First Impressions of the Upper Cumberland

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In May 2024, our family visited the Upper Cumberland to scope out the potential of our hyeland project location. While Naira had clearly done her homework in picking the perfect area, we of course were curious and wanted to see for ourselves.

So we booked an Airbnb for the week and drove ~8 hours from Richmond, VA to check it out. We explored pretty much the entire area. Here are our first impressions as a family comprising of 2 in our mid-30s, a 4-year old, and 1-year old planning to relocate at the beginning of 2025.

Our first impression of the area as we came off the highway was of Center Lake. Simply put, incredible views. The lake is mostly undeveloped and it is huge. It looks more like a river than a lake. You come away with an initial thought of “wow, this place is pristine.”

Once settled into our airbnb, we explored Smithville. It is a cute, mostly quiet town. Things are well kept and you get the sense that things might be tailored to vacationers visiting the lake. The shops and cafes we went to were an interesting combination of upscale and homely. It is comfortable.

Despite being a quiet town on the small side, there is still a reasonable amount of life happening and everywhere we went we saw families out with their kids getting on with their daily activities.

Every playground we saw had plaques telling you which local organization did the fundraising and which local business contributed the money. Accordingly the quality of the playgrounds were high and they were plentiful.

For us, as a family planning to optimize convenience for our first year in the area, our summary of Smithville is that it’s in a beautiful area, has a nice downtown, but is probably too small for what we wanted.

The next day we explored to the north east of Smithville, visiting Cookeville and Monterey.

Cookeville was the only real city we saw in the area. Accordingly it has a little bit of everything. It has its charming old part of town, a hospital, and a large college campus. It is a growing city, and it felt that way.

It is in a nice location, still mostly shielded from Tornadoes and the land itself is beautiful as was true in almost all the areas we visited in the Upper Cumberland.

Cookeville seems to be a place that has the amenities we are accustomed to and looking for in a rental location.

A bit farther east from Cookeville is a small town called Monterey. There is quiet a lot of revitalization happening in the town center with new businesses opening up. It did not feel run down but it is not particularly lively. We of course ate at the Mexican restaurant there and it was quite good.

South of Cookeville is Sparta. Sparta is a medium sized city. Of all the cities we visited Sparta felt like it had the most growth potential. It had less polished feel than either Smithville or Cookeville. It did not feel like a rough place but it did not excite us like some of the other places. People we spoke to though had lots of great things to say about Sparta. Someone with longer-term urban aspirations could likely do some interesting things in Sparta.

McMinnville is the second largest of the cities we saw and probably the prettiest. It is clean and polished. It has an upscale feel to it. You got the feeling that it is in its final form, a finished product. There are a number of small towns between McMinnville and Sparta that were half empty and ready for outside investment. McMinnville is not like that. This felt like some place that would be great for families or even perhaps retirees.

If a great rental came available in McMinnville, it would be worthy of consideration over Cookeville for us. I think we’d be happy and settle in well in either place.

Overall Impressions

There’s only so much you can learn about a place in a week of visiting.

We left feeling excited and looking forward to moving to the Upper Cumberland. There is a completely different vibe from the eastern, more Appalachian parts of TN, that we originally thought about moving to. The people here are warmer and the land more forgiving.

Everywhere I looked I could sense opportunity. It is a great feeling. The towns, small or large, all had historical downtowns that were charming. For the entrepreneurial types, quite a few of these places were begging for revitalization.

The balance of rural nature and connected small towns and cities was a great balance that is really difficult to find anywhere in America. No matter where you were in the area, you were about 30 minutes from a town that would at a minimum cover your basic needs, but more than likely much more than that.

We saw our kids interacting with nature in a way they had not done so before which was beautiful. The environment just felt great to be in and we all felt at peace. We were surprised with how much there was to do in the Upper Cumberland too. Everywhere you turned was a park or activity. You can easily imagine how much time we’d be spending outside.

As we face an uncertain future, the only thing we know is that change is certain. The opportunities for us to work with our hands, build, grow, and connect with the real, physical world are clearly abundant here. And it certainly helps that it looks and feels like you are in beautiful northern Armenia.

At this time, I know of no other place I’d rather invest my time, resources, and energy. Mission success.