Another dreaded should I move here post! JC or Knox?

[creeksitter]

Elevation can make a notable difference but I'm not sure it's enough to make your decision.

Knoxville is at 850' and Cookeville 1050. There are houses at 1050' in elevation in Knoxville. One time I saw light snow at 1050' that had turned to rain at the bottom of the hill but that's a rarity. The difference you will notice is around 2000' which is small towns east of Cookeville and the Lookout and $ignal mountains in Chattanooga. Not recommending Crossville necessarily but the weather report there will show the temperatures around 2000'.

Johnson city would be your best compromise if the job market works for you. It should be easy to find housing at 2000' or higher but you might decide you prefer the tree streets in town.

I wanted to point out a handy tool if you are taking elevation into account. You can search weather.gov's 7 day forecast for an area and in it you will find a map. You can enlarge the map and it will show topo lines in great detail. Since you'll be renting you'll be able to experience the variations and take that into account if you decide to buy.

[PilgrimsProgress]

Great information! I'd never heard of Johnson City before and it sounds good to me. When I move I will be retired so money is the top consideration. I check the apartments for rent websites in various places every once in a while.

I live in a major city now and seldom take advantage of 'amenities'. Nowadays we can order online and get most things delivered. It would be easy enough to drive to Knoxville for cultural events a couple of times a year.

In addition to checking apartment websites, I like to 'drive' via Google through neighborhoods to get a sense of them. I remember spotting a cute bungalow online, but when I plugged the address into Google Maps and checked the surrounding area, it looked like a gang infested slum. Even showed a group of young men hanging out at the liquor store nearby and houses with rusted cars up on blocks in the front yard!

[PilgrimsProgress]

Since that post, I've been looking at apartments. When you do a search, some websites let you put in a mileage limit from Johnson City. Check out the little towns only a few miles away. Many new apartment buildings for the same price or less than in Johnson City. Only a few miles over the border in NC the prices are double!