We are getting tired of the Socialist Republic of California and are looking at more freedom-loving places to live. The wife grew up near Lebanon, TN (yes, that Lebanon of SuperNats infamy) so we have begun looking at towns in that general area. Franklin seems to be a nice town and a bit more refined than Lebanon so we are starting to do our homework. If you have any relevant experience with Franklin, good or bad, I would appreciate the input. We are retired so finding a job is not a concern. Thanks...

 

Charlie, it's a shame what has happened to your wonderful beautiful state. I don't blame you for leaving. Lots of others have as you know.

i can't answer your question about Franklin but it will be nice to have you in the east. Then maybe you can make a Truckstock event!

 

I grew up in Cincinnati and came to San Diego for Navy bootcamp after I graduating HS in 1968. SoCal was a magical place in those days, it was like living in a Beach Boys song...hot rods, beaches, and beautiful girls. People didn't need laws or regulations to know how to act, you treated others like you would want to be treated and things were cool. It seemed like overnight everybody was suing everybody else trying to get rich off any minor transgression, ambulance chasing lawyers were having a field day. Pretty soon people started getting uptight about everything because they didn't want to get sued. Politicians capitalized off this fear and went nuts passing laws and putting restrictions on our lives. It has just gotten so out of hand that I believe that it won't be long before all the people who are footing the bill for this insanity will stop paying and the house of cards will tumble. I guess the straw that broke the camel's back was the latest attack on our personal freedoms...they are saying that you cannot work on a vehicle at your house other than to do minor tune-ups or brake pad changes. To make things worse you cannot have any tools/equipment larger than small handtools like wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, etc. My 120 gal compressor and welders would definitely have to go! Well my tools are going, along with my hot rods and the dollars that I put into this state. We have lots of friends and family from Ohio to Florida and over to the coast, we are looking forward to being able to see more of them since it will be a day trip rather than a plane trip.

 

You aren’t alone. Most of my Navy buds have already left CA or are contemplating doing so. We are anchored here because my wife is from here....convincing her to move would be next to impossible.

Franklin is nice, but expensive (for Tennessee) and growing rapidly. One of my Navy friends went there. Really cool antique shops in that town, and downtown is super quaint.

 

If I were moving to TN, I would settle somewhere between Monteagle and Manchester. Beautiful country and a perfect place for an old ford. I used to drive 24 on a regular basis from Chattanooga to Hopkinsville and loved that section of the drive.

JB

 

Ohio is great then you can be my neighbor or I could then call you my brother from another mother. Being in Ohio though, you’d get some practice at fixing rust!

 

Is the state looking to adopt the kind of regulations that exist in many hoa's? I lived in the Bay Area for several years in the 70's and it was good.
So 3 boats in my yard in the winter (the largest being 34'), my 80 gallon compressor, 2 welders, my metal lathe, Bridgeport,engine hoist and 2 post lift would all have to go, wow! I would be gone also.

 

We moved from upstate NY to Ga 12 years ago , Some things to consider , will you need a job ? , how much land do you want ? , how close is good healthcare ? and what kind of weather are you willing to put up with ? I found that the smaller more rural places are less expensive .Factor in property taxes , gas tax and price , fees for things like drivers licenses , fishing and hunting permits , cost of auto registrations ,and garbage removal . these all add up .12 years ago we saved over $5,000 a year by moving to northeast Ga , that's
60,000 that we have had to spend on ourselves.

 

Last year I stumbled upon an online 'Quiz' that would tell you where in the U.S. you would be most comfortable. I normally don't give a rats **** about online quizzes but this one intrigued me.
So I went ahead and answered about 20 questions that ranged from religious preferences, outdoor hobbies, climate tolerances, political preferences, tolerance of crowds and city life, etc.
I hit the 'Go' button afterward and it picked Maryville Tennessee. I was quite surprised for two reasons.
First was that I attempted to move to Oak Ridge TN in about 1991 to work at the National Laboratory but I only had about $500 to my name and no job lined up. I learned the hard way that to get a job in that area you needed to through a placement service and pay huge bucks for the privilege of them finding you a job. I ran out of rent money and had to move back to Maine. But I loved that area of TN, it reminded me a bit like New England and had a lot of things to do outdoors. And old junk antique vehicles were all over the place.
The second reason for the surprise is that about 15 years ago my sister moved from New Hampshire to Maryville and still lives near there. I go to visit occasionally and still like the area.

If Maine continues to go downhill as far as liberals spending all my money in the form of high taxes and stupid anti-common-sense social programs, I'd consider that part of TN as my escape plan. Well that place or LockHaven PA! I liked that whole area too. Both places have far less severe winters than Maine.
Tom

 

My only experience with Tennessee was from a visit to a friend in the early '80s who lived in New Johnsonville, TN, which according to Google is about 75 miles west of Franklin. The area surrounds the TVA plant. It was November and it was in the 40s, while in SE Wisconsin it was in the low 30s and getting colder. My friend said it dropped down to the 30s for maybe 2-3 weeks and then started warming up again. I also remember seeing the town's full compliment of winter road equipment, a garbage truck w that he said they'd load with rock salt and shovel out by hand on a couple of icy spots. That pretty much sold me on the place but unfortunately that was the early '80s and there were no jobs to be had anywhere so I just stayed in God forsaken SE Wisconsin and later married a farm girl who I could never get to move from this horrible place.

One thing that gets me, and I'm not saying you're one, are the people from CA and NY who complain about the horrible taxation and over regulation of those places and move to other places with lower taxation and less over regulation only to bring the cancerous mind set with them. I have relatives in Vegas who have told me that the CA immigrants are moving in mass to NV only to bring their tax and spend mentality with them and are taking spots in government to transform the state into CA east. It spreads like a plaque.

 

I felt the same way in the people's republic of NJ...... they taxed me to death!..... my last year of school and property taxes were $16,500...... plus with pension reform my last year of work actually cost me $3300 out of my pocket just to go to work!..... I retired and with in 6 months moved to PA....... pension friendly.....taxes are a lot cheaper (so far).... I do have buddies that moved to Tennessee...they love it.... sad times we live in.... good luck with your decision....but move out of California that's for sure....

 

Can't blame you one bit - we made the move out of norcal a few years back and are loving our new/old home in the midwest.

Seriously???!!! Wow. Is this a statewide thing, or a local, municipal thing?

I have some friends in El Cajon who basically run a light manufacturing business out of their suburban homestead. Since pretty much all their neighbors are gearheads my friends have always claimed that their neighborhood was OK with their business and the old cars and parts piles stashed around their property.

 

OK, so it looks like I will be the first from TN to respond. I live about 150 miles from Franklin, it is definitely upscale from Lebanon. With that said, I would urge you to check a bit closer. Although TN is way more conservative than CA. most 'upscale' areas have similar restrictions to what you have described. Franklin is also one of the most expensive areas of Tennessee.
I moved to TN 15 years ago, I wanted a bit better weather than Western New York winters, lower taxes and I didn't want to put up with stupid restrictions. Even here in this rural area, nearly every subdivision has restrictions, some very much like you describe. So of course I don't live in a subdivision, I'm 20 miles from town in the woods.
As far as health care, as long as you have good insurance, health care in the Nashville area is great. Of course if you have to buy health insurance here, you will not get good insurance. If you have a good policy from CA and can bring it here you will be in good shape. I am on Medicare, but I also have a policy from my retirement in NYS, so I have to explain to every hospital and health care professional that I don't have a TN policy, as most of them have extremely high deductibles and co pays and exclude a lot of common things.

 

I have an aunt who lived in "the valley" near Los Angeles her entire life. They kept fighting it and finally just gave up and moved to Knoxville about 8 or 9 years ago. Since then they've moved at least one time within the same neighborhood. They like it, and they seem to be satisfied, BUT I think they had some growing pains, despite the fact they moved to a fairly safe and bland subdivision. And I usually get the "So what does everybody around here think about......" political conversation starter about the time we lay our forks down on Thanksgiving Day. And I either choose to listen to it, debate it, or I just say "Hey look, the Cowboys are playing on TV."

Joe has a good point about Franklin. It has the reputation of being sort of a "California East" type place nowadays. It's very nice, but you may jump out of the fire into a hot pot there if you land in a subdivision with similar restrictions.. My family has a condo in Sevierville. We really like that area. It's still "real" enough, close to the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/Smoky Mountain scene, and next to the interstate.

 

Lots of good input here. As for me, I will be turning 70 tomorrow, don't feel like it so I guess I have been blessed with good genes. I retired from the DOD as a GS-15 so my retirement and health coverage is more than sufficient to cover us. Our current home is paid off so buying a new home should be a smooth transaction. The wife grew up in Lebanon, worked at Opryland in HS, and still has a lot of family in that area. We have been married for over 35 years so I have made quite a few trips to the Nashville area over this period of time. Even though I have lived in SoCal for five decades I feel that I never lost the values that were instilled in me growing up in Cincinnati and attending Catholic schools through HS. A 4-year hitch in the Navy and another 35 years working for the Navy/USMC has reinforced these values. I guess that my point is that when I leave California that this State will move a bit more left and TN will move a bit more right.
For those who are familiar with El Cajon, this city is rapidly becoming Chaldean Iraqi. Four families on my street are Chaldean and I am sure that as soon as we put this house up for sale that a Chaldean family will buy it. I love our new neighbors and I am sure that the Chaldeans will bring back some of the entrepreneurial and freedom-loving spirit back to this area. Our closest Chaldean neighbors/friends had the good sense to move out of Chicago 18 months ago because of the crime and government over-reach, hopefully they will be able to take the fight to Sacramento. Unfortunately I don't have enough time left on this earth to see that ship change course.
The wife and I are heading back to Nashville after Thanksgiving to help with her aged mother and to drive down to Franklin to scope things out. We are already doing the mental calculations on how much "stuff" we will move out with us and how much to leave behind. I have a 2200 sqft barn that is full of early F100 truck parts and some other early Buick/DeSoto parts left over from my 50 Merc leadsled days. Wherever we end up the neighbors will have to be cool with a large shop/art studio in our backyard...the wife is already drawing up plans!