We're moving to Knoxville. My job brought us to Floriduh. We're still in our 1500 square foot starter house. We can't find a suitable lot to build our "forever" house. Bubbaville Beach is clogged with tourist traffic March, and May through August. So, we're moving to TN.

My requirements for a state are:

1. Mild climate.
2. No front license plates.
3. No state income taxes or estate taxes.
4. Moderate cost of living (e.g. not California).
5. Low crime.
6. Lax gun laws.

I'll trade about a half-dozen snow storms per year for not having hurricanes. Being to the west of the mountains, the winter storms are mild. Ashville, NC on the other side gets hammered.

We bought a 0.65 acre lot in the suburbs. It's on a hillside (17 feet of elevation change on the lot), and trapezoidal. Those are normally problems, but they were exactly what I was looking for. We'll have a walk-out basement that could be a separate "servant's quarters," a three-bay garage in the back of the house unseen from the road, and still have a 60' x 75' backyard.

I got a bad vibe from the BMW dealership there, and my future neighbor (retired doctor married to a retired judge) confirmed that. But, there's an indy' shop there with a real good reputation, and it's owned by a former BMW NA instructor at their technician school in Spartanburg.

Knoxville is right in between VIR, Barber, and Road Atlanta. My drug of choice lately has been BMW and Porsche driving schools. Porsche's at Barber. BMW's advanced schools were at VIR and Road Atlanta. But, taking the shows on the road was causing them problems. So, the advanced schools are only in Thermal, CA now.