Leaving California Coast for Tennessee (knoxville/maryville) (Alcoa, Fairfield Glade: for sale, HOA)

[Serious Conversation]

The medical care question is very specific to what your needs are.

In general, most common conditions can be treated in the Knoxville metro. More sophisticated problems may require a specialist in Nashville or Atlanta. Your primary hospital systems are going to be Tennova, Covenant Health, and UT Medical. If you need specific specialties, definitely look into it first to see what's available.

[QuiltingNanny]

Where I am at now.... it is triple digits from June through September.. most every day so I welcome 90*!

Tell me more about the storms.. this is the first I have heard that they are so bad. yes, lot of rain but no one has said much more. I am not looking for retirement communities.. just a house of my own and I don't like sports either.

[DaveinMtAiry]

I don't live in TN yet but I've been doing the same thing, researching the area for our retirement. I have to say that first review is not what I have heard and I have been doing this for years.

We lived in Knoxville when I was very young and my dad says the summers are no worse than Washington DC. Several others who have lived in both said the same. As for the storms/rain from what I understand the summers typically have nice days but often there will be a big late afternoon thunderstorm. This will go down as a rainy day and of course counts towards the annual rainfall totals but it's hardly a "rainy day". It also cools things off a bit for the evening. This is what I have heard, no direct personal experience yet. But we are planning to retire in Maryville and I have no hesitation what so ever about this decision.

[NJDevil]

Our big late afternoon storms are few and far between. Some weeks, as I said, we have a few of those, but most weeks we don't. Droughts are more common in summer. Bad storms with lots of wind, sometimes hail, usually come in spring, but sometimes summer also. I know flash floods can happen anywhere, but I never saw flooding in NJ or FL like I see here (but this is a more hilly area). The storms are so bad sometimes it is scary to drive thru, and not much scares me when it comes to driving. We live on a hill and 10 minute storms that come thru have knocked down healthy trees, again something I haven't seen in the other places I lived. Yeah it's hot in summer all along the east coast but our 90 degree days are increasing and the humidity and bugs are really bad.

[QuiltingNanny]

What city are you in? The "drive thru" storms you mention... those would be a concern as at our age.. I really don't want to have to deal with a flood or mud slides etc.. but is that just a concern if you are out in the (for lack of better word) "boonies" or is that as is in the city? I don't want to be in the city, but don't want to be off grid either! I definately need a house with a 2 car garage! Is it all year round or just certain months?

[QuiltingNanny]

The Shadow - Sounds exactly what I am looking for! I don't want to be near the town (20 minutes away is fine with me!) I hardly go into town where I am and I am close! I am thrilled to hear that people will talk to you... geez here.. I say something and they look at me like a calf looking at a new fence! And of course.. dont' answer! It'd be nice to live around real people! The rest you mention sounds good too. My house here.. when it sells, since I bought at the perfect time, I know I will get a large down from the sale but I couldn't find anything about house prices. I called 3 RE agents... was spoken to very rudely and then they said things like "I'm really busy now.. can I call you back?" I said sure, and.. they never called back! Church activities are what I am looking for too Thanks so much for the information.


One quick question.. husband is in upper management construction.. do you have any input on construction going on.. Industrial and commercial, not residential? Hospitals, hotels, medical anything, country buildings.. that kind of thing. How much of this type is being built and where.. if you know of any. Thanks so much for your information and help!

[NJDevil]

Sevier County ALWAYS has a lot of construction going on - new hotels, restaurants, museums, activity centers, in fact a big resort is coming to the Wears Valley area.

One scary storm I got caught in was when I was getting off 40 to come home, I took a downtown exit and the roads were starting to flood. I should not have taken the exit I did but visibility was really getting bad. Then this past February when we had the awful historic rains I had to drive down 75 into Georgia thru the worst of it. The rain can be bad anywhere here, you just have to pay attention to what areas flood. You don't want a house at the bottom of a hill! Back in Feb/Mar I heard about the parts of Knoxville that flooded (mostly west), but I did not hear much about Sevier county.

[JOinGA]

Originally Posted by NJDevil

Sevier County ALWAYS has a lot of construction going on - new hotels, restaurants, museums, activity centers, in fact a big resort is coming to the Wears Valley area.

One scary storm I got caught in was when I was getting off 40 to come home, I took a downtown exit and the roads were starting to flood. I should not have taken the exit I did but visibility was really getting bad. Then this past February when we had the awful historic rains I had to drive down 75 into Georgia thru the worst of it. The rain can be bad anywhere here, you just have to pay attention to what areas flood. You don't want a house at the bottom of a hill! Back in Feb/Mar I heard about the parts of Knoxville that flooded (mostly west), but I did not hear much about Sevier county.

I live in West Knox and Northshore Drive was flooded for weeks (fortunately, it was passable by cutting through a shopping center) and a man died driving into floodwaters on Ebenezer Road. They key, as you said, is to always buy on high ground. I am near the lake, but my house sits up. My property has good drainage and we would all be building arks if flood waters ever reached me. This is a good tool to get a general idea of the flood risk for a particular area. FloodTools.com

[TheShadow]

Originally Posted by NJDevil

My 2 cents on a few things...Summers are brutal. I think it was 2 years ago we set a record for the most days in a row over 90 (for our area). The humidity is very bad from June-September. Some weeks (in summer) we have a chance of rain every day, but then we also tend to have a drought. So each year, I never know what plant or tree is going to die. The storms we get here are the worst I have ever seen after living in 2 other states.

I personally would not want to live here once I'm retired because of the windy roads, poor visibility (no lights in Sevier county) and winter weather. Compared to Florida which has retirement communities up the wazoo, there is nothing like that here. There might be enough golf, but there's hardly any tennis or pickleball or other activities that seniors enjoy.

I live in Seymour and if I want to meet people, join groups, it's always in Knoxville. Unless there is an underground senior network in this county that I am unfamiliar with.

I live in Tellico Village (near Loudon TN, about 30 minutes west of Knoxville) and we have one of the largest pickleball clubs in the country with over 500 members. We also have golf, tennis, and of course Tellico Lake and all the water activities that come with living on a lake with miles and miles of shoreline. There are approximately 100 clubs ranging from quilters to motorcycle riding enthusiasts, and everything in between. We have over 6000 residents, about 80% retirees, many from out of state. There are other smaller communities nearby (Rarity Bay, Wind River, Fairfield Glade, etc) with similar amenities (pickleball, golf, tennis, lake).

Here's a listing of pickleball facilities around the country.

https://www.ideal-living.com/best-be...ll-facilities/

[NJDevil]

I agree Tellico is a very nice area for retirees