Thinking of moving to North Eastern TN (Johnson City, Kingsport: insurance, how much)

[mel531]

My husband and I are thinking of moving to TN from Delaware in a few years. We're thinking of moving to the north eastern part around Greeneville/Johnson City area. My husband is a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT and loves to hunt deer. We'd like to find a small town/city with a population of about 1,500 to 6,000 that offers a well respected fire company and plenty of hunting with a family friendly community and good educational system. We love the country, but don't want to be 20 minutes from the nearest store. Can anyone help give us an idea of which city would be good for us? Also, is there a good employment service in TN to help with getting a job lined up before we move out there? Thanks so much for your help!

[hjlacey]

I am also a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT as is my husband (past chief) We will be moving to the Rogersville/ bulls gap area.We have driven around the Tri-City area and have found no shortage of volunteer Fire departments and Rescue Squads. Go down and look around the area you are interested in.

[yarddawg]

I think you'll find that most of the small communities in Tennessee have volunteer fire departments. Many areas, including the county I live in, have no professional fire protection whatsoever. It's something of a double edged sword. The local guys get a lot of personal satisfaction from contributing to the community but they just don't have the equipment to safely attack a fire once it has a good bite on a house. Their job is really to manage your house fire and prevent it from spreading to your neighbors. That's not random speculation, it's what they told my sister while they watched her house burn. Most fires here are total losses. I've been told that causes insurance rates to be a bit steep but I've never owned anywhere that had a professional fire department so I'm not sure how much of a difference it really makes.

[hjlacey]

yarddawg, What county do you live in?

[yarddawg]

Van Buren on the Cumberland Plateau. A bit west of where you're looking but most of the lightly populated areas in east Tennessee have similar issues with infrastructure. Goes together with the low property taxes.

[mbmouse]

You might get more answers in the Tri-Cities sub-forum, so that is why I moved it.
Johnson City has a paid Fire dept.

[Kpt.]

Kingsport has a city operated fire department, Sullivan county depends on volunteers. Not sure about Washington County, but I suspect that is the situation there as well.