What is Morristown like, is it larger than Jonson city? (Memphis: crime, house)

[Lookin4myMountain]

Which would the natives consider better ,Morristown , Johnson city , or Knoxville for a quieter yet not to out in the boonies living And for jobs too?
thanks ...IR

[dreamofmonterey]

I live in Johnson City, it has all the amenities of a small city without the craziness. There are nice subdivisions, and areas with land. The newer subdivisions have smaller lots, though. We drove through Morristown and Rogersville and most of Hawkins County. It was beautiful land, but too far off the beaten path for us.

[GrannyLois]

I'm not a native, as I've only been here since 1983, but Morristown is smaller than Johnson City.

Advice to consider: It would be much better if you had a job here before you actually moved. I just can't imagine moving without a job lined up. But maybe that's just me.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Lookin4myMountain

Which would the natives consider better ,Morristown , Johnson city , or Knoxville for a quieter yet not to out in the boonies living And for jobs too?
thanks ...IR

According to the Tennessee Department of Labor, Knoxville has the lowest unemployment rate of Tennessee's four major counties, 3.6 percent. There are 217,800 people employed in Knox County. Washington County (Johnson City) also has a low unemployment rate, 4.2%, 58,890 people employed. Hamblen County (Morristown) has an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, with 29,030 people employed.

All of those are pretty low unemployment rates, but Knoxville has the edge when it comes to the sheer number of jobs available.

If you want to have a quieter life and still have a good chance of getting a job, maybe Johnson City would be your best option. Knoxville has a booming economy, but it's tough these days to find a quiet area of Knox County. On the other hand, as far as big cities go, Knoxville is very pleasant with very little crime compared to, say, Nashville or (heaven forbid) Memphis. A lot of people are moving to Knoxville and living in the "country" and commuting into town for jobs. But then you have to deal with traffic.

I would avoid Morristown completely, but that's just my personal opinion. I find Morristown to be dirty, run-down, and not nearly as attractive as other East Tennessee towns such as Johnson City, Bristol, or Greeneville. It's almost like the people of Morristown decided 30 years ago that they didn't care anymore about keeping their town clean and spruced-up. The "growth at any cost" mentality, in my opinion, is not desirable.

To make a long story short, I guess I'd vote for Johnson City, given the parameters you established in your original post. Sorry mine is so long!

[ballerstv]

Johnson City would be my vote too. I relocated here from Ft Lauderdale. Its a cool area. hour from knoxville and asheville, 2 1/2 hours from roanoke or Charlote and 4 hours to Natyville. So i like it herealthough i live in kingsport now. go figure.

[watermom]

We'd love to have your help in growing Morristown in a positive way-we are a health care professional family who chose to come here 25 yrs ago to establish practice-has been great place to raise family precisely because it is NOT Knoxville but is close enough...still has some areas to work on but if you come to town offering to help, I think you will be welcomed....Note to previous poster-more than factory exec and doctor's kids attend All Saints' Episcopal School-financial aid is available but cost is far, far lower than in most private schools you will find elsewhere. Morristown's Public system is alright but is complemented by private schools that are focusing more on academics-Monday, 13 August is ASES Preschool Registration with Open House for K-8 (10:00 to 1:00)and then Tuesday, 14 August is First Full Class Day..Call 423-586-3280 or ck out allsaintsepiscopalschool.org for more info..Some classes fill pretty quickly.

[roselover772]

I would avoid Morristown completely, but that's just my personal opinion. I find Morristown to be dirty, run-down, and not nearly as attractive as other East Tennessee towns such as Johnson City, Bristol, or Greeneville. It's almost like the people of Morristown decided 30 years ago that they didn't care anymore about keeping their town clean and spruced-up. The "growth at any cost" mentality, in my opinion, is not desirable.

To make a long story short, I guess I'd vote for Johnson City, given the parameters you established in your original post. Sorry mine is so long![/quote]

I have to agree with you. I just spent two weeks traveling all over East TN since I am moving there in a few weeks. Morristown was depressing. There are other much more desirable places to live, that are not bursting with people and such.

[flybob63]

Originally Posted by Lookin4myMountain

Which would the natives consider better ,Morristown , Johnson city , or Knoxville for a quieter yet not to out in the boonies living And for jobs too?
thanks ...IR

My wife and I bought near Greeneville last year. Greeneville is a very historic, affordable and picturesque community only 30 miles or so from Johnson City. The population is only around 15,000 so it is much smaller than those other cities, however, it has two hospitals, a community college, Wal-Mart, Lowes and so forth. It was the home of President Andrew Johnson and his house is still there. They have a presidential walking tour in town. They also have "Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park" on the spot where Davy Crockett was born not too far out of town. One of the churches in town still has a cannonball stuck in the facade from the Civil War. Lots great historical stuff, if you are into that or have kids studying that stuff. They have a nice, new, movie complex in town, too.

The people are extremely friendly and welcoming.

I don't know all the statistics but I would definitely give Greeneville a look-see.

[Tennesseestorm]

Yeah, Johnson City is much larger than Morristown... Morristowns population is around 25,000 and in comparison, Johnson Citys population is nearly 60,000. Even Bristol and Kingsport are larger than Morristown. Kingsports population is around 45,000 and Bristols population (including the city of Bristol Virginia) is also around 45,000. Entire Tri-Cities metro population is well over 200,000. It may be even higher than that when you include the surrounding smaller towns within a 30-40 mile radius. I think I once read metro population was around 400K. I may be a little high on that though.

[jabogitlu]

In 1980 it was 434,000. For some reason I can't find more recent figures... Google is failing me!

Ah, finally! In 2004, it was 487,000.