What should we see/do when considering relocating to the Tri-Cities area? (Knoxville: house)

[ann118]

My husband, my 2.5 year old son and I are coming to visit several the Tri-Cities area in early January and we plan to move within the year. We are very interested in the area and I was hoping for some advice. We are looking for a safe area to live, with great schools, and great weather/locations to be outside and active. We would want a 3-4 bedroom/2 bath house and our budget would be in the 150,000-250,000 range. We would greatly appreciate any advice on neighborhoods to consider and activities or parts of the city or near by area that we should see while we are there. Thank you for your time.

[jabogitlu]

As far as great locations, pretty much anywhere in the TRI metro (or Knoxville for that matter) is going to be available to you. Everywhere is more or less within a 30- minute drive to the mountains for hiking and camping and Erwin's whitewater rafting is 20-25 minutes from Johnson City, a bit more from Kpt and Bristol.

More or less all areas of upper NETN are safe. There are some "inner-city" neighborhoods in all three cities that I would advise you steer clear of, but with populations of 40-65k there are no real problems here that other cities of larger sizes face. Drugs continue to be our major battle, but most of that takes place in the most rural of settings and along I-26/81.

As far as great schools go, I can't stress enough to stick with city schools, not county schools. There are a few exceptions to this rule (such as South Greene High in Greeneville) but they are rare. I'm not up on elementary/middle so I'll leave that to someone else, but Dobyns-Bennett in Kingsport and Science-Hill in Johnson City are the best you'll get here. The private scene isn't very strong here unless you're willing to enroll your child in an evangelical Christian school system. There are no Montessori academies, though Asheville does have one.

I'm not a Realtor but I imagine you can find what you're looking for on the upper end of that budget here. Our housing market hasn't dropped nearly like the national averages and I believe someone (mbmouse?) posted data a week or so ago showing that our markets (split between the Kpt-Bristol Metro and Johnson City metro) have actually made small gains.

It's going to be a little difficult for us to make more than general suggestions until you decide which area(s) you want to focus on. Bristol, Kingsport or Johnson City? Some things to help you out... where will you be working?* Do you need to be closer to Asheville (Johnson City)? Close to a large hospital system? (Kpt or JC) Close to a mid-sized university? (ETSU in JC with 13k+ enrollment)

Also - are you looking to live in a rural (county) setting or a more "urbanized" (city) setting? Neighborhoods exist in both but there are major differences, including sidewalks, proximity to retail, schools and parks, city+county taxes vs. just county taxes, ordinances, etc.

* About the job market here - it is currently VERY VERY tight. I would highly suggest having a job secured before you move or else have enough cash to live 1.5 years while working a retail job.

[mbmouse]

I agree with everything said above, well except about the schools. If you happen to land in Kingsport, yes, city schools for sure! If you happen to land in Washington County, County schools for sure. But that is me and the choices I made for my children. Personally I would never send my kids to Science Hill, others love it. So it really comes down to personal preference.
I also agree that we need a bit more info on needs, wants, likes and dislikes to narrow it down.