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I did visit my brother in eastern TN (about an hour west of Knoxville) for Thanksgiving and an extended stay to celebrate his birthday. Have been making a trip this time of year for over a decade, and the weather is always nicer, warmer, sunnier and with sunset about 30min later than at home. We did have a few snow flurries there, some cold temps and one day of nothing but rain. But we missed a snow storm (3-4 inches by me) while we were gone. Might be in the running for somewhere to retire.
As a life-long resident, I'm a bit prejudiced towards Tennessee.
We have NO state income tax (there was a tax on interest and dividend income, but that is being phased out (since 2015) with it being GONE in 2021).
Property taxes won't be the reason you can't send your kids to college, and there are no personal property taxes (there are for businesses, but not individuals).
Housing is affordable except for some counties in the Nashville/middle Tennessee area.
We have a variety of riding conditions (flatter in the west, rolling in the middle, more rolling and mountains in the east).
We have decent access to health care in the bigger towns.
Want to escape? You're one day either north to the Great Lakes, south to the Gulf/north Florida, east to the Atlantic ocean, or west to the Ozarks.
We might get a bit of snow, but it's usually low in quantity and short in duration...enough to know what it looks like but not terribly inconvenient (more in the Appalachian Mountains in the east if you want more).
TN has 1,000 miles of interstate highways, 13,000 miles of state highways, and 86,000 miles of county/city roads. Want to guess which I like the best?
It can get pretty warm in the summer months, but that's balanced by a winter that is mild in comparison to places further north. If you can deal with mornings around the freezing mark with temps rising into the mid 40s during the day, that's much of our winter riding conditions. I guess-timate we have about 1 week a year when the temperature doesn't get above freezing.
Knoxville, my home town, is the 3rd largest city in the state with around 200,000 population (Chattanooga is close to that as well). Include the whole county, and it's closer to 450,000. Google says it's the 153rd largest county in the country. But I can still get from one side of the county (I live near the north edge) to anywhere else in the county in maybe 45 minutes. Rush hour traffic exists, but it's mild in comparison.
There are a number of state and private universities and colleges spread out over the state...and I think costs are pretty reasonable compared to a lot of other places.
If you like city living, you can find it in Tennessee. If you like a more rural or small town lifestyle, it's there.
Downsides? We have a nasty sales tax (9+%). The University of Tennessee in Knoxville has a sucky football team (but a decent basketball team right now), and the sports writers for the Knoxville newspaper seem to have nothing else to write about.
