Johnson City becomes No.1 City people want to move to in 2025

Johnson City's popularity is continuing to grow.A recent report from moveBuddah, along with articles from Southern Living and Travel+Leisure, has Johnson City listed as the top U.S. City people want to move to for 2025.Alec Castro, director of business development for Visit Johnson City, attributed many different qualities as to why Johnson City has received such recognition. He said many people who have visited the region two to three times often end up wanting to relocate, adding the city's cost of living is a major appeal for people wanting to move."As a long-term Johnson City resident, I think this is very important to recognize that when you look at Johnson City from a national perspective, it is affordable," said Castro. "Although, when you ask people who have lived here generationally, the matter of fact is it's the most expensive it's ever been. For residents, it's a change, and my hope is that as a community we're able to move forward together with that change, but also recognizing still, even after so much change over the last decade, when people look at us nationally, Johnson City is very affordable."East Tennessee State University, along with a plethora of outdoor activities and businesses to explore, also is a big encouragement for people to want to move here, Castro said. The mix of the city life, Appalachian land and college demographic all contribute to drawing people to Johnson City."When you're in Johnson City proper, you still have amenities that one would usually align with major metroplexes, and you have resources at your disposal," Castro said.Johnson City's growthAlong with Johnson City being polled as a place for people wanting to live in, Castro said it's already showing its growth this year based on the amount of people he's seen come to the Visitor's Center. The popularity of the city has gained more traction and, therefore, more visitors, allowing for Castro and his team to be able to hear the stories of people interested in coming to Johnson City."Week by week, month to month, our experiences in the Visitor's Center–we meet people who are interested in relocating or have just relocated," he said. "...People are coming, and it's now the preparation for those people to come to meet their expectations, but also continuing to meet the expectations of those who have been here."One of the big positives of people moving to Johnson City, said Castro, was the impact it made on the arts and culture focus of the area. He said as more people continued to travel, tour and move to the region, a broader interest has been taken to arts and culture and their connection to Appalachia."I really do believe from a visitation and relocation perspective, we're finally seeing the prioritization and eventual investment into our arts and cultural community at levels that we've never seen before," said Castro. "I also like to think that's a benefit of our residents as well, especially when we talk about our traditional arts and culture of Appalachia. There's an opportunity to put that on a national scale that has never been to the magnitude that exists now."While continued growth for Johnson City is seemingly inevitable due to its recognition, Castro said the pitfall for this growth is the question of how to give support to current susceptible residents in the area."In this process–I know that Visit Johnson City and all the other respective partners who are involved in this renaissance of Johnson City–it's also remembering our vulnerable populations and those who are at risk currently or in the past, or who may become so because of this development," Castro said. "How do we ensure as many people as possible can be here if they so choose to be? For one reason or another, that's not an option anymore. This is discussed a lot about the next stage of residential development in terms of affordable housing. It's all a balancing game, and it takes so many experts around the table to get the full picture into the format we want."Future developmentAs Johnson City continues to see development within the community, Castro said future plans for growth will also continue to motivate people to continue to tour and potentially move to the region, such as the revitalization in downtown Johnson City, development of the Boones Creek tourism district and the eventual completion of the West Walnut Street corridor."We have a lot of interest from residential builders, commercial builders, and my hope is when we're part of conversations or those that are leading other conversations, it's with that perspective of yes, we're supporting our community to get to where, inevitably, the world is going to bring us," Castro said. "How can we still maintain what was and what is? Because if it wasn't for that core, Johnson City would not be what it is today."