Mountain City Living (Johnson City, Bristol, Sevierville: sales, crime rate, college)

[Landru]

My wife and I are planning retirement soon. We live 35 miles SW of Denver, Colorado at an altitude of 8,600' We would like to stay in the mountains
yet a bit closer to sea level. Are there any downsides to living in Mt. City?

I have been subscribing to the local paper, The Tomahawk and while there
are ads for high speed internet service, it does not appear to be in the
city yet. We currently have DSL and I would rather not have a satellite
system. Any information about Mountain City would be appreciated.

Landru

[Rcm58]

I had a job in Denver and Lived in Ft Collins Co while my father finished up his masters degree so I have a feel for the area, I like Mountain City but its nothing like where your at. Boone NC would be a closer match, Mountain City is a closer match to Wyoming.

[Father John]

I, too, am looking at Mountain City for several reasons.

1) Affordability. Tennessee is less of a tax burden than any other state in the area - only places like Alaska and New Hampshire rate better. Housing is inexpensive, too. Driving to Boone NC (about 20 miles) for shopping (6.5% sales tax) will save on the 9.5% Tennessee sales tax, too.

2) Crime rate is low - much lower than the national averages.

3) It is small, rural, and "quiet." Moving from a City of 500,000 in a metro area of over 2 million, my wife and I look to retire where we can relax, hike, fish, and not deal with traffic and other city headaches.

4) Not that far from a college town (Boone, NC and Appalachian State is 20-25 miles) and not horribly far from a freeway (I-81 at Bristol is about 35 miles and I-26 at Johnson City is about 45 miles).

5) Moderate temperatures, although humidity and snow in the winter will be new for this Arizonan.

All that said, what are the "gotchas" for Mountain City? I would love to know all the drawback because there are other places we could look, too, like over near Sevierville (although it is more expensive over there).

[Jim1954]

I wish I could help you John, but it's been years since I've been there. I to am thinking of moving there, but I'm thinking of affordabilty and I have family there. My memories of Mountain City are great though.

Jim