Is TN right for me? (Knoxville, Chattanooga: assessors, low crime, custom home)

[Sparrow_temp]

I've recently been given an exit pass from California -- my employer is letting me work remote from wherever I want. I can't stand California politics since I'm a conservative; I originally came from northern Michigan. This is the first time in my life that I've actually had a choice independent of employer on where to live. So I figured one way to narrow it down would be to look closely at states with no state income tax which is why I'm considering Tennessee. I then would look at politics and see which states could be eliminated based on what they did to their own people during Covid. I think that eliminates NV, WA, and NH. I eliminated AK because it's probably one of the few states with weather worse than MI. That leaves FL,SD,TN,TX, & WY. SD & WY are iffy because of the cold winter climate. Remaining states are FL, TX & TN. TN seems to be cheaper to live.

Right now I'm thinking that a city such as Maryville outside of Knoxville might be nice. Or maybe Athens since it's between Knoxville & Chattanooga. A smaller town with a larger town within about an hour driving distance.

I don't care about the schools since I've got no children and am in my 50's. Looking for a small town atmosphere with relatively low crime and a low cost of living. The only other thing is that I need reliable high speed internet for work. I'd also like some distance from my neighbors (ie not living on top of each other) so maybe more rural. Housing budget of around $500-600K and would probably be a cash offer so no house payment. Salary is probably 3x the average income of the area so I'm not too concerned with affordability. I'm not rich but I'll be earning a California income without the same expenses and no debt.

[NJDevil]

If you are a Christian, and get riled up easily re: politics and are very hateful towards liberals, then yes, you'll do wonderful anywhere in East TN or any other rural area in the state. I'm being completely truthful. There are a lot of Libertarians here and a good amount of Trumpists.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Sparrow_temp

I've recently been given an exit pass from California -- my employer is letting me work remote from wherever I want. I can't stand California politics since I'm a conservative; I originally came from northern Michigan. This is the first time in my life that I've actually had a choice independent of employer on where to live. So I figured one way to narrow it down would be to look closely at states with no state income tax which is why I'm considering Tennessee. I then would look at politics and see which states could be eliminated based on what they did to their own people during Covid. I think that eliminates NV, WA, and NH. I eliminated AK because it's probably one of the few states with weather worse than MI. That leaves FL,SD,TN,TX, & WY. SD & WY are iffy because of the cold winter climate. Remaining states are FL, TX & TN. TN seems to be cheaper to live.

Right now I'm thinking that a city such as Maryville outside of Knoxville might be nice. Or maybe Athens since it's between Knoxville & Chattanooga. A smaller town with a larger town within about an hour driving distance.

I don't care about the schools since I've got no children and am in my 50's. Looking for a small town atmosphere with relatively low crime and a low cost of living. The only other thing is that I need reliable high speed internet for work. I'd also like some distance from my neighbors (ie not living on top of each other) so maybe more rural. Housing budget of around $500-600K and would probably be a cash offer so no house payment. Salary is probably 3x the average income of the area so I'm not too concerned with affordability. I'm not rich but I'll be earning a California income without the same expenses and no debt.

How about 10 gig internet? I highly recommend you check out the Cookeville area since it, and Chattanooga, have the fastest internet speeds possible at 10 gig. For the most part, you'll be hard pressed to get good internet speeds in rural areas in Tennessee. In the case of Cookeville, it's available even out in the countryside. I'm 20 miles from Cookeville, in the middle of nowhere, and have 10 gig at my house. From where I live I can be at the Nashville airport in 45 minutes. Yet I'm surrounded by miles of countryside (I'm 8 miles from the nearest gas station, for example). Zero traffic. If you plan on flying back to CA anytime, or if you have friends from there who want to come see you, you'll appreciate being near BNA instead of the tiny and expensive airports in Knoxville and Chattanooga.

So you can imagine that this place has become wildly popular with the work from home crowd, especially people with more conservative views seeking to escape places like CA, NY, and IL. With your budget you can get a very nice home with lots of elbow room, even a luxury home on a golf course or a home on a lake if you want. Or you can live in the middle of town (still with lots of elbow room) and walk to several dozen restaurants, cafés, breweries, galleries, museums, etc., in a very safe town that's known for its lively and attractive downtown. And yet you can be in downtown Cookeville one minute and out kayaking or swimming under a waterfall 20 minutes later.

A sampling of homes that have recently sold around here in your price range to give you an idea what it's like:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9...41989089_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...41992022_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...41231887_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8...41987901_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...41987943_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...12155915_zpid/

[md21722]

I agree Cookeville deserves a look. The area is really booming because of it's affordability and amenities. Some people commute all the way to Nashville. I have co-workers that live in the area and love it. One is halfway between Nashville and Knoxville and gets the best of both with a bit of a drive. Another is moving back home to Jackson County where they're building a custom home and the area is served by fiber Internet. In areas between Knoxville and Chattanooga you really have to check the Internet availability of each home - its very hit or miss. Your neighbor might have Internet, but Comcast or Spectrum might charge an arm and a leg ($5-20k+) to install it to your home if it's not already there. We have looked at homes where they had natural gas to their home but couldn't get Comcast to string a line over existing poles to their home so they had to improvise.

[Strannik33]

JMT, thanks for mentioning Cookeville. I am looking for a place to retire, and this post has piqued my curiosity. A couple of questions, please (I presume OP would also be interested in the answers):
1. So what do you do there, other than enjoying the internet? I would understand living on a ranch, but yours is just an isolated house in the middle of nowhere, as you said? It must be rather boring, no?
2. What is the health-care situation there? Do you have to travel to Nashville for doctors' appointments and any health emergencies?
3. Why are the assessed RE values so low? Is this a TN tradition, or do the assessors just rarely update the valuations?

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Strannik33

JMT, thanks for mentioning Cookeville. I am looking for a place to retire, and this post has piqued my curiosity. A couple of questions, please (I presume OP would also be interested in the answers):
1. So what do you do there, other than enjoying the internet? I would understand living on a ranch, but yours is just an isolated house in the middle of nowhere, as you said? It must be rather boring, no?
2. What is the health-care situation there? Do you have to travel to Nashville for doctors' appointments and any health emergencies?
3. Why are the assessed RE values so low? Is this a TN tradition, or do the assessors just rarely update the valuations?

1. Some people enjoy living in the country, so no my life is far from boring. I'm not retired, either, so there's that. But even my neighbors who are retired have lives filled with activity. Cookeville has two symphonies: a professional symphony and a university/student symphony, lots of live music in the downtown cultural district, a nice performing arts center, an outdoor performance pavilion with frequent free concerts and such, Shakespeare in the Park, NCAA sports, over 200 concerts and recitals at the university every year (most are free), lecture series at the university, college classes for fun, craft shows, art galleries and shows, street fairs and festivals, and of course a lot of outdoor activities. Within 40 minutes of town there are over 150 waterfalls, a dozen state parks, a national recreation area, and 1200 miles of lake shoreline. And if you like to eat out, there are around 250 restaurants/eateries in Cookeville, and most are locally owned. Here are the chain restaurants.
2. The local hospital is a regional hospital which is partnered with Vanderbilt in Nashville. It's just fine for most things, particularly its award winning heart center which is one of the busiest in the state, but more extreme things may require a trip to Vanderbilt which happens to be one of the best hospitals in the country and a smidgeon over an hour away.
3. Are you referring to assessed values for tax purposes? By state law, the assessed value of a home is 25% of the actual value. So if you pay $400,000 for a house, your assessed value is $100,000.

[Sparrow_temp]

Originally Posted by JMT

How about 10 gig internet? I highly recommend you check out the Cookeville area since it, and Chattanooga, have the fastest internet speeds possible at 10 gig.

Cookeville sounds like a hidden gem. Small population, fast internet, conservative leanings, still reasonably priced, and close enough to a major airport for convenience. Thanks for the heads up. That's now on the top of my list to look.

[Kristinas_Cap]

Originally Posted by NJDevil

If you are a Christian, and get riled up easily re: politics and are very hateful towards liberals, then yes, you'll do wonderful anywhere in East TN or any other rural area in the state. I'm being completely truthful. There are a lot of Libertarians here and a good amount of Trumpists.

i have never witnessed people being hateful to liberals in eastern tn

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Kristinas_Cap

i have never witnessed people being hateful to liberals in eastern tn

Maybe not so much towards individuals but yes, there is a lot of ranting and plenty of hateful remarks spewed out in public for anyone who listens. Mostly said by those who think everyone living here in east TN agrees and must be a radical right winger by virtue of (re)location. Fortunately they are easily ignored and there are a lot of other good things about east TN that make up for it IMO.

[Kristinas_Cap]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

Maybe not so much towards individuals but yes, there is a lot of ranting and plenty of hateful remarks spewed out in public for anyone who listens. Mostly said by those who think everyone living here in east TN agrees and must be a radical right winger by virtue of (re)location. Fortunately they are easily ignored and there are a lot of other good things about east TN that make up for it IMO.

just for some perspective, i am originally from NJ where I was constantly exposed to left wing opinions and if you didn’t agree with them they would hate/ostracize you. i guess it goes both ways. thank goodness we cam speak our minds politically without fear of government retribution