Planning to move back to East Tennessee...

It’s not happening immediately but the Mrs. and I are making plans to leave the godforsaken state of Georgia for East Tennessee in the near future. We are looking to downsize our lives, so a simple 3 bedroom 2 bath single level house ought to be easy enough to find but are there areas we need to focus on or avoid altogether? I’m looking at the corridor above Cleveland and below Johnson City. It’s been 35 years since I last lived in Tennessee but we visit Townsend/Knoxville a lot. We’re simple folk and a smaller house on some land would suit us just fine. Just kicking around rocks, Madisonville and Greeneville seemed to be pretty much in the ballpark of what we’re looking for but the slate is pretty much wide open at this point. If anyone has any insights or advice I’d sure like to hear it.

 

I'm partial to Maryville. Good little downtown. Perfect size, IMO, but I'm not much of a shopper. Close to the mountains. Relatively easy to find a house with a 5 star view. Close to Knoxville. It's where my roots are. My parents who are in their 60s moved back there about 3 years ago.

 

I’ve always liked Maryville also. We’d want to be outside of town on a bit of land, like 10 acres or so.

 

The hell is wrong with Knoxville?! Blount County? Halls is where God lives, but that’s out - there’s damned little land, and houses are both scarce and inflated. Corryton, Gibbs, Karns, Hardin Valley, Loudon County, all good places in and around Knoxville. Card can advise on Blount County, because it’s amazing how much that area has grown and matured in the last 10-20 years.

If you and the wife are not considering Knoxville for its lack of diversity, shoot TennTra a PM about getting in on one of his paper mache ECO-huts down at his Houston Commune, The Next Davidians.

Greenville and upper East Tennessee is beautiful country, good people, and while too far out and sleepy for me, maybe it won’t be for you.

You could throw a damned dart at a Tennessee map and end up infinitely better off than anywhere in Jaw-Juh.

 

I love Anderson County, but large swaths of it are pretty run down. But we get a nice view of the Cumberland Mountains and have a big lake. Also, all parts of Knoxville are nearly equal distant from the Clinton area (but Clinton is meh).

I would avoid Farragut, it is too busy and way too much traffic.

South Knoxville is seeing some resurgence (my old stomping grounds).

But lets face it, a cardboard box under one of the 640 Bridges near east town mall is better than any place in Georgia.

 

Agreed... We can’t get out of here fast enough to suit me and where we currently live is about as nice as it gets around here... Peachtree City is nice enough but the whole Atlanta metro thing just wears on you and we’re ready to live away from big city environments.

 

One thing I will say is that when the ball actually gets rolling, we’re going to have a yard sale/eBay/giveaway fest of biblical proportions... It’s amazing how much shit you can accumulate without even trying...

 

If you are wanting land, I fear Blount County (Maryville area) might be a bit expensive, not knowing your spending ideas. Place has blown up since the Pellissippi Speedway connected it to west Knoxville.

 

Bang for your buck is better outside of Knox County imo. Maryville is good. Close to everything. There’s a tiny house for sale on top of my mountain!

 

I would imagine (depending on the markets both here and there when we’re ready to jump) that we’d have 400k to spend but actually be looking in the sub-300k range to buy. Like I said, we’re looking to de clutter and downsize. I was going through the house this past weekend and I have so much shit I never use, and some of it I don’t even know what it does... there’s no reason for me to have 17(!!?!) white dress shirts... each with different collars/cuffs or sizes. That’s insane and that’s only the WHITE shirts... 44 pairs of shoes?? Nonsense. I have a garage full of tools I have no idea what they even do and the cleaning out process is already beginning.

 

Wait YOU have 44 pairs of shoes?

 

Stinking creek or elk valley if you’re good at chemistry

 

Yep... It’s ridiculous. Mostly dress shoes or boots of some type. The crazy thing is, I’ve worn just about all of them in recent memory. They get rotated out so often that none of them ever get worn out. I’m the living definition of a clothes horse.

 

Well, that lets me out...

 

I own work boots, hiking boots, old (OLD) sneakers, wing tips I have had for 25 years, brown shoes I have had for 10 years and a pair of sandals.

 

I don’t even want to admit how many souvenir T shirts I have....

 

I force myself to get rid of clothes and shoes once per year....I hang shirts backwards and if they are still that way in a year...I get rid of it.

Basement is another story..y wife has turned into a toy horder since the kids came along.

 

I wish I HAD hoarded all my toys (in the original packaging) from my childhood... I’d be one rich mofo. The Star Wars shit alone would be FU money.

 

Boots for cold, 2 pair tennis shoes and 1 pair black Kenneth Cole casual/dress slipons ive had for 20 years. Change the heels and padding. I refuse to pay over $50 for shoes.

 

This offers a most telling glimpse, and which he may regret having shown.