Possible relocation due to job transfer (Johnson City, Kingsport: sales, real estate, condo)
Kingsport - Johnson City - BristolThe Tri-Cities area
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My husband and I are currently living in Florida and are looking at moving out of the state. My husband works at Carmax and we recently found out that he might have a job transfer/promotion to the Bristol store in 2020. I am a teacher and would be looking for a teaching job. I already know the process of transferring my license from Florida to Tennessee if need be.
We visited the area in July and thought that the area was beautiful and had quite a bit to do in summer. We only had 3 days in the area and mostly visited between Johnson City and Bristol. As we are looking at moving to the area I wanted to hear local opinions on which city would be best when it comes to the following: commute time, cost of living, things to do, and schools. We are both avid outdoors people and loved all the local disc golf courses while we were there along with hiking to Blue Hole Falls. We are from Wisconsin originally and cannot wait until we get out of Florida (it is too hot for too long and there isn't a whole lot to actually do here). Any opinions or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Welcome.
COL is pretty even across the area. Might wish to ensure you live in TN (and not VA) to capture the "no income tax'. Maybe Kingsport is lower, but then you have to live in Kingsport. Not desirable.
Commute from north side of JC to Bristol is easy. There is no traffic. Might have to wait through two lights at congested intersections. LOL.
JC has a nice disc course at Winged Deer Park. Talk of hosting some sort of national event. Not sure.
Teachers...get paid squat here. Very sad, and the schools reflect it. Stay in JC and try to get into Science Hill for best reputation.
Prowl this site. Your questions have been asked, and answered, many times.
Johnson City is generally considered the nicest place to live in the area, but the drive from north Johnson City to Carmax at The Pinnacle in Bristol is about thirty miles each way going down I-26 to I-81 to The Pinnacle. There is generally little traffic, but it does get old. Going through Piney Flats/Bluff City is slower due to the red lights in the little communities. This is going to be a 35 minute or so one way commute the best you can do.
City schools pay better and are generally much better regarded than the county schools in this area. Kingsport and Johnson City have the best school systems, probably followed by Bristol TN/VA, then Washington County, then everyone else. A new teacher in Kingsport/JC city schools will start out around $38k - after five years and a master's, this goes up to about $50k.
Personally, I agree with Ted Bear on Kingsport. Kingsport has the HQ for Eastman Chemical Company and a large paper mill. There is a notorious "smell" on occasion in town close to these facilities. Kingsport also has a higher crime rate than either Bristol or Johnson City. It feels very much like an old mill town, and remains basically hooked to Eastman.
Bristol is smaller than Kingsport and still has the working class/industrial vibe, but there are some positive developments (The Pinnacle, downtown devleopment, "arts/culture" with the race/country music scene, etc.) that are putting it on the right track and Bristol seems a little more open-minded and willing to try new things. Kingsport is very much a "same old, same old" type of place. Kingsport is also woefully underserved in the retail/dining scene compared to Johnson City and even Bristol has pulled ahead of Kingsport over the last five years or so. Still, it's difficult to recommend either considering how much farther Johnson City is ahead of the others at this point, unless you value the commute time more. If you have kids of your own, Johnson City is the only logical choice due to the quality of schools and a "better vibe" than Kingsport/Bristol. If it's just the two of you, and price/commute are more important factors, Bristol can work as well.
Keep in mind that because Johnson City is the only real pocket of "nice" in the region, that real estate prices may be higher than you might expect. A "modern suburban home," either built in the last twenty years or updated fairly well and zoned to city schools, will probably start around $200,000, and go up from there depending on finishes and neighborhood.
The outdoor opportunities are the best aspect of the area. There is something to do outside, mild to wild, most of the year. If you enjoy the outdoors, this area can be a good fit.
That is a lot of good information, thank you to both of you! We are by ourselves at the current moment with no children yet. This is definitely something that we are looking for in the near future though. One of our biggest draws to the area was the amount of activities that can be done outside, the weather, and the lower costs that we saw while visiting. Our only concerns financially wise would be the cost of utilities. Where we live now, a house costs on average 225 to 250,000 for a "nice" 1,200 or so sq ft house. The houses here are small with little land and no space. We definitely would be looking for something with a little land (more than a 0.25 acre, nothing crazy though). When we visited in summer we seem to have been more drawn to the Johnson City area over Bristol. Commute times dont bother us much as we are used to a half hour drive or so for 10 miles to work... as for summer weather, we were there at the end of July. Is most summers around that temperature range like it was this summer in July? We are looking forward to getting out of the endless summers of South Florida. From what Serious said, it seems maybe our opinion of JC while we were there doesnt seem to far fetched than. We really loved the downtown area and going to Winged Deer Park while we were there. Any advice on cost of utilities and/or weather?
cost of utilities are what you make of them.
if you use a wood stove in the winter....you know. that sort of thing.
if you do not have the A/C on ALL the time in the summer, etc.
weather:
well, 2018 sucked. wet and more wet.
even the leaves in the Fall gave up and fell before changing.
it is not usually like last year. maybe this was a one-and-done year.
I always disagree with the negative posts about Kingsport, as I have lived in and around the city most of my life aside from colleges years. I very rarely smell the mill or Eastman and do not see it being a factor to avoid the area.
Kingsport is a bit more traditional in terms of offerings but it was far ahead of Bristol in offerings until the past few years. I expect it to play catch up soon. The school system is great and so is their parks and things like the YMCA and neighboring aquatic center.
If you want outdoors, TN's largest city park is Bay's Mountain which has enough outdoor activities to fill a day or two. Also, there is Warrior's Path State Park (lake, trails, disk gold, golf, sports fields, swimming, etc). Kingsport's riverfront area is unique and offers good views complete with the Green Belt walking/biking trail that serves as a spine connecting all of the city.
Kingsport may not be as trendy/modern, but it has a lot of offerings when it comes to outdoors while still having the basics.
That is a lot of good information, thank you to both of you! We are by ourselves at the current moment with no children yet. This is definitely something that we are looking for in the near future though. One of our biggest draws to the area was the amount of activities that can be done outside, the weather, and the lower costs that we saw while visiting. Our only concerns financially wise would be the cost of utilities. Where we live now, a house costs on average 225 to 250,000 for a "nice" 1,200 or so sq ft house. The houses here are small with little land and no space. We definitely would be looking for something with a little land (more than a 0.25 acre, nothing crazy though). When we visited in summer we seem to have been more drawn to the Johnson City area over Bristol. Commute times dont bother us much as we are used to a half hour drive or so for 10 miles to work... as for summer weather, we were there at the end of July. Is most summers around that temperature range like it was this summer in July? We are looking forward to getting out of the endless summers of South Florida. From what Serious said, it seems maybe our opinion of JC while we were there doesnt seem to far fetched than. We really loved the downtown area and going to Winged Deer Park while we were there. Any advice on cost of utilities and/or weather?
Couple of things here.
Keep in mind that if you want a newer (built in the last twenty years or so) or updated home zoned to Johnson City schools, 3BR/2A, on a quarter acre lot of so, you're probably looking at least $200,000 as an entry point. Sure, there are many houses under that in Johnson City, but they are likely going to be small, in need of a lot of updating, or both. A house like the below and its pricepoint are pretty common for JC.
If you want nice and new, you will pay for it here. Keep in mind that the area does not have a lot of newer and higher end homes, so what's available is expensive.
I live in a 1200 sq. ft condo in south JC. My power bill is between $70-$90 most months, a little less in the summer as the back is pretty well shaded. My parents live in Kingsport and heat/cool about 2800 sq. ft. Power bills generally run $150 or so in the winter, less in the summer due to the shaded yard.
Power per kWh is cheaper here than when I lived in Indiana and Iowa.
I'd say last summer was fairly normal on temperatures, but wetter than average. July/August highs in the mid-upper 80s are normal, low 90s is fairly normal, anything above that is fairly rare.
I always disagree with the negative posts about Kingsport, as I have lived in and around the city most of my life aside from colleges years. I very rarely smell the mill or Eastman and do not see it being a factor to avoid the area.
Kingsport is a bit more traditional in terms of offerings but it was far ahead of Bristol in offerings until the past few years. I expect it to play catch up soon. The school system is great and so is their parks and things like the YMCA and neighboring aquatic center.
If you want outdoors, TN's largest city park is Bay's Mountain which has enough outdoor activities to fill a day or two. Also, there is Warrior's Path State Park (lake, trails, disk gold, golf, sports fields, swimming, etc). Kingsport's riverfront area is unique and offers good views complete with the Green Belt walking/biking trail that serves as a spine connecting all of the city.
Kingsport may not be as trendy/modern, but it has a lot of offerings when it comes to outdoors while still having the basics.
I agree that Kingsport has an excellent park system, and the YMCA and Aquatic Center are fairly unique offerings for the area.
Unless the OP gets a job in Kingsport, I think the decision should be down to JC/Bristol unless they find a steal on property. Living in Kingsport to work in Bristol and socialize/shop in Johnson City is a lot of running around. Kingsport was only mentioned because it's cheaper than JC, which it is, but I don't see it as cheaper than Bristol overall.
One of my biggest complaints about living back here is that I drive a lot more than I did living in Indianapolis or Des Moines. IMO, JC is the only "complete" city in the area, and unless you're living AND working there, it's very easy to get into a pattern of a lot of commuting for either work or play. If someone is moving here from a larger city, they might think they'll be spending less time on the road, but the layout of the area means a lot of driving.
I also question how long Kingsport will retain its good school system. The local trend is that younger, more affluent people with kids/planning for kids and professional jobs are moving to Johnson City and Washington County. Kingsport is aging and trending more working class/working poor. I'm 32. Most of my friends that I grew up with who remain in Kingsport are lower income, in blue collar jobs, generally not college educated, etc., compared to the folks I grew up with living in Johnson City/Washington County. OP may want to read the below information regarding the CEO of Eastman's comments regarding "amenities" in Kingsport. A generation ago, Kingsport was retaining the Eastman, medical, and other professionals as residents - these days, those folks are moving to Johnson City/Gray/Boone's Creek/Jonesborough. I would bet my bottom dollar that within ten years, you're going to see meaningful differences between the Kingsport and JC schools.
I have no idea where the OP is coming from in Florida, but if they are coming from somewhere reasonably affluent with a lot of new development, Johnson City is the only city in the area that offers some semblance of that.
Yes, Kingsport was far ahead of Bristol, but that trend has changed, even though Kingsport retains a larger population. There are a lot of restaurants and retailers that are in either Johnson City or Bristol, sometimes both, that have bypassed Kingsport altogether. Kingsport really has no answer for something like The Bristol Hotel, the craft breweries in Bristol, better shopping in Bristol (and advantage of VA sales tax at some places), etc. Bristol is at least innovating - Kingsport seems stuck in neutral. Even Sam's Club used to be in Kingsport until about a decade ago until it pulled up stakes - now Bristol and JC have a Sam's, Kingsport doesn't.
Another thing is the medical "issue." The HQ of the "new" local health system is in Johnson City. Kingsport is losing its NICU and level 1 trauma center, Bristol's trauma center is being downgraded from L2 to L3. If the OP has a specific health concern, they really need to look deeply into the area. If you want more information, PM me.
I like that you both have put great input on Kingsport, this was an area that we had looked into as well. We went to Warrior's Path and loved the disc golf course there too. One of the biggest draws for us to this entire area is the availability to do so many different things outdoors. It is very different from where we live right now (Southwest Florida). Right now we are both used to driving for a long period of time to go very short distances. We are both from a small rural town in Northeast Wisconsin where we used to measure the time it took to get somewhere by how many miles it was away. We have lived in both extremes for driving distance.
One of our biggest problems living in Southwest Florida is the fact that it is almost an entire sprawl of city from Tampa all the way down through Naples. There is no distinct "character" to any of the cities, some are just more rich areas than others. When we visited the Tri-Cities area this summer we noticed that it felt like each of the different cities had a distinct "character" to them. We only visited Kingsport for Warrior's Path and stayed mostly in Johnson City and visited the Carmax twice in Bristol in the 3 days we were there. As of right now, I feel like our decision is definitely down to Johnson City or Bristol. I only say this because we did enjoy the variety of different amenities we saw in JC along with the reputation for good schools or the close proximity to Carmax in Bristol.
Medical information is also good to know. Neither of us have serious medical issues, I have asthma, but that is about it. It is still good to know in the event we would ever have to go to the hospital for anything. As for housing prices, those seem relatively fair compared to the overpriced "nonsense" that is occurring where we live now.
As for utilities, on average we pay approximately $90-100 in winter and $135-145 in summer for electricity. That is for a 1,100 sq foot mobile home with only AC set to 74 in winter and 77 in summer. Our AC is on almost all day, every day in summer. Electricity is definitely expensive where we live now. I know we discussed have a wood stove as that is what we had up in Wisconsin. I really do appreciate all of your input on this. It is helpful in our decision making process. The only other question that I really have: are people in the area welcoming to people from other states? It felt like most people we talked to were friendly, but I know that it is completely different when you are just visiting compared to moving/living.
I’ll answer the friendliness question this way. People are polite and can be very friendly on the outside, but breaking into social circles, especially in more tightly knit communities like Bristol-Kingsport that have a high percentage of natives, can be difficult. Many of the people I know in Kingsport have friends and family who have been there for generations. People tend to stick to their own communities. Church is very big in this area (less so in JC) and is the primary social outlet.
Johnson City has people from everywhere due the university and health system presence. I think that gives it more movement of people and ideas, and a bit more openness to newcomers.
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