the big city areas where you can commute to work and nice colleges to go to? Oh also not to many snake or spider occurences- that I've heard mentioned happening on this forum!- Thanks
Maybe I'm dreaming that such a place can actually exist, but I sure hope I'm not!
I'm sure I will come up with many, many more questions!
Thank you to everyone who can help.
Hi All,
I'm new to this forum and I have some questions about Tennessee
I currently live in Arizona and have for just about the last 13 years now.
I've never been to Tennessee but I think I would really like to move there.
I've always been a city girl but the south/country type lifestyle has really appealed to me the last 2-3 years now. I've grown tired of the big city lifestyle and with all the stress and go, go, go that goes along with it.
I'm in my late 20's, single and a christian. I'm a big country music fan and I just love going to country music concerts. Like I said I have never been to Tennessee before but from what I've heard about the state of Tennessee, it appeals to me for a number of reasons: I would love to live in a state that gets all four seasons atleast to some degree- my favorite season is Fall/Autumn it would be nice to have some snow but not brutal Winters like you hear about on the news happening in New England! lol. It would be nice to live in a state where life is more simple and laidback, not so rush, rush all the time. The whole southern hospitality deal really appeals to me- you know just being able to be friendly with your neighbors and wave when you see them down the street that sort of thing, that would be awesome. To be able to live in a smaller type town would be neat. Just the whole southern mentality of living in the south really appeals to me
Are there alot of areas in Tennessee where you can find nice but reasonably priced townhomes/condos with a garage in a good/safe area with low crime in a small town or city without the hustle and bustle with beautiful outdoor scenery around you or is just a short drive to view that type of scenery? Also isn't to far from the big city areas where you can commute to work and nice colleges to go to? Oh also not to many snake or spider occurences- that I've heard mentioned happening on this forum!- Thanks
Maybe I'm dreaming that such a place can actually exist, but I sure hope I'm not!
I'm sure I will come up with many, many more questions!
Thank you to everyone who can help.
I can definitely understand how you feel. Tennessee really is a wonderful place, and there are several areas that match what you have described.
The first place that comes to my mind is the Tri Cities in Northeast Tennessee. The largest town (Johnson City) has around 60,000 people but the entire region has over a half-million. So there are a lot of jobs, a good state university (East Tennessee State), and absolutely beautiful scenery.
However, if you want to take trips back to Arizona to visit family and friends, you will probably want to live closer to Nashville since air fares from Nashville are about half what they are out of the Tri Cities, and the Nashville airport is about 300 miles from the Tri Cities.
There are some beautiful areas closer to Nashville that you might want to consider. Cookeville is an hour from the Nashville airport, it's got about 30,000 people, it's a college town, and it's got beautiful scenery (several lakes, very hilly). It's safe, clean, and growing. It has the shopping and restaurants that you'd normally see in a larger town, so it's like living in a larger town but with the benefits of a smaller town.
Springfield is north of Nashville and is also a nice town, about 15,000 people. Many people in Springfield commute to either Nashville or Clarksville for work.
There are some nice areas south of Nashville, too (Franklin, Spring Hill) but they are much more expensive and have a lot more traffic than you'll find in the Tri Cities, Cookeville, or Springfield.
Good luck! Let us know what other questions you have.
Hey Autumn,
What part of AZ are you in? I'm in Gilbert myself. We are looking at the tri-cities as a place to go. There are a lot of great people here that I know will answer any questions you have.
Thank you JMT and whttigr for your replys
whttigr- That's cool you are currently in Arizona too I'm in Phoenix, Arizona.
Neat that you are also thinking about relocating to Tennessee
I take it you're still just in the "dreaming" stage for now, and not looking for specifics.
Anyway, yes, you can find all of those things you listed in Tennessee. It's when you start putting your complete "want list" together that it becomes more difficult (but not altogther impossible): Small town . . . within commuting distance to a big city . . . . condo or townhouse with garage . . . college . . . low crime . . .
You can do that, but takes some time and effort to put it together. And you might have to flex on some of your requirements. For example, most of the small towns within a reasonable commuting distance to Nashville or one of the other larger cities are growing too. If instead you said, "an area with small town feel"--then it's easier to find something like that. Or if you decide to look for a home rather than a condo. Or if you can stand a bit longer commute. Or if living near one of the smaller cities would work for you; for example, one of the small towns around Cookeville. It's very hard to get everything you want in Tennessee or anywhere else for that matter. There's a lot of positives to living in Tennessee, and some negatives.
As for spiders and snakes, I'm not sure why that even comes up here so often. Yes, there are snakes here but I'm guessing you'll see them less often here than in Arizona (I personally have never see a rattler in the wild, and have only rarely seen any kind of poisonous snake). There are spiders here too. I think most areas of the United States has spiders. Do we have more than our share? I'm not sure; the only one I really know that we have that is exclusive to this general area of the country is the Brown Recluse--and they're not particularly dangerous except to infants.
Anyway, keep dreaming and if you have any other questions, just ask. I think most of us here try to be honest about Tennessee, whether that's a positive opinion or a negative one.
I take it you're still just in the "dreaming" stage for now, and not looking for specifics.
Anyway, yes, you can find all of those things you listed in Tennessee. It's when you start putting your complete "want list" together that it becomes more difficult (but not altogther impossible): Small town . . . within commuting distance to a big city . . . . condo or townhouse with garage . . . college . . . low crime . . .
You can do that, but takes some time and effort to put it together. And you might have to flex on some of your requirements. For example, most of the small towns within a reasonable commuting distance to Nashville or one of the other larger cities are growing too. If instead you said, "an area with small town feel"--then it's easier to find something like that. Or if you decide to look for a home rather than a condo. Or if you can stand a bit longer commute. Or if living near one of the smaller cities would work for you; for example, one of the small towns around Cookeville. It's very hard to get everything you want in Tennessee or anywhere else for that matter. There's a lot of positives to living in Tennessee, and some negatives.
As for spiders and snakes, I'm not sure why that even comes up here so often. Yes, there are snakes here but I'm guessing you'll see them less often here than in Arizona (I personally have never see a rattler in the wild, and have only rarely seen any kind of poisonous snake). There are spiders here too. I think most areas of the United States has spiders. Do we have more than our share? I'm not sure; the only one I really know that we have that is exclusive to this general area of the country is the Brown Recluse--and they're not particularly dangerous except to infants.
Anyway, keep dreaming and if you have any other questions, just ask. I think most of us here try to be honest about Tennessee, whether that's a positive opinion or a negative one.
Alleycat,
Thank you also for your response
Yes, I am still in the dreaming phase lol! Mostly the fact that I haven't yet visited Tennessee before. I would certainly love to be able to take a trip to come check out Tennessee Right now is not a good time but hopefully I can come take a visit in the not to distant future I would absolutely love to visit during the peak of fall/autumn season- that is my favorite season by far, I can already picture it- that would be truly magical! lol
If I could seriously move to Tennessee- hopefully that will dream will become a reality one of these days! I think I would most likely want to be somewhere within driving distance range to Nashville so that I could still easily fly to Arizona or California through Southwest without having a pay an arm and a leg for airfare lol- which I have heard people on here mentioning happen if you don't live within driving distance to Nashville and have to fly out. This is true, right?
What are good/safe cities with low crime to live in within driving distance to Nashville? Also as I stated in the original post I had made- (hopefully these cities or smaller towns will also include reasonably priced townhomes-(hence I'm not into yard work- so I don't know how I can compromise with that lol!) also within driving distance on a daily basis to community colleges and universities and jobs in the area.
I tell anyone not from here, especially those who've never been to visit first, and then if it fits, RENT for 6 months to a year. I think you'll more than likely find that your perspective on Southern lifestyle is about 50 years out of date. It is fairly similar to a vast majority of the country with the exception that the people in general are a bit more courteous. You'd be more likely to have someone help you change a flat, or talk with you at the checkout.
But I think it's a bit of a misconception to equate TN with "slow, laid back, etc etc" because on average, people deal with the same issues as those in other places. Secondly, townhomes these days can be a good deal because the market is down slightly and townhomes are usually one of the first types of housing to slow or lose value. A decent one can be had for well under 150k.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
