Want your input... (Knoxville, Johnson City, Kingsport: home, buy, theater)

[dlk33]

lJ42....
Not much fight in you, must be some reason, hmmmmm....

GrannyLouis....
That VERY liberal thinking is one of the reasons we want out! On the other hand a VERY conservative attitude isn't always the greatest either as far as I'm concerned. There can always be a little room for some gray.
Madison doesn't have the greenways that Knoxville does, or as many restaurant options. We do have the farmers market downtown. Does either Knoxville or KP/JC have a farmers market?
Knoxville or the Tri-Cities wins out for weather, cost of living, median home cost, and taxes. The crime is still in question since I see that the way it is calculted isn't equal.
You're right though, there always seems to be trade offs.

[Iron7267]

I think that you should really consider Kingsport. I have lived in both Johnson City and Kingsport and I found that Kingsport is cheaper to live and has more of a homey family atmosphere. Johnson City you have to deal with the college crowd (I grad. from ETSU and I am only 26...but I still don't want to deal with college crowds) Kingsport has alot more family activities too. I am actually getting ready to take my son to an Easter Egg Hunt in Kingsport... and I live in Johnson City. Hope this helps!!

[mbmouse]

LOL! It's not a contest. The Tri-Cities board of ...what ever doesn't give us points for how many people we can "Recruit" to the area, nor does Knoxville. I do not believe there is any animosity between the two areas either. You will just have to come and visit both and decide for your self. The two areas are very different, both have there own unique quality to them.

[dlk33]

Iron7267....
Kingsport also has a greenway, I don't think JC does. Kingsport has two disc golf courses, JC only one (which of course is better then none). I agree with you about the lower cost of living overall. We live in a college town, but the "college experience" is far enough away not to make much difference. I would prefer to live somewhere that I can have my own space, without the concern of dealing with young children yelling & screaming all around me. Not that I don't like children, but mine are grown & gone and I prefer some peace & quiet in the neighborhood. I guess that's a sign I'm getting older.

mbmouse...
sorry, I was just playing around...looking for a debate maybe, not a contest. I enjoy reading what everyone has to say. Usually, people do have something they want to say about where they live, positive or negative.

[dlk33]

Oh, still looking for someone to let me know if there's a place that sells fresh bagels in the Tri-Cities area. Is there a Cinnabon in the mall?

[dcommander]

Sadly, no Cinnabon. But my waistline is much better off without one!! As for bagels, I'm not aware of any locally owned bagel shops, but we do have Atlanta Bread Company and Panera Bread, both of which have good bagels (asiago cheese, yum).

[jabogitlu]

There's a fresh bakery somewhere... remember hearing it mentioned on this forum once and it's ringing in the back of my mind. So happy hunting with those few clues.

Disc golf, greenways, sounds like you want a nice neighborhood with identity and maintenance/upkeep. Knoxville may be the way to go, especially since you're used to the size of Madison. Johnson City doesn't have any true greenways, from what I can tell (asked this question a few weeks ago on here), mostly trails in city parks and the horrid sidewalk trail along N State of Franklin, which is laughably unGreenway as you can possibly get. It's this type of thing - public service, prettiness - and the ghostly shell of downtown neighborhoods (think Fountain City in Knox) - that Johnson City really, sorely lacks.

[dlk33]

dcommander...
It would be quite the drive to the west side of KV to get that Cinnabon fix every so often, wouldn't it. You can't miss what you've never had, but I have had Cinnabon & do miss it once in awhile. We used to make that our Christmas breakfast, or some holiday breakfast. Then, Krispy Kreme made a big apperance, delivered in stores but not made fresh like you get them in their store. There's nothing like a warm, fresh KK doughnut...or two or three, except for the extra few lbs. of weight gain.
I could live without the Cinnabon & KK, but not being able to get a good fresh garlic bagel once a week I'm not sure about those other two places you mentioned...but keep eating those asiago cheese bagels

jabogitlu....
If it were between JC & KP, I'm leaning towards KP anyway. What's wrong with Fountain City in Knox? I know it's an older city, but someone actually suggested that I do look there for a house there.
Since you do seem to know about KV, could you suggest neighborhoods that you think would be a good fit. You do seem to know what I'm looking for.

[jabogitlu]

You misread, or else I was rather vague. I was referring to Fountain City as the type of neighborhood that the Tri-Cities need more of, not less! I could easily see parts of Walnut St. in Johnson City (near Poor Richard's-ish) becoming a uber-mini Bearden or Midtown Memphis, but for some reason that's never been the case. A lot of potential up here, seems like the people need someone to show them how to do it though.

Neighborhoods in Knoxville... personally I really am into deeply rooted, historical neighborhoods so I always root for FC, Historic Old North, Fourth and Gill, Bearden, I even like Mechanicsville and there are a few places around Ft. Sanders I'd probably move into. Then there's Island Home in South Kville and Sequoyah Hills in "West" Knoxville that are also nice (SH is expensive, though - you pay for the polish!).

Then if you're sort of into newer homes, subdivisions, I'd say go for west Knox as you can get or Farragut. I'm not as familiar with neighborhoods out that way.

If you do decide on Knoxville, my strong advice would be to find a short term lease (6 months) and do some serious exploring. There are tons of neighborhoods with very niche interests and unique experiences.

City of Knoxville - Neighborhood Associations

That might help you out a bit!

[dlk33]

jabogitlu...
Oh, my bad. Historical neighborhoods, well not really sure. I once lived in a house that was over 100 years old and don't have fond memories of it. I am willing to have an open mind though. I'll know right away if I'm interested or not. Affordability is a big factor! We'd like to be in a safe place with nature around us. I've seen some homes online that have forest, trees & landscaping that caught my attention. I don't care for a home that has just grass. I'd love to be able to walk to a greenway from my house, but not have it in my backyard. I think I'm confused about what I want actually. LOL
I guess I'll know it when I see or experience it.
Most subdivisions have homes on top of homes, I'm not crazy about that. I think what we can afford & what we want may be two different things.
I'm hoping that during our visit, we'll have enough time to check out the neighborhoods well enough to know where we'd want to live, or at least narrow it down to a few after we decide which city. It makes sense to rent for six months first, but I would dread moving twice so soon.
Thanks for your ideas