Category: Move To Kingsport
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Social Media’s Surprising Boost: How One Comment Reinforces the Value of Home
The use of technology and social media is a two-edged sword. Sometimes we become disheartened by the seemingly perpetual barrage of negative comments on just about everything. On the bad days, it’s enough to make you want to stop trying. Then out of the blue something happens that restores your faith. Lately, I’ve been sharing…
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Home Sweet Home (To Me)
There’s a saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Lately, I’ve been thinking about how this applies to communities. I always enjoy traveling, but I always look forward to coming home. I enjoy a good trip to the beach, or visiting a large urban center, or attending a stadium event. Those are things I can’t get at home,…
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Find new life in a small city.
Embracing Experiences, Balance, and Relationships When it comes to choosing where to live, people’s priorities have evolved over time. Gone are the days when material possessions and financial success were the sole determinants of happiness. According to a recent survey by Charles Schwab, a significant majority of respondents favored intangible qualities and experiences over material…
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All things in moderation.
My grandmother used to say, “All things in moderation.” (For the record, she wasn’t talking about alcohol, as she abhorred the stuff.) How much growth is good? When does it slip into the category of undesirable? What if we shrank? How would businesses survive? How would families get by? A growth of 5%-10% per decade…
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Kingsport is a great place to live AND work
Many still think of Kingsport and Oak Ridge as cities of commerce and industry–places to commute into work, but at the end of the day they return home elsewhere. Cities like Maryville, on the other hand, are viewed as “bedroom communities”–cities where a significant percentage of residents work elsewhere. The Census Bureau now has an…
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Tri-Cities: Not too hot, not too cold, but just right.
Sustainable growth is the goal, but what does that mean? A growth rate that is not too hot and not too cold, but just right. A population growth of 5%-10% per decade is required for a healthy, sustainable economy without growth-related issues like traffic, crime, and erosion of quality of life. The Census Bureau just…
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A Favored Land.
In my marketing bullet points for attracting newcomers to our region, I always talk about the natural assets that are God-given. Our region enjoys: I thought my process of factual deduction was quite unique until I found a 1903 book called, “The History of Southwest Virginia (1746-1786)” by Lewis Preston Summers. Remember, Tennessee did not…
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Small City. Big Heart. Global Influence.
You probably don’t expect world-changing technology to originate from a small city in the Appalachian Mountains–but it does. Both Eastman and Domtar are heavily investing in the circular economy. What’s a ‘circular economy’? Recycling. In this case, plastics and containerboard. Just this week, Eastman welcomed the President of Normandy (France) to their headquarters in Kingsport…
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Not borne from the pandemic
Many believe that “MoveTo Kingsport” is a pandemic era program, but it actually began as a strategic response to data shared at the Mayor’s 1999 Economic Summit that warned of our region’s impending status as a ‘rustbelt’ if we did not take action. City leaders were encouraged by a nationally recognized expert to diversify their…
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Portland has discovered what Kingsport has known for 106 years
For the past three decades, I’ve been trying to explain why Kingsport is called “The Model City”. Many think it’s because of the city’s physical plan that was laid out on a drawing board in Cambridge, Massachusetts by pre-eminent city planner John Nolen. In reality, it’s because Kingsport was the first city in Tennessee–and one…
Kingsport Spirit 