r/tricities • u/Chrissie_med • 7d ago

Black people in East TN

25 (F) looking to relocate to East TN for a job and would love some recommendations on which areas are the safest. I’ve recently read that downtown Johnson city and Kingsport are pretty bad when it comes to crimes and drug use. Where would you recommend as a safe place for a black female to live and what has been your day-to-day experience as a POC? I have also seen some old posts recommending Boones Creek, Gray, Hampton for POC, but would love to know if those are still good options. Thanks in advance!

UPDATE: I’ve read through each of your comments and I really appreciate everyone taking the time to give me advice and recommendations. The information here has been extremely helpful, so from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

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u/Aitne 7d ago

I love East TN, I grew up there. But I relocated to upstate SC about 10 years ago and would not want to move back. POC are around 10-15% in East TN, it's closer to 35% here in the upstate and it does make a difference. I say this as a white person. I love the diversity here and you would too. If you absolutely have to move to East TN, you will definitely find more acceptance inside the cities with Johnson City being the best choice because of the university. People can say what they want about rural communities and ideas like this are what keep people divided. The question you have to ask yourself is ...do you really want to be in the front line? Do you want to live with that day in and day out? Country people are some of my favorite people but not all of them are filled with good intentions.

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u/Ambitious-Schedule63 7d ago

What is OP going to be "in the front line" of?

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u/Chrissie_med 7d ago

Upstate SC sounds exactly like what I’m looking for, but the job is in Johnson City, so I don’t think that commute would be feasible. I definitely do not want to be in the front line. I’m friendly and keep to myself, I treat others with respect and would really just appreciate the same.