William Davis approached me almost as soon as we started the teleworker friendly community and said he had the next candidate in mind and here it is in his words.

For a telework utopia, I’d like to nominate Winchester (and Franklin County) Tennessee, a gorgeous area surrounded by the Cumberland Mountains and Tims Ford Lake, ideally situated in the middle of, and about an hour from, three of the most vibrant, highly-rated cities in the US- Nashville, Huntsville, and Chattanooga.

Foster Falls

The affordability, scenic beauty, and access this area provides is unrivaled in the country. We have all the key amenities here—lakeside homes, a quaint renovated downtown, a regional hospital, good restaurants, a nationally-known liberal arts college (Sewanee University of the South), mountain vistas, water sports, hiking, cycling, kayaking, a Jack Nicklaus golf course—it’s all in and surrounding Winchester.

And of course full we have broadband access.

Most amazingly, quaint homes in walking neighborhoods, near the lake, can still be bought for less than 100k!

If I need to catch a non-stop flight to any major city in the US, we can be at Nashville International Airport in less than 90 minutes. For even more options, the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta, is about 3 hours away.

Falls Mill - 1873

Lost Cove

The Area

Nashville (pop: 1.7 million) offers a world-class music scene and thriving nightlife, along with abundant arts and entertainment (museums, theatre, pro sports, great restauraunts), all the best stores for shopping, national headquarters for many companies such as Nissan, and top universities such as Vanderbilt. It’s a thriving big-city atmosphere only 80 miles away. Huntsville (pop: 500,000) is the third largest high-tech research hub in the nation (after Silicon Valley and Raleigh-Durham NC) and is consistently rated one of the top relocation, quality-of-life, and entrepreneurial cities. It’s the hub of NASA and the US space program, along with many aeronautical companies, and is now becoming a biotech and software hub, and is only 49 miles down the road. Chattanooga (pop: 600,000) is a mecca for outdoor recreation, surrounded by mountains and along the Tennessee River, and for 25 years has been a leader of the urban sustainability movement with greenways, walking neighborhoods, parks, electric buses, and a beautiful downtown waterfront filled with street life and people, and the world’s largest freshwater aquarium. All of this helped recently draw Volkswagen to Chattanooga for their multi-billion dollar new green car investments. It’s only 65 miles away. And as mentioned, all the amenities of Atlanta, the 6th largest metro in the country, are only about 3 hours from Winchester.

Boat House

So for teleworkers looking for scenic beauty, quality-of-life, and amazingly affordable housing—all situated with easy access to great urban hotspots—it would be very hard to find any other area of the US that can match Winchester and Franklin County TN.  I moved here in 2003, after having lived in Seattle, Washington DC, Boston, Atlanta, Nashville, and Paris France, and I can tell you this area remains an amazing discovery!! I came here both to enjoy the surroundings and save money, while starting and growing an online business, and it’s an awesome spot for the new Internet workplace and lifestyle! -William Davis