Best small towns in Eastern TN? (Johnson City, Kingsport: low crime, home, schools)

[PaJohn]

Hi Y'all. (did I spell that right?) We are empty nesters that are planning a trip down to Eastern TN, specifically to look for a nice small town to retire in. Obviously schools and jobs won't be a concern. We are looking for a small, friendly town that has some cultural activities, nice downtown for shopping and eating, and general just walking around yet not too far from major hospital. We've had it with shopping malls! A few golf courses would help too.
We were thinking of driving down to the Johnson City are and driving around for a few days. Would love some suggestions from you folks on what towns we should check out. So far on our list are Jonesborough and Greeneville. Any others? Thanks!

[mbmouse]

I think you are on the right track with Jonesborough and Greeneville PaJohn!
Rogersville might be another you could look at too. Kingsport and Johnson City has the best hospitals in the area. There are some areas of Kingsport that might interest you also, like Mount Carmel and Church Hill. If you would like some contact info for some Realtors to talk to while you are here, I know some good, non pushy ones that I can you in contact with. Just email me. And most of all ENJOY YOUR TRIP!

[Susan058]

I'm trying to get out of FL, also an empty nester. I have visited Cocke county, towns of Cosby, and Newport several times. Not much in Cosby but holler and mts. But, 10 min. to Newport.......WalMart, hospitals, restaurants, I understand there is a mall in Morristown abt. 45 min. Gatlinburg is less than 1/2 hr. other direction. It's slow pace, beautiful, people are friendly.

[GrannyLois]

There's an excellent golf community somewhere near Crossville. You can find it by doing a google search.

I think Johnson City is a great place to start your search. Lots of university activities, a great senior citizen center, near the mountains and the Appalachian Trail for hiking, close to N. Carolina and all the neat stuff there.

A wonderful hospital too (two actually).

[swtncgram]

Hi, we are retired and thinking about moving to TN....small town, the kind that is big on holidays like the 4th of July, Christmas....festivals and a good community atmosphere.
Was just wondering though if the counties in TN are all dry....no liquor, not that we are big drinkers but do like to have a drink at home or when we go out.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by swtncgram

Hi, we are retired and thinking about moving to TN....small town, the kind that is big on holidays like the 4th of July, Christmas....festivals and a good community atmosphere.
Was just wondering though if the counties in TN are all dry....no liquor, not that we are big drinkers but do like to have a drink at home or when we go out.

Not this again! The topic of dry counties vs. wet counties has been discussed ad nauseum in this forum. And in many cases, a county might be dry, but a city within that county might be wet.

[klosk]

Hummm.....Hillbillys....Please explain.

[jkmewright]

Dang I gotta get out more... I had no idea that only eastern TN had hillbillys! I thought they were everywhere. So much for thinking! Well, we ARE just a bunch of ignorant rednecks so what do you expect? ROFL Funny

[Bubba on my mountain]

Originally Posted by GrannyLois

There's an excellent golf community somewhere near Crossville. You can find it by doing a google search.

I think Johnson City is a great place to start your search. Lots of university activities, a great senior citizen center, near the mountains and the Appalachian Trail for hiking, close to N. Carolina and all the neat stuff there.

A wonderful hospital too (two actually).

Greetings!
There ain't not golf course here. We do wack a few off the top of the mountain and see how far they go. Hey! the hillbillys are my realatives and best of friends, so why do you move to TN. if you don't like em'?
Bubba

[ylisa7]

Hi, we spend our summers in Mountain City, Tn. The rest of the time we spend in our RV.

Mountain City has a population of @2500 people, elevation of @2500ft(which is cooler in the summer than most other towns in TN), a few major grocery stores, some fast food chains, only a couple of restaurants(really), a couple of home decor stores(mountain and bear themed), and a golf course just on
the outskirts of town.

It is a small town that has street festivals and fairs in the summer. If you
want to go for a little more culture-restaurants, galleries,plays, and more stores, Boone, NC is only 25 minutes away and there is always something
going on there. There is a major university in Boone also.

Try the local papers-The Tomahawk(Mountain City), The Mountain Times and
Watauga Democrat(Boone, NC).

My DH and I really like being in Mtn. City- the people are really nice and it is a very relaxing place with very low crime.

Good luck in your search.

Lisa