jonesborough -the real deal? (Memphis, Knoxville: real estate, condos, houses)

[12buttons]

is it a real town of a postage stamp of a travel stop? Most of the so-called historic towns in TN are like a block long and that's it..the rest of the town is subdivisions and strip malls and charley os...They sent me a house right on MainST and claims there is no street noise in this house! It's across the street from some converted condos..Agent tells me real estate is always tight in J due to its popularity...true? Curious to know why the houses are priced so high..worse than Nashville! 399k for 2400 sq ft that has one bath and needs a lot of work..agent rated it a 6 out of 10...!

TN just doens't have the quality of a New England town that I have found anywhere - Franklin is manufactured and overpriced...the rest aren't really towns like Bretnwood or even Belle Meade..they are not walkable urban spaces but mostly chopped up farms into subdivided land...so is Jonesborough IT?

Also, I did some checking into the air quality around that region...yikes..is it that bad?

They say the coal fired plants, the pollution form the Smokies and from the factories in the region are to blame...I know when I drove down from Asheville I noticed some odor...

Jonesb. looks like it could be the real deal....is Johnson city considered a walkable city..I also hear good things about Greenville but not from the realtors in Jonesborough..lol

Thanks for any info...I am looking for a more euro style grid than american big box big subdivision suburb...

[jabogitlu]

If you're looking for walkable, I fear you'll have to go bigger. Midtowns Atlanta or Memphis, possibly Old City Knoxville, what with the Mast General store there now.

Jonesborough is nice, and there are things to walk to if you live in the immediate surrounds, but they're not essentials. You can walk to the Courthouse, the bookshop, the bistros and coffee shops, and the candy store, but not somewhere to buy tomatoes or shampoo.

To me the air quality is fine, but then again I've lived in Greene and Washington counties nearly my entire life. If you have respiratory troubles, I would say visit and see. Regardless, I would say visit and see.

Jonesborough is nothing like Brentwood or Belle Meade, or even Johnson City. There is no urban sprawl and four small strip malls come to mind, all of them on the Jonesborough Highway which is outside JB's central business district. If you can afford the real estate the areas immediately surrounding downtown (including parts of Main St.) are beautiful, nestled within one of the most historic (and tourist-oriented, yet still small and quiet) towns in TN. But you'll still find yourself driving to Johnson City to shop and most likely to work.

The big benefit of living around Jonesborough's downtown is walking to Music on the Square every Friday night.

[12buttons]

thank you!

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by 12buttons

is it a real town of a postage stamp of a travel stop? Most of the so-called historic towns in TN are like a block long and that's it..the rest of the town is subdivisions and strip malls and charley os...They sent me a house right on MainST and claims there is no street noise in this house! It's across the street from some converted condos..Agent tells me real estate is always tight in J due to its popularity...true? Curious to know why the houses are priced so high..worse than Nashville! 399k for 2400 sq ft that has one bath and needs a lot of work..agent rated it a 6 out of 10...!

TN just doens't have the quality of a New England town that I have found anywhere - Franklin is manufactured and overpriced...the rest aren't really towns like Bretnwood or even Belle Meade..they are not walkable urban spaces but mostly chopped up farms into subdivided land...so is Jonesborough IT?

Also, I did some checking into the air quality around that region...yikes..is it that bad?

They say the coal fired plants, the pollution form the Smokies and from the factories in the region are to blame...I know when I drove down from Asheville I noticed some odor...

Jonesb. looks like it could be the real deal....is Johnson city considered a walkable city..I also hear good things about Greenville but not from the realtors in Jonesborough..lol

Thanks for any info...I am looking for a more euro style grid than american big box big subdivision suburb...

You may also want to take a look at Rogersville, TN's second oldest town. Not too far away in Hawkins County (also in the tri-cities). It is larger than Jonesboro by a bit, and Rogersville does have a more "dense" downtown--albeit super historic and quaint.