Whats your overall take on Tennessee? Recon mission lines up with Jeep Invasion.

[4Runfun]

I have kid at University of Tennessee and Knoxville is a cool city. Definitely lots of medical nearby. Close to the Smokies - lots of outdoor activities.

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[Chocolate Thunder]

I just got home from my quarterly visits to Kentucky and Chattanooga. Seems like a nice place overall. Chattanooga is pretty and I saw Jeeps everywhere. The tech that runs our company’s facility there thinks I should forego flying next time and drive 12 hours in the keep so I can wheel a few days.

 

[Jtclayton612]

I live in Memphis and I really like that both the smokies and ozarks are 4-6 hours away either direction. I probably wouldn’t recommend anyone move here unless it’s for FedEx though. I still love my city though.

Nashville while currently growing still feels like it’s gone a bit downhill in the last 15 years or so. There’s definitely some new parts that have been built up with the influx of jobs and millennials but just like when I was a kid in Memphis it means some other areas are getting neglected/worse.

If I had to move to another city in Tennessee it would probably be Chattanooga, although it’s still a little on the small side for me as I prefer bigger cities/metro areas. The super close access to the smokies would be welcome though.

 

[JEEPIDON]

There's a growing chance that my wife and I will be leaving new york. We never fit in around here anyway. More country than city at heart. We have our sights zeroed in on Tennessee and I was interested in any and all comments about life in general down in the good ol south.

And don't worry about us. We're not at all those types of people that are looking to move somewhere and try to turn it into what we left. In fact, whenever we meet new people, they always think we're either from the south or the midwest.

I very much look forward to reading your thoughts and comments. Thanks all!

I moved from Garden City, Long Island to Forsyth, Mo (Branson) in 2010 and love it! Great people, friendly, much safer, people open carry down here and no one even gives it a glance! Crime is very low where I am, mostly domestic issues. I was born and brought up in upstate NY which now has turned into malls and NY state employment. I did find a few people that still speak English but not many. Felt like I was in a foreign country.

I wouldn't move back for any reason, expensive, stupid politics and unfriendly environment.

Make the move, you won't be sorry.

 

[Headbarcode]

I just got home from my quarterly visits to Kentucky and Chattanooga. Seems like a nice place overall. Chattanooga is pretty and I saw Jeeps everywhere. The tech that runs our company’s facility there thinks I should forego flying next time and drive 12 hours in the keep so I can wheel a few days.

It's also a 12 hr drive from long Island, and being able to test out the trails in my own Jeep is why I'm not flying down there.

 

[conFUcius]

Having briefly spent time in TN for work, I would choose Knoxville over Chattanooga and Bristol (never been to Memphis or Nashville). I’m also more of a ‘suburb’ kind of guy since there are pros/cons to both city and country living so it’s more of the middle ground to me. Not to mention, despite my incessant amount of politically incorrect jokes, I do enjoy diverse types of food and Knoxville probably has a better variety for the palette, especially since you’re coming from NY (assuming that’s your thing).

Coincidentally enough, the gentleman sitting next to me on my flight from Knoxville to LGA was from Binghamton and is looking to move to the Knoxville area.

 

[Whaler27]

There's a growing chance that my wife and I will be leaving new york. We never fit in around here anyway. More country than city at heart. We have our sights zeroed in on Tennessee and I was interested in any and all comments about life in general down in the good ol south.

And don't worry about us. We're not at all those types of people that are looking to move somewhere and try to turn it into what we left. In fact, whenever we meet new people, they always think we're either from the south or the midwest.

I very much look forward to reading your thoughts and comments. Thanks all!

There’s a lot to love about TN. The problem is Americans have become more mobile over the last generation, and COVID has accelerated that mobility by making it possible for many people to work remotely. The net result is the erosion of all the wonderful regional cultural differences we used to have.

When I was a kid, southern accents dominated Florida, except Miami, and the people-watching while wandering around the old Denver airport looked completely different from the people-watching in the Atlanta or New York airports. When you got off the plane you felt the cultural differences immediately. Now only the artwork is different.

Today, less than half of Oregon’s population has lived here 15 years or more. In the areas with access to better medical and cultural services, like Portland, Eugene, and Bend, that’s true at 10 years. In my lifetime the state has gone from a robust timber economy with no traffic, little crime, fantastic hunting and fishing, affordable housing, and political alignment with Texas, to a volatile economy, terrible crime and traffic, expensive housing, lousy hunting and fishing, and politics well left of Berkeley California.

Tennessee has already changed a LOT over the last ten years, and that’s going to continue, with the fastest rate of change being within 40 minutes of Nashville.

I suggest shopping for the climate you prefer, as opposed to the culture and “feel” you prefer, because the less populous rural areas can be overwhelmed and transformed overnight by massive immigration from the more crowded states. I’ve seen it happen to Florida, Colorado, and Oregon, none of which bear any resemblance to their 1975 selves.

 

[Headbarcode]

Having briefly spent time in TN for work, I would choose Knoxville over Chattanooga and Bristol (never been to Memphis or Nashville). I’m also more of a ‘suburb’ kind of guy since there are pros/cons to both city and country living so it’s more of the middle ground to me. Not to mention, despite my incessant amount of politically incorrect jokes, I do enjoy diverse types of food and Knoxville probably has a better variety for the palette, especially since you’re coming from NY (assuming that’s your thing).

Coincidentally enough, the gentleman sitting next to me on my flight from Knoxville to LGA was from Binghamton and is looking to move to the Knoxville area.

Yeah, we are the same as far as leaning towards the suburbs at this time of our lives. I'm 42 and the Mrs is 34, so still have to work. Being in that middle ground keeps us close to the money of the bigger areas, but still quiet enough during the off hours and not too long of a commute.

Thanks for chiming in!

 

[Headbarcode]

There’s a lot to love about TN. The problem is Americans have become more mobile over the last generation, and COVID has accelerated that mobility by making it possible for many people to work remotely. The net result is the erosion of all the wonderful regional cultural differences we used to have.

When I was a kid, southern accents dominated Florida, except Miami, and the people-watching while wandering around the old Denver airport looked completely different from the people-watching in the Atlanta or New York airports. When you got off the plane you felt the cultural differences immediately. Now only the artwork is different.

Today, less than half of Oregon’s population has lived here 15 years or more. In the areas with access to better medical and cultural services, like Portland, Eugene, and Bend, that’s true at 10 years. In my lifetime the state has gone from a robust timber economy with no traffic, little crime, fantastic hunting and fishing, affordable housing, and political alignment with Texas, to a volatile economy, terrible crime and traffic, expensive housing, lousy hunting and fishing, and politics well left of Berkeley California.

Tennessee has already changed a LOT over the last ten years, and that’s going to continue, with the fastest rate of change being within 40 minutes of Nashville.

I suggest shopping for the climate you prefer, as opposed to the culture and “feel” you prefer, because the less populous rural areas can be overwhelmed and transformed overnight by massive immigration from the more crowded states. I’ve seen it happen to Florida, Colorado, and Oregon, none of which bear any resemblance to their 1975 selves.

I fully agree with the ever increasing "blend" that is happening. I've yet to have seen most of this beautiful country, but have revisited southern states like Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas over the years. My only western experience is 2 longer vacations to Colorado in 2002 and 2017.

Although gorgeous country, Colorado is being changed by those who are moving in and bringing their home states politics with them. Not to go into details and get myself banned, but it chasing the company Magpul away is not a great sign. I personally felt a very different vibe during my 2nd visit there.

As for southern Florida, it was mostly filled with new Yorkers and foreign gang members/refugees back 25 years ago and Miami was a no go zone for certain people after the sun went down.

In 2016, we honeymooned in Savanah Georgia. It was just weeks after a major hurricane that caused a lot of property damage and downed trees, especially in Forsyth Park. Still, the people were far more friendly and welcoming than what we're used to in ny.

There's still a noticeable difference in the people in various regions, but yeah, eventually the only indicators will be the geography and local plant and tree life.

 

[Whaler27]

Our family was Floridian from the early 1900s. My great aunt was an avid sportfishing enthusiast in the keys in the 1920s. By the 1930s Miami was basically Brooklyn New York, but that was the only part of the state where that was true, and ten miles outside Miami and you were back in Florida.

Orlando was orange country in the 1960s and 70s. Oranges, and nothing but oranges, as far as you could see. My grandpa had 100 acres of oranges near there and the land was incredibly cheap. Of course that was years before the arrival of Disney… In the 60s we watched my uncle race his Challenger on the beach near Daytona, as we could walk for miles without seeing anybody on the beach in the early morning, I can’t begin to describe how different, and how wonderful it was. Laid back, southern manners, no crime, no traffic, incredible fishing, diving, spear fishing, and lobstering, and we could drive our Jeeps on the beaches almost everywhere.

I moved to Oregon when I was 17 and didn’t return to central Florida for almost 30 years. Then I went to a training on Marcos Island in 2004. I flew into Tampa, rented a car, and spent a week — and I didn’t hear a single southern accent anywhere until I returned the rental car. A kid working at the gas station was a native from our part of the state. The southern culture, food, and manners had been completely erased, along with all of the beautiful wilderness and open beaches. It felt like New York, but warmer. The predominant accents were New York and New Jersey, with a smattering of midwest mixed in. The loss of my childhood playground made me incredibly sad. I can’t go back there again.

 

[Headbarcode]

Our family was Floridian from the early 1900s. My great aunt was an avid sportfishing enthusiast in the keys in the 1920s. By the 1930s Miami was basically Brooklyn New York, but that was the only part of the state where that was true, and ten miles outside Miami and you were back in Florida.

Orlando was orange country in the 1960s and 70s. Oranges, and nothing but oranges, as far as you could see. My grandpa had 100 acres of oranges near there and the land was incredibly cheap. Of course that was years before the arrival of Disney… In the 60s we watched my uncle race his Challenger on the beach near Daytona, as we could walk for miles without seeing anybody on the beach in the early morning, I can’t begin to describe how different, and how wonderful it was. Laid back, southern manners, no crime, no traffic, incredible fishing, diving, spear fishing, and lobstering, and we could drive our Jeeps on the beaches almost everywhere.

I moved to Oregon when I was 17 and didn’t return to central Florida for almost 30 years. Then I went to a training on Marcos Island in 2004. I flew into Tampa, rented a car, and spent a week — and I didn’t hear a single southern accent anywhere until I returned the rental car. A kid working at the gas station was a native from our part of the state. The southern culture, food, and manners had been completely erased, along with all of the beautiful wilderness and open beaches. It felt like New York, but warmer. The predominant accents were New York and New Jersey, with a smattering of midwest mixed in. The loss of my childhood playground made me incredibly sad. I can’t go back there again.

My single mother moved us down there in 1995, because her family kept talking about how great it was. I was almost 15 at the time. We stayed with her brother and his family for about 6 months in Fort Lauderdale. It was beautiful and regularly going with my uncle on the boat in the everglades to bass fish was lots of fun.

The neighborhood, on the other hand, was loaded with Haitian and Cuban gangs along with the bloods and crips. During the day was okay, as long as certain neighborhoods were avoided, but it was best to stay close to home when the sun went down. Working for my uncle in his side business of commercial ceiling cleaning is when I found out that the same sunlight rule went for Miami as well.

To not out stay our welcome and my mother's hopes for better job prospects, we spent the next 6 months with my grandmother in Coral Springs. It was nowhere near as filled with gangs, and the area was rapidly expanding at that point. It was mostly cattle pastures that were slowly being sold off to the town, but new Yorkers and their mentality were flocking in by the droves. The end result was the cost of living chasing up on that of NY, but wages not following suit. We ended up coming back to NY, mainly because it's both what we knew and where the other side of the family was. I haven't stepped foot in Florida since we left in 1996.

In recent years, my wife has been visiting northwestern Florida with her brother and his family, who live in Tennessee, but regularly rent a house in St Augustine. She seems to love it there, but I've never gone with because of my busy season at work. She knows I wouldn't want to move that far south though, as I'm a human heater to begin with. That's where Tennessee comes into play. South but not too south.

 

[ogo]

I grew up in Western NY, just south of Buffalo. When I was old enough (but still not smart enough) I joined the Army, got out, was back in NY for school and then found myself in Indiana.
Naptown..or as the locals know it as Indianapolis was not bad, but also not totally my cup of tea, but I wasn't bothered enough to move (had a good job, lived in a decent neighborhood).

Eventually I landed a job down here in NC and have been happy with it ever since. Warm enough but not overly bad while still being chilly enough in the winter to warrant pants and a sweatshirt

Close enough to just about everything I would currently want to hit in a weekend or long weekend trip when I get my jeep

I think TN would be a close runner up though if I were looking to move.

 

[Whaler27]

My single mother moved us down there in 1995, because her family kept talking about how great it was. I was almost 15 at the time. We stayed with her brother and his family for about 6 months in Fort Lauderdale. It was beautiful and regularly going with my uncle on the boat in the everglades to bass fish was lots of fun.

The neighborhood, on the other hand, was loaded with Haitian and Cuban gangs along with the bloods and crips. During the day was okay, as long as certain neighborhoods were avoided, but it was best to stay close to home when the sun went down. Working for my uncle in his side business of commercial ceiling cleaning is when I found out that the same sunlight rule went for Miami as well.

To not out stay our welcome and my mother's hopes for better job prospects, we spent the next 6 months with my grandmother in Coral Springs. It was nowhere near as filled with gangs, and the area was rapidly expanding at that point. It was mostly cattle pastures that were slowly being sold off to the town, but new Yorkers and their mentality were flocking in by the droves. The end result was the cost of living chasing up on that of NY, but wages not following suit. We ended up coming back to NY, mainly because it's both what we knew and where the other side of the family was. I haven't stepped foot in Florida since we left in 1996.

In recent years, my wife has been visiting northwestern Florida with her brother and his family, who live in Tennessee, but regularly rent a house in St Augustine. She seems to love it there, but I've never gone with because of my busy season at work. She knows I wouldn't want to move that far south though, as I'm a human heater to begin with. That's where Tennessee comes into play. South but not too south.

First, single parents deserve an award of some kind. Kudos to your mom for pulling it off. I was blessed with an amazing wife who carried 80% of the work and made me look half-decent carrying my 20% of the easy stuff.

We’ve always said the further you go north in Florida the farther south you get. In my youth most of Miami was comparatively safe when compared with the bad areas of New York, Chicago, or LA, but that all changed in the early 80s with the arrival of the crack cocaine era, gang proliferation, and several other large cultural shifts. I‘ve spent almost no time there since the 70s, but I’ve worked with Florida law enforcement folks, and my impression is that Florida is like much of the rest of the country: the big city problems have gotten much worse over the last few years, for obvious reasons, and the crime penetrates the suburbs more deeply and routinely.

My retirement plan is to find a climate I like, politics I can tolerate, and access to beautiful public wilderness — and then shoot for a small community within 90 to 120 minutes of a decent sized airport, but not closer than 60 minutes. If you get too close to areas with robust “services” there are problems. I also need a state that funds public safety, because police and fire presence will matter more as I age.

 

[Headbarcode]

First, single parents deserve an award of some kind. Kudos to your mom for pulling it off. I was blessed with an amazing wife who carried 80% of the work and made me look half-decent carrying my 20% of the easy stuff.

We’ve always said the further you go north in Florida the farther south you get. In my youth most of Miami was comparatively safe when compared with the bad areas of New York, Chicago, or LA, but that all changed in the early 80s with the arrival of the crack cocaine era, gang proliferation, and several other large cultural shifts. I‘ve spent almost no time there since the 70s, but I’ve worked with Florida law enforcement folks, and my impression is that Florida is like much of the rest of the country: the big city problems have gotten much worse over the last few years, for obvious reasons, and the crime penetrates the suburbs more deeply and routinely.

My retirement plan is to find a climate I like, politics I can tolerate, and access to beautiful public wilderness — and then shoot for a small community within 90 to 120 minutes of a decent sized airport, but not closer than 60 minutes. If you get too close to areas with robust “services” there are problems. I also need a state that funds public safety, because police and fire presence will matter more as I age.

I didn't at all mean to come across as knocking my mom. I was trying to give a quick run through without getting long-winded and boring everyone with details of my life. That might've poorly portrayed things. The reality is that I've always felt lucky to have my mom. She's always been a great and strong woman. Life has thrown some extraordinary situations our way, and she pinched a tear or two at first, but was always quick to buckle down and get a hold of things.

And I can relate with being very fortunate to have a wonderful wife. The company that I've been running and was on the verge of taking over is being threatened by the township. Again, I won't bore anyone with the details, but if they don't pull head from ass soon, than I won't have enough material to run a full season next year. At this stage of my life, I may not have enough years to reinvent myself and work up to my current pay scale. Without hesitation, my wife started telling me that she has zero problem with covering the lions share of things. She immediately started researching locations that an ICU RN's salary could possibly be stretched further than in NY, or at the least be an overall better place to live.

 

[Whaler27]

I didn't at all mean to come across as knocking my mom. I was trying to give a quick run through without getting long-winded and boring everyone with details of my life. That might've poorly portrayed things. The reality is that I've always felt lucky to have my mom. She's always been a great and strong woman. Life has thrown some extraordinary situations our way, and she pinched a tear or two at first, but was always quick to buckle down and get a hold of things.

And I can relate with being very fortunate to have a wonderful wife. The company that I've been running and was on the verge of taking over is being threatened by the township. Again, I won't bore anyone with the details, but if they don't pull head from ass soon, than I won't have enough material to run a full season next year. At this stage of my life, I may not have enough years to reinvent myself and work up to my current pay scale. Without hesitation, my wife started telling me that she has zero problem with covering the lions share of things. She immediately started researching locations that an ICU RN's salary could possibly be stretched further than in NY, or at the least be an overall better place to live.

I get it -- and I didn't think you were being critical of your mom. I was just recognizing her accomplishment.. Single parenting is tough.

Nurses are in demand everywhere, so you guys can write your own ticket. Oregon's medical care turned to crap after Obamacare was implemented, which is about the time we started needing it more. Let us know where you land and how medical care works there. Maybe we'll join you.

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