Category: Move To Kingsport
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Welcome to Northeast Tennessee, America’s First Frontier
I was asked to provide a welcome and introduction of “Carrollyn, The Recovering Californian” at the Tennessee Planning Convention held at MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort. The conference was hosted by the State of Franklin Chapter. Nearly 200 attendees came from Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and all points in between. I saw many of you at…
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Beyond ‘We’re Full’: Understanding the Complexities of Population Growth
“We’re full”. It’s a quick comeback from Tennesseans frustrated with the rapid rate of newcomers gobbling up housing inventory. But are we? It depends on what part of the state you’re in. Let’s look at the most recent population trends released in 2023 (for 2020-2022). Natural increase is defined as births exceeding deaths. The places…
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Catalyzing Kingsport: Strategic Responses to Demographic Shifts
Reflecting on the past year prompts us to delve into the underlying rationale behind the inception of the Move To Kingsport program, which began 24 years ago, predating the seismic shifts caused by the pandemic-driven “Great Relocation”. It was a proactive response by community leaders who foresaw our region grappling with a recurring issue seen…
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Kingsport’s Newcomers: Younger, More Diverse, Mostly from Tennessee
KINGSPORT, TN – Newly released census data confirms the success of a vision more than 26 years in the making. The Model City Coalition was formed in 1997 to set a vision for Downtown. Shortly thereafter, a major Economic Summit was held in 1999. These initiatives occurred after Eastman Chemical Company spun off from Eastman…
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First time visitors’ visceral response
Recently, I was giving a tour of Kingsport to a group of ladies from Richmond, Virginia. It was their first visit to East Tennessee. They were very much “Old Virginia” in the sense that their roots went back to ancestors who had discovered the new world and never saw a reason to venture any further.…
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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…
Kingsport Spirit 