Just curious: How far does “East Tennessee” extend? Include Maryville, Knoxville and beyond? Or does it stop before that...
The wife and I have been considering TN for retirement....
IMHO (and it strictly that), I would consider the western border of ‘East Tennessee’ to be Interstate 75. That’s a pretty good rule of thumb. We actually took a hard look at Maryville, but went with more rural back in the mountains further to the northeast.
We retired in E TN in 2010. It’s great!
I’d say that “East Tennessee” goes as far as Crossville if using I-40 as a reference point. More than geography, I feel it’s a mindset. We’re just west of Knoxville now (near where 40 and 75 meet), but lived in Roane County for a while. On occasion we go to Crossville. The conservative, Christian mindset seems to be similar or matching throughout that swath. Beyond Crossville, it seems to be different.
East Tennessee is typically thought of as being the mountains and immediate foothills. Knoxville’s stretching it.