Best place to raise a family in East TN

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by cgmhoover

Hello , my family and I currently live south of Nashville.
We plan to build in the near future and are thinking of looking into eastern TN but need some help finding the right location. We want a very good school system as we have young children and want to be in a rural area, we want 10+ acres. Does anyone have any towns they could recommend?

Look in Gray or Jonesborough, TN.

[rccrain]

Originally Posted by cgmhoover

Hello , my family and I currently live south of Nashville.
We plan to build in the near future and are thinking of looking into eastern TN but need some help finding the right location. We want a very good school system as we have young children and want to be in a rural area, we want 10+ acres. Does anyone have any towns they could recommend?

What age children? Do they have any special interests?

[TNGal78]

Kingsport, TN all the way. I have lived here my whole life and raising my 2 kids here now. Fall Branch area has some beautiful farm land, too. That's where we live. Low crime.


Downtown is easy to navigate and is being revamped all the time. Broad street, downtown, is where everybody used to "cruise" back in the day and now it has lots of antique stores and little restaurants, a cupcake store, and a coffee shop. They have a new farmer's market downtown and have added new college extension campus buildings downtown. Oktoberfest and other activities are held downtown throughout the year. Church circle downtown is beautiful and historical.


We also have Fun Fest every year which features a week of family friendly festivities and usually 3 nights of concerts. It's easy driving distance to Johnson City, Elizabethton, Blountville, and Bristol.


We also have a nice water park with indoor pools and a nice YMCA attached to it. Bays Mountain is great for families to visit with hiking and animal exhibits a planetarium, and a nature center. There is a corn maze at Cleek's farm in the fall. (I think I got that right). We also have The Exchange Place, Allandale Mansion (which also has a car show every year), Netherland Inn, Warrior's Path state park, and other historical sites to see.


There is a wide variety of restaurants, although you may want to drive to Johnson City for even more choices.

I generally avoid Johnson City (more crowded) and Bristol (especially during race time) unless I need to do some retail shopping at the JC Mall or The Pinnacle.


Kingsport does have retail stores and they are revamping the mall. Johnson city and Bristol just has more of a selection.