✈ From the ocean, to the heartland
Landlocked and lovin' it!
Today’s itinerary:
October 18, 2019
Fast Future LIVING
Reader Story: How moving inland improved my life Knoxville Skyline - Shutterstock
By Felicia Muniz
As a former resident of cities on both coasts, I was apprehensive about moving to a landlocked state. But I knew relocating was the only way to attain my goals of buying a home, growing roots, and creating a sustainable life.
Homeownership
Most first-time homebuyers in America are in their early to mid-30s and many are purchasing before marriage. In coastal cities, housing is a huge expense with one-bedrooms in bad areas valued at more than a million dollars. While easier for a two-income household, sole homeownership is nearly impossible.
Coastal states were all I knew until I moved to Knoxville, TN. I initially came to the area to visit my mom before heading back to Los Angeles. However, since homeownership had always been a dream of mine, I stayed longer after looking into the housing costs.
Knoxville
The median home price in Knoxville is about $174,000. Favorable loans and grants, like those from the United States Department of Agriculture, are also available for rural housing purchases and developments like those on the outskirts of the city.
Affordable listings are in safe neighborhoods, have backyards, and more closely resemble my childhood home than the skyscraping apartments of Miami. The rental choices in my budget are mansions compared to the studio shoeboxes I was used to. Housing, groceries, utilities, and transportation in the area are all less expensive than the nation’s average.
Community and culture
Relocating to the Appalachian region took some getting used to. Sayings like, “Have a blessed day” initially rattled me. But I soon realized that those colloquialisms stem more from manners than from beliefs. Those folks were simply wishing me well.
Back to nature
Tennessee has mountains, valleys, and rushing rivers. The area offers great outdoor activities like boating, climbing, and mountain biking year-round. In addition to the Great Smoky Mountains, Ijams Nature Center is a playground in the wilderness, with everything from adventure trails to climbing and ziplining.
Lifestyle
Knoxville is a quaint but progressive city that crosses Southern charm with hipster subculture. It has been quietly renovating downtown for the last few decades. And since hosting the World’s Fair in 1982, Knoxville has polished its historical architecture. Buildings retain their nostalgic charm and incorporate mural art, while businesses follow current trends just like East and West Coast cities do.
Knoxville has all the modern city amenities available in coastal metropolitan areas—but with a more affordable price tag.
People are polite. They take a moment to ask about your day and treat you like a person with a backstory rather than someone impeding their day.
Settling in
The seasons provide more variety than I ever experienced in Southern California. As the mild Tennessee winter shifts into a warm spring and then a sticky Southern summer, the insistence of change reminds me that anything and anyone can transform with time, which is an enlightening thought for those of us who wish to start fresh in a new place.
From the flight deck:
Would you like to share your stories about life in the heartland? Whether you're a transplant, a "boomerang," or you've lived here all your life, you're likely to have interesting observations that other readers can learn from. We will generally accept stories about lifestyle, business, economic and innovative advantages in your area. Our only strict rule about content is "no politics"!
BUSINESS TRIP
SaaS company Pendo raises $100 million Raleigh-based product cloud company Pendo has raised $100 million in Series funding to help companies become product led.
Fast Future U ADVANCEMENT
Study unites archaeologists with geneticists Archaeology typically conjures images of careful excavation, scrupulous preservation, and maybe a pith helmet or two. But thanks to innovations in collecting and analyzing DNA from bone samples, geneticists are now collaborating with archaeologists to provide new interpretations and insights into ancient populations.
CMU alumnus awards $15 million for engineering William Strecker and his wife, Nancy, have served up a gift that will transform Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering.
The College of Engineering, home to more than 4,000 students, is recognized as among the best in the world. An endowment from the Streckers will provide funds for investing in the college’s educational and research initiatives.
Kudos to Carnegie Mellon
In an article for Carnegie Mellon, Strecker said, "In our many interactions over the years, we have been extraordinarily impressed by the College of Engineering's programs, its students and faculty, and how it responds to students' needs. The college has had an impact on the entire field of engineering, across the board. Its inspirational work keeps us connected to Carnegie Mellon."
Dean William H. Sanders will be the inaugural holder of the Strecker Dean's Chair when he arrives on January 1, 2020. Sanders has spent the past 25 years as a tenured professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
FINAL APPROACH
Indiana filmmakers unite! If you happen to call Indiana home, or if you've got bona fide Hoosier connections, getting your latest film project streaming online just got a little easier. Filmmaker Thomas DeCarlo and folklorist Meredith McGriff just launched Hoosier Films, a new streaming service dedicated to showcasing the varied filmmaking talents of greater Indiana.
The pair met in Bloomington, where McGriff is the current membership director for the American Folklore Society, headquartered at Indiana University. The idea for the all-Hoosier-all-the-time streaming service came to DeCarlo after attending an Indiana film festival in Goshen. “I was blown away at how good all the films were,” he said.
A $12 annual subscription grants full access to the growing library, which currently includes approximately 30 full-length and short films. In addition to providing filmmakers with an easy outlet to distribute their works and network with other creators in the state, the service's profit-sharing models are artist friendly and easy to understand.
The only real question left is, can you stream Hoosiers?
IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Name that Fast Future city!
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