ISO advice on retiring in Tenessee

[Murph]

I have finally decided to go FIRE in January!
We are having discussions about selling our Ohio home and relocating to Tenessee. Taxes and COL seem to be lower there, and the weather is way better. Sick of snow. Looking at Johnstown and Knoxville areas.

Any experiences, cautions, pros/cons, advice about this idea would be immensely appreciated.

 

[Bamaman]

Tennessee is one of the places many prefer when relocating from the north. There's essentially no state income taxes and property taxes remain very low. But it's the quality of the people and the beauty of the land that's also attractive. Most find themselves looking to East or Middle Tennessee to move to.

The region has a bunch of incredible lakes and medium size cities that are very livable. There are also great communities 20-30 miles outside of the cities I especially like. My favorites are places like Jonesborough and the TriCities in the northeast. Morristown and Greeneville are also very popular towns. Crossville is a golf heaven, and Cookeville is a college town just to the west of there.

I am from Nashville, and Middle Tennessee is an incredibly fast growing, upbeat place. The downside to Nashville is increasing traffic and home prices. There are still fine communities in Middle Tennessee like Shelbyville, Manchester, Columbia, Lebanon and many more that are quality societies 1 hour or less from Nashville.

North Alabama is another great place--along the Tennessee River where real estate and property taxes are even cheaper. We have a house in town and a house on the river at Muscle Shoals. Our communities are very high quality. Huntsville is absolutely booming in every way, and is a very nice medium size city. Guntersville and Scottsboro are also very nice with a magnificent lake in town.

The North Georgia Mountains and cities like Hiawassee, Blue Ridge, Blairsville and Helen--where the really big mountains and lakes meet up. They are great retirement places without the high taxes of Western North Carolina or NW South Carolina. We're heading up there next week.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

Traveled through Tennessee for many many years to Florida. Stopped into Rairity Bay a few years ago near Knoxville. Wow, what a beautiful community surrounded by lakes. Lots of these communities on Telico lake.

Looks like a great place to retire.

 

[MRG]

We lived in Memphis for 3 months in '78, no need to look there.

Knoxville area was very nice.

 

[Red Badger]

What Bam and MRG said.

I spent months in Memphis and also Eastern TN doing projects. Middle and east TN are beautiful. Mostly LCOL. My state (NC) shares some of God's best work along our shared border with TN.

Hated Memphis. A lot.

Best!

 

[Jerry1]

Hated Memphis. A lot.

Unless you like to eat great BBQ and listen to the blues. I loved visiting Memphis for work. No idea what it would be like to live there but it does have a very high crime rate. Had a step sister that lived in Germantown. My guess is that if you get far enough away from the city, there would be some nice areas. I’ve also spent some time on the east side and the mountains and scenery are certainly much nicer and a beautiful part of the state.

Now for one reason I don’t want to move there - snakes. There’s something about the hard freeze in the north that keeps the bugs and critters at bay. Of course the main reason is that my family is here so moving isn’t really on the radar.

 

[cj1717]

I have finally decided to go FIRE in January!
We are having discussions about selling our Ohio home and relocating to Tenessee. Taxes and COL seem to be lower there, and the weather is way better. Sick of snow. Looking at Johnstown and Knoxville areas.

Any experiences, cautions, pros/cons, advice about this idea would be immensely appreciated.

I'm from TN...Memphis...avoid Memphis at all costs! Crime and other issues make it unlivable, (IMHO).

Central or East TN.

 

[USGrant1962]

There were a couple of recent threads about TN that you might want to look at.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/living-in-tennessee-pros-and-cons-92588.html

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/fire-in-tennessee-93391.html

I think I picked up the phrase "...you might want to.." living in Tennessee.

 

[Gunny]

I agree with Bamaman regarding North Alabama. If you like outdoors activities it can't be beat. I live in a small town between Guntersville and Scottsboro just minutes from a huge lake with a LCOL. Huntsville is a half hour away with lots of cool stuff to do.

 

[frayne]

Retired thirteen years ago and moved from NW Ohio to Chattanooga, Tn. Great place with reasonable COL and plenty of things to do. Still have a change of seasons and winters are much milder than in Ohio. The fact my son, DIL and two grandchildren live here, precipitated the move. As a side note, I'm a golf nut and can play year round in this area. This weekend, sunny and highs in the mid 60s for example.

 

[Murph]

Thanks

Retired thirteen years ago and moved from NW Ohio to Chattanooga, Tn. Great place with reasonable COL and plenty of things to do. Still have a change of seasons and winters are much milder than in Ohio. The fact my son, DIL and two grandchildren live here, precipitated the move. As a side note, I'm a golf nut and can play year round in this area. This weekend, sunny and highs in the mid 60s for example.

Golf, a lot, is definitely on my to-do list!