25 year old son considering a job offer in Kingsport....need advice

[Jim37680]

I love this thread. It's like the scene in "The Wizard Of Oz" when the little dog pulls open the Wizard's curtain and the truth is revealed.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by Jim37680

Well said!

Also, some of the other folks posting here must have had their lunch money taken as a child to be so negatively biased and always bring up the "crime" issue continuously! There is fundamentally a reason why Johnson City came by the nickname of "Little Chicago" starting back in the 1920's.

You owe me a laundry cleaning! Spewed my drink reading this comment! LOLOLOL, thanks for the laugh!

[rccrain]

Originally Posted by cooldiver

You mean kind of like Roan Street or State of Franklin?

I going to have to call you on that one. Ft Henry and Stone in Kpt are in no way comparable to Roan and SOF. JC is brilliantly laid out and handles the traffic of its population very well.

Roan and SOF create a retail loop and inside the loop are some easy cut across routes like Knob Creek, Sunset, and W Market. Additionally, you can use I26 to cut out much of the stop and go congestion of Roan.

You can get from the Beechnut St Condos in NJC to ETSU in SJC in 10 minutes. I can get from my office on Knob Creek to anywhere else in JC in 5 minutes. The only true "what were they thinking" moment in JC is the Sunset/Browns Mill/Princeton/Broyles/NRoan intersection. I would like to see a model of what a large traffic circle could do for that interchange.

[cooldiver]

Originally Posted by rccrain

I going to have to call you on that one. Ft Henry and Stone in Kpt are in no way comparable to Roan and SOF. JC is brilliantly laid out and handles the traffic of its population very well.

Roan and SOF create a retail loop and inside the loop are some easy cut across routes like Knob Creek, Sunset, and W Market. Additionally, you can use I26 to cut out much of the stop and go congestion of Roan.

You can get from the Beechnut St Condos in NJC to ETSU in SJC in 10 minutes. I can get from my office on Knob Creek to anywhere else in JC in 5 minutes. The only true "what were they thinking" moment in JC is the Sunset/Browns Mill/Princeton/Broyles/NRoan intersection. I would like to see a model of what a large traffic circle could do for that interchange.

I am just shaking my head at how everything in JC is wonderful beyond belief and Kingsport is the armpit of the universe. I've been reading this forum for maybe a year, and I guess I have just finally had enough.

Seriously, JC is brilliantly laid out? I26 was laid in by the state, not JC and by the way in most real urban areas they would be very angry about having a city sliced in half by a freeway. Roan Street has the worst intersection in East Tennessee with that two streets (Princeton and Browns Mills I think) foolishness crossing it at an angle thing with slow cycling traffic lights that seem designed to maximize delays to through traffic on Roan Street. Replacing it with a traffic circle? Not likely, it would require a true urban roundabout, which occupies a lot of real estate. They would have to take a lot of commercial real estate to make room for that. The rinky dink roundabouts that are built these days (in this case I'm looking at you Kingsport) are only suitable for low volume intersections without trucks.

I still don't get the hate for Stone Drive. It's three lanes much of the way, and the only real congestion spot is at Eastman Road. Which can be avoided, just like congestion spots in JC. It ain't pretty, but commercial strips rarely are in the state of Tennessee.

I can get across much of Kingsport in 10 minutes also. I don't live there, but I grew up there and I know the lay of the land.

I just don't get this whole deal. All 3 cities have good things and all 3 cities have things that are not so good. They are all good places to live.

It's not going to help attract people to anywhere in the Tri-Cities to tell them to live in JC because Kingsport is the meth and crime capital of the Southeastern United States. I can only imagine what folks who wander by this forum looking for info on the Tri-Cities area must imagine. They probably think if they drive through the area, they should roll up their windows and keep their bladders under control until they reach the safety of Roanoke or Knoxville. Or the Canadian border.

[/rant off]

[Beretta]

Listen up, I've lived and worked (and gone to school) in both JC and Kingsport and both have their pros and cons. And if you let anyone or anything on this forum get your dander up then they win. Maybe there are more people right now saying more positive things about JC but that is just because of the current make up of active posters right now. That can definitely change over time and may not be the truth for everyone and those lurking and moving here in the future.

Also, if you live here - get involved! There are a lot of opportunities to be on the planning commissions or whatever.

Now - let's get back on topic for this 25 year old who really is not going to make his entire decision on moving here (it is about moving to Kingsport after all - NOT Johnson City!) or happiness here on Stone Drive or Roan Street or State of Franklin. For the love of Pete.....

[Serious Conversation]

The discussion between living in Kingsport vs. Johnson City is absolutely relevant. There are probably dozens of people per month that go through this same dilemma, yet never see any of our carousel debates. Most every frequent poster's positions are well-known and everyone is basically dug into their camps.

Not all of Kingsport is not a trash heap. There are plenty of good people within Kingsport, and its immediate suburbs. I live outside of Kingsport in Indian Springs with a Kingsport address. A mile or two up the road and I'd have a Blountville address. If you are not hanging out with druggies or lawbreakers, you're unlikely to face anything but occasional property crime in Kingsport. Move out of the city, and even that risk goes down to almost nil in many parts of Sullivan County. I leave my car unlocked all the time, and while my car is out of the view of passers-by on a carport, I've not had anything touched in twenty years at this address. If OP's son were to leave in Indian Springs, his risk of crime is basically nil.

If the commute is really important to OP (who, consequently, has not come back, and left us local yokels all waving our tribal flags), then OP should live in Kingsport. There is "enough" in Kingsport for day to day essentials. There are restaurants. Chop House, Giuseppe's, and Riverfront are among the area's best in those cuisines. There are grocery stores. You won't go hungry or go without the basics in Kingsport. I would rather spend another thirty minutes each way living in a community I like vs. one I can barely tolerate. Not everyone will feel this way, and either opinion is fine.

With that said, I think Johnson City possesses more energy than Kingsport does, especially for a younger person. I took today off, and was in downtown JC at lunch. I saw people sitting outside at Sharp's/Buffalo Street Deli, TONS of people at Tupelo Honey and Yee-Haw (honestly, is anyone working given the crowds I saw?), the Noli food truck (which is an area highlight, BTW) space had its picnic tables full, etc. Something was being set up for a Founder's Park event tonight. Downtown JC at 1 PM on a nondescript Friday lunch session seemed so much more alive than Kingsport's downtown at peak summer hours outside of Fun Fest. I was probably the oldest person at the food truck spot. I'm 31, and had to deal with some teasing by college kids. In Kingsport, I'd probably be one of the youngest at the usual lunch joints. That's very relevant for a younger adult.

Like I said in another thread, Johnson City has turned the corner on livability and appeal in a way that Kingsport hasn't, especially for what appeals to a stereotypical Millennial professional. The economy is the area's weak point now. JC is nice enough, IMO, to attract a lot of people if the economy was better. Johnson City could boom with a cooperative economy. We don't have that, but if the OP's scenario is true and the son is doing well, the area needs people like that. Numbers, from new construction to in-migration, are all trending positively toward Washington County. Virtually every other county in the area is an also ran compared to Washington on any positive metric.

And I just don't see them flocking to Kingsport. They will be flocking to JC/Washington County.

[DBF]

Thanks to all for your insights on the area(s.) He is still debating but knowing he has options on places to live is good to know. He would likely be a renter for the first few years...no need to get bogged down with yard work in your 20s! Compounding the decision now is that his girlfriend took a job in Charlotte instead of Atlanta so at least that is closer to KSP/JC.

[Beretta]

Glad this helped. Kingsport and Johnson City are generally shortened to KPT/JC.

Let us know how it turns out.