Middle Tennessee: A Place You’d Want to Spend the Rest of Your Life

Middle Tennessee has an abundance of attributes, some unique, but its incredible beauty with rolling hills, forested ridges and slopes, and fertile stream valleys is what captures you.  As a transplant from south Georgia summed it up, “The country is gorgeous - just breathtaking. There is nothing like it where I lived.  It’s a place you’d want to spend the rest of your life.”

The topography of Middle Tennessee is fascinating. The area is largely a plain with an elliptical shaped center surrounded by a thick rim of steep slopes, high ridges, and stream valleys.  The area was at one time a massive dome.  Because the uplifting of the dome made it more susceptible to erosion, it was worn down faster than the surrounding land. This resulted in what is called the Central Basin and Highland Rim. The Central Basin is on average, 400 feet lower than the surrounding Rim and has some of the best farmland in the South.

Middle Tennessee is largely comprised of limestone, chert, shale, and sandstone. Where this type of geology is found, you will also find a great amount of water as underground lakes, springs, rivers, creeks, etc.  The best river system in the state in terms of navigability is in this region. Here the rivers are fairly gentle, making them ideal for canoeing and rafting. The three main rivers are the Cumberland, Tennessee and the Duck - which is renowned for being one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the U.S.  It also has several smaller rivers that wind through the region such as the Buffalo, Elk, Piney, Stones, and Harpeth (all great paddling rivers).

Many horse farms are located to the south and east of Nashville where the underlying limestone weathers to a soil particularly suited to the growing of grasses favored by horses. This area is much like the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky.

Middle Tennessee’s abundance of forests is thick with many different species of trees, wildflowers (some rare), and wildlife.  Mixed forests of oak, hickory, maple tulip poplar, and chestnut are found all over.  Beech, hemlock, winged elm, hackberry, blue ash, redbud, southern buckthorn and gum trees also grow in a variety of locations. Eastern red cedars (junipers) are a component of the forest in cedar glade areas.

Of special interest in Middle Tennessee are the cedar glades and the barrens. A cedar glade is a special ecosystem where thin soils over limestone have produced a unique assemblage of wildflowers; a dozen or so species are of global significance.  Similarly, barrens are a prairie-like ecosystem characterized by tall grasses such as Indian Grass and bluestem, dotted with small clumps of hardwood trees.

Many species of common showy wildflowers inhabit the region. Rarer wildflowers such as the Tennessee coneflower, lady slipper’s orchid or Eggert’s sunflower – formerly a federally listed threatened species - grow in particular areas that offer their perfect habitat.

In Middle Tennessee, the summers are relatively mild, except in August when it can get very warm (90’s).  The winters are mild for the most part, with periods of cold and an occasional snow to delight the residents.  Fall and spring are “show-off” seasons.  As winter approaches, the hardwoods’ leaves become rich splashes of paint lining streets, edging pastures and filling the forests. As summer draws near, wildflowers, azaleas, and dogwoods bloom in a splendid profusion.

Tennessee’s quality of living is high and its cost of living is low -10% below the national average.  A great attraction is that there is no state income tax. Property taxes are amazingly low – Tennessee ranks 40th in the U.S.

At the center of Middle Tennessee is Nashville.  It is the state as well as the country music capital.  It offers small city ease with big city attractions. It boasts fine colleges and universities as well as medical centers (including the renowned Vanderbilt Medical Center), restaurants, museums, and art activities.  It is also home to two professional sports’ teams: the Tennessee Titans football team and the Nashville Predators hockey team.

Travel to, from and within Nashville is a breeze due to an excellent road system that includes interstates as well as many four-lane highways.  This system is supported by a fuel tax designed solely for roads.

As an added plus, Middle Tennessee’s central location makes it a very convenient place to settle.  It is situated within one day’s drive of ¾ of the U.S. population.

If you are in that ¾ of the population and haven’t visited Middle Tennessee, give yourself a treat and take that day’s drive.