Kingsport vs Blountville (Johnson City, Central: real estate, to rent, crime) - Kingsport - Johnson City - Bristol - Tennessee (TN) -The Tri-Cities area - City-Data Forum

Marblemovers · 11-09-2009, 09:12 PM

We are getting closer to making a move to the area (can't wait to get there!) and want to stay within the district for Sullivan Central HS. Hopefully we will be down by the first of the year. There seems to be a lot of listings for homes in Kingsport and are maybe a little cheaper than the ones in Blountville. Is it cheaper to live in the Kingsport area? Any area easier or more difficult to travel to and from? Any help/advice/opinions would be really appreciated. Would like to find out the kinds of things that we can't find on the web and realtors aren't allowed to tell you. We don't want to rent so we are kind of making a blind decision on only what we can see in picking an area to live in. We are a 3 member family with a 15 year old. Husband will be working in JC. Thanks for taking the time.

onedragonwarrior · 11-10-2009, 05:10 AM

i live in blountville, it is a small town located between jc, kingsport and bristol, it is a 15-20 min drive from blountville to any of the three towns, all it would come down to is country type living , very small congestion traffic in blountville to city living with higher traffic voulum

rccrain · 11-10-2009, 07:16 AM

If I might ask, why would you want to go to Sullivan Central?

And if you do want Central then you pretty much have to live in Blountville or Piney Flats. I lived in Blountville for at least 20 years and the only negative aspects to me were the public schools.

I'll also add that comparable homes in Blountville and Kingsport should be a bit cheaper in Blountville. Bountville is a big rural area, centered around I81 Exits 66 (Central HS and some retail) and 69 (courthouse, prison, offices and two grocery stores).

Ohh, and be sure to advise your realtor that you prefer not to live near the county dump - either one. There is one that is being closed down and a new one that will be located somewhere near Harr Rd. I suspect that there are some great real estate "deals" going on in that area.

mbmouse · 11-10-2009, 07:32 AM

AS far as the travel, Sullivan Central is kind of out of the way for travel to Johnson City for work. Not bad, but it does depend on where your husband will be traveling to work in JC?
As far as cheaper....if you live in Sullivan county it is county only property taxes which is cheaper than city because you will then have both city and county property taxes. If you need to to be in the district for school bus pick up,then you need to stay closer to the school or if you drive your children to school, you can live anywhere in the county and enroll your child in any county school.
But as far as the cost of living difference between Blountville and Kingsport addresses within the county, not much difference at all. Pretty much only gas for travel.
If you like country living, that is a great area, if you are used to having everything pretty close and handy, not so good. I would NOT buy a house sight unseen, or only from a picture and description in that area. There are pockets of different very easily there, not saying crime or dangerous, but terrain. There are several areas of narrow windy roads, steep to flat.

rccrain · 11-10-2009, 09:29 AM

Echoing MB there are also areas near the airport (in Blountville) that you would hear jet engines every hour of the day. There's a motor cycle track in the same area. You are very brave going in blind.

If you have a property in mind, you could give us the community or the road name, we would do our best to tell you if there's anything bad about the area. But still, you're very brave.

Marblemovers · 11-10-2009, 04:15 PM

Thanks everyone. Guess I should have explained myself better. When I say going in blind I meant that we can only decide on what we can see in the area. We will see any house we purchase ahead of time and see the immediate surrounding area but like the county dump info we wouldn't know anything about that. Wouldn't know to ask. We like Central's school the best and after visiting our daughter is at least excited about something! She liked the offered classes and met a couple of the teachers and the principle and is looking forward to going. We are coming from a rural area in Michigan with a student population about equal to Central's. So we would like to be able to stay inside the district. We absolutely don't want city and would like to have at least a one acre parcel. We find them on the web and are working with a realtor down there and have been for about 10 months now. Occasional trips down allow us to see the houses in person. Husband will be working on the NE side of JC and we are not opposed to having to drive up to 1/2 hour to get to work, shopping, doctors, etc. We do that now here.
I appreciate everyone taking the time to help us out! : ) THANKS!!!

chipperi · 11-19-2009, 10:54 AM

I live in Piney Flats within sight of Blountville. I am about 4 miles behind the airport and dont hear much noise except on race weeks with the helicopters going to the track. I also live about a mile from the Muddy Creek Motocross track and really cant hear it unless its a huge event. Just keep in mind if you go with Kingsport you will be double taxed, that is a weird thing I had never seen before moving here. If you live in Kingsport you pay Kingsport City tax as well as Sullivan County tax.

mbmouse · 11-19-2009, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipperi

I live in Piney Flats within sight of Blountville. I am about 4 miles behind the airport and dont hear much noise except on race weeks with the helicopters going to the track. I also live about a mile from the Muddy Creek Motocross track and really cant hear it unless its a huge event. Just keep in mind if you go with Kingsport you will be double taxed, that is a weird thing I had never seen before moving here. If you live in Kingsport you pay Kingsport City tax as well as Sullivan County tax.

That goes for any city in TN. If you live within any city limits, you will pay both city and county taxes. But you get the services to go with that, such as garbage pick up, road cleaning, paid fire Dept., etc. You will pay less in the county tax wise, but will not have the services either.