East Tennessee Here We Come (Memphis, Knoxville: best city, apartment complexes, HOA fees)

[TexasRoadkill]

What eastern Tennessee city would be the best for an oldercouple starting retirement.


We are looking at the Chattanooga area, Knoxville area, and Kingsportarea. (Asheville is to expen$ive)


Looking for a slower pace of life in the mountains with alow cost of living.

[Serious Conversation]

We really need more details surrounding budget, what you're looking for in a community, where you're coming from, etc.

Knoxville is the largest metro in east TN, with the most retail, dining, healthcare options, and good proximity to both mountain and water outdoor recreation. The state flagship university provides athletics, things to do, and other cultural options - Knoxville also has a minor league hockey team and minor league baseball team in Kodak. Knoxville also has easy access to both I-40 and I-75, providing for easy east-west, north-south access to other areas, as well as an international airport.

The Tri-Cities, of which Kingsport is one, are about 100 miles northeast of Knoxville. I'll break down the Tri-Cities as follows.

I was raised in and currently live/work in Kingsport, but I'm not a fan of the city. Kingsport is the HQ of Eastman Chemical Company and is more of an industrial, "company town" type of place. Kingsport has seen a gradual decline in amenities like retail and dining to Johnson City and even Bristol over the past five to ten years, generally has the most dated single family housing stock in the area, a higher crime rate than surrounding cities, a mall that's basically on life support, and has had some healthcare services removed/downgraded recently. Traffic along Stone Drive, a main thoroughfare, is the worst non-interstate traffic in the area.

Kingsport does have a great park system (Green Belt, Bays Mountain, Warrior's Path State Park next to city), an excellent YMCA/city "aquatic center," and some very nice new apartment complexes. With that said, Kingsport is kind of just drifting along, but doesn't seem to have a bright future - city leaders have tried some things to reinvigorate the city, but not much has "stuck," and there doesn't seem to be much vision on how the city can prosper and attract/retain younger residents going forward. The city has an extremely conservative civic culture, bends to Eastman's will, and there's little willpower to do anything differently or innovate.

Bristol is actually two separate cities, one in VA, the other in TN, and is a mix of good and bad. The VA side has many of the nicer properties and "old bones," but the city of Bristol, VA has significant fiscal issues. The largest retail development in the area, called The Pinnacle, was built in Bristol, TN over the past several years. Bristol has the best movie theater in the area, by far. Downtown has seen significant reinvestment in terms of dining, bars, and light retail. The Pinnacle is expanding into VA with a water park and other things to do. There's also talk of a casino or a CBD manufacturer at the old mall site. There's also some tourism impact with the NASCAR race (though NASCAR is not what it used to be anywhere) and the "birthplace of country music" thing. However, large parts of Bristol are quite poor and rough looking.

Johnson City is the best city in the area with a large, regional university (East TN State), the best dining/retail scene overall, the HQ of the local hospital system and only area level 1 trauma center, the area's only healthy mall, and a younger/hipper vibe. Johnson City has quite a bit more than you might expect of a relatively isolated metro of this size, and that's in large part due to the university, VA, etc.

[TexasRoadkill]

We are retiring on about $40k/yr and are more interested in country life (gardening, woodworking, hiking) than big city living (expensive restaurants and nightlife)


Getting away from the hustle and bustle of big city life and enjoying our retirement years.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by TexasRoadkill

We are retiring on about $40k/yr and are more interested in country life (gardening, woodworking, hiking) than big city living (expensive restaurants and nightlife)

Getting away from the hustle and bustle of big city life and enjoying our retirement years.

One thing that most people not from the area don't realize is that many rural areas in east TN have serious problems with drug abuse and property crime related to drugs. Random violent crime is very low, but theft, burglaries, etc., are high, largely from people looking for drugs or looking for something to steal to sell/trade for drugs.

There are some small towns, like Jonesborough, where crime is low, but Jonesborough is more expensive. I would avoid Cocke and Hawkins counties completely largely on the basis of crime. Grainger and Claiborne counties are relatively inaccessible and do not have interstate access. Many rural areas will not have cellular service, broadband internet, or even municipal water.

Even the small cities around here are small compared to what a lot of people are used to with a slow pace of life. I would proceed very cautiously if looking at truly rural areas.

[BuffaloHome]

Originally Posted by TexasRoadkill

We are retiring on about $40k/yr and are more interested in country life (gardening, woodworking, hiking) than big city living (expensive restaurants and nightlife)


Getting away from the hustle and bustle of big city life and enjoying our retirement years.

Is that $40k/yr after you buy a house, or does this have to include the cost of housing?

[DubbleT]

When you say 'slower' pace of life, what size town/city are you coming from?
One of the reasons I was happy to leave Memphis was to leave behind the traffic and road rage. I've gotten so used to the very laid back traffic of Bristol that now I don't even like to drive in Knoxville, and even Johnson City is a pain sometimes, lol. It's all in what you're used to.
City living in Bristol -

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by TexasRoadkill

We are retiring on about $40k/yr and are more interested in country life (gardening, woodworking, hiking) than big city living (expensive restaurants and nightlife)


Getting away from the hustle and bustle of big city life and enjoying our retirement years.

Definitely take a look at the Tri-Cities area. The Kingsport area does tend to attract retirees, I was just having a conversation today with friends from West Virginia who are planning on retiring to the Kingsport area as well.

It is a lovely, low cost area with mild winters and 4 seasons. It is easily accessible to the mountains and the beaches are 5-6 hours away.

Kingsport does have Eastman Chemical Company, but if you live on the outskirts of the city, you'll never know it's there. It has an occasional smell, but again, it's not bad at all if you don't live within a couple miles of it.

Any of the surrounding smaller towns or rural areas between Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol should be similar serving retirement needs. It's becoming a retirement destination more and more, as some folks move up from Florida also.

[piedmont]

OP: Your description and your budget would suggest that living outside of a metro area in a more rural county could be a good fit. How close do you need to be to healthcare/bigger town amenities? Do you really need to be 10 minutes from a Walmart?

If you could stand being 30 minutes to an hour away from services/shopping, I'd suggest looking at rural counties between Knoxville and Chattanooga, such as:
Monroe, McMinn, Bradley, Rhea or Meigs.

These are very pretty rural areas with much lower COL and lower cost housing. You can get a sense of this on Zillow.

[fishingupnorth]

We live in northern WI and have been investigating Tennessee for about a year. We are making our 2nd research trip down there the end of this month. We have narrowed our search down to Fairfield Glade, Tellico Village or Lake Tansi. These are all communities with HOA fees. Fairfield and Tellico are about $120/mo. Lake Tansi $20/mo. If you don't want HOA fees then consider Cookeville or Crossville.

[Beretta]

Look at Greene County but realize there is a drug / crime problem there not unlike any other area you can afford.