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That i how it was with us. We wound up checking out all the "villes". Maryville (I liked it but my wife didn't care for it); Greeneville (I really liked it but my wife was so-so about it); Rogersville (quick no for both of us); Crossville (so-so for me and definite No from my wife).
Then we got to Cookeville and both agreed that this was the place for us. Been here three years and could not be happier with our decision,
I’m curious to know what it was about those places you ruled out that had you or your wife rule them out. I ask because I’m learning what may be a negative for someone else doesn’t always translate to a negative for me.
I’m curious to know what it was about those places you ruled out that had you or your wife rule them out. I ask because I’m learning what may be a negative for someone else doesn’t always translate to a negative for me.
No doubt about it; everyone is different. We were retiring from the Central Florida area and took quite a while to decide on where we were going.
I'll start with Rogersville s that one was easy for us. Kind of away from everything and after stopping at a local grocery and wandering around and starting random conversations, we just figured it wouldn't be a great fit for us. Like we would always be outsiders.
As far as Crossville, when comparing medical facilities and shopping, it just didn't have as much as Cookeville. And in some ways, it seemed to be a bit less vibrant and a bit more dingy (my wife's word) than Cookeville. And a bit more skewed toward an elderly population which we were not necessarily looking for.
Maryville was a hard one to figure out. When we went there and drove around, my wife just said nope, she didn't care for it. When I pushed a bit, she just said too much traffic. Over the next couple of years, whenever we would be in the area, I would ask if she wanted to go there just to take a look again. Every time the answer was no, so that was that.
Greeneville was one that I really loved the way that it sits with the mountains around it. We visited it several times. I liked the downtown area and around Tusculum College. My wife just had the feeling that it might be a bit of a hard place for outsiders to fit in. Funny thing is that I was talking with my nephew a few years ago and mentioned Greeneville. He is in the grocery business and from Central New York State, and many years ago wound up in Greeneville for a couple of years. He said he was always known as that guy from up North and he was not unhappy at all to leave.
Cookeville just checked all the boxes for us. Small enough so that traffic is not bad at all and large enough to have all the shopping we need. Regional medical center can handle most needs and for more off the wall situations, Knoxville or Nashville are not that far. Nice mix of people that have moved from other parts of the country along with the people that have lived here all their lives. Haven't run into anyone yet who resents us moving here from Florida. Area is really working at getting good jobs here so that local youth won't have to move away after high school/Tennessee Tech. Kind of helps it avoid the skewing too much toward retirees and feeling a little more vibrant and family oriented than Crossville.
But of course, these are just our impressions. Others might feel totally different. Heck, there are loads of people who love Central Florida and we couldn't wait to get out of there.
I've spent a good bit of time in Greeneville on business and Morristown from a personal basis over the last two years. Both are small cities, but both are also trending up.
Both have gotten a considerable amount of new retail and restaurant development over the last couple of years. Morristown's mall was doing fairly well before the virus hit. There were several somewhat more upscale restaurants, at least in Morristown, that I wouldn't have expected there.
I get the concerns about not being a local, and there is probably some merit to the complaints. With that said, both cities are becoming increasingly livable for people who want a smaller city at a lower pricepoint.
Maryville gets a lot of attention, but I'm not really a fan of it. Maryville is close to Knoxville, but there was some bridge work on the east side of the city near UT Medical Center that slowed traffic to a crawl. Maryville is also fairly far from the shopping in Turkey Creek and West Knoxville. As a city, I think Maryville actually offers a lot less than similarly sized cities in TN. I had an interview at their employer, drove around the campus and through Maryville, and didn't like it.
Serious Conversation, thank you for relating your experiences. So many threads mention proximity to shopping malls, how vibrant or dead those shopping malls may be and also the restaurant scene. Maybe I am a bit of an introvert but I cannot remember the last time I purchased something from the mall. I think my last visit to a mall was over a year ago to have a phone fixed at a repair shop in the mall. Only other time I get close to a local mall is to go to a movie theater on site. Even that’s rare. Although I go through more fast food drive throughs than is healthy for anyone, I seldom go out for a sit down meal at a restaurant. Pizza delivery is rare for me, too.
Most of my shopping is on-line. So long as a Walmart and a Home Depot or Lowe’s are within 45 minutes drive, that’s about the extent of my big brick & mortar store shopping. Within 15 minutes or less I’d like a Dollar store or convenience store of some type to get a gallon of milk. Also some place close by for fuel. A grocery store the quality of Publix would be nice, but I doubt that is in the cards.
Serious Conversation, thank you for relating your experiences. So many threads mention proximity to shopping malls, how vibrant or dead those shopping malls may be and also the restaurant scene. Maybe I am a bit of an introvert but I cannot remember the last time I purchased something from the mall. I think my last visit to a mall was over a year ago to have a phone fixed at a repair shop in the mall. Only other time I get close to a local mall is to go to a movie theater on site. Even that’s rare. Although I go through more fast food drive throughs than is healthy for anyone, I seldom go out for a sit down meal at a restaurant. Pizza delivery is rare for me, too.
Most of my shopping is on-line. So long as a Walmart and a Home Depot or Lowe’s are within 45 minutes drive, that’s about the extent of my big brick & mortar store shopping. Within 15 minutes or less I’d like a Dollar store or convenience store of some type to get a gallon of milk. Also some place close by for fuel. A grocery store the quality of Publix would be nice, but I doubt that is in the cards.
Greeneville actually has a Publix (only one north and east of Knoxville so far) and a Lowe's. Greeneville also has Ingle's/Food City (regional groceries), Aldi, Walmart, etc. There are plenty of fast food places and some sit down restaurants. I hadn't had any reason to be down there before all the business meetings, but I was pleasantly impressed with it. It had improved quite a bit since I was down there about five years before that.
The big issue with that area is employment, but if you are retired, it's not a problem.
Most of my shopping is on-line. So long as a Walmart and a Home Depot or Lowe’s are within 45 minutes drive, that’s about the extent of my big brick & mortar store shopping. Within 15 minutes or less I’d like a Dollar store or convenience store of some type to get a gallon of milk. Also some place close by for fuel. A grocery store the quality of Publix would be nice, but I doubt that is in the cards.
Greeneville has everything you are looking for in town, including a fairly new Publix, Lowe's, Dollar Tree, multiple Dollar Generals and plenty of affordable gas.
Greeneville is a great town if you are an introvert, keep-to-yourself kind of person that is easily entertained with the outdoors or at home.
I don't think Maryville would be a good fit considering what you are looking for, but obviously check it out for yourself. No offense to Crossville, but I do not see its appeal outside of golf, and even Greeneville has several private golf courses in town or a reasonable distance that are pretty good.
I can't speak to Cookeville, but it will just be a different vibe than the small town of Greeneville, not necessarily in a bad way, but it just may be a bit too busy for what you need.
Some discussion about access to conveniences such as Walmart, Lowe's/Home Depot and high speed internet.
I just noticed that you mentioned high speed internet. A definite perk to living in Cookeville is that there's gigabit internet even out in the boondocks. While the cable company has gigabit internet in Cookeville, the rural telephone cooperative Twin Lakes, which services all of western and southern Putnam County and all of Jackson County, has 95% of its area covered in fiber optic cables, meaning lightning fast gigabit internet. They should have the other 5% finished by the end of this spring.
I have no idea what your price range is, but here are samples of homes less than $250k on acreage that have recently sold in the rural areas where you're less than 30 or so minutes from town but also serviced by fiber optic gigabit internet.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
JMT, that is great, great news! High speed Internet is definitely important to me. $250,000 is certainly within my price range and I can go more. If real estate values are throttled back a little bit due to the economy by the time I’m ready to get up there in 2.5 years, all the better.
During my several excursions to the state over the past two years, I definitely find myself gravitating more towards Cookeville than Greeneville despite the glowing reviews for Greeneville the others have mentioned. Without a doubt I cannot dispute those attributes that they cite, but Cookeville certainly holds more interest for me.
JMT, that is great, great news! High speed Internet is definitely important to me. $250,000 is certainly within my price range and I can go more. If real estate values are throttled back a little bit due to the economy by the time I’m ready to get up there in 2.5 years, all the better.
During my several excursions to the state over the past two years, I definitely find myself gravitating more towards Cookeville than Greeneville despite the glowing reviews for Greeneville the others have mentioned. Without a doubt I cannot dispute those attributes that they cite, but Cookeville certainly holds more interest for me.
I totally understand.
One of the reasons I left Knoxville and moved over here was because of the airport. That may not be a big deal to you, but I love to travel and got so tired of Knoxville's tiny (but nice) airport with its high fares and very limited connections. I live in a thoroughly rural area in western Putnam County (I'm 8 miles from the nearest gas station, for example) but I'm only 45 minutes away from Nashville's airport. The Nashville airport is twice the size of all of Tennessee's other commercial airports combined. And yet it's still much smaller and a lot more user friendly than Orlando's chaotic airport. I can leave my house and in less than 4 hours be in Montreal, or in 10 hours be in London. That's from the time I step out of the front door of my house. Who knows what airline travel will be like post-coronavirus, but it's very likely that Nashville's airport will continue to be the largest and cheapest in the state, and by a long shot. If you don't do much traveling, it might not be a big deal. But if you have people who want to fly in to see you, they might appreciate it.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
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