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Keep in mind that the whole Sevierville area is a swarm of traffic in the peak tourist season, as well as Christmas to a degree. I think it would get very old doing daily business in that mess.
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Hello all! For the last 2 years, I've been trying to convince my wife that we should move to East Tennessee. My wife wants our 4 adult children to move with us, but one of them is hesitant. One big question is the Humidity. We live in an area of southern California that is VERY hot during the summer months (middle of June to the end of October). I am told that Tennessee is also hot during the same time period, but NOT as hot as where we are now. However, I understand the humidity is REALLY BAD in most of Tennessee so some say it is actually worse than living in southern California - Is this true?.
I am also told that there are parts of eastern Tennessee that is not as bad (summer temp/humidity-wise) as western & southern Tennessee, such as in north east Tennessee. What is the truth?
Also, what are the utility bills like in Tennessee for electric, gas, water/sewer, trash? I know some have their own wells and septic systems, and even use propane, but what is a typical monthly cost for these bills. I am sure it can't be as expensive as living in California, especially for electric or water.
Is high-speed internet service sketchy? Or is it mostly DSL out there?
My wife and I are seniors & could live pretty much live anywhere - just as long as there is a church and a decent hospital/medical/healthcare near-by, and it is a safe neighborhood or area..
Our kids would need a place where they could get jobs, other than flipping burgers or stocking shelves at Walmart, so that is a consideration. Also don't want to deal with tornado's so my guess is it's probably going to have to be a place in the middle to eastern part of Tennessee. So, I/we are wondering if there are any places left in Tennessee that have all, or much of what we want.
Please give as much info and suggestions as you can because all help is appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
P.S. We want OUT of California because the politics of the state are the opposite of what/who we are.
The summers do get humid from June thru August. Lots of 80's thru 90's. I moved to east Tennessee in 1993 from New England. Weather wise, it's the best of both worlds. Winter's do get a little cold, but it does not last, not much snow except in the mountains, and when it does snow it disappears fast. Utilities are cheaper than New England. My electric averages between 100 to 150 dollars a month, water and sewage around 45 to 60 a month which includes trash pickup. Property taxes are very low. Putting a vehicle on the road cost under 30 dollars a year for your tags. It use to cost me over 700 dollars back up north. Internet we have Spectrum, don't have any issues with them. I am retired, lots of churches, healthcare is political, hospitals merged not for the better but there are plenty of doctors and most specialties. Tornados are extremely rare. Weather wise it's the best in the nation, I've been to California and most other states, either you have desert heat, all the rain in the northwest, long summers and winters in the middle with tornados, hurricanes on the coast and south and cold winters in the north, pretty good here in northeast tn. Jobs are not like you have in California, there are some but the pay is not like some parts of the country, but it is a lot cheaper to live. People are great, like everywhere else there is good and bad. Crime is low except for drugs and some domestic violence. Before my family and I moved to east tn. we toured most of the country and chose this area, i was able to transfer with my job in any state and have been here since 1993. hope this answers some of your questions.
Hello all! For the last 2 years, I've been trying to convince my wife that we should move to East Tennessee. My wife wants our 4 adult children to move with us, but one of them is hesitant. One big question is the Humidity. We live in an area of southern California that is VERY hot during the summer months (middle of June to the end of October). I am told that Tennessee is also hot during the same time period, but NOT as hot as where we are now. However, I understand the humidity is REALLY BAD in most of Tennessee so some say it is actually worse than living in southern California - Is this true?.
The heat won't be nearly as bad as inland Southern California, but there is humidity. It's nothing like Florida, New Orleans, or even central/west TN, but it is noticeable. The trade-off for that is frequent rain, and the area rarely experiences severe droughts.
I am also told that there are parts of eastern Tennessee that is not as bad (summer temp/humidity-wise) as western & southern Tennessee, such as in north east Tennessee. What is the truth?
This is accurate.
Also, what are the utility bills like in Tennessee for electric, gas, water/sewer, trash? I know some have their own wells and septic systems, and even use propane, but what is a typical monthly cost for these bills. I am sure it can't be as expensive as living in California, especially for electric or water.
Typically, county residents pay more for municipal services, if those municipal services are offered at the address. My parents live in unincorporated Sullivan County, and they pay more for water than I do in the city of Bristol, TN. My city trash pickup is $10/month - parents pay that about every week is Waste Management pickup. IMO, city services tend to be more reliable than private/county.
The flip side of that is that city residents pay city property taxes in addition to county. Combined, my city and county taxes are about 1% of the market value of my home annually.
Is high-speed internet service sketchy? Or is it mostly DSL out there?
City limits will almost always have high speed internet. I live in Bristol, and the city has fiber to the premises. Johnson City has (some) areas with Brightridge Fiber. The rest of the city is served by Comcast and Charter. The city of Kingsport is mostly serviced by Charter.
If you're interested in a property, definitely look up the address on Charter/Comcast service maps.
My wife and I are seniors & could live pretty much live anywhere - just as long as there is a church and a decent hospital/medical/healthcare near-by, and it is a safe neighborhood or area..
Johnson City has the area's only level 1 trauma center and Johnson City Medical Center offers the most services in the area, along with a smaller community hospital (Franklin Woods). Bristol has one regional hospital, with Kingsport having a regional hospital and a community hospital.
Rural areas generally have small community hospitals that are basically glorified urgent cares.
If you have a complicated medical history or need certain specialists, tread carefully. I know a lot of people who end up at UT Medical Center in Knoxville or even further afield for complicated medical situations.
Our kids would need a place where they could get jobs, other than flipping burgers or stocking shelves at Walmart, so that is a consideration. Also don't want to deal with tornado's so my guess is it's probably going to have to be a place in the middle to eastern part of Tennessee. So, I/we are wondering if there are any places left in Tennessee that have all, or much of what we want.
There's the rub. The white collar job market was poor before COVID, and many of the larger area white collar employees are on hiring freezes or greatly reduced hiring. For skilled trades, work is available, but pay is going to be much lower than California. There are usually plenty of lower end jobs in the <$15/hr range or so.
Please give as much info and suggestions as you can because all help is appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
P.S. We want OUT of California because the politics of the state are the opposite of what/who we are.
Yes we have some humidity. Spend a week or two here in the summer to see if it’s bothersome to you or not. Comparing it to another place (like California or Florida) where someone’s never lived or with someone’s personal comfort level on the net is pointless.
Yes we have high speed internet, like gigabit fiber to the home from Erwin Utilities or companies like Spectrum and Comcast depending on where you live. Find a town you like, find an address you like and see if it’s available. The internet is your friend after all.
You learn fast that jobs here generally suck (pay and benefits wise) unless you have specific skillsets and land with specific employers, which locally are few and far between. Coming here (or growing up here FWIW) and expecting $25 hr in local retail, restaurant, hospitality or factory jobs will end in a huge disappointment.
Reality is that most jobs in the area pay $9 to $12 per hour with little to no benefits. Anything above that and you’re in a specialty field or have time into your position, or have brought a remote position with you from somewhere else.
All common sense stuff IMO especially when you visit the area and dig in a little. Biggest part is spending a few weeks here to see if it’s for you or not. Good luck.
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 01-13-2021 at 07:31 AM..
Utility bills are subjective to your usage and property conditions, but are very reasonable IMO as are things like property taxes, vehicle registrations and such. We pay city AND county taxes and the couple hundred dollars per year difference is hardly worth worrying over.
Nothing here is overly expensive - but what’s expensive to you may not be to us and vice versa.
If you desire expensive, head over the mountains 35 minutes to the Asheville, NC area and things get really expensive, really fast. Things like $400+ sq ft new build homes (plus property costs) and annual property taxes of hundreds of dollars on vehicles (per vehicle, per year) are common, not to mention the security systems needed there for the sharply increasing amount of crime happening now.
In comparison, Eastern Tennessee is a bargain when compared to some of the surrounding areas, and to us just as beautiful.
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 01-13-2021 at 07:11 AM..
Check the humidity stats on the weather channel. Johnson City area has much lower numbers than you might think. Do Not consider the other side of the mountains...North Carolina, where it gets really hot and humid by comparison. Ditto central and especially west Tennessee.
Churches? We got em coming out of our ears.
Politics....if you are something approaching a trumper you can't lose here. Be aware that you are dealing with dumb and dumber, but there are lots of them so you are 'safe'.
Jobs i hear are tight, except at the lower end.
Water is expensive, although maybe not as bad as s California. Rest of utilities are cheap.
Restaurants are poor. Ditto food stores.
Mountains and lakes are fantastic. If you are an out of doors type of family you will enjoy E Tn. People are also very good/great. Friendly. Helpful. Conversant after they figure out they can trust you and you won't be a Karen or talk about how great the place you came from is.
Come and look around. It is a big geographical area, but really small in size with a tiny population in the area...like 400,000 in the SMA of JC, Bristol and Kingsport. Find a decent realtor and they will spend an inordinate amount of time showing you around.
Oh. Internet: I use comcast for work and play. They actually are reliable, but customer service is lousy. Check with your neighbors at a proposed location as Comcast may tell you that they don't service that street--mine included, except i have had them for several years!
Hello all! For the last 2 years, I've been trying to convince my wife that we should move to East Tennessee. My wife wants our 4 adult children to move with us, but one of them is hesitant. One big question is the Humidity. We live in an area of southern California that is VERY hot during the summer months (middle of June to the end of October). I am told that Tennessee is also hot during the same time period, but NOT as hot as where we are now. However, I understand the humidity is REALLY BAD in most of Tennessee so some say it is actually worse than living in southern California - Is this true?.
I am also told that there are parts of eastern Tennessee that is not as bad (summer temp/humidity-wise) as western & southern Tennessee, such as in north east Tennessee. What is the truth?
It's just basic geography - humidity is bad anywhere east of the 'sip, that includes southern and western TN...all the way up to Chicago and New York.
But comfort is also a component of the seasonal variations in temperature and latitude. TN at least has a shorter and less extreme summer than, say, Georgia and south. Altitude also makes a difference, with North East TN having some impact being in the mountain foothills that lowers the temperature a few degrees. I found living in N.E. TN much more comfortable then were I live now - near Memphis/W. Tn.
It's simply all relative - If you are afraid of TN humidity, take my advice - don't move to Florida. I was attending a cheerleading competion in Central Florida with my daughter who lives in the desert near Palm Springs where it gets 110 in the summer. All those little girls from the competition were melting! They couldn't take it.
Thanks everyone. First off, don't need to worry about politics, we can't stand the political climate here in California. Now the CA state legislature is planning to pass a bill that would require that citizens who leave the state would still have to pay taxes to California for 10 years!! Even though the governor says everything is just great, they are planning to pass a 10 year tax obligation on anyone who leaves the state & moves to another one. This place is insane! Right now they say that the new tax would only be for people with a large net worth, but that number can be lowered as the state legislature sees fit to do so.
As far as utilities: For electric we pay about $150 a month during the cool months, and up to $600 a month during the hot months (running the ac), Water/sewer is about $90 bucks a month. Trash is included in our mortgage but it's around $30 bucks a month. The monthly gas (natural) bill is about 30 in the hot months and $50 to $60+ in the winter. Internet and TV is about $130 a month (we live in a hilly area and roof-top antennas are useless), and property taxes are about $4500 a year.
I realize there are trade-offs to any place but it would be great if we could find a place in Tennessee that had relatively cool/not so humid summers, with a decent nearby hospital, a LOW crime rate, and a decent job market. From what everyone says, churches are plentiful all over Tennessee, but only a few places have a decent job market. From where we have looked, it seems that the Elizabethon/Johnson City/Bristol area seems to have the coolest summers and a low crime rate - Is that true? And that Knoxville has the best job market (in eastern Tennessee)? Since churches are everywhere I imagine then our priorities are 1) the place with the coolest/lowest humidity summer months (relatively speaking) 2) decent hospital/healthcare nearby, 3) LOW CRIME rate, 4) Decent jobs. 5) Affordable housing prices. Any places hit all these priorities, or at least 4 of them?
Bristol and Johnson City are around national averages for their crime rates. Elizabethton probably is too. Kingsport, Hawkins County, and rural areas have more issues. Still, random violent crime is very rare, and most of the crime is contained to people who know each other, and is generally drug/domestic.
Knoxville has much better medical. You could live in a somewhat higher elevation area outside the city limits and get some relief, while still having access to better medical/retail/etc., than the in the Tri-Cities. The job market in Knoxville is substantially better than the Tri-Cities.. Knoxville and Johnson City are relatively close in real estate prices, with Knoxville likely being a bit more expensive.
Johnson City does well with what it has to work with. Bristol is improving. Some of the smaller towns like Elizabethton and Erwin can work for people looking for more rural/cooler. Otherwise, I think metro Knoxville is just better and more practical for most people. You have far more options in Knoxville, and can still be rural 20-30 minutes. To me, the Tri-Cities biggest weakness is that is 1.5 hours to anything else.
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Need help with a few questions on Tennessee
