Anyone from Tennessee?
- Thread starter jwilson56
- Start date
Rupp
Senior Member
John,
While I'm not from Tennessee I grew up in southern Kentucky and now live in northern Alabama and visit southern Tennessee nearly every weekend to boat. So if you have any questions I've been to every nook and cranny of Tennessee and may be able to provide a bit of information.
While I'm not from Tennessee I grew up in southern Kentucky and now live in northern Alabama and visit southern Tennessee nearly every weekend to boat. So if you have any questions I've been to every nook and cranny of Tennessee and may be able to provide a bit of information.
Neurorad
Senior Member
I've been to Nashville many times, nice town.
Gets very cold in TN - this past winter it was down to 5F a few nights. Snows 1-3 times/year. Overall, though, the winters are usually pretty mild.
Have you considered north FL/Jacksonville? I used to live in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, 20 minutes southeast of Jax, just south of Jacksonville Beach. Resort town. Lots of golf available, but I don't play (much). I've thought Fernandina Beach (northeast of Jax) would be a good place to retire.
Northeast FL/Jax area is more of a Georgia city than FL. Nothing like south FL.
Map of Jax area, including beaches
Occasional hurrican evacuation if you live at the beach, but it's rare.
Gets very cold in TN - this past winter it was down to 5F a few nights. Snows 1-3 times/year. Overall, though, the winters are usually pretty mild.
Have you considered north FL/Jacksonville? I used to live in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, 20 minutes southeast of Jax, just south of Jacksonville Beach. Resort town. Lots of golf available, but I don't play (much). I've thought Fernandina Beach (northeast of Jax) would be a good place to retire.
Northeast FL/Jax area is more of a Georgia city than FL. Nothing like south FL.
Map of Jax area, including beaches
Occasional hurrican evacuation if you live at the beach, but it's rare.
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
One word: Mosquitoes
felixrosbergen
Senior Member
I lived in TN for a few year and would move back in a heatbeat if i could earn my New England salary there.
45 mintues outsideof Nashville the home prices are very good. Personally i like the area.
45 mintues outsideof Nashville the home prices are very good. Personally i like the area.
Tennessee is a sizable state. It takes more than 6 hours to drive end to end. Generalizations are just that. Your experiences will depend on where you are. Much of the state features stunning beauty, but the east side of the state is perhaps the most impressive. Be aware that if you are coming from a major city, you will have major culture shock. Nice restaurants are few and far between. Activities lean towards the outdoors. The up and coming retirement areas in E. TN are beautiful, but access to good shopping, dining, etc. is limited. Come and visit to see if you like it.
jwilson56
Senior Member
Keep the replies coming... my wife and I went to the Pigeon Forge area last summer and it was nice. Granted we understand that is a tourist area but still what we have seen and heard of the other parts sounds nice. I prefer more of the country life although access to hospitals, movie theaters, shopping and dinning are important to retired folk.
Other things to consider:
Type of energy used (natural gas, oil)
Type of water (well or city)
Internet access (high speed or ?)
Sales Tax rate
Other things to consider:
Type of energy used (natural gas, oil)
Type of water (well or city)
Internet access (high speed or ?)
Sales Tax rate
What about the Maryville area? I was considering Pennsylvania but I don't know if I want to put up with the cold winters.
By the way,I don't think 5 degrees is that bad as long as it is not all the time, It gets that cold where I live in So. California. Now 45 below zero like where I used to live in Northern Minnesota is way too cold.
I also heard tornados are rare in east Tennessee.
By the way,I don't think 5 degrees is that bad as long as it is not all the time, It gets that cold where I live in So. California. Now 45 below zero like where I used to live in Northern Minnesota is way too cold.
I also heard tornados are rare in east Tennessee.
I live in Chattanooga and really love it. Its, I think, the 4th largest city in tn. But our power company is currently running fiber to the entire Hamilton County area. I live close to downtown so it should only be 2 or 3 months before I get it but I think they plan on having the entire county (its a big county) done in like 2 years max.
We are currently only using gas for our heating unit but eventually plan on remodeling the kitchen and adding some gas stoves tops in there.
Water is city. Unless of course you go further out, it would be the same with sewer. All of my friends have sewer but I know some people that live further out in the country (you don't have to go to far to be in the country here) do have septic units. I only know one person who uses well water but that's only because they want to.
TN sales tax is higher than most but that's because we don't have an income tax. Which I guess isn't to great for somebody who is retired ;-)
Chattanooga is a nice location because its insanely close to GA and Alabama. If you're really cheap you can just go across the line to GA and buy groceries and other things with a lot less tax.
jwilson56
Senior Member
Well another things is that I currently live in south east Michigan. So long and cold winters is a norm for me and I can day that TN winters would be much shorter and milder than what we currently have. TN is also considered one of the lower tax burden states for retirees along with New Hampshire, Alabama and Delaware.
beelzerob
Senior Member
From the itchy bumps I had on the tops of my ears once (it was the only part still exposed), I'd be willing to bet a pint of blood that they're worse in AK. There was a serious movement once to make them the state bird. We once ran all-out back into the car to get away from them because we dared to venture out without being completely deet'ed.
...gah, I still have the nightmares about that place. It's the most beautiful place you'll ever run away screaming from.
