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It's time to get out of here. Yep, more Floridians wanting/needing to flee. In our defense, hubby and I were both born and raised in northwest GA and have only been away from there for about 10.5 years. It's time for us to get back to the true South.
We have no desire to move back near our hometown for a variety of reasons. We'd love to go back to GA, but we're interested in the middle western part of the state and are finding land prices are out of our price range there. That has led us to start considering western SC and middle and western TN.
We don't desire to live in the mountains and are unfamiliar with the terrain of middle and western TN. We are seeking suggestions of small/smallish towns or counties that would be a good fit for us. We currently live in what's considered, by FL standards, a rural area. We are zoned agricultural and allowed to have as many "farm type" animals as we please (horses, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc.). We don't have any restrictions concerning things like clotheslines, work/commercial vehicles being parked on our property, etc. We want the same lifestyle when we move. We are seeking a minimum of 10 acres (20 or 30 is even better!) with no zoning restrictions and a community that is going to stay rural in the years to come (not get built up with tons of homes and subdivisions). We'd love to build a "green" home (energy efficient, incorporate some solar, use "green" materials, etc.), but that may present some challenges as we would need a place to live during construction and we have 3 dogs. We don't know how easy it would be to find something to rent that would allow them. Still, our search right now is focusing on land/acreage. We would also like to be able to find something that would allow our children to build homes for themselves on an acre or two of our land when they are grown.
We don't mind driving a bit to do our major shopping. We do need stores that carry organics within a reasonable driving distance (it looks as though Franklin in middle TN has a Wild Oats, a few Publix stores, and a Sam's Club so that would meet that need in that area of TN) and we would love to support local organic/natural farmers as well. We do intend to grow some of our own food, but know it will take time to get that established. We haven't had a chance to check www.localharvest.org for any such farms in TN yet.
Other important factors in our search:
* We homeschool so a homeschool friendly community is a plus and a good city/county library system is a must.
* Baptist churches nearby, especially one(s) with families and children in the congregation.
* A large enough sized town within a reasonable driving distance for hubby to find employment (he is a plumber and also installs, maintains, and repairs solar water heating systems).
* Location of hospitals, doctors, dentists, optometrists, etc. since we do have children.
Lots of homeschoolers. Lots of Baptist churches. Easy commute into Nashville, if necessary. Williamson Med Center right in Franklin. The Factory in Franklin is home to our Farmers Market, which is nearly 100% organic, and includes clean meats, chocolates, flowers, dairy products, etc.
What about the outskirts of Franklin though? Franklin is a much larger city than we are looking for. We don't mind it taking a 45 to 50 minute drive to get to Franklin.
What about the outskirts of Franklin though? Franklin is a much larger city than we are looking for. We don't mind it taking a 45 to 50 minute drive to get to Franklin.
Franklin is a beautiful city in a beautiful area. However, it's VERY pricey. I can't imagine how much you'd have to pay for 10+ acres. And I can't imagine that Williamson County's draconian zoning laws would allow things like commercial vehicles parked in your yard.
How about just east of Nashville? There's an organic farm between Nashville and Cookeville called Peaceful Pastures that delivers to Nashville, Lebanon, and Cookeville. Cookeville also has a small organic grocery store as well as Sam's Club and a large farmers market in the summer months. It's got a gigantic hospital (larger than Franklin's) and tons of Baptist churches. Rural Putnam County has no zoning, either, so you can do pretty much whatever you want on your property.
You'll find home school organizations all over the place. Many are umbrella organizations based at a church, but you don't need to go to that church to participate in the home school organization. I participated in such a group here in Knoxville, and I have friends in Cookeville who have done the same.
One other thing I forgot to mention. I'm unfamiliar with how much mining there still is in TN, but we are not interested in living near anything like that.
One other thing I forgot to mention. I'm unfamiliar with how much mining there still is in TN, but we are not interested in living near anything like that.
Yeah, that's the double-edged sword of no zoning. Sure, you can do whatever you want on your land, but so can your redneck neighbor. Like install a huge car graveyard right next door to your organic farm.
I would look for a county with zoning, and pay particular attention to buying a piece of property that has the zoning designation on it that you are interested in already. Like buying an agricultural property in the midst of many other ag properties. This way you have a better chance of remaining rural.
As for temp housing while building a dream house, just buy a place with an existing trailer. Live in trailer until house is complete, then sell/bulldoze/scrap the trailer. Problem solved.
The terrain of middle to west TN varies from river bottoms to rolling hills to steep, depending on where you want to locate. Land will be cheaper the farther away you are from things like organic groceries. Also, the more rural the county, the less opportunities you have for things like good libraries.
Baptist churches are literally on every street corner and every country road. You honestly can't get away from them.
I know that you say that you're not interested in mountains, but lots of people that like organic food and solar hot water systems are. That means that your chances for finding these things goes up significantly if you get nearer to them. Of course, land prices go up, too. But then I have no idea wha you're looking to spend.
Yeah, that's the double-edged sword of no zoning. Sure, you can do whatever you want on your land, but so can your redneck neighbor. Like install a huge car graveyard right next door to your organic farm.
I would look for a county with zoning, and pay particular attention to buying a piece of property that has the zoning designation on it that you are interested in already. Like buying an agricultural property in the midst of many other ag properties. This way you have a better chance of remaining rural.
As for temp housing while building a dream house, just buy a place with an existing trailer. Live in trailer until house is complete, then sell/bulldoze/scrap the trailer. Problem solved.
The terrain of middle to west TN varies from river bottoms to rolling hills to steep, depending on where you want to locate. Land will be cheaper the farther away you are from things like organic groceries. Also, the more rural the county, the less opportunities you have for things like good libraries.
Baptist churches are literally on every street corner and every country road. You honestly can't get away from them.
I know that you say that you're not interested in mountains, but lots of people that like organic food and solar hot water systems are. That means that your chances for finding these things goes up significantly if you get nearer to them. Of course, land prices go up, too. But then I have no idea wha you're looking to spend.
Here we go again. Just what's wrong with redneck neighbors?
But you're right, no zoning means that, in theory, your neighbor can put in a junk yard. But if you look around in places like Putnam County, you'd be hard pressed to find an instance where that's happened. The people of Putnam County aren't clamoring to have county-wide zoning, and there's a reason for that.
If you're looking for 10+ acres, you don't really need to worry about your neighbor having a dumpy trailer. And so what if they do? It doesn't make them a bad neighbor. Like I've said before, I'd rather live next to a kind person who lives in a dumpy trailer than an arrogant jerk in a McMansion.
Putnam County is not mountainous, but it has some parts that are very hilly. It's got a lot of "flat" (relative to hilly) areas, too. Same goes for White County, Overton County, Smith County.
But since you (eartheasy) don't mind a 30-minute drive to town, you can easily set up your farm in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee where others have done the same, including a rather large and delightful Mennonite community at Muddy Pond (which is also flat) in Overton County, just outside of Monterey. The regional farmers market in downtown Cookeville is packed during the summers. Cookeville has Sam's Club, a large hospital, 140+ doctors, several home school groups, and a population that for the most part values individual property rights.
Oh, and there are no mines in Putnam County, although there's a sand quarry near Monterey and a gravel quarry just east of Cookeville in Algood. There are some zinc mines in Smith County, ironically enough right underneath Al Gore's family farm. If you know anything abut zinc mines you'll know why I say it's ironic that the Gores are making money from it.
I see my mistatement now on saying "no zoning restrictions". You have to understand that FL (or at least FL that I am familiar with) is overwhelmingly "deed restricted" communities meaning that homeowner's associations dictate what you can and cannot do (i.e. no clotheslines, no commercial or work vehciles, etc.). Some towns even have such restrictions. As I said in my OP, we are currently zoned agricultural and can pretty much do as we please, although a car junkyard would definitely draw attention and be dealt with. We are looking for that same type zoning for whatever land we purchase - no restrictions on animals, work vehicles, etc. I could care less if my neighbor(s) live in mobile homes. To each his own. I'm much more concerned with being surrounded by good ole Southern folks that are friendly and will actually wave to you as you pass by or stop and chat with you for a while. Even though where we live now is considered rural, we are surrounded by some of the rudest and unfriendliest people I've ever been around.
One major concern with living in a trailer while building a home is tornadoes. Does middle Tennessee have high tornadic activity? I have to admit to being awfully gun-shy about such things since I do have a family to protect. Two hurricanes 3 weeks apart, tornadoes spawned from said hurricanes, and the horrid tornadoes of 1998, 2006, and just the other week will do such things to you.
I'll do some more investigating into Putnam county. Thanks for your help, JMT!
As far as what we're looking to pay for acreage - based on some things we've seen available on realty sites, roughly $1,000 to no more than $3,000 per acre.
Last edited by eartheasy; 02-13-2007 at 12:14 PM..
A lot of people from FL have moved to Columbia, TN -- it's SW of Nashville , (Middle TN) rolling hills. Also Lawrenceburg, which is south of Columbia is a nice area IMO. (Davy Crockett SP is a nice place to camp.) Lots of nearby small towns or rural areas (west of L'Burg are Waynesboro and Savannah, just to the east is Pulaski). You can easily get more info on these towns thru this website or just google the town in TN. Home prices are reasonable, particularly compared to FL. One person already said there are lots of Baptist churches, and that's true all over TN, so you should be able to find one to fit your family within a reasonable drive time. I'm not sure about organics on a year round basis, but in that area of TN there are usually a lot of Farmers Mkt. type places, or just people out on the roadside selling what they've grown.
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