Why I Moved to Tennessee — And You Should, Too

The nature of my job required me to throw myself into the community, and I very quickly realized that the city is the perfect combination of all the things I loved about where I grew up — Southern hospitality, small-town charm, nice restaurants, good people, culture and art. It has everything Nashville does but in a smaller package. It didn’t take long before I realized this is the place I’m truly happy to be and want to build a life here. 

There’s a little bit of everything. We’re a very outdoor city; we’re surrounded by trees, hills and mountains. There is lots of water access if you want to go tubing, boating, swimming or just want to sit on the dock and enjoy the view. Chattanooga is unique because everybody is just very involved in the community, and there’s always something that’s happening downtown on the weekend, and you’ll run into someone you know. 

I had one good friend already here, and I was honored that she used me as her excuse to make moves on the people she had friendship crushes on. I have moved a couple of times in my young adulthood and found that a good rule of thumb when you don’t have a built-in community is to say yes to things, even if they’re not normally things you’d say yes to. Being a little uncomfortable in a new place is how you build community because it pushes you to get introduced to new people and places. You have to be brave and a little vulnerable, and that’s hard. 

I’d say lean into things that you’re either passionate about or that you enjoy. We both enjoy sports, so we dove into the Nashville Sports Leagues. There are different ones throughout Nashville, but that’s the one we participate in — we’re in a four-by-four volleyball league. We belong to Christ the King Catholic Church and are part of the young adults group there. We have a great friend who joined Third Coast Comedy Club, an improv group, and we’ve gone to see her. 

Nashville is Music City. We go to so many concerts — that’s one of our favorite things about Nashville. We go see smaller artists at the Ryman Auditorium or go to Franklin to their new amphitheater (FirstBank Amphitheater) — they have some great shows. For our anniversary this year, we decided to get season passes to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center to see those shows, which has been a great addition to our monthly routine. 
We’re big outdoors people. There are lots of parks throughout Nashville, like Radnor Lake State Park and the Warner Parks, plus there are many state parks nearby. We walk around neighborhoods and look at architecture, too. There’s a diverse range of things to do here, and that’s part of the reason we love it so much.