Gary,

As a former Tennessee resident, I can say that Nashville is a very nice area. If you're going to buy a house, you can get much more house (and land) for what you'd pay in San Jose. Also, there is no State income tax in Tennessee, so that's worth almost 10% right there. Gasoline is cheaper, food is cheaper, insurance is cheaper. If you go outside of town, you can be in the country in minutes. If you like hunting and fishing and the outdoors, it's a great place to live. It's a pretty *young* town with Vanderbilt University and the country music scene, and it's large enough to have lots of stuff to do. The weather is fairly mild in the winter and it usually doesn't get below freezing very often. Summers are hot and humid but that's pretty standard for the south. I suggest you go visit there if you're serious about moving there.

Ed