Suggestions on a scout mission... (Knoxville, Bristol: ski resorts, for sale, real estate) - Kingsport - Johnson City - Bristol - Tennessee (TN) -The Tri-Cities area - City-Data Forum

Wes59 · 10-16-2015, 08:09 PM

We are finally able to take a full day next month to drive through Eastern Tennessee on a scouting trip, while on the way to the east coast for Thanksgiving. Would really like some of you to throw some suggestions for places to drive through to scout for a future move? My plan is to drive from Maryville/Knoxville through Sevierville into Erwin/Unicoi, and over to Roan Mountain and Mountain City. I really would like to live in an area above 2000 feet, with views of mountains. If there are towns I haven't list, please let me know. We'll be retired by the time we move, so employment and kids in school are not a problem. We do have to stay in Tenn because I just found out that Va and NC will tax my teacher retirement from Texas. Will also come back next summer for a week to do a deeper scout, Thanks.

queenladybug817 · 10-19-2015, 06:59 AM

Some of my suggestions would be based more on your interests. Are you ok with tiny rural towns with few amenities? How important are cultural activities? How far are you willing to drive to go for a decent dinner out? What are your general interests?

Each of the towns you mention have very different personalities and available resources. Knowing what you think is important, both now and in 15-20 years can help us give you more than just general suggestions.

Wes59 · 10-19-2015, 04:11 PM

Queen: thanks for your response- I was beginning to feel lonely...
Having been raised in a small town, I have no problem with them at all. We cook six days a week so we are much more home-based people. Usually, we go out on Saturday after a trip to Costco, so we know we will have to take a drive to Greenville or Charlotte for that. By the time we move in 2018, we will be retired but I think I will want to teach either full time or substitute teach. Jackie may just work remote from home.
We want a place that has about 2-5 acres that when I have breakfast or lunch, I can look out over the mountains. I am also fine with being on the mountain and seeing a nice valley down below. That about settles it. :-)
Having lived in Texas most of my 57 years, I want to see snow rather than just ice. If it get too deep to drive, I will just stay inside. Jackie's only demand is a high speed internet connection. I am not sure if that is for work or computer slot games...

Serious Conversation · 10-20-2015, 07:34 AM

Knoxville has a Costco and considerably more shopping than what is available in the Tri-Cities. Keep that in mind.

Several acres with mountain views and a nice quality home is probably going to cost $$$ even in upper east TN. Below is a beautiful home on about three acres but it's nearly half a million dollars. Cheap properties usually will have a regular lot, need rehab on the house, or not have a great view. You may have to make compromises.

410 Eagle Ridge Road, Roan Mountain, TN For Sale | Trulia.com

Also, the more remote you get, the worse the internet gets. I'm not that familiar with Roan Mountain, but I know a lot of my former colleagues who live in rural mountainous areas of southwest Virginia still don't have broadband in 2015. It's dial-up or satellite.

IMO, Roan Mountain is just too isolated. I'd say you could find what you're looking for in Unicoi County while being fairly close to both JC and Asheville.

Wes59 · 10-20-2015, 03:36 PM

The lovely and talented Jim37680 mentioned the internet problem- I did not know that Knoxville had a Costco. Unicoi is on the short list, and no, I am not planning on a half million house. Texas loves their teachers, but not that much...
I am ok with compromise. I have endured 30 years living in Houston for the paycheck, so I can handle working around things. We are really just getting the feelers out to see what areas are good, not so good, and heck no. I'll look at your link- thanks.

DubbleT · 10-20-2015, 06:29 PM

old post but still pertinent, and I think the tri-cities come in pretty close in elevation to the last city on the list.
//www.city-data.com/forum/1747319-post1.html

Is your preference for the higher elevation because of the desire to see snow, or just for the general climate?

Road-Dog · 10-21-2015, 05:19 PM

i live in roan mountain and do not consider it isolated at all. 20 minutes to elizabethton, 35-40 minutes to center of JC, 35-40 minutes to boone, 40 minutes to bristol, 90 minutes to asheville, 2.5 hrs to winston-salem, 3.5 to Charlotte. i am a musician, so it is great to go do my job, get my fill of the city and then come home to the peace and quiet of the mountains. things shut down and close up pretty early here including the eateries. the only isolation is we do not have all the fast foods and commercial development that other areas have. i am surrounded by national forest, and live up above the state park, so there will never be further development around me. yes, the higher you go in elevation the more property seems to cost (kinda like getting closer to the beach)
centurylink"s dsl is pretty good and consistent (my wife made her living for years working from home on internet) we have satellite for our tv, but they do offer internet, not sure about it, but we rarely have signal problems like charter cable will try to convince you is an issue.
hardly any areas here have snow on the ground all winter until you get to the peaks, but nobody lives that high up as it is all national forest. roan mountain gets almost as much as the ski resorts in banner elk and boone. i live at around 3600' (town is around 2800' i believe) and if it is going to snow we do get it, but rarely stays on ground more than a few weeks.
it does get colder here during the winter than down in jc,(can be a 10 to 20+ degree temp difference sometimes, but summers are reversed and we stay much more comfortable.(we do not even have ac, ceiling fans do the trick very well in the summer at this elevation.
tn sales tax is high, but we do all our grocery shopping in newland, nc (20 minutes away) where sales tax is cheaper and go to banner elk to lowes for building and big ticket items like appliances. everything else beats nc big time where they have income tax, personal property taxes, vehicle inspection and higher real estate taxes. tn also does a much better job on road maintenance and the county does a very commendable job of keeping the roads plowed and de-iced.
roan mountain though is more of a village with a couple mediocre restaurants at best, a couple gas stations, small hardware store (surprisingly they have a good stock of things and quite often beat lowes pricing on your average hardware needs). most folks are polite and outwardly friendly, but if you are not from here that is about as far as it goes. the positive side is people pretty much mind their own business and do not bother you much, but if you are looking to make a bunch of close friends it could take a long time.
be prepared to be handy at fixing things and building things at your place, because very few qualified contractors around, including vehicle repair and most are not very reliable.

Wes59 · 10-21-2015, 07:26 PM

Dubble T. Not to make light of the answer... Both. We have never been ina snow elevation, and look forward to getting that chance. We also both come from "flat as a table" environments and are looking for that new place to explore, and enjoy the experience. We have vacationed several times near Gatlinburg, but don't want the tourism rush that comes with G'burg and Pigeon Forge.

Wes59 · 10-21-2015, 07:34 PM

Road-Dog: Great job of giving us an idea of RM. I really appreciate that. We have had eyes on Roan, Unicoi, Cosby, Mountain City, and outlying areas of Sevierville.
Not worried about the cooking and restaurant thing- the issue on the contractor could get fun. I am good enough on fixing things to screw things up on the big projects.

DubbleT · 10-21-2015, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wes59

Dubble T. Not to make light of the answer... Both. We have never been ina snow elevation, and look forward to getting that chance. We also both come from "flat as a table" environments and are looking for that new place to explore, and enjoy the experience. We have vacationed several times near Gatlinburg, but don't want the tourism rush that comes with G'burg and Pigeon Forge.

No, I was asking because if your main reason is snow you can do that in slightly lower elevations if you don't mind that it doesn't happen really often, and when it does it's usually gone in a couple of days or less. I tell my friends from out of state that here (in Bristol) it snows just enough to look pretty and it's gone long before it's nuisance

OTOH if you want the cooler summers then the higher you go the more comfortable it will be. Though compared to Houston summers, the tri-cities is muuuuuch more tolerable, speaking from my experience. I wouldn't have minded being able to move to a higher elevation here, but the trade off is having to live in a smaller town and drive further for some things, and I didn't think it would be worth it to me.