Where in Tennessee should I possibly retire to?

So my PD sent out a list of all 50 states sales taxes (if applicable), if pensions are taxed, social security taxed, etc. and we are thinking about retiring to TN in about ten years. Yes, I know that's a bit far off yet, but since we don't really know anyone down there, or have working knowledge of the different areas; starting next year we are going to try and scout out a few cites/towns each year so we can be informed. TN is attractive as its a red state, not too far from IN (where I live now) , pensions aren't taxed and trying to get away from the brutal winters.
So far just from looking on the net, I like the burb's south of Nashville; Spring Hill, Franklin and she wants to possibly be closer to Knoxville. We want to be in a mid sized city/town (maybe 20K-90K people) +/-, that is close to amenities; hospitals, shopping etc., without having to travel 30 mins to get to civilization. Also areas with a Mopar club close by would be a plus! Figured I'd ask here since we have folks down south. Really don't want to be super close to high crime areas; As an LEO I know crime is everywhere, but right now, I live about 20 mins from Gary, IN. and I'm about fed up with the shenanigans that emanate from that area. Any recommendation on towns we should look at would be appreciated!

Knoxville and Chattanooga would be high on my list. You might look north and east of Memphis, Germantown and Collierville on the east, Mumford and Atoka to the north, mebbe Jackson? To me Nashville is a metromess (like D/FW) that's growing like a weed. What was nearby and rural / small won't be for long I think.

Thank you! Will add to the list and check them out.

If you or your wife have Facebook, there are a couple of groups on there regarding relocating. Individuals as well as relators providing info.

(if you don't do facebook, just ignore my post).

Try to make it to Moparty next year in Bowling Green, KY. It’s just a little north of Nashville so it’s a good opportunity to check out the area.
I know some people who’ve moved to Nashville, and some natives. The traffic is getting bad there from everyone moving there I hear.

Yes we are both very much on FaceBook. Thanks for the heads up! I'll search those groups!

That's not a bad idea Brad, but don't wanna leave the car unattended while I'm out and about. We plan on taking trips down 3-4 days at a time to scout out areas.

OK....here's a group regarding East Tennessee. I follow them out of curiosity as I love Gatlinburg. >>>> EastTennessee Linky (its a 'private' group. You should be able to see the posts, just not comment).

Good luck!

I've been thinking the same - even started looking at homes near Chatanooga. One of my buddies & his family moved there a little over a year ago - his wife had a job transfer that necessitated they move there. They love it so far, & I've been keeping an eye on their weather there. WAY more mild than Michigan - I think I could handle that climate much better than here. Only thing keeping us here now is friends that we would hate to leave. My family now consists of a brother in PA. My wife has sisters left here now, but I think she could move away.

Anyway, to our TN. members here, what do y'all think about Chatanooga area?

My wife and I had friends that moved from frozen,Iowa To the Eddyville Ky. area. Lovely country! Unfortunately,my friend passed away a few years ago. His wife and kids still live iin the area.

Nice area to look at is the Dandridge area ... just east of Knoxville.

Thank you! Will add that to the wife's list for Knoxville area.

Much of that city is on Douglas Lake !

And near Sevierville .. LOTS of car stuff there !

i was going to post a similar post to this a few days ago, you beat me to it, we are looking at a move to central tennessee also, i have not been there since 1992, im sure it has changed considerably, we will be going in april to have a look see, its funny the reason we want out of so cal is the people, politics and geographical location and the reason we are looking at central tennessee is the people, politics and geographical location, go figure.

Both Nashville and Knoxville each have really good Mopar clubs. Music City Mopars in Nashville, and East Tennessee Mopars in Knoxville. Both clubs put on a nice show every year. Dandridge and White Pine area that Doc mentioned are both close to the lake if you like to be near the water. Clarksville is about an hour NW of Nashville, and was a nice area last time I was there. It is a military/college town that is home to Ft. Campbell Army base, and Austin Peay State University. Good luck to you....and have fun in your search.

Amen to that. Cali in general is a mess right now.

Thank you for the info! Will look at those as well.

Its happening a lot. My employer for my second job of the last 20 years just bailed in New Jersey this year, an impending millionaire tax here factored in as well. his farm estate, two major buildings in the town, several other houses, a horse farm, and some empty lots all up for grabs. Moved his business to Nashville. Thanks NJ, i just lost a lot of income.

Every time I have been down to Tennessee I have really enjoyed it, I don't blame him one bit.

I am going just south of the Kentucky border north of Nashville so I can still be close enough to the midwest Mopar shows and far enough south to get away from the major weather. I want to be close to Bowling Green, KY also. I have friends in Franklin and Spring Hill, both expensive places to live, especially real estate! I am not like you though, I don't want to live close to a metro area anymore, give me acreage and as little other people around as possible!

Lived in TN all my life. Like JD said Knoxville and Nashville both have great Mopar clubs and great shows. We live on up in the north east corner of TN in Kingsport. Kingsport is part of the Tri-Cities area of the state. Kingsport / Johnson City / Bristol. Between the 3 cities there is probably 150-200000 people spread out over a roughly 40 mile radius. If you like that kind of stuff Bristol has the NASCAR track. There is lots of scenic stuff in the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Mountains. Lots of great people. Not to much going on in the car scene few cruise-ins, there is a Mopar show at Bristol Motor Speedway but it isn't much. If you want to be near a larger city Murfreesboro is south east on Nashville. I have some very good friends that live there. To me the Nashville area gets more than its fair share of rough weather in rain and tornadoes. Knoxville is a bit less of a bad weather prone area. The Cumberland Plateau helps shield it some from what Nashville gets but it can happen anywhere. Dandridge and White Pine also Morristown are near Knoxville. They are also near Sevierville / Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg / Smokey Mountains which are all kind of touristy areas but lots of stuff to do. No state income tax, property tax is generally low in most areas of the state, but sales tax is high, in my area of the state it is generally 9.5% but some areas of the state it is as high as 11%. No vehicle inspections at this point, some areas do have emissions testing. Car tags veries by county, some counties have wheel tax that about double the price of tags. Cost of living is generally pretty low depending on where you look at. All in all I really like living in TN and you probably can't go wrong with any part of the state you choose. Just really depends on what you are looking for.

moved to Dandridge from Michigan in 2007. Absolutely love it here.

If you like the views of the Smoky Mountains...

I moved from n.e. ohio to n.e tennessee 15 months ago. I live just south of Elizabethton. Every Saturday from April through October they block off three blocks of the historic district for a nice car cruise. They have one all day show each summer.

The mountains are right there. Beautiful Watauga lake is 6 minutes away. Bristol Motor Speedway/Thunder Valley Dragstrip is about 15 minutes away. Johnson City is 15 minutes and has all the shopping and restaurants you would want. Cities of Bristol and Kingsport are maybe 25-30 minutes. Pigeon Forge has a huge car show. That is 2 hours away. If you like to ski there are several ski resorts across the border in N. Carolina. Less than an hour away.

I spent 6 months looking at houses from Chattanooga to Bristol an liked this area.

The area sounds intriguing...

I was partially motivated in my post to encourage you to make Moparty a can’t miss in 2021. It’s the up and coming national Mopar show!
I enjoyed checking out the Bowling Green area while I was there. I too like so many Illinois residents am eager to get out of the hopeless mess of a state, sit back on my porch in a neighboring state with a cool beverage in my hand and watch it collapse!
I don’t know much about KYs situation other than I’ve heard they have underfunded pension issues like IL, but otherwise it looked nice there where I was. Lots of car stuff there between the drag strip and Holley being there with deep pockets funding a lot of car events.
My friends who’ve fled IL to TN are happy but complain that sales taxes include services. Here in IL sales taxes are bad, but service costs are exempt so your plumber or car mechanics bill are only taxed on parts. I’m not sure if IN is like that?
Also booze is pricey in TN I’m told.
One thing I’m interested in is quality of health care in various areas of TN and KY. As one who recently got broadsided by a health issue I’ll be dealing with to some extent for the rest of my life, I don’t want to move someplace and find the nearest decent specialist is 50 miles a way.

That's exactly where we live.

The Music City Mopar Club is based in Nashville FYI. It's a good club and puts on a great show.

I’ve got plenty of driveway space three miles from Beech Bend.

We made 4 or 5 weekend trips when we were scouting places a few years ago when we left Muchugsn.

Dennis.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE GREAT REPLIES AND SUGGESTIONS!

Lots of places to look into. Just seems overwhelming as we've been in Illinois & Indiana our entire lives, but if we make the leap I'm sure it'll be worth it.

Thanks again!!

you can move down close to uncle tony ............who seems to live close to mexico

My parents live in Gallatin which is on the north side of Nashville. It's a good place because it has everything, near Nashville, and also right about the edge of being in a city if you'd like to have land also.

Very expensive there, I looked and can't afford to live there...

Roughly the same as where I live in Michigan for a similar house and lot. But their property taxes are half of what mine are. I have a more cheaply built house and slightly more land and it's appreciated an easy 75k in the last 5 years.

I've got to throw in a pitch for west TN. Memphis also has a mopar club, MidSouth Mopars, while not as active as Nashville we are also not as big. Memphis is also home to a large cadre of performance parts companies. Comp cams, Fast EFI, Lunati, Bullet cams and many others are in the area. Home prices in this part of the world are cheap comparatively. The areas north and east of the city are very nice. We also have an IHRA race track Memphis Intnl raceway.

@Hemirick.....if one were to look north and east of Memphis, would that help avoid areas that are prone to flooding when the Mighty Mississippi River gets out? Also.....does it need to be very quiet to be able to hear JJ Da Boss yapping?

I would not live in west Tn for anything. Memphis is the arm pit of the state and it spreads out to other areas. My brother lives in Clarksville and loves it. 40 miles north of Nashville so everything you would need is within driving distance. I like the areas south and east of Nashville myself. Slower pace and more affordable. Knoxville to me is too congested.

Thank you! That's what exactly I'm trying to avoid. I'v heard Memphis can be sketchy?

I used bestplaces.net for information on areas when I was looking for a new place in WV. You can get crime stats, population numbers, political leanings, etc. About almost any zip code. It helped a lot in narrowing down houses to look at. I've also called local police departments to get an idea of crime in an area if there was a property we liked. Ruled a couple places out after those phone calls.

Thank you! I just checked that website and its really informative! Will for sure make use of it. Thanks again.

I have lived in TN for 15 years this Feb. Look at Hixson, or Soddy Daisy. which are a short drive from Chattanooga or Sparta Spencer which are a little more rural but close to Cookeville which is on I40 . I wanted to be more rural so I bought 43 acres 12 miles from Dunlap. I love it here no close neighbors no government intrusion everybody is carrying and very friendly.

A friend wrecked his Yukon Denali there and I went to rescue it. He rented a car and went on with his journey. It took me about 4 hours to get there and when I arrived there was a Memphis patrol car there waiting. The officer told me to hook up and get gone asap if you know what I mean. That was his exact words. This was next to a truck stop even.

Haven't been to Johnson City, but several folks I know say its a beautiful area. Another thing about TN, is the vehicle registration is just a few bucks.

For those who aren't aware, Indiana throws all the vehicle related taxes into registration renewals. Its several hundred bucks each year.

Yep,. I was looking into building another building. I asked a couple of contractors about permits and inspections. They said nope. Only inside the city limits which I am not.

Pastor of our church carries full time. When we moved here He told us to just assume that everyone carries.

And yes everyone is friendly.


The following should not be taken as a political statement but as an objective description of the area.
It is very Republican here. They got almost 80% of the votes around here. I think I saw 2 Biden signs. If you are a Dem you might be happier in Virginia or North Carolina.

Ive been to Tenn hundreds of times over the years and IF i were to consider moving there I think somewhere near Nashville would be a good place to look.
Just outside of town as reasonably as possible for the same reasons, WAY to much traffic and tourism .
Anywhere near Knoxville would be out of the equation for same reasons

"He told us to just assume that everyone carries. And yes everyone is friendly."

I bet those two things are not unrelated!

X2 I didn't even look anywhere near Either one. I hate city traffic. Johnson City is just about the biggest city I could consider and I'm 15-20 minutes from there.

Just looked up Johnson City. Doesn't look too bad. Then I looked at their recent arrests page.....
I know everyplace has crime, but that looks similar to the area I'm in now...lol.

Johnson City is where my needy, idiot sister in law and her 2 idiot daughters live. It's not worth the risk! It's a college town (ETSU) and all that goes with it. The biggest redeeming quality I can think of for Johnson City, is that it's close to Bristol Dragway....lol.

I wouldn't live in or to close to any city (more of a small town/rural guy) but it is nice to be close enough for the retail, restaurant and entertainment opertunities that don't exist in smaller towns. I am 15-20 minutes from J.C. and about the same from Bristol Dragstrip. Mountains and Watauga lake are just minutes away.

We are going to visit nashville in may, hopefully my son, daughter and there spouses will like it. from what i can tell may is the month with the most rain, maybe that week will not be to wet. we have all agreed to buy a chunk of land with one house outside of nashville and then build a couple more to suit our needs.

Nashville is beginning to be a cesspool of idiots..... Well actually it has been for a little while now. Franklin is quickly becoming an offshoot of Nashville and in 10 years may not be the place you want to retire to but it is great now.

The farther you get from Nashville the better the people get but too far away and there is nothing to do.

Somebody said Memphis is the armpit of TN, That is giving it too much credit. Try a little farther south of the armpit and to the back. Stay far away from Memphis.

Springhill, Columbia, Lewisburg, Shelbyville are south of Nashville & Franklin and are very nice but close to Nashville & Franklin if you like.

Cookeville is nice, more centered, plenty to do or not but the altitude is a little higher so the winters are a little colder. About 1/2 way between Nashville & Knoxville.

East TN is nice, but slower economy than in the Nashville area but if you are retiring it may be better. Colder winters too.

Thank you! That's a lot of great information.

More ppl moving to TN than any other state

Interesting!

Then there is Illinois .. https://www.myradiolink.com/2021/01...linois-is-the-u-haul-no-49-growth-state/

They just closed the gate and said we are full.

I say that about Florida every chance I get, but the still keep coming!

I have been born and raised in and around the Cookeville, TN area. I have family ties to this area all the way back to after the Revolutionary War. It is a good sized area IMO, not too big like the bigger city, but reality is I can be to Nashville, Knoxville, or Chattanooga in between 1.5-2 hours drive. personally I prefer to stay away from those bigger area. I also have good friends in the Lenior City area and that is also a good area, but farther east verses middle of the state. I do think that it is a great state , I just hope that it doesn't change into a more liberal state with growth. There are also some decent car show within a driving distance to enjoy too. Best of luck, and If I can help just PM me.
Matt

Thank you for this information. Just looked up Cookeville and I like what I see, and requested a visitors guide. We are still almost ten years away from moving, but we will put this on our list to visit when we go scouting later this year. Much appreciated!

Sorry HR .... Tennessee isn’t even close to Florida or Texas ....

Now when I made my move to Florida... Tennessee was my second choice .....

The Florida numbers are ....3 years ago or so ... 5000 PER DAY ! ... today its even LOTS MORE

No harm in getting set. If you find a place you like, and can make it a vacation home, that would be a bonus.

Bloomington is close enough to Ft. Campbell to come home on weekends. My 70 Challenger RT made a lot of runs back and forth. Had the 101st. Abn sticker on the bumper until the recent restoration!

No offense, but every time I have a reason to drive to the north part of the State, I am in a sour mood because I am thinking I could be in TN with the same time and travel.

My wife & I are planning to move to TN,a girlfriend of hers moved to Rogersville last year & she really likes it,she bought land there 20+ years ago,Been looking at homes on Zillow just to get an idea of what's available in our price range,looks promising,we are going to visit wifes friend & look around soon.

Rogersville is a nice area. I’m in Dandridge about 35 miles south west of there. There is a nice drag strip just south of Rogersville.

Rogersville is a nice area. I’m in Dandridge about 35 miles south west of there. There is a nice drag strip just south of Rogersville. [/quote]

Now that's good to know on both counts tnx,wont be for a couple of years yet waiting for my son graduate from collage, the sooner the better cant take it around here for much longer.

Between Monteagle and the Alabama border is the most decent area of that country I've been to. Visiting, anyhow... The people are very accommodating, the topography very nice. I pulled the one of the Alabama tour trailers, due to a fluke with one of their semis, for a leg of their tour back in the late 80s. They, as a group, were among the nicest folk I've ever met.

In 10 years, I’m sure that Tennessee will be a different place. So, stay flexible.

Yup, you are 100% correct. I try to monitor how things are down there when I can. Hopefully it stays red.