OT -- Tell me about Tennessee.

[Doc Hudson]

The wife seems pretty set on moving to Tennessee whe she retires. In fact she wants us to move to Marion County, just outside Whitwell, about an hour from Chattanooga.

Can any of you gents from the Volunteer State give me the lowdown on taxes, income tax, property taxes, auto tags, CCW, crime rates, property values and other items of interest that might influence a decision to emigrate there.

[2571]

I'm not able to respond to your q's. But, they don't put sugar in the cornbread in TN. That alone is worth the move.

[2ndovc]

I know every time I drive through TN I want to stay


jb

[kimwcook]

I was in Nashville this last september and boy howdy, it's humid and a bit on the warm side . Not used to that humidity anymore. I was stationed at Camp Wilson just outside Camp LeJeune and I remember the humidity, but it didn't seem to bother me as much then. It might be I was a wee younger.

[jdad]

My memories of TN 20 years ago.......

My brother graduated and earned his Masters degree from UT and got married in Knoxville.....in August! Lightning bugs, thunder storms, humidity, beautiful country.

After we got off the plane and picked up our rental car, my brother waved us over and explained that we were on the "Alcoa Highway", but the locals called it the "I'll kill you" highway. He wasn't kidding. We saw some driving that was right out of Dukes of Hazard and beyond.

Later that night, at the hotel, I was reading a local visitors brochure and it said that it was ok to drink & drive outside of the city limits, but not drunk.

With the exception of the weather I really liked it the short time we were there.

[BwanaDave]

We just moved here last July from New Mexico. The move was for my wife's work and I greatly miss the wide open spaces. The pluses are it is a pro gun state and hunters are part of the culture. I have found it a bit difficult to figure out what land you can access and where you can shoot. It isn't like out west where you just head out into the National Forest or BLM land and have at it. It is a bit more regulated than that. There is a lot of history here and I have enjoyed reading about the area. Because of the moisture in the air it seems colder here than it is. The summer can get pretty humid. I am told there are a couple of nice days in the spring (just kidding). You will need lots of orange clothing. And forget about going to WalMart on a Saturday unless you want to get run over by fat people in their power chair/shopping carts.

Dave

[Jeff Quinn]

Taxes are too high. Our sales tax is around 9.5 percent, depending upon exactly where you are. Property taxes differ also from one county to another. I have a1500 sq. ft. house on four acres, not counting the full basement, a 52 foot front porch and a large screened rear porch. I have a new barn, and another out building gown by the garden. My tax on it is $601 per year. No state income tax. Crime is not bad, again depending upon where you live. Car tags in Stewart County are $53 per year. My two commercial pickups are $83 each per year.

Summers are hot and damp. Winters are cold and damp. Plenty of water for fishing and such. Lots of hills and hollows where I live. Lots of game to hunt. Deer season runs roughly from September to mid-January, if you do the whole thing. Rifle season is from the Saturday before Thanksgiving to mid-January, with a short break or two. With a rifle, I can kill three bucks per season, and three does per day. Total for me, I don't bow hunt, I can legally kill about 40 deer or so per season. Plenty of squirrels and rabbits. Coyote have hurt the quail population, so we kill coyotes. In Summer, there are plenty of ticks and chigroes, poison weeds, and gnats and skeeters to keep you scratching. Rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths to make you pay attention to where you stick your hands and feet. No worse than Mississippi, so you are accustomed to that. In the cities, they don't have all the crawling, biting stuff, but out here in the woods, there is plenty. Mostly gun friendly politicians. They shoot clay target games in most of the high schools, even in the cities. Tennessee is a "shall issue" state, so if you don't have a criminal background, you can get a license. You must take a state-approved course, but anyone can pass. You take the course, pay the state $110 and get fingerprinted. License good for four years. After that, $50 to renew every four years.

Too many people here. Lots of great-looking women, and plenty of ugly ones. We have a long growing season, and the climate is perfect for growing tomatoes and peppers. Sometimes the peaches get frost bit. Plenty of water. It is either free or cheap, depending upon your source. Good hog hunting in East Tennessee. It ain't perfect, but it is home.

[Ysabel Kid]

I used to visit a customer around the Kingsport area - northeastern part of the state - and it was simply beautiful.

[Doc Hudson]

Thanks Jeff, that was the sort of information I was looking for.

As for heat and humidity, East Tennessee can't be any worse than the Mississippi Delta and probably is not as bad. A couple of years ago we had 45 days in a row when temperatures went over 100*F, and a really dry day still has over 50% humidity with 80-95% being lots moe common.

We don't get much snow here, and when we do get it, an inch will shut everything down for three or four days. Unfortunately we do get ice storms from time to time. In fact we are about due for another big one.

Our house is about 2300 sq. ft. with a 12x18 shed on a less than 1/2 acre lot in town. City and county property taxes combined run a bit over $600.00, and my wife just paid $800.00 for a tag for her 2006 Durango, so the Tennessee tag prices and no income tax is a big plus.

Comparing Marion County, TN and Sunflower County shows that Marion County has a higher median income ( $14,000.00 higher), higher per capita income ($5,000.00 higher), higher mediam home prices ($26,000.00 higher -- that ain't a plus) and a higher percentage of high school graduates. Sunflower county has more college graduates though, and the average drive time to work is about nine minutes longer in Marion County (29.2 min. vs. 20.6 min).

Things certainly sound better in Tennessee than I'd expected, but since I probably won't be able to change her mind, it is better than I'd hoped. It danged sure sounds lots better than Mississippi!

Of course Mississippi wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the darned politicians. Our legislators gives Louisiana a hard run for the title of most corrupt and ineffective legislature in the South. It should be no surprise that the infamous Mayor of Washington, D.C., the Dishonorable Marion Berry was born less than fifteen miles from here. Crooked politics runs in his blood.

I guess I'll have to resign myself to relearning how to drive in hill country. Here in the Delta, most folks don't even know what a Parking Brake is for, and you can see another car coming five miles away so passing is not an adventure.

[Modoc ED]

Why is the wife so set on moving to TN if ya don't mind my asking?

[Doc Hudson]

Why is the wife so set on moving to TN if ya don't mind my asking?

Her sister and her husband have settled just outside of Whitwell. After more than 30 years of squabbling and argument they've made peace and are getting along thick as thieves. She has offered to give Marcia some land to build a house and that more than anything convinced Marcia she wanted to move to Tennessee. And we both like the mountains.

[TNBigBore]

I have relatives in Marion County and most of my family lives just a couple of counties to the east in Polk County. You are moving to a beautiful part of the country. You will enjoy the scenery and having four real seasons. The Fall colors can be spectacular. You will get some snow every year, but rarely large amounts. You are close to some excellent lakes, streams and rivers for fishing, boating, skiing etc. Chattanooga is close by and has anything you could possibly want to buy, and lots of good eating establishments.

Now for the negatives. The deer hunting is much better in the middle part of the state and the seasons, limits etc are more restrictive where you will be. That being said, there is plenty of public land close by where you can find deer if you are willing to put your time in. The best hog hunting is further east or further north. Although the people are friendly, they are very suspicious of outsiders. If you have a southern accent, they will be less so. If you already have family from there it may not be an issue. If you and your extended family are recent transplants then it will take awhile for the locals to warm to you. These folks have been ridiculed in movies, print, etc for the last century or so and have a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

As with all stereotypes, there is a kernel of truth to this one. There are plenty of true knuckle dragging, slack-jawed hillbillies (some of them are probably my kin) in the area you are talking about. The remote terrain and relatively depressed local economy make this an inevitability. There are also lots of meth labs in homes scattered about the hills. That being said, there are also plenty of good, honest, hard working folks with and without educations. Be on your best behavior for the first couple of years, don't be too judgmental or dogmatic, and especially be patient and you will grow to love the area very much I think.

[Jeff Quinn]

One more thing, Doc, and I know this will mean a lot to you:

You will not be far from South Pittsburg, the home of the Lodge cast iron foundry. You can buy huge dutch ovens, skillets, and such there for about half or less. This is not just an outlet, but the actual foundry, so you can buy unboxed cast stuff really right.

[Idahoser]

Stay out of the western third.

[ajw65]

I say there are 2 Tennessee's the real Tennessee and the western 3rd. My parents and all of my relatives are from and live in Tennessee. Being this is a high class place I won't say anything bad about the west end of the state.

[AJMD429]

Being close to like-minded people, especially if they are 'kin' - is a good thing. Take that in to consideration. Especially as you get older, and might need help the "compassionate" ones in the government won't show up with, but relatives might be willing to do - helping out after surgeries, etc.

[Hillbilly]

I grew up in the Western third...You hillbillies are aways envious of us who farm bottom land.
~J

[DerekR]

My wifes family is all from Whitwell, TN. I live just out of Nashville and can be there in an easy two hour drive. Whitwell and Dunlap are typical rural small town Tennessee cities. Most of the the folks are hard working and honest. My wifes family are all big hunters and they kill lots of big bucks and turkeys in those hills. If you like to fish and float rivers and creeks in a canoe you will be in heaven. My part of Tennessee has gotten too crowded. I need to move up there around Carlisle with the Quinns.

[Rebel1972]

I live White County .What Jeff said is pretty much on the money.Besides the slack jawed hillbillies there are plenty northern transplants who come here with a superiority complex.The stories you hear about racism are greatly exaggerated IMHO.I have seen far more yankees who are racist than southerners.Television and movies don't give a fair portrayal of the south .

[MikeS.]

Doc, a lot of good Masonic brothers there too. I'm friends with a couple Past Grand Masters and the current Grand Secretary. The Grand Lodge is in Nashville. When I was in the state last October I visited several Lodges and was treated like visiting royalty in all of them.

I have family that lives just north of there in Goodsletsville and visit every year. I wouldn't have a problem moving there.

[4t5]

Jeff is there any... fire ants? They're nasty little buggers and changed my mind about S.CAROLINA.

[Jeff Quinn]

Jeff is there any... fire ants? They're nasty little buggers and changed my mind about S.CAROLINA.

No fire ants here yet. They are moving north, but so far so good. We had those little devils in Homestead, Florida back in 1985.

[jd45]

I understand it's being overrun with liberal politics, & all that implies, but so's everwhere else lately. Good luck Jeff.........I hear it's pretty country. jd45

[pokynojoe]

Doc
I guess it's been awhile eh? Over the last 30 years I have lived in all three grand divisions of the "Volunteer State". I have also lived for five years in and around Houston Ms., my daughter was born in Maben. I met my wife in Starkville, and I have yet to find a better "meat and three" than Anthony's in West Point, which no doubt probably isn't there anymore. I found my time in Mississippi to be very enjoyable, and the people to be extremely open and friendly. I enjoyed living there very much, but then I've found something unique and interesting every place I've lived and that's a few! I have always had a little trouble understanding Faulkner, that is until I spent five years in Mississippi, whereupon I realized that he wasn't making this stuff up, it's really like that! Truly a state populated with the most interesting people.

If you can tolerate the heat and humidity of the Delta, believe me Marion County will seem like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in July. It's a non-issue for someone from the "Magnolia State". Besides, there's cold beer for that. As far as the people, in 1975 I lived in Henning, TN in a fishing camp right on an oxbow of the "Big Muddy". I spent a few years there. Nicest people, extremely open and friendly, great fishing. My experience with the people is that as you move east from the river, the folks are a little more reticent, a little more stand-offish. I spent four years living and working in the Johnson City area, which is the extreme from Henning. It took about three or four days from my first day at work before anybody even asked my name(other than my boss). However, this went away, and I experienced good will and cheerful comraderie with my co-workers once they became accustomed to me being there everyday. They are not as open as people in the Delta, people up here tend to mind there own business, but if you need some help in a pinch, they'll somehow know about, show up to help, and then be on there way. Another observation of "mountain" people is that of all the places I've lived in my life these people are the most resourceful people it's ever been my pleasure to be around, truly an admirable quality no matter where one lives. I spent a number of years living and working in Middle Tennessee also, mostly around Nashville, Sumner, Macon, Wilson, Rutherford(Murfreesboro), Smith, Trousdale, and Hickman Couties. I liked Macon County the best, good water, but I could never find anything decent to eat there. Nashville was fun to live in, yes, it's big and congested, there's crime, but that's everywhere. I enjoyed the restraunts and the music. My wife and I used to listen to music at the Bluebird Cafe at least once a month, and we quaffed many a cold one at Brown's Diner(which probably isn't there anymore either). Your bible was probably printed in Nashville and so's everyone elses. Nashville's not a bad city, but then your reading this opinion from someone who spent a year in the bowls of East St. Louis! That a story for another time.

As far as taxes, cost of living, property, and the like; here's my take on that stuff; if you have money it's not bad, if you don't, everyplace is too expensive and you're better off staying where you are. My opinion about the standard of living, after living in both Mississippi and Tennessee, is that if you have the skills that are required it's pretty good, if not, it's just a little better than Mississippi. Schools are not much better, maybe worse in some places, but I know that's not an issue for you and Marcia. Hunting and Fishing are good, as others have already said, it's better in Middle and West Tennessee, however, fly fishing for Trout is better here! and hogs are like vermin where I hunt, not so in Middle and west. Also, you can only hunt bear in the "Mountain" counties. Turkey hunting is great, just about everywhere, I've even had them in my back yard, and I'm a "townie" now. By the way, we had a record bear harvest this year with 436 bears checked out. Not great for a lot of states, but pretty good for twelve counties. Many will bad mouth the TWRA, but I think they do a pretty darn good job with what they have. And I have no qualms paying for my license every year, I'm glad to do it. Guns are prolific, everybody has them. I would say of the six people standing in line at my local convenience store at any one time, four of them are probably armed. Still, stuff happens, it does everywhere.
I remember your keen interest in your heritage, and you will find many in these parts that share that interest. I work with several fellows that are descended from the original Wautaugans, and are direct descendents from Scottish "Bluebloods."

I guess this is mostly about the people, because I like people, that's what makes a place. I've met good people and bad people every place I've lived. I've found if your open and honest with people, no matter where you live, you'll get along just fine.
Now, for the disclaimer; I'm not a native Tennessean, even though I've worked for the State of Tennessee for almost thirty years, I'm still known by some people here as "Ms. Carlyle's husband" or "that joe guy". I will never be a Tennessean. My wife however is, and this maybe why I'm tolerated at all, don't know

One more thing, of all the places I've lived in Tennessee, I'd pick Lincoln County as the place I'd like to settle before I live out my biblical three score and ten.

Good luck Doc, and welcome to the Volunteer State.

Joe