First trip to Tri-cities.......much larger than I thought (Kingsport: home, prices)

[Smoke]

I saw that the U.S Census Bureau estimated Johnson City's population to be around 60,000 by this year. (2006) I know that may be large so why not consider one of the "suburbs"? The Gray area is nice. I would avoid Boones Creek. I find that place to be a big headache. Jonesboro is old but is nice. If not the Johnson City, why not Kingsport? It has about 50,000 people now. It's growing to but it has more suburbs. Bloomingdale is a suburb of about 10,000. Colonial Heights is around 6000. Weber City/Gate City is pretty nice. Oh, Fall Branch is a town of about 1500 and is only 10 minutes from Kingsport. It is very nice and peaceful. It is growing but not rapidly. About every year, you see about 10-15 new homes being built but they are mainly built out by the Golf Course. Fall Branch has a nice school, a Dollar General, a Pizza Plus, and 2 gas stations. Also, Interstate 81 runs through the outside of town. All in all, the whole Tri-Cities area is growing. Johnson City is growing the fastest but Kingsport is showing signs of rebirth. Constant redevelopment everywhere. Avoid I-26 through J. City. It can be a pain. If anybody has any questions, I will be happy to help. My email is FBBigBen44@aol.com.

[Zoidberg]

Having never been to Tri-cities but considering a move there, I can say that the fact it doesn't have all those big city staples is one of things that makes it attractive.

Yuppie coffee, yuppie food, yuppie furniture, yuppie people.. surely you can find a city that has all these things without trying to bring them to one of the few left that doesn't? I like a place where the people put in an honest day's work with their hands instead of sipping $6 coffee, driving brand new yellow H2's, and buying placebo supplements.

[osmotic]

Originally Posted by Zoidberg

Having never been to Tri-cities but considering a move there, I can say that the fact it doesn't have all those big city staples is one of things that makes it attractive.

Yuppie coffee, yuppie food, yuppie furniture, yuppie people.. surely you can find a city that has all these things without trying to bring them to one of the few left that doesn't? I like a place where the people put in an honest day's work with their hands instead of sipping $6 coffee, driving brand new yellow H2's, and buying placebo supplements.

Replacing 'yuppie' to 'young' will make better sentence.

Have you ever been to Starbucks? I've been to one at Penn Station, NYC today and a tall latte was $3.41 including tax, which is of course annoying but far from being $6. And trust me, you will see a lot of BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, etc. in Tri-Cities. Water flows from high ground to low one, and so does culture. And starbucks and IKEA are ones of the very convenient, indirect measures of culture these days.

[newcarkid]

why does everyone always forget bristol? you know "tri-cities" 3 cities...

[Joe P]

Originally Posted by Zoidberg

Having never been to Tri-cities but considering a move there, I can say that the fact it doesn't have all those big city staples is one of things that makes it attractive.

Yuppie coffee, yuppie food, yuppie furniture, yuppie people.. surely you can find a city that has all these things without trying to bring them to one of the few left that doesn't? I like a place where the people put in an honest day's work with their hands instead of sipping $6 coffee, driving brand new yellow H2's, and buying placebo supplements.

Um, you really haven't been to the Tri-Cities, have you? If you think it's full of yuppies and brand new H2's.....are you even referring to the Tri-City area of Tennessee?

Sure, this area is not nearly as backwards as the uninformed would have you believe but it's certainly not going to be confused with Manhattan any time soon. For every "yuppie" Starbucks there are 200 stores where you can buy a $1.09 cup of coffee.

Personally, I'm the farthest thing from a yuppie. I drive a Chevy, mostly wear jeans and I've been in construction my entire working life, but that doesn't mean I can't have an appreciation for a few premium items in life. I prefer Starbucks coffee (sipping on a quad venti cinnamon vanilla latte as I type) so it's worth it to me to spend five bucks on one, versus two dollars on a coffee I wouldn't enjoy nearly as much. I also don't buy cheap cranberry sauce since it doesn't taste as good as Ocean Spray, I don't wear cheap shoes because I like my feet to be comfortable and I wear a $500 helmet when I ride my motorcycles since I don't want to protect my brain with a bargain basement model that may not do as good of a job in a crash.

If IKEA decides to open a store around here it doesn't affect my life much more than who Angelina Jolie is dating this week, as it will have neither a positive nor negative impact on my existence. If my neighbor wishes to drive a brand new yellow H2, then fine, but it's not for me.

I think if you visited the area you'd find a lot more diversity, economically and philosophically, than you would expect. Sure, we have some yuppies, we have some rednecks, we have some farmers and some ranchers. We have wealthy business people, poor urban families, middle income suburbanites and every other demographic conceivable. That's one of the reasons that living here is so wonderful.....a little bit of everything and not "too much" of anything.

Also, and finally, a brand new yellow H2 just isn't that big of a deal. When a guy pulls into a convenience store stressed over how he's going to make his $900 car payment this month so he can drive a $60,000 car, the farmer in line behind him wearing the dirty coveralls and John Deere hat isn't going to be impressed knowing that he's sitting on a few thousand acres of good land worth millions. Just keep that in mind and never be quick to judge….especially around here.

Respectfully,

Joe P

[insanesmooch]

Originally Posted by newcarkid

why does everyone always forget bristol? you know "tri-cities" 3 cities...

Probably because there isn't much to it. Bristol, VA seems to have more going on than the TN side.

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by insanesmooch

Probably because there isn't much to it. Bristol, VA seems to have more going on than the TN side.

And as far as the roads go and where everything is, Bristol is laid out so weird, it makes no sense and rather hard to navigate I think.

[Nightowl4]

I spent the last few weeks in Johnson City where my parents and brother live. After graduating from ETSU, I moved to LA where I have lived for the past 33 years. I go to Trader Joes every week but I probably would not miss it as much as my wife would. I found this site because I was looking for the words "Johnson City" and "Whole Foods" on the same page. Never had a chance to visit Natural Foods Market but maybe it could take the place of Whole Foods. I have to drive 10 miles in bumper to bumper traffic to get to the closest Walmart but little Johnson City has not one but two Super Walmarts, a Super Kmart, Home depot on one side of the street and Lowes on the other. There are so many stores and restaurants with so few people in JC to visit them, there is no wonder they go out of business so fast. In LA there is little room to spread out so there are lots of stores close together. I noticed that when a new place is built in JC, there might be an vast empty field between it and anything else. The new Walmart on Market Street for instance is in the middle of nowhere. At least there is no real traffic anywhere in JC.

I entertained the idea of moving back to JC. The homes are cheap enough but I noticed there is very little effort put into landscaping. The average home in my neighborhood is a 2400 sq ft 4 bedroom around 70 or 80 years old on a small 12000 sq ft lot costing around $800,000 with annual property taxes at $5000 to $7000. I'd like to get out of here before the next quake knocks this old house down.

Originally Posted by osmotic

If TN is not destined to have Trader Joe's in the near future, I only wish southwestern VA would bring one. I decided not to wish too much at one time, to keep myself sane.

Because of its political/geographical status, plus VU, I think Nashville is so much better than most other parts of the state, in terms of 'civilization'. Probably you will also see IKEA, before Nordstrom and others. Good for you!

[LauraH831]

Joe P,

What great insight you have given to me. You have the same feeling I have about people and life in general. Don't judge people and treat people the way you want to be treated. I say that ALOT at the school I teach at. We are currently thinking of moving to TN. Just trying to figure out where we would fit in. Husband wants the mountains and I just want good schools and a simple life. We currently live in the DC area and my husband is getting a little more than crazed with riding his motorcycle and almost getting killed everyday. TOO many H2s, beemers, mercedes, jags etc.. talking on cell phones (guess they are trying to make that $900.00 car payment) that they just come over in our lane and almost try and take us out on a daily basis. He rides everyday to work (even in 30 degree weather!) Are there any good riding groups in the tricities area? We have a Harley and a Big Dog.

Originally Posted by Joe P

Um, you really haven't been to the Tri-Cities, have you? If you think it's full of yuppies and brand new H2's.....are you even referring to the Tri-City area of Tennessee?

Sure, this area is not nearly as backwards as the uninformed would have you believe but it's certainly not going to be confused with Manhattan any time soon. For every "yuppie" Starbucks there are 200 stores where you can buy a $1.09 cup of coffee.

Personally, I'm the farthest thing from a yuppie. I drive a Chevy, mostly wear jeans and I've been in construction my entire working life, but that doesn't mean I can't have an appreciation for a few premium items in life. I prefer Starbucks coffee (sipping on a quad venti cinnamon vanilla latte as I type) so it's worth it to me to spend five bucks on one, versus two dollars on a coffee I wouldn't enjoy nearly as much. I also don't buy cheap cranberry sauce since it doesn't taste as good as Ocean Spray, I don't wear cheap shoes because I like my feet to be comfortable and I wear a $500 helmet when I ride my motorcycles since I don't want to protect my brain with a bargain basement model that may not do as good of a job in a crash.

If IKEA decides to open a store around here it doesn't affect my life much more than who Angelina Jolie is dating this week, as it will have neither a positive nor negative impact on my existence. If my neighbor wishes to drive a brand new yellow H2, then fine, but it's not for me.

I think if you visited the area you'd find a lot more diversity, economically and philosophically, than you would expect. Sure, we have some yuppies, we have some rednecks, we have some farmers and some ranchers. We have wealthy business people, poor urban families, middle income suburbanites and every other demographic conceivable. That's one of the reasons that living here is so wonderful.....a little bit of everything and not "too much" of anything.

Also, and finally, a brand new yellow H2 just isn't that big of a deal. When a guy pulls into a convenience store stressed over how he's going to make his $900 car payment this month so he can drive a $60,000 car, the farmer in line behind him wearing the dirty coveralls and John Deere hat isn't going to be impressed knowing that he's sitting on a few thousand acres of good land worth millions. Just keep that in mind and never be quick to judge….especially around here.

Respectfully,

Joe P

[Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by KewGee

I was referring to the whole eastern TN area in general. But 50,000 people in Johnson City is overcrowded to me. 1,420 people per square mile, no thank you.

Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles ~ an even bigger, "NO THANK YOU."

Johnson City now has around 58,000 people. But it is growing at a snail's pace compared to Murfreesboro and Clarksville.