Moving (Knoxville, Johnson City, Morristown: transplants, home, university)

[tdjenx]

Hello,
My wife and I are in our early 50's and currently live in NYS. We are both conservative and fall into one of the smallest ethnic-groups in Eastern TN. We would like to relocate to the north eastern portion of TN but, we are not sure if our ethnicity would cause any issues in finding a Church or just fitting in. I have looked at arears in Tazewell, New Tazewell, Maynardville and, Sevierville. We like the mountains and hope we can find a place that will like us too. Any thoughts on these areas or any others would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[Serious Conversation]

You really need to provide more details about what you are wanting.

Sevierville is the gateway to the whole Smoky Mountains tourist areas. The traffic is terrible. It's not bad otherwise, but I'd hate to be dealing with the traffic in the area. It is not "in the mountains" - more in the foothills ten to twenty miles out.

Maynardville is at least reasonably close to Knoxville, but you will be going to Knoxville for pretty much anything. There isn't a lot there.

I used to travel through New Tazewell and Tazewell fairly often. There's not much going on in Claiborne County - it's very isolated. Most of the shopping is going to be in Harrogate or Middlesboro, KY.

Sevierville is going to be the "most happening" of these places, but you need to know going in the pros and cons of living in a touristy area. The other three have very little going on, but at least Maynardville is close to Knoxville. Claiborne County is a haul to anything meaningful. All of them are hard to recommend.

[forsheamountain]

Let me guess, Kerguelen Islanders. Wow, you're going to have it rough. Good luck.

[creeksitter]

It might help if you told us what kind of church you prefer.

Looks like you want a small town, possibly inexpensive. I would look at towns surrounding Oak ridge, because people from all over the world work there.

Kingston, Harriman, Lenoir City?

[AppalachianAngler]

We need more information on church, but likely, yes, you are going to feel a bit isolated in Northeast TN. East TN is heavily white evangelical (particularly Southern Baptist). I grew up Catholic in a small town in East TN and it was a very small church with mostly Italian-American or Irish-American transplants to the region.

We really need more info on what you are looking for because those towns/cities are not alike at all. How big of a town/city do you want? How close do you want to be to a more metro area? Other than being in the mountains, what else would you like, i.e. what amenities, rivers/lakes, hospital nearby, etc.?

[jabogitlu]

This isn't a PC question, but it could also help to know how you self-identify. Different groups of people will be accepted in differing ways in Northeast TN, especially in towns that you're considering like Tazewell and Maynardville. Sevierville, less of a problem, it's a big town with a variety of people.

[2mares]

Originally Posted by tdjenx

Hello,
My wife and I are in our early 50's and currently live in NYS. We are both conservative and fall into one of the smallest ethnic-groups in Eastern TN. We would like to relocate to the north eastern portion of TN but, we are not sure if our ethnicity would cause any issues in finding a Church or just fitting in. I have looked at arears in Tazewell, New Tazewell, Maynardville and, Sevierville. We like the mountains and hope we can find a place that will like us too. Any thoughts on these areas or any others would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Have you tried googling churches in the area you are looking at, like churchfinder?

[JoeJunior]

Growing up in Nashville, I had never even heard of Tazewell, Tennessee. When I started traveling Upper East Tennessee on business, I found Tazewell to be a surprise--and home of 32,000 people. It's 10 miles south of the Cumberland Gap and tucked up behind Norris Lake. It's about an hour out of Knoxville.

But if I was looking to move to the region, I would prefer to move east (and over the mountain) to one of the cities along I-81--like Morristown. The population is around 140,000 and it's a retail center for about 300,000 folks. And with the interstate, you can move throughout the region fast.

Another city I prefer is Jonesborough--and the area outside of Johnson City. It's a larger place with better healthcare and East Tennessee State University for culture.

[Kristinas_Cap]

from my observation, most of the people around here are the live, and let live type

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by JoeJunior

When I started traveling Upper East Tennessee on business, I found Tazewell to be a surprise--and home of 32,000 people.

Funny how where you grow up changes how you see things. If someone says "Upper East TN" my mind immediately goes to Johnson County, Holston Valley, Roan Mountain. But then again I grew up way east of Tazewell and even east of Morristown.