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Kingsport - Johnson City - Bristol The Tri-Cities area
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Old 03-11-2021, 12:35 PM
 
22 posts, read 33,384 times
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Hi, my family and I are moving to Tennessee and we've been looking at houses in JC, Elizabethton, Erwin, and Unicoi. Of course, everything on the market is flying and I would like to expand the house search. I'm looking at Bristol and want to know what it's like.

Hows the crime? Is it bad? Will we be hearing police sirens every 20 minutes?

How are the schools? I have a 3 year old going in soon and a kiddo in high school.

Any other thing you can think of is appreciated.
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Old 03-11-2021, 05:09 PM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,805 posts, read 30,852,651 times
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I’ve been a Bristol property owner for about two years now.

Overall, I like it. The town has continued to improve with more development at The Pinnacle, more downtown development, and the Hard Rock affiliated casino arriving shortly.

Bristol Tennessee Essential Services does both power and fiber internet to the premises, and was likely the first in the area to offer this. Internet and electric are more reliable than anywhere I’ve ever lived. City property taxes are about half my county taxes, and this helps pay for discounted water, sewer, and trash through the city. Again, service is much better than where my parents live in unincorporated Sullivan County. The TN city government appears efficient and well-run.

I live within walking distance of Steele Creek Park and it’s an excellent resource for a city park. South Holston Lake is within about roughly twenty minutes. Cherokee National Forest is about half an hour away. Abingdon in southwest VA is a bit of a regional draw, as well as the Jefferson National Forest around Damascus, VA.

Downtown has a good mix of local dining and watering holes. Most of the chain dining is at The Pinnacle or Exit 7.

I don’t have kids, but the schools are fairly average for the region. Certainly not as good as Johnson City or Kingsport, but Kingsport is undesirable for many reasons.

Crime is around the national average. Most crime is drug or domestic, and contained among people who know each other. Take common sense precautions on random property crime. Random violent crime is basically nil.
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Old 03-11-2021, 10:05 PM
 
22 posts, read 33,384 times
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What about nearby rural areas? Are those areas decent?
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Old 03-11-2021, 10:31 PM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,805 posts, read 30,852,651 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FCelestrin86 View Post
What about nearby rural areas? Are those areas decent?
What are you specifically looking for?

Rural areas around Blountville and Bluff City tend to have more drug abuse - less so in the more affluent areas around Abingdon. It's worse as you go toward Scott County, VA.

There isn't any part of Bristol that I'd tell someone to avoid. Again, the vast, vast, majority of crime is among addicts, domestic issues, and people in those areas who know each other. It rarely spills out into the random community.
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Old 03-12-2021, 08:10 AM
 
22 posts, read 33,384 times
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We're looking for either a single family home or manufactured home with at least an acre where we could fit our camper. If it has half an acre, we would settle if the price is right and the camper fits. We don't mind in town or rural areas.

My husband researched bluff city and blountville and wasn't too fond of it. When I looked on niche, it says it's a nice place to live but I feel like it says that about everywhere almost lol

So far how you're describing Bristol, I'm sold on it and will be expanding the house hunting to there. Thanks! If there's anything else you can think of, let me know!
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Old 03-12-2021, 08:33 AM
 
Location: A Yankee in northeast TN
15,932 posts, read 20,899,784 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FCelestrin86 View Post
Hi, my family and I are moving to Tennessee and we've been looking at houses in JC, Elizabethton, Erwin, and Unicoi. Of course, everything on the market is flying and I would like to expand the house search. I'm looking at Bristol and want to know what it's like.

Hows the crime? Is it bad? Will we be hearing police sirens every 20 minutes?

How are the schools? I have a 3 year old going in soon and a kiddo in high school.

Any other thing you can think of is appreciated.
Where are you coming from and what are you used to?
I love Bristol but I am older and didn't have little ones when I moved here. One complaint I have heard from a few people is that the entire tri-cities area does not have a lot of kid oriented entertainment like you might find in some larger cities. You may have to do some searching around for planned activities unless you are good at creating your own.
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Old 03-12-2021, 08:48 AM
 
22 posts, read 33,384 times
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We're coming from Homestead, Florida. That's about 45 minutes south of Miami. Before that, we lived in Davenport, Iowa and walla walla, Washington. Walla was a lot smaller but it was definitely a small town. We don't mind it. We really just enjoy going to parks and just exploring. My older kid is the one that likes the malls.
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Old 03-12-2021, 02:25 PM
 
Location: Seattle
7,497 posts, read 17,098,186 times
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If you managed to do well in Walla Walla, you'll be fine in Bristol. They are pretty similar in terms of outlook, amenities (Tri-Cities is somewhat better), isolation, and education.
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Old 03-12-2021, 06:06 PM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,805 posts, read 30,852,651 times
Reputation: 47088
Quote:
Originally Posted by FCelestrin86 View Post
We're looking for either a single family home or manufactured home with at least an acre where we could fit our camper. If it has half an acre, we would settle if the price is right and the camper fits. We don't mind in town or rural areas.

My husband researched bluff city and blountville and wasn't too fond of it. When I looked on niche, it says it's a nice place to live but I feel like it says that about everywhere almost lol

So far how you're describing Bristol, I'm sold on it and will be expanding the house hunting to there. Thanks! If there's anything else you can think of, let me know!
Blountville is the county seat, but there is not much there. Bluff City is smaller, more remote, poorer, etc. Hard to recommend.

When I bought in Bristol in 2019, it was largely a decision based on my commute to Kingsport at the time, and a bit on lower property prices in Bristol. Had I known that COVID was coming and that my job was going to transition to fully remote, I would have bought in Johnson City.

There isn’t anything wrong with Bristol, but it’s a good 35-40 minutes from where I live in Bristol near the hospital to downtown JC. I spend a lot of time in western NC and upstate SC, and Bristol is just another 35-40 minutes each way vs. Johnson City.

Johnson City is larger and feels like a bigger city. ETSU and the south side of Johnson City, a more liberal area, gives the city a unique vibe not seen anywhere else in the area. Bristol feels like a town where everyone knows everyone. I go to a bar in Bristol that is basically “Cheers.” Johnson City is bigger and feels bigger.

It’s really a matter of preference, but I think the area around Johnson City is prettier and just in a better location. The problem with Bristol is there isn’t much worth seeing in southwest VA, other than Abingdon, for a hundred miles or so.
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Old 03-16-2021, 07:39 PM
 
22 posts, read 33,384 times
Reputation: 27
We loved Walla Walla. It sucked that there was no mall for my teenager. But it was fine since Tricities was 45 minutes away. I'm assuming there's a mall in JC?

My husband will be working in the airport of JC and I see it's about 35 minutes from Bristol. The good thing about that is there aren't any tolls. But does he need to worry about traffic. Even though I don't think the traffic there could be compared to the traffic in Miami. Especially before covid.
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