Considering cross-country move from Seattle (Knoxville, Franklin: real estate, condo, new home)

[kyk007]

Hello fellow CD inmates - I'm a long-time observer, and a recent poster here at this great site. In preparation for an upcoming move from my current home in WA state, I have started researching potential states and cities that fit my criteria (as noted in one of my posts inquiring @Omaha: https://www.city-data.com/forum/gene...le-cities.html)

Given the current status of affairs in King Co. WA, where I currently live, the prospects of running my business from here are dwindling by the day, and the future doesn't look hopeful for businesses like mine that depend on seeing clients face to face.

Having said all that, I've researched numerous mid to large city markets across the country to ascertain which places would offer a business-friendly climate, close-knit community, and an affordable cost of living to boot.

Nashville ranks quite high nationwide in terms of being startup business-friendly, and if other posts are accurate, Cookeville looks to be a doable commute to Nashville for someone like myself. I am still open to some of the more affordable suburbs around Nashville, but both Cookeville and Crossville keep coming up as viable choices that offer a lot of bang for the buck.

For those of you who live in the area, whether a Nashville suburb, or Cookville/Crossville, what are your thoughts? Affordable, coming from the Seattle landscape of real estate, is the easier to fill of my criteria. I'm looking for 400K and under.

Tennesee receives high marks for being a good state with friendly people, and having many benefits tax-wise as well. I look forward to hearing from those of you who reside in this beautiful state.

[JMT]

I live just west of Cookeville and work near the Nashville airport. It takes me 45 minutes to get to work. Apparently, enough people from Cookeville commute to Nashville that Nashville morning news programs often include Cookeville in their traffic updates. I cannot imagine making the very long commute from Crossville to Nashville although I'm sure there are people who do it.

My dentist moved to Cookeville from the Seattle area and hasn't looked back. In fact, he's now got other friends from back out that way who are starting to make their exit plans from the west coast to here. He has a large family and lives in a home that he could never afford in Washington with acreage and a pool. The kids are thriving in the public schools here, and they couldn't be happier. He also got his parents to move here, the first time they've lived anywhere outside of Washington. Besides the financial windfall they got from moving here, they also said the people here are the friendliest they've ever met.

If you do plan on doing work from home, you should know that another huge perk to Cookeville is that we have 10 gig internet here, even out in the boonies. In fact, all of western Putnam County--the part closest to Nashville--has 10 gig internet.

[kyk007]

Originally Posted by JMT

I live just west of Cookeville and work near the Nashville airport. It takes me 45 minutes to get to work. Apparently, enough people from Cookeville commute to Nashville that Nashville morning news programs often include Cookeville in their traffic updates. I cannot imagine making the very long commute from Crossville to Nashville although I'm sure there are people who do it.

My dentist moved to Cookeville from the Seattle area and hasn't looked back. In fact, he's now got other friends from back out that way who are starting to make their exit plans from the west coast to here. He has a large family and lives in a home that he could never afford in Washington with acreage and a pool. The kids are thriving in the public schools here, and they couldn't be happier. He also got his parents to move here, the first time they've lived anywhere outside of Washington. Besides the financial windfall they got from moving here, they also said the people here are the friendliest they've ever met.

If you do plan on doing work from home, you should know that another huge perk to Cookeville is that we have 10 gig internet here, even out in the boonies. In fact, all of western Putnam County--the part closest to Nashville--has 10 gig internet.

JMT - thank you for your confirmation of all I've read on Cookeville in these forums. Certainly, having people in the community who are welcoming and friendly are at the top of my list. Being in my 50's now, community has become more important than ever.

While Cookeville might be my first option, I want to throw out my second option for those of you who live in the surrounding suburbs of Nashville. I haven't done quite as much research into the safer areas within 30 minutes or so of Nashville, but would be interested to learn more about the more desirable communities surrounding Nashville.

My career plans at this point have me setting up base in Nashville for my company, which should take a couple years if all goes well. After that point, I would be free to leave the management of operations in more capable hands, and only come in once a week, if that.

For those of you who perhaps had similar choices, between a longer commute in Cookeville, and say, a desirable suburb closer to Nashville, what was your experience like? I'd love to hear your stories, and anything you might have the time to share. Thank you in advance to all who might be able to offer feedback.

Lastly, for those of you who previously lived out of state and ended up moving to Tennessee, what were some of the biggest (pleasant) surprises that you had? I'm all ears -

[treehouse21]

If I were you and had the desire to do an inner city Nastyville business, I would look to the Lebanon area. Long commutes on I-40 would drive me into a not so pleasant mood at times. Just yesterday on my way to Cookeville from Crossville, I'm cruising along at 80 and coming up on a slightly slower vehicle in the right lane. No other traffic. I get about 40 yards from passing the guy and surprised, a Florida plate SUV goes past me on the right doing at very least 100 heading straight into the back of the slower car on the right. I slammed my brakes on so the nut could whip in front of me before he impacted the slower car in the rear at ultra high speed. I wish I could say this is a rare instance but after 7 years here, My wife and I both are not enthusiastic about doing an I-40 commute for any length of time. Nashville rush hour traffic is absolutely absurd. Personally, I would take Knoxville traffic over Nashville if it was a daily diet and thats not saying much! You have to be a real city-tamed person to deal with those two cities on a daily basis. My Daughter worked in Oak Ridge for a while and thats one of TN's nicer small towns yet the average home income is a tad better than most for its size. We are originaly from up state NY and the only down side here is Ticks & Chiggers! Win Win on all other aspects.

[TheShadow]

I was wondering 2 things OP. What type of business you have, and if that business wouldn't work as well in Knoxville? Prices for surrounding suburbs of Knoxville are probably a bit lower than Nashville, and the traffic is a lot less.

[mj7543]

The I-40 drive from Cookeville to Nashville has been slowed considerably this year by construction, extra traffic and accidents that can turn a one hour trip until a three hour one very easily. I’ve missed one doctor’s appointment and it almost caused my father to miss another one. Plus bad drivers camp out in the left lane at 70 mph causing traffic backup and unsafe conditions.

[kyk007]

Originally Posted by TheShadow

I was wondering 2 things OP. What type of business you have, and if that business wouldn't work as well in Knoxville? Prices for surrounding suburbs of Knoxville are probably a bit lower than Nashville, and the traffic is a lot less.

Shadow - my business entails flying in coaches from around the country to train in my company's proprietary methodologies. While my business model was initially location-dependent, I've changed it up a bit to allow for greater flexibility, which ultimately gives me the luxury of basing my business in other areas outside of WA state.

Knoxville was actually on my list of cities I did consider earlier last year, and the ease of getting around and less traffic does appeal to me a lot. I'm not super knowledgeable about how startup-friendly Knoxville is, nor how receptive the city would be to a business like mine (health & wellness), but the surrounding natural beauty is something I doubly appreciate, having lived in Seattle and its greenery for so long.



Treehouse - appreciate the insight into the local Nashville traffic, as well as the commute between Cookeville and Nashville. I was not aware of the Oak Ridge community, and it sounds wonderful. Lebanon was not on my radar either.


JMT - thank you again for relaying the story of your dentist. Indeed, very small world. While I am not one of those workers that can work remotely (yet), having speedy internet is never a bad thing for me either.


mj7543 - having gotten used to the constant rush hour & non-rush debacle, otherwise known as Seattle traffic, your post strikes a chord with me. And yes, I hate traffic as much or more than most people, so thank you for the reminder of how bad it's gotten there.

[JMT]

As someone who makes the drive to/from Nashville during rush hour every day, I can assure you that the traffic is not that bad. I zip along I-40 at well over the 70mph speed limit almost the entire way. Now, if there's an accident, then yeah it gets pretty hairy, but that was certainly the case when I lived in Knoxville, too. The only construction right now between Cookeville and Nashville is in Lebanon, and it's only eastbound (headed back to Cookeville) and it'll be over by the end of the summer. The state is also going to repave portions of I-40 over the summer. More and more people have moved over here and work in Nashville. As much as the price of real estate has risen here, it's still a bargain compared to Nashville. Want a house on a golf course? It'll cost you a good 33% more in Lebanon and 50% more in Mt Juliet. Want a condo in a hip downtown area within walking distance of breweries, pubs, galleries, etc.? Not even available in Lebanon or Mt Juliet (or Oak Ridge, for that matter), and it'll cost you double in Franklin.

I moved here from Knoxville and much prefer it here. I lived in five different places in Knoxville over a period of 14 years, including Oak Ridge. I much prefer it here, and it's not even close.

If your business involves flying in people from all over the country, then you will likely grow frustrated at the little airport in Knoxville with its very limited schedule and higher fares. It's one of the reasons I left Knoxville. Anyone who has had luggage lost because of a transfer will appreciate being able to get on a plane in Nashville and get off in Seattle or Boise or Salt Lake or San Francisco or San Diego or Montreal or Edmonton or London etc. without having to change planes somewhere else. And most of the time there are multiple airlines to choose from on those non-stop flights. For example, there are four airlines that fly nonstop between Nashville and LAX, three airlines that fly nonstop between Nashville and Toronto, and two fly nonstop between Nashville and Sea-Tac. In addition, there are nonstop flights to Nashville from such disparate places as Bozeman MT, Sioux Falls SD, Fargo ND, New Haven CT, Portland ME, Peoria IL, Des Moines, Omaha, you get the idea. Over 100 nonstop destinations out of BNA on 20 airlines compared to 30 out of Knoxville on 5 airlines.

[kyk007]

Originally Posted by JMT

As someone who makes the drive to/from Nashville during rush hour every day, I can assure you that the traffic is not that bad. I zip along I-40 at well over the 70mph speed limit almost the entire way. Now, if there's an accident, then yeah it gets pretty hairy, but that was certainly the case when I lived in Knoxville, too. The only construction right now between Cookeville and Nashville is in Lebanon, and it's only eastbound (headed back to Cookeville) and it'll be over by the end of the summer. The state is also going to repave portions of I-40 over the summer. More and more people have moved over here and work in Nashville. As much as the price of real estate has risen here, it's still a bargain compared to Nashville. Want a house on a golf course? It'll cost you a good 33% more in Lebanon and 50% more in Mt Juliet. Want a condo in a hip downtown area within walking distance of breweries, pubs, galleries, etc.? Not even available in Lebanon or Mt Juliet (or Oak Ridge, for that matter), and it'll cost you double in Franklin.

I moved here from Knoxville and much prefer it here. I lived in five different places in Knoxville over a period of 14 years, including Oak Ridge. I much prefer it here, and it's not even close.

If your business involves flying in people from all over the country, then you will likely grow frustrated at the little airport in Knoxville with its very limited schedule and higher fares. It's one of the reasons I left Knoxville. Anyone who has had luggage lost because of a transfer will appreciate being able to get on a plane in Nashville and get off in Seattle or Boise or Salt Lake or San Francisco or San Diego or Montreal or Edmonton or London etc. without having to change planes somewhere else. And most of the time there are multiple airlines to choose from on those non-stop flights. For example, there are four airlines that fly nonstop between Nashville and LAX, three airlines that fly nonstop between Nashville and Toronto, and two fly nonstop between Nashville and Sea-Tac. In addition, there are nonstop flights to Nashville from such disparate places as Bozeman MT, Sioux Falls SD, Fargo ND, New Haven CT, Portland ME, Peoria IL, Des Moines, Omaha, you get the idea. Over 100 nonstop destinations out of BNA on 20 airlines compared to 30 out of Knoxville on 5 airlines.

JMT - thank you for giving me a little firsthand perspective on the actual driving conditions between Cookeville and Nashville. Certainly, something that sounds much more doable should I be put in that position.

Secondly, the point you bring up about the availability of flights out of Nashville is a key consideration I had not thought of. In a world where I am flying clients in to receive training, this certainly is a big convenience for them, and would give me a nationwide reach as far as smaller markets as well.

Thanks to your insight, I feel like I am now much better prepared to come down to your area and see it with my own eyes. I greatly appreciate you sharing of your personal experience.

[tragenvol]

Originally Posted by kyk007

I was not aware of the Oak Ridge community, and it sounds wonderful. Lebanon was not on my radar either..

Bit of a sidetrack here, bear with me...couldn't resist. Being from Seattle, I bet you're aware of the Hanford Site....and.likely know of Los Alamos. Oak Ridge is the third piece of the Manhattan Project puzzle. Oak Ridge, the town and the lab, was built specifically for the Manhattan Project. Today, Oak Ridge National Laboratory operates as the Department of Energy's largest research facility for science and energy.

Further down the rabbit hole...some fans of the Stranger Things series relate references in that show to ORNL and East Tennessee. For example, Roane County is the fictitious County were Hawkins National Lab is located....while Oak Ridge is in Anderson County bordering Roane County to the northeast. Hawkins, the city in the show, is also a county further east of ORNL near the Tri-Cities. Seems like there was another reference or two...can't recall.

Back to the point...Lebanon is fastly becoming less affordable, as is Cookeville, thanks to housing costs....$400K will not buy what it used to only a couple of years ago in Cookeville city or even on the outskirts of Lebanon. But....supply will dramatically increase in the short-term in Lebanon....hundreds (if not thousands) of new homes are planned there and/or under construction at this moment.