Looking for friendly small to medium sized town in Eastern Tennessee (Memphis: low crime, home)

[ZZ55]

Would like to retire in a small to medium sized town with friendly people and small town charm and character. Low crime, affordable cost of living, and close to larger city activities. May decide to open a small business and hope to find a community that welcomes "outsiders" from Texas. Thanks!

[jabogitlu]

How small? Greeneville (15k) is about an hour from Knoxville. Jonesborough (er, I dunno, but I'd guess around 4k) is about ten minutes from Johnson City, an hour and a half from Asheville.

If you're looking for something a bit bigger, Johnson City (65k) itself isn't bad.

That's up here in Northeast Tennessee... also lots of nice areas in the Knoxville and Chattanooga areas...

[J&Em]

It's hard to answer this kind of question well on the amount of information you give. It is a common problem when people ask about where to look when they want to move here and have never been here. On the whole this part of the state is relatively sparsely populated and there are many very small towns that may be too small for what you want.

Most of the cities in Tennessee (except Nashville and Memphis) feel like large towns and the suburbs around them drop off rapidly to rural. You may want to define what you think a medium or small town is as a reference for what you expect and we can probably make better recommendations. From your requirements you might want to live on the outskirts of Knoxville itself, believe it or not.

From your other post about snow and driving I would say northeastern Tennessee might not work since you are more likely to encounter occasional snows. The further south the less likely you will encounter any significant snowfall, so you want to look more closely around Knoxville and Chattanooga. That said, there are some beautiful areas up around the tri-cities region with gorgeous views.

[ZZ55]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

How small? Greeneville (15k) is about an hour from Knoxville. Jonesborough (er, I dunno, but I'd guess around 4k) is about ten minutes from Johnson City, an hour and a half from Asheville.

If you're looking for something a bit bigger, Johnson City (65k) itself isn't bad.

That's up here in Northeast Tennessee... also lots of nice areas in the Knoxville and Chattanooga areas...

Hmmmm, sounds like Johnson City is about right; whereas, Knoxville would be too large.

Any information about the Johnson City area to Bristol area would be welcome.

Thanks everyone!

[DubbleT]

You can get a ton of info doing a search or just browsing through the tri cities forum //www.city-data.com/forum/kings...-city-bristol/
Any particular questions about the area that you can't find with a search just post in the forum, and you're sure to get an answer or two there.
I've been in Bristol two years and am loving it!

[tsimmu]

Texans aren't outsiders -- they're fellow Southerners! Welcome and Good Luck.

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Originally Posted by tsimmu

Texans aren't outsiders -- they're fellow Southerners! Welcome and Good Luck.

Yup. When we were living in NM, one of the state electrical inspectors who was originally from Texas would stop by my office just to talk. He said I reminded him of home

[ZZ55]

Originally Posted by tsimmu

Texans aren't outsiders -- they're fellow Southerners! Welcome and Good Luck.

Thank you!

[ZZ55]

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

Yup. When we were living in NM, one of the state electrical inspectors who was originally from Texas would stop by my office just to talk. He said I reminded him of home

Thanks!