Creating Uniqueness is the Future of Elizabethton

Uniqueness – it is what differentiates Elizabethton from Greeneville, Johnson City from Kingsport, and Chattanooga from Knoxville. Some communities have it and take advantage of it, other communities have it and don’t utilize it, while other communities just look like all the rest!

Today, uniqueness is the key to many different successes associated with communities. From tourism, economic development, to increasing community incomes, to a community’s pride all can be tied to the unique look of a community.

Now, this does not mean that one community has weird customs or traditions, but that a community can be differentiated from another community. Just by looking around, how do you know you are in Johnson City rather than Bristol? It could be the types of unique or historic buildings, it could be landscaping patterns such as tree canopy lined streets, it could be the type of houses, it could be brick paved sidewalks, or it could be the overall development pattern.

Here in Elizabethton and Carter County we talk about the need for more tourism, more economic development, more shopping alternatives. Creating a unique community can contribute to solving all of these needs. Tourism in and of itself focuses heavily on uniqueness. People don’t want to visit a community that’s just like every other community. They want something unique!

We are competing with cities all over Tennessee and the county for industries, businesses, young families, and retirees. We want them to look at Elizabethton as a place that has a unique look and feel to it, something different that stands out in Elizabethton, but not in other communities. It’s commonly joked that rather than population, education levels, and workforce availability a CEO’s wife is the one who chooses where a company will locate simply by deciding where she wants to live. To a certain extent, I believe there is some truth to that. Does Elizabethton have the uniqueness needed to attract a CEO’s wife?

First impressions are important for a community and a bad first impression is hard to change. Communities must continually work to present itself as a unique, distinctive community starting from the gateways of the city to the downtown, the center of the community. It’s those first impressions that keep visitors and investors wanting to come back to visit and invest in Elizabethton.

Elizabethton has many opportunities to sell and create our uniqueness, but do we? How is the look and feel of Elizabethton different than Greeneville, Athens, Jonesborough, Erwin, or Church Hill and how can we put it on display? How do people know they are in Elizabethton other than the ‘Elizabethton Corporate Limits’ sign? Let’s start this conversation in our community. Let’s talk about it!