THE NEW PROMISED LAND: TENNESSEE?
By Rick Tetzeli

(FORTUNE Magazine) – Knoxville, Tennessee, was the country's primary destination last year for folks relocating. According to Ryder System, 141 households moved in for every 100 that left. Ryder's survey includes more than just its own customers. The company gathers information from its 4,500 locations nationwide and combines it with U.S. government census data to help Ryder manage its inventory -- primarily trucks rented for one-way trips. Chattanooga and Nashville were also popular -- making Tennessee the only state with three cities in the top 20. Is everybody looking for Elvis? Excina Cates, a senior customer representative for Ryder in Knoxville, often handles the paperwork for incoming renters. She thinks she knows why more people are moving in: ''A lot of people come here because it's a laid-back place, a good place to raise the family, and the atmosphere is wonderful. Besides, the weather is moderate and normal. There are no snowstorms.'' That's more than can be said for New York City, where 141 households flee for every 100 that move in. Says one Ryder spokesperson: ''We don't like to be the purveyors of bad news, but New York has been at or near the bottom as long as we've measured this'' -- in other words, since the company began compiling its survey in the mid-1970s. But New York is no longer alone as the prime place people love to leave. The bad news is hitting both coasts -- three of the bottom ten cities are in California, and in 1992 a growing percentage of movers left the state altogether, rather than try another city in the no longer so Golden State.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: SOURCE: RYDER CONSUMER TRUCK RENTAL CAPTION: EASY COME, EASY GO