Here are our criteria...what do you suggest? (Knoxville, Johnson City: new home, unemployment rate)

[HeadingSouthIn2011]

We are considering Eastern Tennessee for our new home. One of the main reasons we like the area is it's lack of dangerous weather (tornadoes and hurricanes) while still being a place with four distinct seasons.
Some things that are important to us are
1. jobs - I'm in physical therapy while my husband is a machinist (in plastics)
2. schools - we'll have two in high school when we move. One will definitely need a public school that has a golf team. The other needs a school system with OT services
3. outdoor activities - we like camping, hiking, boating
4. nightlife - we like a little variety in drinking establishments
5. small town feel - we enjoy small town living and would prefer to live in one, but within 20 minute drive of #1, 4, & 5

Any input would be AWESOME so we can plan a trip to check your suggestions out!! Thanks!

MichiganAngie...HeadingSouthIn2011

[hiknapster]

Best suggestion I could give is that our cities are a bit more like large towns, in the East Tenn area. Stick with those and you'll have the town-culture you seek and good schools, too. Small town can sometimes seem very, very small and the schools are not the best.

I would suggest you start seeking jobs in places like Knoxville, which has the lowest unemployment rate of the largest state MSAs and see what comes of that. Outdoor and nightlife are a given in this area.

[dwilson37650]

We moved from Ohio to Florida in 2003 and then in 2005 we moved to East TN. We live in a Erwin, TN. A bit redneck but very friendly. The Appalchian Trail goes right through Erwin. We are about 25 miles north of Asheville, NC. which offers a lot of the things you seek
as far as city life goes . We are also about 25 miles from Johnson City, Jonesborough, Bristol, Kingsport which could be other options for you. The medical jobs in these areas are very plentiful. Winters here are a LOT more mild than up north but you still do have the 4 seasons. We also checked out Maryville and Cleveland Tennessee before moving here and they were also nice. If you enjoy camping and hiking you will find plenty of that here. We also do a lot of kayaking on some great whitewater rivers in this area.

[marmac]

Erwin high school offer golf as a competitive sport ?

( that was ranked #2 on the OP's list )

[J&Em]

Originally Posted by marmac

Erwin high school offer golf as a competitive sport ?

( that was ranked #2 on the OP's list )

Well that was helpful.

Most of what I know will be about the Knoxville area, I can't say much from first hand knowledge about the rest of eastern Tennessee.

If Golf is vital for your child's well-being you may want to see if any of the towns with High Schools on this list meet the rest of your requirements:

Golf Tournament Directors

It seems to be the only single place with any kind of list of high schools with some golf activity. I didn't see Erwin listed but could have missed it. Several places near there in the Tri-Cities area (Kingsport-Bristol and Johnson City) were on the golf list.

Several schools of the greater Knoxville area also were on the list, as were Alcoa and Maryville, suburbs to the south.

Many places have "dry" laws here so you'll need to check for drinking establishments by county or town. Any of the big cities, like Knoxville will have pubs and bars. Many of the smaller cities will have more limited entertainment choices.


Small town but 20 minutes to a city.... Maryville is a suburb of Knoxville with about 25 minute commute to most of Knoxville depending on where you start. A double-check of its high school webpage shows it has golf listed in the sports teams. It also has OT services:

Special Education Home Page

Outdoor activities? Maryville is in Blount County which borders on the Smoky Mountain Nat'l park, with beautiful views of the Smokies to the south from many parts of town. There are lots of outdoor activities within easy driving distances.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by marmac

Erwin high school offer golf as a competitive sport ?

( that was ranked #2 on the OP's list )

There is no Erwin High School. It's Unicoi County High School, and yes they do have golf.

2009 UCHS Golf Schedule | Unicoi County High School