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Out of these two regions, which do you prefer? What are some similarities between them, and some differences? For example, tourism, religion, population, politics, amount of transplants/in-migration, etc.
You could say that the TN valley is like the western edge of the piedmont, except with jobs. Better interstate access and more lakes. I like that you get the vistas of tall mountains from a perspective that is more dramatic that actually being in the mountains. But then, with the higher elevations in WNC you have cooler weather - that's a plus.
I'm going to guess that Knoxville is like Winston Salem but with one big university, Johnson City is comparable to Boone but without the hype, Chattanooga could be Greensboro with a double dose of hype???
As for transplants - most transplants come to E TN for job opportunities or for the universities. Transplants to the western edge of NC tend to be retirees (more likely wealthy) or disaffected hippies. E TN will get some retirees but they are more likely to be middle class - in part due to a TN tax on interest and dividends.
TN retirees are likely to come from the Midwest, NC retirees from the NE. This makes sense from a transportation perspective and ease of getting back home to see family, or getting family to grandma's place.
You could say that the TN valley is like the western edge of the piedmont, except with jobs. Better interstate access and more lakes. I like that you get the vistas of tall mountains from a perspective that is more dramatic that actually being in the mountains. But then, with the higher elevations in WNC you have cooler weather - that's a plus.
I'm going to guess that Knoxville is like Winston Salem but with one big university, Johnson City is comparable to Boone but without the hype, Chattanooga could be Greensboro with a double dose of hype???
As for transplants - most transplants come to E TN for job opportunities or for the universities. Transplants to the western edge of NC tend to be retirees (more likely wealthy) or disaffected hippies. E TN will get some retirees but they are more likely to be middle class - in part due to a TN tax on interest and dividends.
TN retirees are likely to come from the Midwest, NC retirees from the NE. This makes sense from a transportation perspective and ease of getting back home to see family, or getting family to grandma's place.
I've only driven through Knoxville, so it isn't like Asheville? I've heard they're both fairly liberal cities situated in conservative/Bible Belt-ish metros. At least Asheville is that one blue dot in the middle of big red/Southern Baptist Western NC.
I've only driven through Knoxville, so it isn't like Asheville? I've heard they're both fairly liberal cities situated in conservative/Bible Belt-ish metros. At least Asheville is that one blue dot in the middle of big red/Southern Baptist Western NC.
I would say inner-city Knoxville is pretty liberal in spots considering UT is right next to Downtown, but you probably won't see hippie drum circles on Gay Street like you do in Downtown Asheville, LOL! Knoxville and its metro area is much larger than Asheville though.
Overall, both places are equally as beautiful to me. The economy in Eastern Tennessee is much more well-rounded and diversified than Western North Carolina's, by a huge margin. The major difference is three medium size metro areas versus just one smallish one. Asheville is a wonderful City and area, but their economy is very tourism focused and it is becoming ridiculously expensive to live there.
You'll see drum circles occasionally, off gay street in Krutch park. But they aren't a constant occurance.
One way to look at it is if you took Asheville and doubled it in size but everyone who moved in was middle/working class with conservative or yellow dog dem politics -(most likely apathetic when it comes to actually voting)....
Well then it might resemble Knoxville. Asheville would still tip the scales towards the hippie dippie and it would have vegetarian restaurants but you might not notice the difference as much.
Add in the suburbs - and Knoxville will have about 3 times the suburban development as Asheville - Don't the suburbs trend conservative in both cities?
Regarding politics I've been told from former residents that Knoxville is actually quite conservative outside the UT campus area. I think there was an article stating it was the most "Bible-beltish" city not too long ago and I remember the comments from current and former residents seemed to agree with the ranking.
That said, both Knoxville and Asheville seem to have thriving music scenes for cities of their size. Neither will be confused with Nashville or Austin but it seems both can hold their own in this category. I've also heard Knoxville does have a growing beer scene, whereas Asheville is somewhat famous for their beer scene.
Outside these two cities I'm not that familiar with the rest of Eastern Tennessee but I thought Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge were both kind of cheesy. It had kind of a Myrtle Beach meets the Mountains vibe.
For Western NC you've got Boone, Blowing Rock, Beech Mountain, Cherokee, Maggie Valley, Brevard, and a slew of other mountain towns which are interesting in their own way. I'm not sure what the Eastern Tennessee equlivant of these towns would be but I'm sure there is something out there that can compare.
One quick note, I found the air quality in the Knoxville area to be quite poor. In fact I was there for a wedding in April and my allergies acted up when I got there and didn't quit until I left. So perhaps it's just me but I've never experienced it as bad in NC than I did out there. Yikes
I've been told from former residents that Knoxville is actually quite conservative outside the UT campus area.
That's a bit of a stretch unless they define "campus area" pretty broadly.
Knoxville did bring itself to elect a very liberal mayor. That will change in 4 1/2 years due to term limits - next mayor will most likely be a moderate.
If you are going to call us the Bible Belt you could consider that Jesus was very liberal - downright socialist in some ways.
Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee are worlds apart politically.
In 2012, Obama's best county in eastern Tennessee was Hamilton, where Chattanooga is. Romney still won 56% of the vote here. The primary reason the vote was close to competitive was unlike elsewhere in Eastern Tennessee there is a black population in Chattanooga. In Knox County (Knoxville) Romney won nearly 64% of the vote. In most of Eastern Tennessee Romney won 70% or more of the vote.
Western North Carolina, although right leaning on the whole, is much more competitive. Obama won Buncombe County (Asheville area) with 55.5% of the vote. He lost everywhere else, but by slim margins in some cases. There are seven rural counties Romney won less than 60% of the vote - where Eastern Tennessee didn't have one rural county where this was the case. There were only five counties where Romney won 70%+ of the vote.
The bottom line is if you're left leaning you'll certainly be in the minority western North Carolina outside of Asheville. But you won't be looked at as if you have nine heads for being a Democrat in Boone the same way you are in Johnson City.
Religion is very big in Western NC, I believe Billy Graham resides near Black Mountain (the giant cross you see off I-40) while Franklin Graham resides in Boone. Outside Asheville and maybe Boone, I feel like Western NC is still pretty darn conservative although maybe not on the same level as Eastern TN. Another similarity, both regions were pretty pro-Union during the Civil War, more so in Tennessee.
But you won't be looked at as if you have nine heads for being a Democrat in Boone the same way you are in Johnson City.
This seems like hyperbole. Have you ever lived in Johnson City?
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