Moving TX/TN

Try citydata.com there are discussion forums on there that are very informative about good and bad things. Nashville has a lot of poverty and social problems(teen pregnancy and drugs), not so great schools, and texas is very conservative, like the other poster said. We in Illinois are one of the most openminded and educated populations there is in between the coasts. I have relatives that moved here from Texas (the woodlands), partly because it was so hot there. Illinois winter does suck though. I'll give you that. Keep an open mind and travel around a bit before you buy a home. Renting for a while is probably smart too. That way you're not stuck.

I live in Brenham and fell in love with it! We have everyone here from NY to CA! We are a college town, but not real big and its absolutly amazing! Not sure what you work as but there isnt a TO of things like college station. I LOVE IT HERE :) Also check out the school district I heard its amazing and there are also church/private schools (I work at one with a daycare) I have heard its a really good school :) Also everything is pretty close. Down fall... I heard taxes were crazy if you owned a house... not sure I rent (easier for us :)

My vote would be for Nashville. It is a beautiful city with a lot of things to do- and very family oriented! I went to school down there and would move back in a heartbeat. I have friends that have lived in several different places and have moved back to Nashville to raise their families. I also have a close family friend that moved from out West to Nashville (or suburb) and she and her family are very pleased with their move.

The weather is great. You get the seasons but not as drastic as you might be used to. When it snows the city shuts down! The summer's are hot and humid.

There are plenty of good schools in the Nashville area- especially with Vanderbilt University being right there. They start a lot of programs and do a lot of research in the local schools (and they are ranked in the top 5 schools for education). You would need to go and look around at the suburbs/ schools to see what would be a good fit for your family.

Good Luck!

I live in Dallas/ Fort Worth and it's pretty nice, I'd have to say. My dad moved us here from South Dakota over ten years ago (and I'm orginally from Ontario). They've been very nice to us. Weather is a tad hot, but got used to it. There are many school districts around here that are awesome. Especially in Hurst Euless Bedford area.....

My bro lives in Franklin county Tn, south of Nashville. The schools there are the best and they feel right at home. It is really beautiful there. I feel at home there too and i know exactly what you mean. I think you should move.

We've been in Plano/Allen Texas area for 20+ yrs. We love it now.

At first it was a shock moving from NC with all the beautiful trees etc but within a year or so, we grew to loving the big sky and we love it.

We ended up with the best of both worlds, we are within 30 minutes of downtown Dallas, inside an hour from DFW airport and Love Field (my hubby travels a lot). High end shopping is 15 minutes from me, we're withing 30 minutes of 4 large malls (great shops), and 3 high end shopping centers with high end grocery stores.

Weve lived in the same 5 mile radious the entire time. 10 yrs ago, we found the lot we built this home on and we back up to an 85 acre heavily wooded park with lots of wildlife and treed yard. Perfect! Our trees, big city and all kinds of shopping close by. Schools are great in Plano.

Our property taxes are higher (ours runs about $12-15,000/yr), no state income tax but sales tax is 8.25%.

This area has not seen the economy woes like a lot of the country. Our housing values never plummented. My neighborhood is very friendly and transient.......I'd say there are very few native Texans in my neighborhood.

We are very social and there is a lot to do. The Dallas area is great because DFW is a good airport and you can catch a plane and be on the East or West coast in reasonable time. This makes for great vacation planning. We like the climate, we HATE cold weather and it is limited here with the exception of this past winter when we made history with the amount of snow we had. Summers are hot but we just deal with it because we HATE the cold.

Check places out online and read about different cities in TX and get a feel for how large of a city you would like be be in. ALL areas are not big box houses and chain stores and as far as accepting lifestyles, it is quite nice. We are in a high end area and we have all kinds of families in our neighborhood who are accepted for who they are not judged.

Good luck.