Should We Move? (transplants, crime, house)

[Doug88]

I want you guys to give me your opinion on this,

We are a young couple currently living in South Florida, for a while now we have been tired of it here and have wanted to move somewhere new. We fell in love with the Nashville area and think we want to start our life there.

The problem is we have both lived here our whole lives and all of our family and friends live down here. In your opinion is it better to move to a place where you prefer the climate, scenery, people, lower crime rate, better schools, cost of living, and general life style or to stay close to family and friends?

Basically it seems like everything would be better in TN besides family.

[DonCorleone]

My first question is do you have kids?

If you don't have kids, it's probably an easier decision to be away from family. Not that it's ever easy. But with kids and grandparents...it is going to be a much more difficult decision to move.

That said, it sounds like you've done your homework and know the benefits of moving. We certainly have a lot of transplants from SoFla (and many other places across the nation). I think if you have thoroughly thought things out and honestly weighed all the positives and negatives, hopefully your family will understand and accept your decision.

Best of luck.

[Kim918]

I left South Floirda for Tennessee after living there 30 years. I say, you're young so go for it. You can always move back. People should explore and move to places that they might find happiness and new way of life. South Florida has changed a great deal in the last 10 years. Give Tennessee a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Sometimes you have to do what makes YOU happy!

[CountryGirl2b=]

NOW is the time to move to other parts of the country because when you get older and your folks get older, that's when they NEED you. I traveled the world and lived in lots of different places (including Switzerland and Australia). Now, over 50, my parents NEED me. Really NEED me. So I am here for them. But up until the time you are needed, you need to live your own life. Wherever that is. And if it's Nashville, then even better! Really, it's a 14 hour drive so you could get there if you had to. Southwest flies there all the time from here, there's Skype, texting . . . . C'mon . . JUMP!

[rossc]

Originally Posted by DonCorleone

If you don't have kids, it's probably an easier decision to be away from family. Not that it's ever easy.

Unless you have a family like mine. I was afraid TN might not be far enough.

[BirdieBelle]

Yes, I think you should try it. Life is so different when you have kids of your own. Then your parents will NEVER want you to be too far away.
But nowadays there are so many ways to keep in touch. GO FOR IT!

Even if it's not Nashville, just try something new while you only have the two of you to consider.

[46Barb]

Know if you move here away from family & friends, that it's going to take time to make the adjustment. We did the same thing almost 3 years ago. People told us it takes awhile to make new friends and settle into a new area. We do feel this is home now. We still miss family & friends but know this is a better place for us to live financially as well as for the friendly people. There's also a lot less stress down here and life not so rushed.

[MiddleTNresident]

It is much easier to adapt and be accepted if you move to a new area earlier in life. However, no matter what age, the job market is very sluggish here. I have been job hunting after a layoff for the past 1.5 years and only managed to get two temp jobs in that time that lasted about 2 months each. Of course, I am older, which does not help. You would think offices would love to have a young-looking but highly experienced professional secretary, primarily in entertainment companies, but Noooooo. Sometimes I think I am discriminated against because I am not a native born southerner complete with southern accent. No, I have twinges of my New Jersey accent remaining. Sigh.

[sickofsnowychi]

Originally Posted by Doug88

I want you guys to give me your opinion on this,

We are a young couple currently living in South Florida, for a while now we have been tired of it here and have wanted to move somewhere new. We fell in love with the Nashville area and think we want to start our life there.

The problem is we have both lived here our whole lives and all of our family and friends live down here. In your opinion is it better to move to a place where you prefer the climate, scenery, people, lower crime rate, better schools, cost of living, and general life style or to stay close to family and friends?

Basically it seems like everything would be better in TN besides family.

We are actually in the same situation. We live in the Chicago area and have many friends and family here. We also have 2 kids. But we are working on moving to Nashville (just need to sell our house first). Part of the reason we want to move is because we have kids. It will be hard for them to be away from their grandparents, but it is an 8 hour drive and a cheap and quick flight. And for us, Chicago is so expensive and we both have to work to afford to be here and we spend all our days hustling and chasing. Nashville will allow us to settle down a bit. I will be able to stay home with the kids for awhile. We also do have family in Nashville, Atlanta and Birmingham, so even though we are moving away from grandparents, we are moving closer to cousins that have young kids for our kids to grow up with. Everything is a trade off and an experience. We are tired of the cold winters and hectic schedule up here, so we are taking a gamble and trying something new. Best of luck to you with your decision!