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Old 05-15-2017, 08:52 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn, NY
9,951 posts, read 14,308,713 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beretta View Post
I totally agree. Will it happen? Time will tell.
Right--who knows, but good things are happening. It's tougher for Kingsport to lure lots of new companies due to its manufacturing image and lack of a university for sure...
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Old 05-15-2017, 09:11 AM
 
16,175 posts, read 32,413,442 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc View Post
Right--who knows, but good things are happening. It's tougher for Kingsport to lure lots of new companies due to its manufacturing image and lack of a university for sure...
This keeps going off topic of crime - but I keep going back to that pivotol vote when I was a kid, liquor by the drink. There was so much riding on that and Kingsport is still paying for that vote.

I watch Kingsport's economic develipment like a hawk for business as well as personal reasons. There is a fair amount of lipstick being applied in town; not that I don't appreciate or value those applying said lipstick. It looks pretty. (Although the bike lanes down Center Street are still a sore spot with me). I appreciate the make up folks and they are doing their best.

Sometimes I am just wishing for a millenial or two from our outstanding Dobyns-Bennett to blow me away with their tech company that they base here at home.

I digress.

Crime rate, back to crime rate.
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Old 05-15-2017, 03:06 PM
 
Location: Madison, AL
635 posts, read 688,584 times
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As it happens, there are crime statistics on this very site for 2001 through 2015.

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...Tennessee.html

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...Tennessee.html

Interestingly, crime in Kingsport and Johnson City were about the same level in 2001.

The rate in Johnson City has declined sharply, while the rate in Kingsport rose a good bit before falling back in 2015 to about the same level it was in 2001.

Maybe it's all the riff-raff that Kingsport annexed.

More likely it's an artifact of how crime is reported and recorded in each city. Especially since crime rate correlates to age, and Johnson City is a younger city than Kingsport.

edit: as far as liquor by the drink, I found this in an article: "Johnson City voters approved the measure in 1980; Kingsport and Bristol in 1984."

Last edited by cooldiver; 05-15-2017 at 03:37 PM..
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Old 05-17-2017, 09:12 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,943 posts, read 31,079,407 times
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A lackluster local economy and increasing crime go hand in hand. IMO, the increase in crime and negative perception around in Kingsport is largely due to a not so hot economy.

I graduated from a Sullivan County high school back in 2004. Most of our parents worked in Kingsport - many, if not most, families, had at least one parent at Eastman, especially when I was younger. As time has gone on and good employers have left Kingsport (Quebecor, AFG Glass, etc.) or shrunk/outsourced staff to contracting firms (Eastman) and other low paying employers have come in (retail/food service, call centers, etc.), it's going to be far more common for a child to have dad and mom working at Walmart/call center/not working at all vs. two parents in solid middle class roles at Eastman/Quebecor/whatever. They're going to have less money, less opportunity for their children, and the parents and kids are probably more likely to turn to crime or drugs, as they're poorer and see worse prospects for themselves and their children, than parents/kids did a generation or two ago.

My "napkin math" is that out of the top third or so of my graduating class, probably half to slightly more of those have left, and many of those who did move that I've talked to left due to the poor economy. Most of those folks, now in their late 20s/early 30s, are the productive classes who would have had solid careers, well-adjusted families and kids, and Kingsport has lost many of them. You're not going to retain everyone, but we seem to be hemorrhaging more "quality" younger people than would be "natural," probably mostly due to the economy.

Most of the folks I know who did leave seemed to go to Nashville or Charlotte. Some were NYC type dreamers, and no small town anywhere can retain people for whom the only option is super major metro or bust. Out of the "best" of that class who remain in the area, most of whom are college educated, professional types in local government (including educators) and people working for the medical systems, many now live in Johnson City. Many of the lower end types remain in Kingsport/Blountville, often in unstable, low paying employment - many are on the margins of the labor force, some are completely out. Some have legal records or substance abuse problems that make them unemployable. People in that situation are more likely to commit crimes themselves and have kids grow up into crime, and Kingsport seems to have a lot of those types.

As far as as specific incidents, I was taking some pictures in downtown Kingsport a couple weeks back on a Saturday morning around 10. Glen Bruce Park, right by the library, had probably 10-15 people who appeared to be homeless with backpacks out, laying on benches and sidewalks, etc. Relatively minor stuff, but it's unappealing and can be a starting point for more issues. I was surprised the KPD didn't run them off.

I really don't think any of this situation is truly unique to Kingsport. I think you're going to see a lot of this general trend of motivated younger people/professional workers with options moving out of small cities that have had an economic hit, to major metro areas that are prospering. With those people moving out and really a flat population, you get a population that is, overall, getting poorer with fewer prospects, and thus more likely to commit crime. Throw in drugs and you have a problem. You see the same basic trend in many areas of the country. The only thing that I think that is somewhat unique to Kingsport as far as crime goes, is that you have a nicer, somewhat safer city in JC close by.

I'm heartened to see some fresh faces for aldermen. I think simply getting in a fresh set of eyes can do wonders.

Kingsport Times-News: Newcomers knock off incumbents in Kingsport city election
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Old 05-17-2017, 10:56 AM
 
Location: Kingsport
195 posts, read 274,074 times
Reputation: 185
Kingsport has had a high violent and property crime rate for 10 or 15 years. Statistically, the reported incidents are high, but people do see it because when you drill down on crime states (there are a couple of good academic studies), you find that most of the crime is committed by a small number of people and that it is usually confined to a subset of the population. Such a study hasn't been done - to my knowledge - in the Kingsport area because such studies are usually academic based and you also have to get a buy-in from city officials. Another thing to remember when looking at TBI and FBI crime stats is that domestic crime is a separate category - at least it is in the TBI report.
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Old 05-17-2017, 12:17 PM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,943 posts, read 31,079,407 times
Reputation: 47319
Quote:
Originally Posted by Page2 View Post
Kingsport has had a high violent and property crime rate for 10 or 15 years. Statistically, the reported incidents are high, but people do see it because when you drill down on crime states (there are a couple of good academic studies), you find that most of the crime is committed by a small number of people and that it is usually confined to a subset of the population. Such a study hasn't been done - to my knowledge - in the Kingsport area because such studies are usually academic based and you also have to get a buy-in from city officials. Another thing to remember when looking at TBI and FBI crime stats is that domestic crime is a separate category - at least it is in the TBI report.
If you read the arrested/busted reports, you see a lot of the same faces, over and over again.
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Old 05-17-2017, 02:10 PM
 
Location: Kingsport
195 posts, read 274,074 times
Reputation: 185
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation View Post
If you read the arrested/busted reports, you see a lot of the same faces, over and over again.
It's a shame that the resources to fully explain this are not available. It would clear up some issues and put an understanding of the community on a much better footing.
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