Middle ager moving from California to area, advice requested (Murfreesboro: transplants, foreclosure)

[AintDownHome]

After living on the West Coast all my life, a welcome change is gonna come for this middle ager, and that change is calling me to Tennessee. Quite frankly, I can't get there soon enough. I have so many questions; if anyone has advice, I'd sure be grateful:
1. I'm looking for a rural residential area with a great "downtown" main street area like Franklin, TN. I'm concerned that Franklin may be too expensive for me, however.
2. I absolutely love the rolling hills and plan to have at least one acre (preferably 5) for hobby farming (organic).
3. I would like to find an area where ground water is plentiful, or a continually running stream ... and I love a good community farmer's market on the weekends.
4. I was hoping to live within about an hour or hour and a half of Nashville. What do you think of Murfreesboro? How about Henderson?
5. Perhaps there are particular areas where the soil is "better" for gardening? This will be the home I plan to grow old in .... gardening by day, with movies, community theater, street fairs, live music and quaint restaurants by night. Church on Sunday to keep me well balanced and when I die, they'll find me in my garden with carrots in one hand and radishes in the other, and a smile on my face.

Looking forward to hearing your advice of some nice small towns that have good "downtowns" similar to Franklin. (Thanks kindly)

[moving123]

Check out Winchester TN. About an hour south of Nashville. Not near as big as Franklin but has all the things you mention.

[CountryGirl2b=]

Wow, can't beat those prices!

Friends of mine across the street recently bought 7 acres in Thompsons Station and are building a house. I think they said it was $20,000 an acre. Don't think there's much of a downtown but lovely little downtown Franklin is a 10 mile straight shot up 31 (Google maps say 20 minutes).

Sounds like a great life . . . what made you choose the Nashville area????

[JMT]

Originally Posted by AintDownHome

After living on the West Coast all my life, a welcome change is gonna come for this middle ager, and that change is calling me to Tennessee. Quite frankly, I can't get there soon enough. I have so many questions; if anyone has advice, I'd sure be grateful:
1. I'm looking for a rural residential area with a great "downtown" main street area like Franklin, TN. I'm concerned that Franklin may be too expensive for me, however.
2. I absolutely love the rolling hills and plan to have at least one acre (preferably 5) for hobby farming (organic).
3. I would like to find an area where ground water is plentiful, or a continually running stream ... and I love a good community farmer's market on the weekends.
4. I was hoping to live within about an hour or hour and a half of Nashville. What do you think of Murfreesboro? How about Henderson?
5. Perhaps there are particular areas where the soil is "better" for gardening? This will be the home I plan to grow old in .... gardening by day, with movies, community theater, street fairs, live music and quaint restaurants by night. Church on Sunday to keep me well balanced and when I die, they'll find me in my garden with carrots in one hand and radishes in the other, and a smile on my face.

Looking forward to hearing your advice of some nice small towns that have good "downtowns" similar to Franklin. (Thanks kindly)

Check out Cookeville, a small town of 30,000 an hour and a half east of downtown Nashville (a smidgen over an hour from the Nashville airport). A true Main Street Community with a thriving, very walkable downtown with things such as a busy farmers market, museums (children's museum, historic museum, railroad museum), shopping, restaurants, cafés, art galleries, parks, and the Cookeville Performing Arts Center which includes a large outdoor performance pavilion as well as a small but state-of-the-art performance hall.

The Cookeville Performing Arts Center has one of the most active community theater groups in the Southeast and has won many awards from the Tennessee Theatre Association including last year's awards for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Director, and Outstanding Actress. Another community theater in town, the Wesley Arena Theatre, won last year's Outstanding Actor award.

The Dogwood Park Outdoor Performance Pavilion just behind CPAC is home to Shakespeare in the Park, Sundays in the Park Concert Series, Cookeville Community Concert Band, and summer evening concerts with the symphony. The historic Depot Museum also hosts free brown bag lunch concert series.

A few blocks away is the Bryan Fine Arts Center on the campus of Tennessee Tech University which hosts the Bryan Symphony Orchestra as well as other concerts and recitals. Additional theater groups perform in other venues on campus.

Cookeville is a popular retirement area in part because of the university (which is the case with many college towns across the country). TTU is not a party school by any stretch of the imagination, and you can take advantage of things such as lecture series, art exhibitions, NCAA sports, plays, live music, and even take classes just for the fun of it. Nearby is the Appalachian Center for Craft, also run by TTU, which offers weekend or one-week classes in such things as decorative ironwork, making stained glass, ceramics, pottery using local materials, rugmaking, handmade papermaking, etc. Here's their catalog for this year:

http://www.tntech.edu/files/craftcen...e_V7_FINAL.pdf

The area around Cookeville is gorgeous: green, rolling hills with large and small farms, waterfalls, and large lakes.

Land is considerably cheaper in the Cookeville area than in the Nashville area, particularly if you look in some of the more rural surrouding areas such as Jackson, Overton, and White counties.

Some other links for you:

Cookeville Performing Arts Center:
Cookeville Performing Arts Center - Cookeville Performing Arts Center

Dogwood Park Performance Pavilion:
Cookeville Performing Arts Center - Dogwood Performance Pavilion

Bryan Fine Arts Center:
Music and Art | Tennessee Tech University (http://www.tntech.edu/musicandart/home/ - broken link)

Wesey Arena Theatre:
Welcome to the Wesley Arena Theatre Stage! (http://www.wesleyarenatheatre.org/WAT/Home.html - broken link)

Downtown Cookeville:
Cookeville, TN | Historic Downtown Revitalization | Main Street Program | Cookeville CityScape

[to570717]

Originally Posted by AintDownHome

After living on the West Coast all my life, a welcome change is gonna come for this middle ager, and that change is calling me to Tennessee. Quite frankly, I can't get there soon enough. I have so many questions; if anyone has advice, I'd sure be grateful:
1. I'm looking for a rural residential area with a great "downtown" main street area like Franklin, TN. I'm concerned that Franklin may be too expensive for me, however.
2. I absolutely love the rolling hills and plan to have at least one acre (preferably 5) for hobby farming (organic).
3. I would like to find an area where ground water is plentiful, or a continually running stream ... and I love a good community farmer's market on the weekends.
4. I was hoping to live within about an hour or hour and a half of Nashville. What do you think of Murfreesboro? How about Henderson?
5. Perhaps there are particular areas where the soil is "better" for gardening? This will be the home I plan to grow old in .... gardening by day, with movies, community theater, street fairs, live music and quaint restaurants by night. Church on Sunday to keep me well balanced and when I die, they'll find me in my garden with carrots in one hand and radishes in the other, and a smile on my face.

Looking forward to hearing your advice of some nice small towns that have good "downtowns" similar to Franklin. (Thanks kindly)

Have you taken a look at Leipers Fork?

[AintDownHome]

Brand new on this forum, I'm not sure if I'm replying to all of you or just to countrygirl2b ... But thank you, all, for the replies! In answer to the question "what brings us to the Nashville area," I'd like to give you the honest answer (not being maudlin, here): I lost my home in foreclosure a year and a half ago. As I sat on top of the moving boxes looking out at my ocean view, mulling it all over in my mind, I thought, "Okay, Girl, you've hit the bottom ... lost it all .... fought like heck (working two jobs) to make a monthly house payment in the "thousands" and all the while have been surrounded by neighbors that don't know your name and you don't know theirs (everyone working so many hours to make ends meet). Now you have the freedom to go out and find that place in the world that feels more like the "America" you grew up in ... rolling hills, horses, small towns, independently owned businesses, Christmas carrolling, small town folk that you share a common bond with .. that stop and talk on the sidewalk in passing ... and best of all, a house that fits your budget!" I started doing my homework that day, and for over a year now, all of my "homework" and "soul searching" brings me straight to Tennessee. In fact, I'll be visiting there within a matter of weeks. I will go to each of the towns that were suggested to me here on this forum, and I sure appreciate all the good advice. Life is a lot of work and a little bit of play on the side, and when it's time to play, I want to be in the company of people that I share a cultural bond with. It's family and people that make life wonderful, not an ocean view or the nicest house on the block ... and I can't wait to start living again

[CountryGirl2b=]

I watch HGTV and am always stunned by how much one has to spend to own a house in California. My aunt lives in Pebble Beach, but houses in Palo Alto (Silicon Valley) now cost more than freakin' Pebble Beach. Supply and Demand. There just aren't that many houses with a view of the ocean!

Here you'll have to drive about 6 hours for a view of the Gulf, but I'm betting with working 2 jobs and commuting in all the traffic, you didn't get to enjoy the view much anyway.

What other cities/areas were in the running???

[Edmund_Burke]

Originally Posted by CountryGirl2b=

Ignore that last post, please . . . .

I watch HGTV and am always stunned by how much one has to spend to own a house in California. My aunt lives in Pebble Beach, but houses in Palo Alto (Silicon Valley) now cost more than freakin' Pebble Beach. Supply and Demand. There just aren't that many houses with a view of the ocean!

Here you'll have to drive about 6 hours for a view of the Gulf, but I'm betting with working 2 jobs and commuting in all the traffic, you didn't get to enjoy the view much anyway.

What other cities/areas were in the running???

House/land regulations play a role. Compare Cali to Texas and its surreal. "housing boom and bust" is a great read.

[BirdieBelle]

If you don't want a house payment in the thousands, I would avoid all of (southern) Middle TN. Leiper's Fork land is even more expensive than Franklin as well.

I second the Winchester recommendation.

A caveat: When people idealize small town life, they forget that most places that are quaint AND affordable also tend to have fewer people who have moved there from elsewhere. They are as yet undiscovered.

Not saying it won't be friendly; it's just that in my experience, the places that have what you describe but also have lots of transplants looking for Mayberry have been overpriced by that same demand.

If you are friendly and have realistic expectations, you should have no problem.

[CountryGirl2b=]

Thomas Sowell?? I LOVE his stuff. He's great at explaining things and has such an understandable writing style (not like William F. Buckley!). Thanks! I'll get it!!! He has a great explanation for why rent control is NOT a good idea . . never looked at it that way.