The Tennessee Effect (Knoxville, Johnson City, Kingsport: low crime, house, tornadoes)

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by CrosbyStills

One should also note that in Tennessee, a "State College" is what other state's call a Junior College or a Community College. A 2-year school leading to a wide assortment of various Associate's Degrees. The Tennessee State College system consists of 37 technical and community campuses throughout the state and is managed by the Tennessee Board of Regents.

The primary universities in the state are Vanderbilt in Nashvegas and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

1. UT with 33,000 students;
2. University of Memphis with 22,000 students;
3. Middle Tennessee State University with 20,000 students, and;
4. Vanderbilt with 14,000 students.

Honorable Mention:

Tennessee State University (HBCU) with 6,000 students, also in Nashvegas.

Some parts of this are factually incorrect. East TN State University is not a junior or community college. Neither are Austin Peay State University, or TN Tech. None of these institutions are governed by the Board of Regents.

[bus man]

According to US News, Tennessee has the best quality roads of any state in the entire country.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...n/road-quality

According to CNBC, Tennessee has the 8th best overall infrastructure of any state.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/15/thes...structure.html

According to Truth in Accounting, Tennessee is the 5th most fiscally stable state.

https://media.kjzz.org/s3fs-public/F...oklet-2023.pdf

According to the Cato Institute, Tennessee has the 6th highest levels of economic and personal freedom of any state in the country.

https://www.freedominthe50states.org/
*
My point with all of this is that these are measures of governmental performance on a statewide basis, and in all of them, Tennessee is doing really well. It seems to me that this bodes well for the entire state, not just the Nashville area.

[shinestx]

Knoxville is booming and Chattanooga is doing very well. Population estimates for the previous three years point to double-digit growth (12%) during this decade. Housing developments are underway everywhere you go in Hamiton County and surrounding. Bradley and Marion are on fire right now. Just a swag, I'd say the growth distribution will be closer to 45 (Nashville/MT) : 55 (Rest of the state). The overall growth in populations (Migration and Natural) is much higher now and will continue to increase yr/yr. At this point, Tennessee is growing at somewhere between 75k-80k a year. Population at 2030 will be over 7.7 million.

[JRR]

Originally Posted by bus man

According to US News, Tennessee has the best quality roads of any state in the entire country.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...n/road-quality

According to CNBC, Tennessee has the 8th best overall infrastructure of any state.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/15/thes...structure.html

According to Truth in Accounting, Tennessee is the 5th most fiscally stable state.

https://media.kjzz.org/s3fs-public/F...oklet-2023.pdf

According to the Cato Institute, Tennessee has the 6th highest levels of economic and personal freedom of any state in the country.

https://www.freedominthe50states.org/
*
My point with all of this is that these are measures of governmental performance on a statewide basis, and in all of them, Tennessee is doing really well. It seems to me that this bodes well for the entire state, not just the Nashville area.

It isn't all roses and sunshine for everyone in every area of Tennessee. A lot of the rural areas have a high level of poverty and the medical situation has rural hospitals closing so care can be hard to find. Drug problem in rural areas is also concerning. High sales tax and a tax on food is regressive and adds another burden to those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder.

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by JRR

It isn't all roses and sunshine for everyone in every area of Tennessee. A lot of the rural areas have a high level of poverty and the medical situation has rural hospitals closing so care can be hard to find. Drug problem in rural areas is also concerning. High sales tax and a tax on food is regressive and adds another burden to those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder.

I agree. The rural areas are struggling to attract job growth and lack the infrastructure necessary to be sustainable. I hate to see so many hospitals close. Vanderbilt is simply not large enough to pick up the slack for serious medical needs in the rural areas. Vanderbilt should have full service hospitals in Clarksville and Murfreesboro by now so that they are closer to rural residents. I wish the state cared more about its rural population. The state is severely lacking in mental health and drug abuse treatment facilities.

[MountainMusic402]

Originally Posted by drinkthekoolaid

Your posts are extremely helpful and insightful. Thanks for laying things out the way you do I really appreciate it. I think I've decided I have crossed East TN off my list unless I become financially well enough off that working becomes a luxury not a necessity. I just think it would be too stressful always worried if you lose your job "what am I going to do, how am I going to pay my bills" know there is very slim prospects of a viable plan B or C.

I think I will focus more on upstate SC and in TN more between Knoxville/Chattanooga or on the plateau near Cookeville just because it seems more economically diversified.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the area btw Chatt and Knox is still SE TN? I love in Bradley Co and we are certainly E. TN.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by JRR

It isn't all roses and sunshine for everyone in every area of Tennessee. A lot of the rural areas have a high level of poverty and the medical situation has rural hospitals closing so care can be hard to find. Drug problem in rural areas is also concerning. High sales tax and a tax on food is regressive and adds another burden to those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder.

Originally Posted by Shakeesha

I agree. The rural areas are struggling to attract job growth and lack the infrastructure necessary to be sustainable. I hate to see so many hospitals close. Vanderbilt is simply not large enough to pick up the slack for serious medical needs in the rural areas. Vanderbilt should have full service hospitals in Clarksville and Murfreesboro by now so that they are closer to rural residents. I wish the state cared more about its rural population. The state is severely lacking in mental health and drug abuse treatment facilities.

I agree that these issues are concerning. My take, though, is that if the state as a whole is as well-managed as the links I shared would suggest it is, surely there must be some solutions to these problems that would be feasible to be implemented.

[JRR]

Originally Posted by bus man

I agree that these issues are concerning. My take, though, is that if the state as a whole is as well-managed as the links I shared would suggest it is, surely there must be some solutions to these problems that would be feasible to be implemented.

The links you posted have nice numbers and sound great on the surface. But I'm not sure how relevant they are for those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder in Tennessee (and there are a lot of them there).

But it seems at times that solutions to the problems are not popular with those in power. Talking about budget surpluses and personal freedom and no state income tax is a lot more pleasant than spending some money and effort to actually address the problems. Plus it gets the state put high up on lists to gloat about.

Unfortunately at the end of the day, a lot of it comes down to politics.

[BlueRedTide]

It's Seems Growth is spreading throughout the state using these maps from the Census

percent change in county population July 1st 2022 to July 1st 2023
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/pres...ains-2023.html
*Note the population growth Happening close toTennessee near the Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi border

percent change in county population July 1st 2021 to July 1st 2022
https://www.census.gov/library/visua...opulation.html
*More Counties outside of Nashville Area grew in 2023 than in 2022

It Seems Tennessee is trending more toward a Ohio, Texas, North Carolina model/multiple cities model vis a vee Illinois, Georgia , Arizona model/ singular dominant city model

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by BlueRedTide

It's Seems Growth is spreading throughout the state using these maps from the Census

percent change in county population July 1st 2022 to July 1st 2023
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/pres...ains-2023.html
*Note the population growth Happening close toTennessee near the Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi border

percent change in county population July 1st 2021 to July 1st 2022
https://www.census.gov/library/visua...opulation.html
*More Counties outside of Nashville Area grew in 2023 than in 2022

It Seems Tennessee is trending more toward a Ohio, Texas, North Carolina model/multiple cities model vis a vee Illinois, Georgia , Arizona model/ singular dominant city model

While Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Memphis are far and away bigger than places in downstate IL, at some point the growth is going to have to spread out of Nashville for that area to remain remotely price competitive. I agree with your assessment, but until maybe very recently, Nashville has gobbled up more than its pro capita share of the best job growth.

The rest of the state needs professional job growth.