what's the most progressive town in tri cities? (Knoxville, Chattanooga: attorney, universities)

[12buttons]

I live in Nashville and I would say Brentwood is the most progressive in our area - it embraces new technology -a lot of entrepreneurial types starting their own businesses, very upscale populated by a diverse population coming here from all over the country - well educated, high income, informed - if it has an old boy network, it comes from somewhere else.
What would its twin city be in your area? Or is there a city pointed in that direction and not quite there yet but trying to attract biotech, nanotech, and tech service ? Where young educated kids from other parts of the country are moving to for jobs? Where money is coming into the city as investable capital with an eye toward future growth.
Other cities I put in this category would be Greenville South Carolina.


Thanks!

If it does not exist in the tri cities, where else might it be?

[Tennesseestorm]

Well, not sure about Kingsport, but both Bristol and Johnson City are progressing nicely, but I would not say
"upscale" or "high income". Mainly just alot of development going on in the way of shops/businesses (retail).

High income and Tri-Cities are not in the same vocabulary, unless you are a doctor, attorney or work at Eastman.

[jabogitlu]

No, very few people move to the Tri-Cities for jobs, especially college graduates. If they come, it's for medical at ETSU-JC Med, to teach at ETSU or as an engineer at Eastman in Kingsport. Johnson City's med-tech corridor was aimed at this sort of (bio)techy growth, but so far it is mostly medical development associated with Johnson City's ballooning medical field.

The most progressive town, those parameters aside, is by far Johnson City. There are hundreds of young people from all over the world here as a result of East TN State. Today, I interacted with a Pakistani lady and two Indian men. We have a small but thriving indie music scene fueled by the Down Home, the Acoustic Coffeehouse et. al. And of course there is ETSU and all that goes along with mid sized (13k) universities. You'd be hard pressed to find that sort of diversity anywhere else east of Knoxville and/or north of Chattanooga.

Still, though, if you're looking to move (maybe you were just curious? ), and are interested in growth/progressive attitudes, I would regretfully say to give the TRI a wide berth.

[12buttons]

[quote=jabogitlu;6177898]No, very few people move to the Tri-Cities for jobs, especially college graduates. If they come, it's for medical at ETSU-JC Med, to teach at ETSU or as an engineer at Eastman in Kingsport. Johnson City's med-tech corridor was aimed at this sort of (bio)techy growth, but so far it is mostly medical development associated with Johnson City's ballooning medical field....quote

.




Thanks for that info - I am moving my business so am open to city.
What about Chattanooga area? with the infusion of VW perhaps that will show more growth - auto assembly is not biotech I understand.
So if I get this area right, it is physically beautiful, cheap to live in, but the underlying culture, less progressive nature compared to the northeast US and the majority of the demographics leaves a lot to be desired.

If you could move anywhere, all things being equal where would you go?

[jjbradleynyc]

Johnson City is definitely the "progressive" city in the tri-cities. Kingsport, is comparably pretty conservative. I prefer Kingsport to Johnson City, in the tri-cities, actually. And now that Kingsport has a lot more major retail--and more on the way--it's appealing, even though much more conservative.

[jabogitlu]

Saying that the "underlying culture [is] less progressive ... compared to the northeast US" is overwhelmingly an understatement.

If I could move anywhere, all things being equal? Probably somewhere in Massachusetts. Or maybe Minneapolis. I like that city.