Kingsport, Bristol, or Johnson City (Knoxville, Maryville: real estate, lease, buying a house)

[Georgia]

Which one do you prefer?

I have been looking around the following locations now for a year.
Virginia / Richmond
North Carolina / Greensboro to Mount Airy.
The main reason is that I have been working with fever's pitch to get the holy H,E, double toothpick out of the Atanta area.

Being with a large corporation for many years, I garnered for relo last year and due to economics it was placed on hold. Today, it reared opportunity again. This time, which I will find out for sure in August will allow me to pick locations from SC over to and including KY and E. TN.

As an old stump jumper from West By God Virginia, I have always longed for the return back to a simple life. I have lived in many large metro areas from NYC/Phila, to DC, to Chicago, and now Atlanta. Atlanta holds the crown as the worst location, bar none. Well, maybe outside my tours in N. Africa and the Middle East

I'm looking for quiet settings, slow pace, conservative morals, but a free liberty location. Where you don't have to worry non stop about being mugged, jacked, your home broken into, etc. Where everyone say's hello. Basic, good old Americana. Of the three, which do you like the best?

[williboy]

By far, I prefer Johnson City to Bristol or Kingsport.

[jabogitlu]

As far as quietness, slow pace goes, you might prefer Bristol or Kingsport (or ideally somewhere in between them). Johnson City is far, far from Atlanta or any other large metro like you mentioned, but it has a distinctly different feel to it than the other cities - less Tennessean and more mid-sized town America.

Is there any way you can come and spend a few days in the area? You should know pretty quickly your gut instincts on the three.

However, the poll was which I preferred, so I voted for JC.

[dcommander]

I also couldn't wait to get out of Atlanta and back up to the beautiful NE TN mountains and people!!! We chose Piney Flats, just outside of Johnson City. When moving to this area, you have many more options than just the big three. There are many smaller communities that are close to the larger towns which you should check out. Come on up and visit. You'll hate to go home to Atlanta!!

[SarahSal]

Yes, I'd definitely second dcommander's suggestion!

There are lots of these small towns within 10-20 minutes of the larger, three cities where you'll probably get better value in your real estate purchase. Telford, Limestone, Jonesborough, Watauga, Blountville, the aforementioned Piney Flats are just a few! Grab a map or a realtor who's willing to spend quality time with you (along with maybe doing a checklist of what are really important 'must haves' in choosing a town) then explore all your options!
When moving south many years ago we used our list in the Carolinas and Virginia and ended up choosing Wilmington, NC... Then we realized how incredibly HOT it was there ---- and subsequently 'found' the mountains of E. Tenn..

[williboy]

Originally Posted by dcommander

I also couldn't wait to get out of Atlanta and back up to the beautiful NE TN mountains and people!!! We chose Piney Flats, just outside of Johnson City. When moving to this area, you have many more options than just the big three. There are many smaller communities that are close to the larger towns which you should check out. Come on up and visit. You'll hate to go home to Atlanta!!

The question at hand is which of the three larger cities do you prefer. Which would you like to live closer to?

[donsabi]

I moved to Kingsport three months ago and I find myself shopping more and more in Johnson City. If I decide to stay in TN I will move to JC at the end of my lease.
Don

[dcommander]

Originally Posted by williboy

The question at hand is which of the three larger cities do you prefer. Which would you like to live closer to?

Ooops, sorry, Williboy.... I voted for Johnson City but Kingsport is a close #2.

[Georgia]

Thanks for your opinons. I will check out all 3 for sure.
Been over 20 years since I was in Bristol, TN/VA and that was only for 2 days.

[RetiredAZTeacher]

I agree 1000% about looking every place over before making a moving choice. When we were looking, we just knew we wanted to live in the Maryville/Knoxville area. Then, after more internet research we became interested in the tri-cities area and I just loved the houses I saw listed for Johnson City and thought, for sure, that that was where we would end up.

Then, after going house-hunting for 4-5 days, we really liked the Kingsport area & the houses we found near Colonial Heights. (which is where we ended up buying a house). As I do 'stuff' in all areas now, I really like the Gray area, too.

I recommend keeping an open mind until you have taken a look around at places in several areas. The questions to answer are:

town/city vs. rural?
do you want acreage or a lot?
how far away do you want to be from a grocery store or gas station?
what kind of view do you want? (we saw awesome houses, but the view from all sides were those of other houses...not what we wanted in TN)
if you have a hobby, can you do your hobby easily from your choice?

I mean, realistically, we are only talking an area of 20 miles or so, so the changes aren't going to be dramatic (like the Sahara desert vs. the Alps, for example), but there are little differences that you just need to 'feel' when you visit all around.

Good luck....and, thanks for the little poll.