Low Cost of Living in Johnson City TN - Home of the National Storytelling Festival

Johnson City, Tennessee is one of the cities among those having the Top 10 Lowest Cost of Living Indexes in America in 2011 - 2012. These cities offer cheaper costs for housing, utilities, food and other items than the national index, which is 100. Kiplinger Magazine and Sperling's Best Places report the city cost of living index at 86.6 or 87, much under the national figure of 100, and far below the highest in the nation - New York City with a 159. The index for Johnson City is a bit over half of that for NYC.

With a population just over 62,000, the Johnson City is located in East Tennessee near the Kentucky border and at the edge of the Cherokee National Forest. Interstate 26 bisects the city from southeast to northwest. Locally, Johnson City is one of the Tricities that include Bristol TN/VA (Bristol crosses a state line) and Kingsport TN (see the map offered below).

Median home cost in the metro area is reported at $140,000 in various sources published during 4th QTR 2011. However, according to the real estate site Zillow, mid-February included 950 homes for sale in a range of $129,000 to $6.4 Million and a median of $229,000, a much higher figure. Apartment and condo rentals were listed at the same time in a range generally of $385 to $1,500.

Interestingly, a high school teacher on a field trip heard Jerry Clower, the old Grand Ole Opry comic and tent revivalist speaker, telling stories on the radio. This teacher, Jimmy Neil Smith, got an idea. Mayor Jimmy decided that his town Jonesborough, near Johnson City, could do with a storytelling festival. It began in 1973 with a hay wagon and some bales of hay for seats and has continued ever since. Of course, it is much larger now and has several divisions of events and entertainment - including an open mike day called Swappin' Ground.

With no storytellers in my family, I was intrigued by short stories in our English classes and short books read to us by our teachers in school, and by Cowboy Poetry featured in television programming and in local poetry clubs and storyteller's societies in Central Ohio. It was all fascinating.

The City of Columbus has held Music In the Air musical and poetry concert performances in a large urban park for decades -- In these free performances at the Park of Roses, the poems presented are stories and when accompanied by sign language interpreters, they become even more fascinating bits of storytelling.

At some very wonderful times, the American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation of a poem, song, or story results in a more magnificent narrative and greater emotional impact than arises from the spoken word or lyric alone in these concerts. Standing ovations take over after a series of spoken poem, poem and ASL interpretation, and then the ASL version alone.

Native North American storytelling is spellbinding and Western Ohio is home to several Algonquian Storytellers, some of whom operate living history museums and ranches. Wrap all of these types of events together, and you have a bit of the spirit of the National Storytelling Festival held in Johnson City, Tennessee each year.

The international festival offers a Ghost Stories Concert, along with a Midnight Cabaret for adults. An Exchange Place event includes storytellers from all across America. An event that commemorates the very first of these festivals n Tennessee is called the Swappin' Ground, where anyone can get up and tell a story.

The vicinity of Johnson City offers a substantial number of locally appreciated assets in Health and Medical Care & Instruction; Higher Education & Training; State and National Historical Sites; Sports & Recreation; and Annual Festivals besides the gala poetry-fest mentioned above. Some of the most important assets include:

Health and Medical

• Frontier Health - Services for mental health, substance abuse, dual-diagnoses, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and vocational rehabilitation.
• James H. Quillen College of Medicine and V. A. Medical Center‎
• Johnson City Medical Center
• Woodridge Medical Center

Higher Education

• East Tennessee University and College of Medicine - Permanent Exhibit of the Archives of Appalachia
• Emmanuel Christian Seminary
• ITT Technical Institute
• Milligan College
• Tri-City Beauty College
• University of Tennessee

Historical Significance

• Carroll Reese Museum
• Cherokee National Forest
• Doe River Covered Bridge
• Historic Jonesborough District of Johnson City
• Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
• The Gray Fossil Site - 1212 Suncrest Drive; Gray TN 37615, Recreation, education, and ongoing research.
• Roan Mountain State Park
• Rocky Mount Museum
• The Quilt Trail

Sports and Recreation

• Bristol Caverns
• Bristol Motor Speedway
• Buffalo Mountain Park - Hiking Trails
• Fiddlers and Fiddleheads Festival - Fine Arts and Music
• Freedom Hall Civic Center - Sporting and musical events.
• Johnson City Golf Courses
• Viking Hall Civic Center - Bristol TN

Annual Festivals

• National Tartan Day - April 1
• Storytelling Events - Spring and Summer
• Historic Jonesborough Days - July
• National Storytelling Festival - October
• December Progressive Dinner and Home Tour

1. Registered Nurses (RN)
2. Physical and Occupational Therapists - Salaries start at $50,000/year
3. Engineers - Chemical, Mechanical, Hardware, Analysts
4. Patient Care Techs
5. Physician's Office Assistants
6. Physicians
7. Financial Advisors - Edward Jones company.
8. Nurses - LPNs
9. Managers
10. Secretaries

1. Holston Valley Medical Center
2. Bristol Regional Medical Center
3. CVS Pharmacy
4. Dining - McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, other
5. Edward Jones - Finance Products
6. Best Buy - Home Electronics and Entertainment
7. Wellmont Physician Services
8. Lowe's Hardware and Home Stores
9. HealthSouth
10. Wellmont Health System Corporate Offices
11. Wellmont Cardiology Services
12. US National Guard

Salaries: $50,000 to over $100,000 per year.

1. Eastman Chemical Company
2. BAE Systems
3. Siemens Industry, Inc.
4. Kelly Automotive Services Group
5. BCTI
6. Randstad - Engineering Division
7. The Albrecht Group
8. A. O. Smith Corporation
9. Regal-Beloit
10. Ingersoll Rand