USA Today: Kingsport-Bristol among unhealthiest areas nationwide (crime rates, statistics)

[kamoshika]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

Johnson City has some great areas for biking and walking. There is a great walking area around the Wellness Center that also runs around the hospital and back up on a trail that parallels State of Franklin. It's all sidewalked, relatively new, and safe.

Kingsport does as well, with the Greenbelt (8 miles), Bays Mountain (38 miles of hiking trails), and Warriors' Path State Park (13 miles of hiking trails). Warriors' Path also has probably the best mountain-biking trail system in NE Tenn. and the most popular disc golf course. In addition, the new aquatic center in Kingsport is outstanding.

Originally Posted by Emigrations

Like AppleDan said, many jobs in the area are low end and local employers simply will not offer health insurance to many employees. I had two jobs in Kingsport last year with well-known local employers and neither offered insurance or benefits of any kind. Uninsured people are going to be less healthy.

Per the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 18.3% of residents in our metro area are uninsured, which is just above the national average of 18% for medium-to-large metro areas.

Originally Posted by Emigrations

One thing I've noticed in the Tri-Cities vs. other places I've lived and spent time in is that healthy food options are difficult to come by, particularly in less affluent neighborhoods or in outlying communities. I'm not saying everyone needs to eat 100% organic from Whole Foods, but even a wide variety of fresh, nutritious conventional produce can be hard to come by. I went into the Kroger up here in Carmel, IN (affluent Indy suburb) today and was blown away with how much larger than the selection is back home, especially with fruits and vegetables. If a balanced diet is simply not available or is not affordable, people will be less healthy.

The Well-Being Index shows that 61.6% of Kingsport-Bristol residents report that they "eat produce frequently," which ranks 11th best among the 189 largest metros and above the national average of 57.8%. The reported rate is 55.5% for Indianapolis-Carmel.

Originally Posted by Emigrations

While you have to take COL into account, there's a minimum amount of money required for basic shelter, transportation, a healthy diet, etc. Many people in the area don't seem to be able to do that independently. It seems a lot of east Tennesseans are dependent on government assistance (there are lots of people using the American flag EBT cards at Wal-Mart and Food City) or private charity to keep food on the table. I remember seeing a story this week about Hunger First in Kingsport needing donations urgently.

According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap project, food insecurity is defined as "the household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food." The national food insecurity rate is 15.9% while the rate in Tenn. is 17.1%. Our area fares better overall with an average rate of 14.8% and a low of 13.7% in Sullivan County. To contrast, Marion County, IN has a food insecurity rate of 19.2%.

Originally Posted by Emigrations

Crime is also a serious concern in the area. Most of it is drug/domestic, and not random, but crime seems to have considerably reason over the last few years with more drug abuse and the economic decline.

Overall crime rates have not risen in this area in recent years:
//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...Tennessee.html
//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...Tennessee.html
//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...Tennessee.html

As for the high crime rate in Kingsport, Don Fenley posted an interesting note back in December which said, "Kingsport City Manager John Campbell says city officials looked at the TBI numbers used in this report and found that the city’s Police Department apparently over reported some components to the TBI. He said that is being corrected and next year’s numbers should be a more accurate reflection of the crime in the Model City."

This appears to jibe with what mbmouse reported long ago.

[polizzio]

Yeah but the crime in Kingsport is markedly higher than JC, Bristol, or Jonesborough. It is the petty theft that speaks volumes. I had found a house I really liked 6 months ago in Gray, but ultimately decided to pass as its too close to Kingsport for me.
You just cannot dispute statistical data. JB and Erwin are very low crime areas comparatively.

[jabogitlu]

I'm sorry, but if you're worried about crime in Gray, I don't possibly see how you could live anywhere.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by polizzio

You just cannot dispute statistical data.

Stats don't always tell the whole story though. It really bears repeating that people should dig a little deeper and find out what is actually behind the numbers.

I work in retail, lots of shoplifting, panhandling, purse snatching, car break-ins, etc. In Memphis the police rarely bother with the little stuff, you can call it in and make a report over the phone and expect to never hear about it again. You learn not to bother with it for the most part, cops are too busy with bigger fish to fry, so petty stuff goes unreported.

Here the police actually come out to the store for ALL complaints, they make a report and pull video if it's available. And a lot of the time they make an arrest, so we continue to call for every little thing.

You could take that info and think that my store in Memphis must be safer than my tri-cities store, because the numbers would bear that out if you look at number of crimes reported, but you'd be dead wrong about which store was actually a safer place to shop.

[polizzio]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I'm sorry, but if you're worried about crime in Gray, I don't possibly see how you could live anywhere.

not the crime in Gray, the crime in Kingsport, too close for me. Their crime data number is approx 500, for the last 10 years. The theft numbers, people just stealing. The national average is 300. JB or Erwin is < 200.

If I am going to pick a place to live, I'm going to pick a place with lower drug related crime, murders and theft. That's just me....and I place much weight in long term statistical data.

[polizzio]

Memphis is out the box....averaging 900. There is a direct correlation to crime and the ethnicity of the pop.

There is a reason why Chattanooga, Memphis, Atlanta, New Orleans, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington DC, Houston......have very high crime. Study Detroit, it is a prime example, an extreme example. You can buy a house in Detroit for a $1000.

[jabogitlu]

So, you're saying that black people are inherently more likely to steal, murder, or assault people? Or are you saying that due to historic factors, the black population has experienced disenfranchisement, family crises, low access to jobs, little to no social mobility, less investment in education, etc., which has led to higher crime rates within those communities?

Might want to clarify, as one makes you a bigot, the other an astute observer.

[polizzio]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

So, you're saying that black people are inherently more likely to steal, murder, or assault people? Or are you saying that due to historic factors, the black population has experienced disenfranchisement, family crises, low access to jobs, little to no social mobility, less investment in education, etc., which has led to higher crime rates within those communities?

Might want to clarify, as one makes you a bigot, the other an astute observer.

I didn't say that.....you did.

Don't make assumptions.

Nor do I make judgments on people I do not know or never have met, or assign negative labels to them. Nor do I makes excuses.

[jabogitlu]

Just pressing. Let's cut the bull, saying something like "there's a correlation between crime rates and ethnicity" obfuscates the real ideology behind that statement.


Anyway, I guess we've gone way off topic so I'll limit my commentary.

[donsabi]

A few years ago I found a website that would compare air quality among other things location to location.
I compared Sullivan County Tn to Philadelphia County PA and Sullivan county was the worse of the two especially in air quality.