Pros & Cons of retiring to Elizabethton ? (Knoxville, Johnson City: crime rate, new home)

[DADDYO49]

......Once Again; in my ongoing search for the best retirement Community.....I'd like to hear about the pros & cons of retiring to Elizabethton ? Is it a good place to live or retire to ? How is the Cost of Living ? Housing Costs ? Area Amenities ?? Crime rate ? Area Shopping ?? I understand Elizabethton is a Mountain Town ??

[insanesmooch]

I've just moved to the area about 3 months ago. It's not really a mountain town; it's more in a valley. You go up when heading in at least three directions from it. Housing costs are about the same here as in other parts of TN, at least in East TN (like Knoxville). They aren't building very many new homes like other areas are though. Around $100,000 would get maybe a little over 1000 sq ft. The property tax rate (Carter County) could go down to $1.95, but they want to raise it to $2.26. There will be a vote on that soon.
As far as shopping, there is a Super Walmart. Magic Mart (similar to Walmart/Kmart type stores) and Big Lots. There are three other grocery stores, three major drug stores, and then several other smaller stores. Oh, there is a Lowe's also. So you can get pretty much anything you would need. Johnson City is about 10 to 20 minutes away if you want a bigger selection of stores.
Elizabethton is a small enough place that the paper lists all of the arrests and at least some court preceedings. The paper is online elizabethtonstar.com Most of what I see is drugs, DUI, domestic charges, and bad checks. There are occasional break ins and things listed. I don't feel any less unsafe here than anywhere else. In fact, I feel much safer here than in Nashville.
The Cherokee National Forest and Watauga lake are near by. There you can do lots of hiking, fishing, swimming, ect. There is a shooting range too. As you come into town from the interstate there is a golf course. There is another one within about 6 miles or so in Johnson City.

[mbmouse]

Elizabethton also has a "down town" area that is more like the "old city" type. There are lots of little shops and antique shops, specialty shops and such. There are beautiful old historic buildings and a few old houses too. There is a white bridge and monument right in the middle of the road circle and an old covered bridge. When I first moved to East TN, you could still drive through the covered bridge but they have closed it to car traffic a few years ago, but still beautiful.
The town has a different "feel" to it that the other Tri-Cites, not sure how to describe it........maybe just a bit less....."metro"........not sure if that is it, but I do know when I go to Elizabethton, it does not "feel" as close to Johnson City as it really is.
Not sure if that helps any but just my input hahahhaha.