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I'm becoming very intrigued with east TN and western NC.
Ideally I would like to move my family to somewhere in this great and beautiful region.
I know the 2 states each have pros/cons but I'm looking for more information to help make a decision on where to keep focusing and concentrating my efforts on.
I imagine many of you fine folks have a lot of knowledge and experience on the good and bad of WNC compared to ETN.
What are your thoughts? What are advantages to living in one location over the other?
I'm becoming very intrigued with east TN and western NC.
Ideally I would like to move my family to somewhere in this great and beautiful region.
I know the 2 states each have pros/cons but I'm looking for more information to help make a decision on where to keep focusing and concentrating my efforts on.
I imagine many of you fine folks have a lot of knowledge and experience on the good and bad of WNC compared to ETN.
What are your thoughts? What are advantages to living in one location over the other?
Thanks for the help.
East Tennessee advantages: Slightly cheaper, no state income tax, larger cities.
Western NC advantages: Better housing options, better economy, less riff raff. I would choose Johnson City or Boone areas for low cost of living high quality of life. They are close to Asheville as well.
Yes, East Tennessee for the cities. I like Asheville, but it has become so overrated. Both have magnificent scenery, but Western North Carolina is the most beautiful part of the South, in my opinion. If politics matter, for more conservative, the Johnson City, TN area may be a good fit. For more progressive cities, Chattanooga, TN, Knoxville, TN or Asheville, NC could be a good fit. I do not think any of those cities in Tennessee reach Asheville's level of "progressiveness," though.
Both areas have some of the most stunning natural geography in the United States. I can definitely see the appeal.
I was born and raised in northeast TN, left at 18, and moved back to the area part-time in 2017 (split time w/Atlanta).
Western North Carolina has slightly more beautiful countryside I think, because it has many more peaks, and some higher peaks than the Tennessee side. This allows for several more ski resorts in western North Carolina, and attracted a bit more of a demographic with disposable income over the decades. Tennessee has one ski resort in Gatlinburg: Ober Gatlinburg, which is pretty incredible with tons to do if you've never been.
Both areas are traditionally the "Bible Belt," but Western North Carolina has diversified itself from this reputation moreso than East Tennessee has, at least in the past 10-20 years or so. East Tennessee on the whole has a bit more "back country towns" scattered throughout, and a culture based on Appalachia, farming and church life. Western North Carolina definitely has its fair share too, but not to the over-arching extent I think that East Tennessee has.
The Tennessee side has the huge resort area of Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, which has over 12 million tourists and growing, annually. There is the major theme park with Dollywood (over 3 million annually), and the Great Smoky Mountains national park is just a stunning treasure, that both states share.
Also, East Tennessee has Knoxville, home of the University of Tennessee and home to one of the most diverse economies in the US. Knoxville's metro is approaching 1 million quickly. Then there is also Chattanooga, which is a darling of the "gig economy/inexpensive/outdoor amenity" world, and has one of the countries' fastest internets. It's stunning geography around Chattanooga.
The tri-cities area in Northeast Tennessee is more sleepy, and the demographics are older. Johnson City is the standout though, and is very inexpensive and home of ETSU, which has a medical school.
Western North Carolina has less major cities than East Tennessee, but the area's largest city is Asheville, which has been called by some "the San Francisco" of the east. This in my opinion, is a huge stretch of course, but Asheville is very "hippy/artsy/progressive/trendy," but this also has started to lead to pricey rentals and home buying. Tons of incredible things to do in the Asheville area however. The Biltmore estate is just breathtaking.
As for jobs and economy, Tennessee has no state income tax, so there's savings there; but the sales tax in Tennessee is in the top 5 highest in the nation, so there's a bit of a give and take. The Knoxville or Chattanooga metros will most likely offer a bit more diversity with job options than Asheville, but Asheville is booming and growing too, so the opportunities will be there as well.
I think both regions are just stunning geography, and very laid back, friendly people with a low cost of living, overall. The "big city" fixes are Charlotte, Atlanta and Nashville--which are just 2-4 hour drives away, depending on where in the region you are. If you love hiking, boating, rock climbing, waterfall exploration, hunting or fishing, white water rafting, rappelling, zip lining (!!) or just any general outdoor activities, both areas are heaven for that.
I found a reference for Asheville's GDP being around 20 Billion. I can't see the rest of WNC totaling more than Asheville unless you include Wilkesboro and Hickory, etc.
They both have a wide variety of housing options the main difference is in WNC you can live on top of a mountain, ETN is better if you want to live on or near a lake.
Quote:
Western NC advantages:... less riff raff.
Wholeheartedly agree with this - signed ETN riff-raff .
As someone who has spent a lot of time in the South and finds it to be a remarkably unremarkable region overall, I would easily choose western NC over east TN. I find Cherokee, Asheville, and some of the smaller towns throughout western NC to be pretty charming, in some areas.
While east TN is also beautiful, it certainly feels more "standoffish." I got the sense that without the presences of tourism and the University of TN in Knoxville, the region would be just another eastern KY.
As someone who has spent a lot of time in the South and finds it to be a remarkably unremarkable region overall, I would easily choose western NC over east TN. I find Cherokee, Asheville, and some of the smaller towns throughout western NC to be pretty charming, in some areas.
While east TN is also beautiful, it certainly feels more "standoffish." I got the sense that without the presences of tourism and the University of TN in Knoxville, the region would be just another eastern KY.
I agree. The NC side is better. As stated before NC economy is better, and the state is more progressive overall. NC towns are cleaner and offer more charm. My friends live in Cherokee and just bought a nice home there. I will be visiting soon. Have many memories of Asheville and touring the Biltmore.
As someone who has spent a lot of time in the South and finds it to be a remarkably unremarkable region overall, I would easily choose western NC over east TN. I find Cherokee, Asheville, and some of the smaller towns throughout western NC to be pretty charming, in some areas.
While east TN is also beautiful, it certainly feels more "standoffish." I got the sense that without the presences of tourism and the University of TN in Knoxville, the region would be just another eastern KY.
Have you ever been to Rogersville, Joneborough, Greenville, Townsend, Rutledge, Gatlinburg, Dandridge or other charming, quaint and historic east Tennessee towns? There is a ton of charm in many areas and although it's not postcard perfect in others, I'd say it ranks higher than a lot of regions for charming small towns.
As for Cherokee, NC, oof. It is a struggling tourist center with a ton of boarded up stores. It's ok, but definitely needs work and improvement to clean up part of the town again. There are many better western NC towns than Cherokee.
East Tennessee another eastern Kentucky? Not even close. Even without Knoxville or the juggernaut of the smoky mtn tourism, it is head and shoulders above eastern Kentucky.
Eastern Kentucky, while pretty in some areas with rolling green hills and rustic wilderness, saw its economy largely dependent on coal, historically, and is struggling today to find good jobs for those who don't move away after high school It is loaded with very small tiny towns that are pretty impoverished and have big drug issues, like many of Appalachia and the rural US in general. Although conditions in some areas today have improved in eastern Kentucky, it still remains one of the poorest overall regions in the United States.
There are no larger cities in eastern Kentucky over 20,000 people. East Tennessee has 9 cities over 20k, a huge difference maker.
*edit: actually, Ashland, Kentucky is barely clinging on to 20,300 people, 2018 estimate. But the population is dropping.
East Tennessee is not in the same economic conversation in 2020, as eastern Kentucky. If it were 1970, east Tennessee and eastern Kentucky would've definitely been a bit closer in terms of similarities. Today though, eastern Kentucky is still very much struggling all in all. It is more closely related to southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, southwest Virginia, and even the lower Mississippi delta, economy-wise.
Last edited by jjbradleynyc; 01-11-2020 at 03:29 PM..
I agree. The NC side is better. As stated before NC economy is better, and the state is more progressive overall. NC towns are cleaner and offer more charm. My friends live in Cherokee and just bought a nice home there. I will be visiting soon. Have many memories of Asheville and touring the Biltmore.
Have you been to Cherokee recently? I had not been there since the early 1990s, and was there over the summer in late August, for a couple hours. It has really seen better days and has several large sections with vacant, boarded up stores.
It feels sort of forgotten in spots and needs some vibrancy and redevelopment. For such a hotspot tourist location, I was really surprised.
I'm not sure if tourism has just slipped, or if the stores just don't have good management--but there were a lot of empty ones and the streets were not super busy.
NC has better mountains, Tennessee better valleys.
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