Living in the Valley

I have lived in the East Tennessee valley since 1990 or roughly 32 years at the end of 2022, relocating in January.  I have lived in Greeneville for several years, then Morristown, then Chattanooga, then Dandridge, and finally Jefferson city for the last 20 years.  Our home is located in a rural community just a few miles outside of the city proper and I have two large lakes on either side of me (10 miles away from the house), Douglas and Cherokee.  Both of these lakes are suitable for boating and fishing; and, there are numerous areas where families can camp, hike, and/or picnic.

There is a Walmart Super Center 2 miles away from the house and across the street is a fitness center that I can use for free because of my health insurance company.  There are half a dozen gasoline stations less than 2 miles away from my house.  Morristown is 10 miles northeast of my location and offers several restaurant chains like Texas Roadhouse.  Knoxville is about 35 miles southwest of my location and offers dozens of restaurants and movie theaters for entertainment.

UT Medical Center is 31 miles from the house and we have two other large hospitals, Tennova and Ft. Sanders all of which have teams of physicians educated and trained at some of the best hospitals in the country who have chosen to live in East Tennessee.  Vanderbilt in Nashville is only 3 hours away in case someone prefers that name, although Vanderbilt-trained physicians work and live in Knoxville as well.

The first two years of college is free to any resident of Tennessee and we have numerous community college, small colleges, and universities along with the University of Tennessee, and the association of universities house at Oak Ridge National Laboratories.  Knoxville airport connects with all the major hubs and has several direct flights to New York City each day.  It is a 30 minutes flight to Atlanta.

The State of Tennessee collects no state income tax but has a 7/8% sales tax and the cost of living as a result of moderate wages is or was 10-15% less on average than anywhere else in the US.  Like all states, COVID has taken its toll on the cost of living in the East Tennessee area.  But, the quality of life which is laid back and void of a lot of crime, violence, and traffic is an ideal place to live if that is your mentality.

Before 1990, I lived in the Piedmont area of North Carolina between Greensboro and Durham and while the area was beautiful, it does not compare to the beauty of the Tennessee Valley and the Smoky Mountains.  Not only is the traffic in that area terrible and the volume of people cause long lines to develop in stores, but the opportunities for employment are also better in East Tennessee.  One of the reasons why I left North Carolina was that my skills put me into a "dime a dozen" category whereas in Tennessee, I was unique or in a category with only 1-2 others...  making employment and wages very easy to attain.  The downside was that wages after entering a company did not grow as fast as they did in North Carolina but our prices did not grow as fast either.

Being retired is idea in this area, at least for my wife and I.  We have easy access to everything we need or want.

I remember living in Alexandria, Virginia until high school and my parents lived there afterward so I would visit.  Alexandria is only 8 miles from Washington, DC but because of the traffic, it would take me twice as long to drive into Washington as it does for me to drive from my house to Knoxville 35 miles away.

My community is very quiet and provides a lot of interconnecting roads, inclines, and declines making it an ideal environment in which to walk anytime during the day or night, although I have never seen any reason to walk after dark.

I have an above-ground pool in my backyard with a deck built around it, a gazebo, and a hot tub so that if gas prices get too high, we can vacation in our own backyard.  The pool depth is just below my shoulders which is perfect for an older person to just get in and cool off or exercise.  We have had the pool for 12 years and never had to replace the liner.  We've replaced the pump motor twice.  The hot tub seats 6 and is also 12 years old and we have replaced the pump motor once and 2-3 of the heating elements.  The key to a long-lasting hot tub is use only liquid cleaners....  NO POWDERS...  as they ruin the motor and other parts.

We have an acre of land, so there is plenty of room for us to have a vegetable garden each summer with lettuce, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, corn, squash, zucchini, watermelons, cucumbers, and tomatoes along with several spices.

I don't miss North Carolina nor do I miss larger cities like Washington, DC or New York City, but I can fly to both for a long weekend anytime I want just to remind myself how much I don't want to live there...

Please don't come to East Tennessee and make it crowded!!!