Are there any towns in southern or eastern TN comparable to Franklin TN? (Memphis: violent crime, theater)

[shinestx]

Franklin is one of the handful of small cities in the USA with everything you seek, especially among those without a college/university in it. You won't find a city like it in most states, especially in the South.

That said, some smaller cities offer a lot of that, including Cleveland, Gallatin, Cookeville, Clarksville, Maryville, Johnson City, Greeneville, and Germantown in Tennessee. You may look at Fayetteville, which is sort of an exurb of Huntsville, the only boomtown in Alabama. I have heard that Shelbyville is hosting a lot of expat wealth from other poorly managed/high taxed states. I can't tell you about that one firsthand.

Even smaller still, Signal Mountain and Collegedale are candidates, have the wealth; however, they don't have the downtowns you're seeking. They have great schools, and small community centers. Columbia may get their act together and become similar, but there's a lot of generational poverty and some deep seeded racial issues there. Lots of wealth is moving there.

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by GACLT

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping Farragut was similar, I guess not. We've never been there, but from the little research I've done I thought it may be a similar alternative.

For convenience purposes, we were hoping to not end up as far Northwest as Franklin based on where our family is located. Our goal was to stay in the GA/SC/NC (or southern/eastern TN) area. We made the "mistake" of visiting Franklin, now we find ourselves comparing all other towns to that area, and we haven't found an area that competes yet.

You will be hard pressed to find another Franklin. There is a reason Justin Timberlake lives there and Gary Sinise is moving there.

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by shinestx

Franklin is one of the handful of small cities in the USA with everything you seek, especially among those without a college/university in it. You won't find a city like it in most states, especially in the South.

That said, some smaller cities offer a lot of that, including Cleveland, Gallatin, Cookeville, Clarksville, Maryville, Johnson City, Greeneville, and Germantown in Tennessee. You may look at Fayetteville, which is sort of an exurb of Huntsville, the only boomtown in Alabama. I have heard that Shelbyville is hosting a lot of expat wealth from other poorly managed/high taxed states. I can't tell you about that one firsthand.

Even smaller still, Signal Mountain and Collegedale are candidates, have the wealth; however, they don't have the downtowns you're seeking. They have great schools, and small community centers. Columbia may get their act together and become similar, but there's a lot of generational poverty and some deep seeded racial issues there. Lots of wealth is moving there.

Yes, I thought of Signal Mountain and than I thought... um, no.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Igor Blevin

You will be hard pressed to find another Franklin. There is a reason Justin Timberlake lives there and Gary Sinise is moving there.

Yeah, Franklin is a great place.

With a plan to raise a family in Tennessee, another (and possibly only other) place/area I would consider is Signal Mountain.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Igor Blevin

Franklin gets its uniqueness by being an upscale suburb of Nashville. There is nothing like it near Knoxville or Chattanooga or the tri-cities. Franklin is clean, safe, and amenity rich because of all the Nashville money parked there. It is unique.

I am not sure you can find many equivalents anywhere in the USA that combine its unique positives.

I mean, Farragut near Knoxville is not even close.

Franklin is one of my absolute favorite places in the country, and I love visiting friends there, but positives are personal (and yes, re the OP's positives, only Franklin fits) and some places, for people with a slightly different set of positives, fall short of Franklin on a few things, but exceed Franklin on a few others.

[jsherman9901]

20 years ago, when I worked in Huntsville, AL, we lived across the state line in Fayetteville. Lovely place, but not what the OP is looking for. We would often drive to Franklin to shop at Cool Springs, have lunch and investigate the rich Civil War history of the area. After a job-related move out of state, we did not return to TN for quite a few years. Five years ago we considered moving to Franklin for retirement, but it had changed too much to be attractive to us anymore.

If we ever do move back to TN, Cookeville would probably be at the top of our list.

[Lizap]

You will need to look to NC or VA or even outside of the south to find anything remotely close. Franklin was on our short list for retirement, but the lack of mountain scenery was a deal breaker for us.

[Lizap]

Originally Posted by JMT

I hesitated to post my recommendation since I don't know if it would be as upscale as you're looking for. But considering some of the other cities that are being thrown in the mix, Cookeville definitely should be in there.

https://visitcookevilletn.com/live-here

Where Cookeville really shines is in its independent stores and restaurants downtown. It does have many of the big name chains, but downtown Cookeville is filled with wonderful eateries, shops, galleries, and boutiques that rival what you'd find in Franklin. In fact, some of them are run by people who used to live in Franklin and escaped, saying Cookeville is what Franklin used to be like before being taken over by large multinational corporations who've set up regional HQ in the many manicured office parks along I-65.

Downtown Cookeville is absolutely charming, thriving, and intensely walkable. It's a work in progress with lots of exciting projects in the pipeline. I've lived in some of the world's greatest cities (Brussels, Strasbourg, Hong Kong, Manila) and honestly I'm happy as a lark with the food scene in downtown Cookeville, including a bakery run by a Michigan ceramics artist who, after moving to Cookeville, figured out how to make wood-fired ceramic bread ovens and imports butter and flour for the best croissants, chewy baguettes and hardy pain de campagne I've had outside of France. Even Franklin doesn't have that.

https://www.megsbreadtn.com/

Many families have moved to Cookeville's very leafy and historic central core to take advantage of all that's available downtown in addition to all the restaurants and coffee shops: children's library, museums, free concerts, an award-winning children's theater, and all kinds of festivals and other family-friendly events. The recent art crawl showcased over 80 local artists in over 30 galleries/restaurants/bookstores downtown including many kid-friendly demonstrations and shows.

Putnam County is one of the few school districts in Tennessee to have the International Baccalaureate Program at both the middle and high school levels. One middle school is entirely IB, while the high school offers IB as an option. And since the school system is entirely open, you can live anywhere in the county and send your kids to any school of your choice, IB or not.

Working from home means internet speed should be considered, and we're fortunate to have 10 gig internet here which is the fastest available in the world. Chattanooga also has 10 gig internet, the only other city in Tennessee to have it. What's unusual here is that it's available even way out in the boonies and not just in town. I live 20 miles outside of town in the middle of nowhere and have 10 gig internet at my house. This area has become very popular with the work-from-home crowd looking for a better place to raise families with an exceptional quality of life: great schools, gobs of outdoor recreational opportunities, family friendly, safe, and a town where people really do try to just get along and respect each other. One family at my church moved here from L.A. via a 3-year stint in Franklin, and the father, a free-lance music composer, said that Cookeville is like living in a Norman Rockwell painting.

I left Knoxville around 9 years ago to move here, and it was the best move I've ever made. I'm still not sure if it meets what you're looking for. But with some of the other towns mentioned in this thread, Cookeville should absolutely be considered. Many are surprised by what it offers. Be warned that it's a real and free-standing town, meaning it's not a wealthy enclave of a larger city. So it has its beautiful and moneyed neighborhoods as well as very blue collar areas. It has golf courses and neighborhoods of million-dollar mansions but also Section 8 apartments and public housing. It has factories as well as wealth management offices; upscale galleries and boutiques as well as Dollar Generals and thrift stores. If you're looking for a town where everyone is rich, then this isn't it. But if you're looking for a town with a healthy mix of all incomes (and a fast-growing upper middle class segment) then I think you should give Cookeville a look.

I know you live in/near Cookeville and love it, but it really isn’t comparable to Franklin. This certainly doesn’t take way from the fact it has alot of nice things.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Lizap

I know you live in/near Cookeville and love it, but it really isn’t comparable to Franklin. This certainly doesn’t take way from the fact it has alot of nice things.

I never said it was, and in fact I pointed out that it isn't. But neither are any of the other towns in Tennessee that others brought up.

[AppalachianAngler]

Jonesborough, TN is about the only one that *may* fit the bill in East TN. Even then, it certainly doesn't have the amount of amenities and money that Franklin does. But it is worth a look.

I love my hometown of Greeneville, and the downtown is quite beautiful, but it definitely isn't in the same category as Franklin. Much better outdoors and views in Greeneville than Franklin, though.