Tag: City Planning
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Church Circle: Kingsport’s Town Square
There’s just something about town squares. They are the settings of Hallmark movies and Christmas cards—the places where parades pass, lights are lit, and communities recognize themselves. They evoke warm memories of home, family, faith, and belonging. A true town square is not just a location; it is an emotional center, a shared reference point…
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Fairacres: The Lasting Value of a Well-Planned Neighborhood
Recently, my ‘cousin-in-law’, Lucy Fleming (of Fun Fest fame), shared that her native neighborhood, Sequoyah Hills in Knoxville, was recently named one of the “170 Most Envied Places to Live in America” by RE/MAX (August 2025). She recalled fond memories of growing up there — and noted how her longtime Kingsport neighborhood, Fairacres, reminds her…
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Kingsport-Bristol: Quietly Leading Tennessee’s Economy
The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) released its July 2025 report with a statistic that turned heads across the state. Kingsport-Bristol posted the highest retail sales tax growth in Tennessee at 3.57%, while Memphis, by contrast, recorded the largest decline at -2.76%. Overall, sales tax collections were down -0.1% statewide month-over-month, but up…
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Different by Design: Why Downtown Kingsport Streets Feel Safer
Second in a Series Safety isn’t just about statistics. It’s also about how a place feels when you walk its downtown streets, drive its roads, or raise your family there. Kingsport’s long history of thoughtful planning has created a city that feels safe by design, not just by numbers. When Kingsport was incorporated in 1917,…
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From Sprint to Cruise: Kingsport’s Steady Housing Migration
MoveToKingsport.com Monthly Report, July 2025 Kingsport’s relocation story this July is one of moderation—a gentle easing after two break-neck years of growth. Compare the present to last summer and three plotlines emerge: a slight taper in the raw number of newcomers, a persistent upward drift in long-run home prices, and a subtle reshaping of where…
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Don’t Blame Newcomers
As we watch home prices and property values increase, it’s tempting to pin the blame on newcomers. After all, the narrative is simple: more people equal more demand, which drives prices up. But that’s not the full story—and it’s not the real problem. Only about 2% of Kingsport’s population consists of recent transplants. Over the…
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Kingsport Leads Region in Sales and Affordability
The mid-year home sales report for Northeast Tennessee highlights a region experiencing steady demand, with Kingsport and Johnson City leading the way. Kingsport recorded 608 home sales year-to-date—just over 10% more than Johnson City’s 548—positioning it as the region’s most active housing market. Yet what makes Kingsport particularly notable is its combination of volume and…
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Kingsport: Year-Long Growth Amid a Summer Slowdown
Move to Kingsport’s rolling twelve-month metrics edged upward in June, signaling steady growth in inbound relocations. Arrivals ticked up to 641 families spanning 46 states (2.9 per workday), and median pricing rose to $345,600 ($165/SF). The previous period had 637 new families from 45 states—averaging 2.6 per workday—and a median home price of $343,078 ($161/SF).…
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From Magic to Momentum: Playing the Long Game in Kingsport
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the natural life cycle of a city—of any built environment really. When you are a city manager, the challenges you face are based on when you arrive on the scene during that life cycle. If it’s a brand-new city, you have a clean slate. But there’s no infrastructure. So you…
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Kingsport Grows, Nashville Suburbs Surge
Kingsport’s population is now officially 57,109, up from 55,510 in 2020 according to the Census Bureau’s newly released 2024 population estimates for cities over 20,000. Kingsport led the Tri-Cities in year-over-year growth at 0.6%, compared to 0.3% for Johnson City and 0.1% for Bristol. Remember when we were racing to hit 50,000—mostly through annexation? That…
Kingsport Spirit 