Category: economy
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Kingsport and Maryville: Two Strong Tennessee Communities
Recently, I was asked to compare Maryville and Kingsport. I gave what I believed was a fair answer, but it was worth checking the facts. Make no mistake: my job is to advocate for Kingsport. But I also want to preserve a reputation for candor, accuracy, and truth. Maryville (population 32,553) has earned its place…
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Move to Kingsport: Grounded Growth
Sullivan County Mayor-Elect Zane Vanover coined the term “grounded growth” in his campaign. To my knowledge, he didn’t specify exactly what that meant, but I think I have an idea. The April 2026 Move to Kingsport numbers show a program that has cooled from its post-pandemic peak, but is still producing steady results. For many…
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The Tri-Cities: Inside the Perimeter
Sometimes a map can say what a thousand words cannot. For example, I recently created a map superimposing Atlanta onto the Tri-Cities, TN+VA region. It takes the familiar geography of Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, Greeneville, Elizabethton, Abingdon, Blountville, Jonesborough, and the surrounding communities and places it over a region most people already understand as a…
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Blair Court
“Blair Court” is one of the new streets in Kingsport’s Brickyard Village, named after Blair & Company. But who were they? To answer that, we have to begin not in Kingsport, but in New York City — in the world of late 19th- and early 20th-century finance, when Wall Street banking houses helped build railroads,…
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The Model City Rewind
Former Mayor Pat Shull has been after me for years to write a follow-up to Margaret Ripley Wolfe’s 1994 book, Kingsport, Tennessee: A Planned American City. That book was not a “Chamber of Commerce” piece that simply celebrated the good points. In many ways, it was a warning. Wolfe captured Kingsport at a turning point.…
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Strong Neighborhoods. Smart Growth.
It is a term coined by John Campbell, former Kingsport city manager, to describe the city’s core strength. He grew up in the Model City with an intimate understanding of its history and design, but spent much of his professional life away from home, measuring his memories of Kingsport against communities across the state. His…
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Tennessee’s Emerging and Mature Places Tell Two Very Different Housing Stories
Third-party rankings are constantly scanning and ranking communities based on “best of” or “worst of”. Frankly, it can be exhausting to keep up with. Some use a city name when they really mean a metropolitan or combined statistical area, leaving neighboring towns to wonder what they missed and the named city to take a bow…
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Steady Growth, Regional Strength, and a Commitment to Stay
MOVE TO KINGSPORT – FEBRUARY 2026 MONTHLY REPORT One year ago, our February 2025 report reflected strong post-pandemic momentum. That pace has moderated — and that’s a healthy development. As of February 2026, 531 out-of-region families from 46 states relocated to Kingsport over the past 12 months, averaging just over two households per workday. The…
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Move To Kingsport: Ensuring Our City’s Renewal, Not Retreat
When people think about economic development, they often picture industrial parks, incentives, or ribbon cuttings for major employers. Those investments matter immensely. But today’s economy is changing — and so are the tools that drive growth. That’s why programs like Move To Kingsport represent a new kind of economic development: people-centered, data-driven, and remarkably cost-effective.…
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Kingsport After COVID
I still remember the mood at Kingsport’s 1999 Economic Summit. Beneath the optimism, there was a persistent worry: we were aging, and some feared the city would slowly become a retirement community—comfortable, yes, but eventually aging out into economic drift. That kind of concern is easy to feel in real time, especially when the loudest…
Kingsport Spirit 