What can you guys tell me about your state? My girlfriend wants me to move down there with her... she's not sure where work will take her, but somewhere in Tennessee or maybe Kentucky. I'm born and raised in farmland in Delaware, but its building up faster than $%#, and gotta get out of here- so a slower pace of life is the way I wanna go. Any recommedations... sorry I'm being kinda vague on the question... just trying to get some honest opinions... i.e. do you hate it there and are getting ready to hop the next train out of there... or do you love it and wouldn't give it up for the world? Thanks guys!

 

I live in the Northeast corner of TN in the Tri-cities area(Johnson City-Bristol-Kingsport). Overall it isn't bad. Not a boat load of things to do around here but still not bad. Gatlinberg is an hour and a half drive and the ski resorts in NC aren't too far away either. Crime isn't bad around here. Lots of lakes to boat or fish on. Many historical sites and parks. If you want small towns, there are plenty in the area within a 15 minute drive from the cities.

It's nice to get away once in awhile, but even better to get back home.

Edit: Almost forgot...we have Nascar's fastest half mile track and a 1/4 mile dragstrip that hosts an NHRA race every year.

 

The hands down best thing here is no state income tax. I moved here from Kentucky 4 yrs ago for a job. Kentucky has a 6% income tax, so it was like an instant 6% raise...you simply take home more of your check.

Sales tax is higher, 9.5% (vs. 6% in KY) right now...they raised it a penny last year during a budget crunch, but the alternative was the income tax so I consider us lucky to have fought it off. Once you get an income tax you ain't going to get rid of it.

Some people will say it evens out, but the income tax is right off the top, 6% of your total gross income, the sales tax only applies to purchases. It would only be equal or more if you spent every dime of your income on taxable goods. Basically if you are making $30,000, the lack of an income tax saves you $1800/yr.

Other than that, both states have much lower total tax burdens than northern states when you add up sales taxes, income taxes, property taxes, occupational taxes, etc. etc. etc.

Obviously the climate is an advantage. Its warmer down here but you still get a visible change between the seasons, but winter isn't as cold as up north, which I like

There are a few more large cities in TN than KY, which is going to make it easier to find a good job in a given field. In Kentucky the prime markets would be Louisville, Lexington and the Northern KY area across the river from Cincy. I am from Owensboro, KY, which is technically KY's 3rd largest city but at only 55,000 its really not that big and the professional career opportunites there are slim. Bowling Green KY is a great town, I went to college there, and although its a tad smaller than Owensboro, its only about 50 minutes from Nashville and is growing very fast (plus there's a 1/4 mile dragstrip there ).

In TN you have more choicies. You have Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville as the three biggies. There is also the Tri-cities area of Bristol-Johnson Ciy-Kingsport which is fairly large, and Chattanooga which is about the same size as Lexington KY, and then you have Clarksville and Jackson as sort of mid-sized cities.

I think you'll find Nashville has the fastest growing and most diverse economy. Its also the capitol. Memphis has been sort of stagnant for decades but there's lots of touristy stuff there, and Knoxville has a reputation for being sort of dirty (maybe some of the east TN guys can debunk or verify that stereotype)--but I still think its a good town. Chattanooga had massive air quality problems in the 80s but not only have they cleaned up the town they have revitalized the downtown and its a great place to spend a long weekend IMO.

There's my Mid-South in a nutshell review.

 

Almost forgot. I LOVE it here. Hendersonville is about 20 min. from downtown Nashville, so we are in Nashville a lot and I have enjoyed the things we have to do here and really feel at home in Tennessee.

 

I'm a TN homeboy and love it here. I live about 30 miles east of Knoxville and I like it. It's a small little town, but I like it. Seems kinda Mayberryish! The economy isn't doing very well right now, but it isn't anywhere. Nice thing about East TN is there are alot of lakes to enjoy in the summer, the mountains are always close by and in the fall there is UT football! Gotta take in a UT game couple of times a year. It's a major thing around here. The size of the crowd (108,000) should show you that. The schools are probably not as good as what there is up north. Not sure if you have kids or not, this maybe a concern. If you're looking for a slower pace, you should be able to find that pretty easy! Just find a small little town and relax!!! Come on down!

 

Oh yeah, here are some car related TN websites :


Mostly East TN guys are at:
http://www.highperformancetoys.com/forum/index.php


Mostly Middle TN guys are at:
http://www.tennesspeed.net/

I'm sure there are more, but those are the two I know of.

 

Don't forget the two TN f-body clubs

West TN F-Body Association, www.wtfba.org

Middle TN F-Body Association, www.mtfba.org

and in KY you have F-Bodies Unlimited, a statewide club, www.kyfu.org

 

Red, Chris, and Dax: thanks for your replies guys, I really appreciate it! Anyone else feel free to chime in too! As many thoughts as I can get!
I was gonna ask about the schools... I don't have kids, but most likely will have some one day... so that is a concern. How are the schools not as good? Are they safe?
Guess that is my other question... how safe is it down there? Can you leave your car unlocked when you run into the store or do you have to lock it up, turn on the alarm, and put the club on your steering wheel? I'm guessing it differs greatly depending on where you are in the state... and I'm sure a small town is much safer than a city... but overall? I would just like to live somewhere that I can let my kids play in the yard and take a bikeride down the street without having to worry they are gonna get kidnapped or something like that.
The lakes and everything sounds mighty nice as that is my real passion... bass fishing. Cars are a close second... I just love to fish! I hear the hunting is great down there too.

 

Yes, the hunting is great down here. Please move here and hunt dear so they will quit jumping across the road in front of me every week. Seriously, I hit a deer last year in Mountain City and the officer said they average over 5 deer and a bear every week being run over. I saw 12 deer standing in a field last month.

The schools are not bad at all for safety. The one I went to, there were the usual handful of kids that do drugs and you'd see a fight once in a while, but no guns or knives or whatever. As for education, I guess it all depends on which one you go to. I've heard my high school has improved drasticly since I graduated. There's a decent university in Johnson City (East TN State) and a few community colleges too. UT is in Knoxville of course. But yeah, you can let the kids play in the yard no problems.

Also, I know many people that leave their keys in their cars in the small towns, but I wouldn't even think about it in Johnson City, Bristol, etc.... Someone's car gets stolen that way and reported on the news every so often.

Also, forgot to mention, you can make it from any of the 3 big cities to another one in less than 30 minutes. And as stated earlier, the cost of living in Tn is much less than most places. Bass fishing! They have fishing tournaments on the lakes in the summer if you have a boat. Tons of rivers to fish in too.

 

The schools are pretty good. There is a reputation for them being bad from an education standpoint, but it really depends on where you are. The suburban schools in both states are almost all very good (wealthy residents mean good property tax revenues to fund the schools) The urban schools in the bigger cities are hit and miss, just depends on what part of town you're in. Most of the rural schools are competent but not outstanding.

 

What's the weather like? I did a little research and it doesn't seem like your summers are much hotter than here in DE... just a few degrees warmer on average. Is it really humid during the summer? Humidity sucks! Do you get much snow? I must say that I really like 4 definite seasons... by the time summer is almost over I'm ready for winter, and the same when winter has been around for a while, warm weather where are you???!!!! That is why I KNOW I could never live in the deep south. I need some kind of winter!

 

When I talked about schools, I was comparing them with schools up north. Probably not as good. Not bad, but not as good. It's all relative. I went to school in a rural county, and it was a pretty good school. Only one high school in the whole county, but it was a big school.

As far as safety, they schools are safe here. Like stated above, the usual stuff, but not too bad.

Bass fishing is good here. You won't catch the monster bass like in Florida or Texas, but they're the good eating size! I live on Douglas Lake. It is famous for it's crappie fishing, but there is alot of bass fishing here as well.

I never lock my cars at home, but I bring the keys inside! When I go to Knoxville, I usually lock my car. Sometimes I forget, but I usually do. If I stop in a store around here, I don't lock it unless I got something in the car, like tools, in plain sight.

We have 4 seasons here most of the time. Sometimes it seems we go straight from winter to summer, but that's only some years. We don't get alot of snow, but this year we've had several snows and I think one more is on the way tonight! The summers are somewhat humid, but not Florida or Louisiana humid. The falls here are awesome. The trees are beautiful and it's also football time in Tennessee!

Come on down, I'm sure you'll like it!