Johnson City General Question(s) (Franklin, Elizabethton: sales, homes, income)

[DaveinMtAiry]

First off this is waaaaay down the road. But my brother in law recently retired, sold his home in MD, and was all set to move to this area. Next thing you know he's moving to Ecuador for the incredibly low cost of living.

I'm not so bold, I need my American sports. But he did plant the idea of eastern TN into my head, specifically Johnson City, as a possible retirement destination. What research I've found has homes all listed in town. But we are rural folks and don't want a 1/2 acre lot with a chain link fence. Property taxes will also be a big concern.

Can someone direct me to the areas that would meet what we will be looking for? Also is Johnson City right in the mountains or in a valley? Tell you the truth I can't really find wide angle photos that show the region and the proximity of the city to the mountains.


Thanks for your help.

[Ted Bear]

Here's a wonderful place to start:

//www.city-data.com/forum/kings...ssee-pics.html

Take a look through there and you will find that the area has anything and everything you could ask for....with perhaps a little smoothing around the edges.

Where are you coming from?

Johnson City is VERY diverse. You can't pigeon hole any specific answers to your questions about where to live as there is a LOT of diversity in every direction. What might be the wilds of mountain living to you might be nearly urban to the next person.

My advice is to get in your car or fly into Tri-Cities (it is a GREAT regional airport) and spend a few days here looking around. The tallest peaks east of the Mississippi are 45 minutes away. Roan Mtn is about 6,000 ft and is 20 minutes form town. Buffalo Mtn is right in town and rises to about 2500 ft or so. The town of JC actually sits in a valley between a couple of smaller mountain ranges. Elevation is about 1800 feet, IIRC. You can look all that stuff up on line.

There is a huge amount of info on line, and a visit here will give you a broad overview in just a few days.

Taxes are fair. It is hard to compare them with what you might find to be reasonable as all of that is a personal thing. There is no income tax, so the sales tax is high and applies to things that are exempt in other areas. If you live in Johnson City you pay City as well as County tax....but you get more services for the extra money. Al;l ion all they do not appear to be unreasonable, but i am sure there are plenty of people who will argue both sides of the coin: too high, or 'what a bargain.' "It depends," is the answer.

Feel free to ask any specific questions after you have done your homework. There are multiple threads here already discussing the issue of retiring to Johnson City.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Thanks so much Ted for the response. I'm sorry I didn't notice the other retire in JC threads. 6,000 feet! Wow. I never would have believed the tallest peaks were not in Vermont, those are some pretty damn high mountains up there. Is there any skiing in that area by chance?

To answer your question we live in central Maryland, near the town of Frederick. The first shot you posted of the cattle in the field looks very much like our area, rural with small mountains nearby. So that is what we are comfortable with, but we are looking for an area with a city large enough to have what cities can offer such as a variety of restaurants etc. Where we live is only 20-30 miles from both Baltimore and DC, I work in the DC burbs which allows me access to a variety of ethnic foods. But with that comes traffic etc and we are looking to remove ourselves from that. There aren't any Thai restaurants in the area by chance are there?

The part about the city tax in JC was exactly the type of info I was looking for, thanks. I'm not sure we would want the trade off of services for taxes, besides we want to move a bit out of the city but still have access to it. I'm also aware that there are a number of other smaller towns nearby with lots of rural land in between.

I'll be visiting Charlotte at some point in the next 6 months to tend to a brother in law recovering from surgery (surgery date has not been set yet). This will allow me to take a side trip on the way home to the JC area.

[jabogitlu]

Rainbow Asian (Chinese and Thai, maybe Japanese?) is on North Roan. Tomy Thai is on State of Franklin near ETSU & Earth Fare. Jade's Market is on North State of Franklin.

As far as other ethnic foods, there is German downtown, a couple sorta-authentic Italian ones, a Liberian restaurant/restaurant grocery over on East Unaka, a Mediterranean grocery in Paul's Mall (North Roan at Mountcastle Drive), an African grocery up on North Roan - near Mellow Mushroom, or at least it used to be (Alatua Market). An Indian restaurant at North Roan @ I-26. Some sort of Middle Eastern at the strip in front of Target.

The best ethnic in the TRI is Red Chili, in downtown Elizabethton (about 15-20 minutes away from JC, depending where you live).

Just a few for starters

[Ted Bear]

Dave-

Responding to your questions....there is skiing.....good enuf. It is up and down, up and down stuff, but it is white, the lifts beat walking, and the ride is always great. Short season. Snow making, but it really is dependent on cold weather and natural snow.

Thai....and other ethnic restaurants. Maybe no. Couple of steam table/ chop chop places, but the food is , well, meh. It won't kill you, but it is far from authentic. Place called Lola actually own by a nice Thai lady and a few of their dishes are good. Talk to her--she will cook anything you wish.

Otherwise, good restaurants are not part of the JC scene. You can drive 30 miles or so and find a handful of places that are okay.

Come and see the area. It is spectacular and what you don't get in urban services is more than made up by the phenomenal outdoors, the people, and the overall quality of living.

P.S. If you garden or want to grow anything, bring your own top soil and a sharp spade.

[Sean_CLT]

Originally Posted by DaveinMtAiry

Also is Johnson City right in the mountains or in a valley? Tell you the truth I can't really find wide angle photos that show the region and the proximity of the city to the mountains.

Google street view doesn't give a good sense of the scenery. Johnson City is at the base of the mountains, but the land all around is quite hilly, oscillating between 1600 and 1800 feet. You do see the mountains regularly as you drive about, when the streets angle in the right directions, or you crest a local high spot.

JC doesn't feel like it's "in" the mountains as much as Elizabethton or Erwin do. But those are definately small towns without the variety of businesses and entertainment that JC has.

[370z]

Originally Posted by Ted Bear

Dave-

Responding to your questions....there is skiing.....good enuf. It is up and down, up and down stuff, but it is white, the lifts beat walking, and the ride is always great. Short season. Snow making, but it really is dependent on cold weather and natural snow.

Thai....and other ethnic restaurants. Maybe no. Couple of steam table/ chop chop places, but the food is , well, meh. It won't kill you, but it is far from authentic. Place called Lola actually own by a nice Thai lady and a few of their dishes are good. Talk to her--she will cook anything you wish.

Otherwise, good restaurants are not part of the JC scene. You can drive 30 miles or so and find a handful of places that are okay.

Come and see the area. It is spectacular and what you don't get in urban services is more than made up by the phenomenal outdoors, the people, and the overall quality of living.

P.S. If you garden or want to grow anything, bring your own top soil and a sharp spade.

Why is it hard to grow things there, garden, etc.?

[Ted Bear]

Originally Posted by 370z

Why is it hard to grow things there, garden, etc.?

It is EASY to grow things here ONCE you get the soil prepared.

The ground is VERY heavy clay. I have lived in an area where we had clay....lots of it...but the JC clay is even heavier, more dense and is virtually unimprovable without a HUGE amount of effort. When there is a dry spell, it is brick hard; when it rains it is VERY slick, clings to anythning that touches it, and will stain anything which comes into contact with it.

The two solutuons are to completely dig it out (like as in a rasied bed, but in the ground; or mix HUGE amounts green material with it and till the daylights out of it. Local top soil is of generally poor quality, there is no such thing as screened top soil, and the cost will break your garden budget fairly quickly.

However, once you have the soil prepared, things grow very well with a very temperate climate, long growing season, generally sufficient natural rainfall, and not too much damage from animals and bugs.

[Twinsmommyy]

Is that true for most of the Tri Cities area or just primarily in JC???

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by Twinsmommyy

Is that true for most of the Tri Cities area or just primarily in JC???

The whole area.