what's good about Tennessee?

Both East and Middle Tennessee are nice and very scenic; East is more mountainous, but Middle has some pretty good hills also. I love it here. We're in a very rural area, the smallest county in Tennessee, in Middle TN. Rustic hardly even describes it, but it's better now than it was when I was growing up here. As someone in SC said, Tennessee is the new North Carolina!

If he's thinking about around Columbia, he will find better prices on land and houses if he looks south of the city. Lynnville (pretty land with rolling hills), Lewisburg, Lawrenceburg (amish country), Hohenwald (has the Elephant Sanctuary), etc.
The further north you go from there the more expensive it gets. Williamson County is outrageously expensive. Rutherford is less so, but still pricey compared to others. Maury County varies. Same deal with Marshall County. It really does come down to school systems. The areas with good schools are a lot more expensive. If you don't care about the schools you can find some decent property for a good price.

Temps in middle TN range from stinkin' cold (in the single digits) up to freakishly hot (99 with a heat index of 115). It is all over the place. We get four distinct seasons and it is really lovely. Middle TN has a variety of people from rednecks to intellectuals. It just depends on where you are.

There is no income tax. Sales tax is around 10% give or take. There are other hidden taxes in there too.

Lots to do. Lots of parks. Lots of theatre and entertainment.

All in all, it's a great place.

I moved here from Illinois several years ago and loathe the thought of even going back to visit.

The gun laws here are very lax in comparison to Illinois.
There is open carry as well as concealed carry.
There is no waiting period on any firearm purchase.
Tennessee does not have a castle law but we do have a "Stand your ground" law which essentially states "No duty to retreat, regardless of where attack takes place."
More referenced here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_doctrine#States_with_a_Castle_Law
Tennessee is an NFA friendly state. NFA firearms are title 2 weapons which include short barreled rifles/shotguns, full automatic weapons, and silencers. There is a process for obtaining the tax stamps required to own these types of devices. I have several tax stamps and build my own silencers for a hobby.

Then there are the mountains and parks. We live close to several ranges and I bicycle through them whenever I get the chance.

Lakes for fishing. Tennessee does a wonderful job with fisheries management. Boone lake is almost a stones throw from my house and is considered a striper trophy lake. The Watauga and Holston rivers are also considered some of the best trout rivers around as well.

Tennessee does rank up there in corruption though. A lot of good ole boy networks.

The sales tax isn't that bad. Much better than the Illinois income tax.

For the most part the roads are really good.

I love it here and will never move. Well maybe to Montana or Wyoming if I ever get fed up with technology and just want to go find a ranch to work on for room and board.

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corruption? can you elaborate?

tax is 9.74% I think. All I know is if I buy 3 things off the dollar menu at McDonalds it equals out to $3.29

Generally the Tn. state sales tax is 7%.

There is a local option sales tax that can be up to 2.75%.

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Based on some old data and I cannot speak for the reliability of the site or the methods that they used in compiling their statistics. I just know that there are some very entrenched good ole boy networks when it comes to law enforcement.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2010/05/09/the-most-corrupt-states.html

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd post my two cents worth.

I was born in Chattanooga, so it's been a little easier for me to deal with the "old-boy network" or at least I've learned to work around it. My sister however, moved to Houston for 20 years and came back and is having an impossible time getting a job because she doesn't know the right people and doesn't understand how the system works. My daughter had been applying for a local job at a grocery store for 6 months and was told they weren't hiring and then suddenly the manager found out he worked with her boyfriend and hey presto! She got a job.

Interesting. Frustrating. Glad my network is in place already.