Need some info (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Johnson City: crime, buying a home, employment)

[euromutt]

I tried finding some information on these towns but what i found was either inadequate or i could not find anything, can yall help? Just a normal run down of each town if possible you know

crime
shopping
things to do
how big is the town
how close to larger town with shopping


Fall Branch
Central
Oak Grove
Oneida
Plainview
New Hope

A little about me, i am married with 2 kids ages 2 and newborn i am attending college right now will be done next year with a degree in computer information technology,I want somewhere Rural yet with shopping close by and things to do for my kids. I love mountains and would love to live near them although its not a requirement.Plan on homeschooling our kids so schools are no big deal. Want or need to know anything else just ask me hopefully that can eliminate some of these towns for me.Also we are planning on eventually buying a home and do not want an area where the average home cost over 250k

[kamoshika]

The only one I'm familiar with is Fall Branch, which has a population of around 1400. It's a nice and very safe little community close to the cities of Kingsport (15-20 min.) and Johnson City (20-25 min.) As is true in many small communities in the South, church is the main social outlet there. RE: "things to do" for your kids, that'll depend in part on the interests they develop as they grow up. But two large and very popular parks (Warriors Path State Park and Bays Mountain Park) are within a 20-min. drive.

Here's a recent article on Fall Branch:
:: Johnson City Press - Print Story ::

FWIW, there are 29 populated place in TN named "Oak Grove." In which county is the one you're asking about?

[rccrain]

What I know:

Fall Branch
crime - low, moonshining?
shopping - slim pickins
things to do - nothing in town - beautiful area though
how big is the town - < 2K - not exactly sure
how close to larger town with shopping - reasonable to Kingsport and Jonesborough

Oak Grove
crime - low
shopping - plenty w/i 10 min drive
things to do - plenty w/i 30 min drive, centrally located in the tricities - lakes, parks, shopping, cinema, etc
how big is the town - less of a town, more outskirts of Johnson City
how close to larger town with shopping - 10 min to Johnson City, 20 min to Kingsport

Oneida
crime - ? - not sure but county has highest unemployment in the state
shopping - slim pickins
things to do - slim pickins
how big is the town - very small
how close to larger town with shopping - 1+ hr to Knoxville

Based on what you gave us, you should also look into Limestone and Telford, which are convenient to Johnson City, Jonesborough, and Greenville. Checkout Elizabethton too.

[euromutt]

Eek! yeah i can throw oneida out for sure, i live in a lousy employment area right now so do not want to deal with that again.

Thanks for all the information sounds like some good areas...so far i am falling in love with soddy daisy,tn down near chattanooga...

[jabogitlu]

Sounds like first you need to decide what metro area you want to live in/near. Knoxville, Tri-Cities or Chattanooga? After that,we can help you with communitiesetc.

[euromutt]

Well it really does not matter to me personally. I just want a nice safe community where i can find work in the computer field and have my kids grow up a nice healthy life,I am sure i can find that in all 3 areas. I can tell you this i am not real thrilled with the area around Knoxville i prefer the other 2 more. I hope that helps some.

[blindsolitude]

euromutt, as someone who grew up in Chattanooga, I can tell you it is a great place to live. However, crime has been increasing there and a good portion of it is gang related. If you are looking to live there, I would suggest the Signal mountain, Soddy Daisy, or Ooltewah areas. In addition, the city and county governments are far from great and the school system is about $30 million short this year. My parents still live there and each year their property taxes are raised to support the "blackhole" of the school system.

As for the Tri-cities area, I fell in love with the area when I attended ETSU. While the area may lack some shopping and night life activities, it makes up for it with its outdoor activities. I will actually be moving back to the area in late July to go to Graduate school and fully intend to stay there once I graduate. The people are very friendly and the area is beautiful. Johnson City is a growing city and Kingport is under going a "revitalization" of sorts.

Lastly, for work, I think you could find it in either place. But I would be sure that you have a job opportunity in either city before you move. I would keep checking out the big companies' websites for opportunities (Eastman, MSHA, Welmont, ETSU).

[euromutt]

Thanks for the reply and the information, yeah i would not live in the city itself but outside of it in a smaller town someone else posted that soddy-daisy is only 20 minutes to chattanooga which is exactly what i want, the school thing does not bother me because we will be homeschooling.I guess we will have to narrow down the towns and go from there. If you had to pick one area which would it be and why?

[rccrain]

I would pick Piney Flatts or Blountville if I wanted to be close to but not in a city.

[blindsolitude]

Originally Posted by euromutt

the school thing does not bother me because we will be homeschooling.

The school thing I mentioned in Hamilton County will bother you regardless if you homeschool your children. You pay property taxes towards the system even if your children do not attend. It is something to consider since they raise them almost every year.

I really like Jonesborough. And close to Chattanooga, Soddy Daisy is a beautiful area, but the travel time to the city varies.