It's All Relative

 

RELATIVE - considered in relation or in proportion to something else.

EAST TENNESSEE has been my home for the last 34 years, after moving over here from NC in 1990.  I lived in NC from 1966-1989 (23 years) after moving down from VA.

The reason for my move in 1990 was that in NC my skills were a dime a dozen and in East TN, there was only one other person with my skills.  This gave me the advantage and a marketable edge for the next twenty years.  My second wife and I retired FIVE years later after spending my last three years teaching business classes at a local university.

In East TN, one can live very comfortable on $3.000 to $3.500/ month providing that one has NO DEBT.  As it turns out, in 2015 when we retired, my wife and I had been debt free since 2000.

Our monthly expenses would be almost twice that amount in NC where I used to live and more than that, the farther north one lived.  However, the salaries and wages are higher there too.

Our $300,000 home would be twice that amount in certain places up north and more than twice that amount in certain places out west.

From what I read and hear, crime and violence is higher up north and even in larger cities down south like Charlotte, NC and Nashville, TN...  so, it is difficult to escape that entirely...   other than, less crime happens in the country rather than the city.

What sells me on this place in East TN is the available land and homes are not built so close together that there is barely enough room for a riding lawn mower to pass.

East TN has several lakes, parks and recreation areas made available to the public by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that actually started during the Great Depression to put people to work.  This area is IDEAL for campers, hikers, boaters, and people who like to fish.

While there are lakes and recreational facilities up north, the area is more densely populated and the temperatures prevent most of these facilities from being used after September, whereas, East TN temps are mild, most of the time, through Christmas.

As mentioned in the beginning...   IT'S ALL RELATIVE...  but there are hundreds of people that are now moving down south to get away from the:

• COLD
• HIGHER TAXES
• TRAFFICE & PEOPLE
• CRIME & VIOLENCE
• ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS