Here’s why a Tennessee family of 5 moved to NYC

Real Estate

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By Mary K. Jacob

In a pre-war Brooklyn building, Lisa Miller cheerfully opens the door in khakis and a white-laced top with socks on — no shoes from the outside allowed in, especially on the day of a torrential April downpour. 

From the entry, Miller — a photographer and content creator — waves to her neighbor. She and her family already seemed acclimated to Park Slope and the people in it, despite the short time they’ve lived there. 

The Millers have called a roughly 1,100-square-foot unit their home for just three months after giving up their spacious life in Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s a move not typically heard of, and particularly in the wake of 2020 uprooting the lives of many New Yorkers who headed in directions south seeking fewer restrictions, safety and cheaper prices. In 2024, the move in the opposite direction certainly goes to show that, for those seeking opportunities in a bustling atmosphere — such as this brood — New York’s still got it.

But despite the change in location, the family brought a sense of home and charm with them. Upon entering the four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, a whiff of a fresh ocean breeze scent fills the air — with Miller noting it’s one of Anthropologie’s popular Capri Blue candles. 

Furniture and other items of decor are intricately placed throughout the railroad residence, as if this space has already been inhabited for years, not months. 

“It’s my OCD,” Lisa told The Post of their new home already being perfectly furnished.

It’s a move that also shows will — an attribute that ties her family of five together.

During the pandemic and its aftermath, New York City witnessed a significant departure of residents. Between April 2020 and July 2022, the population of the Big Apple plummeted by nearly half a million individuals, constituting a 5.3% decline and erasing nearly three-quarters of the growth achieved in the preceding decade.

Factors attributed to the mass exodus the Concrete Jungle saw included high crime rates, affordability and space.

By contrast, the South grew during COVID, and accounted for a whopping 87% of the nation’s growth in 2023, though it holds just 39% of the population. Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida in particular have all received a number of new residents since the coronavirus years, and continue to do so.

Recent data also shows the family’s home of Knoxville, known as an up-and-coming city, is one of the fastest-growing mid-size cities in America. 

More Americans are moving from large metropolitan areas to mid-size cities; Knoxville was among the top destinations, with 70% of moves inbound in 2023, according to a recent study released by Mayflower Transit.

And as opposed to Brooklyn, Knoxville offers the prime perk of space.

“In Knoxville, we had a full office, a studio, a dining room and an eat-in kitchen,” said Miller. “So by not having those things, that was probably a good 1,200 square feet there that we weren’t going to use anymore.” 

Miller, along with her husband, Dusty, and their three children — 15-year-old daughter, London, and sons Cooper, 12, and Luke, 11 — signed the lease in November, though they didn’t actually move in until a month later. 

The benefits of the move immediately became apparent.

“Our family has grown closer together since being here because we’re not going 100 different ways,” Miller said. “We’re all here together and there’s not as many people that we know here.”

Miller’s upbringing was somewhat different to the other kids she grew up up with, having moved from foster home to foster home. 

“I grew up in a lot of really traumatic situations,” Miller said. “And so I always romanticized the city as this dream place. I was a creative as a kid. I drew, I sang, I didn’t start doing photography and decorating and stuff until I was older, but I’ve always been super creative and kind of saw New York as the stage for whatever that looks like for me . . . my whole life was like, ‘I’m going to live there.’”

Entering the cozy living room, neutral and color tones mix with an oversize couch to fit the whole family and a touch of vintage charm. Dusty, who works as a Department of Defense contractor, along with their daughter, London, join in on the conversation.

“I’m eating my way across the city and when we first moved here, adapting wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be, because I told Lisa it was kind of like when I was in college,” Dusty said. “I lived in downtown Knoxville. You would park a car and leave it there for a month. You walk to class, you’d walk to get food . . . So when we first got here, I said, ‘It’s just like being in college all over again.’”

What initially motivated them to make this big move: London and her aspirations as a dancer.

“I love it here,” London said, adding that she took delight in dancing at Manhattan’s famed Alvin Ailey.

“We had never even talked about the possibility of moving here, until she spent last summer here, at the Joffrey Ballet,” Lisa Miller added. “She did summer intensive, and they offered her a permanent spot. The option was for her to come here on her own. We are very tight-knit family. That was not ever really an option.”

The move was also beneficial for Lisa and Dusty’s youngest son, who has autism.

“For a child like Luke, who is high-functioning on the autism spectrum, with some learning difficulties and social difficulties, we just could not find a fit for him in Knoxville,” Miller said. “The way people receive and accept him here is different than in Tennessee. We already feel like he is surrounded by support and people who see him as being different as something special and good.”

Despite each person admitting that leaving family and friends behind was the most difficult part of the transition, they have found New York to be its own support system in many other ways. What’s more, they can thrive in a beautifully decorated space.

For her part, Miller adds that her inspiration of creating the interior was to do the opposite of what was trendy. 

“Years ago, I did home decor influencing on Instagram,” she said. “And, embarrassingly, it was like the farmhouse era. Everything was so trendy and so when we kind of started over, I was like, ‘I don’t want to follow a trend. I really want to just put things on the wall that are purposeful and meaningful.’” 

One wall in her living room is adorned with vintage frames of black and white photography, and the images are pictures of her family she took herself. The wall also included a map of Knoxville, paying homage to the only other place they’ve all really ever known. 

Each bedroom is decked with its own flare and style. Luke’s room displays his favorite collectible trinkets. Cooper opted for a basketball hoop as the centerpiece. London’s room has bohemian energy, with blue and green tones.

Still, there are some quotidian nuisances. The family sees grocery shopping in the Concrete Jungle taking some time to get used to. Unlike in Knoxville, they cannot just load up a shopping cart full of groceries into the trunk of their car.

There is also using the subway as their main mode of transportation, instead of the convenient car, and having to find more affordable options for meals.

Meanwhile, they are no longer homeowners. Instead of a reasonable mortgage, they are now spending more than $5,000 per month on rent.

“I think the trade off for what we were looking for, which were creative opportunities, was knowing that we wouldn’t be owning a home,” Miller said. “That’s not going to make sense to everyone. And that’s fine, because the beauty of life is that we all get to do what we want.”

And so, a fresh start for 2024 is already off to a roaring start.

“We have been in Tennessee for almost 40 years. My whole life. So it’s been neat to kind of go and experience, you know, the exact opposite,” Dusty added.