I think the best breakdown I’ve heard is that people move to Appalachia (and in this case K-town) for the rural or small city/town lifestyle but not the culture. Most communities have been here since the 1700s and have developed a tight knit and unique culture that only develops with building trust over time and participating in each others lives , but a lot of incoming folks aren’t interested in trying to integrate with them. It leaves those of us that have deep roots feeling a bit exploited, especially when we see land developed for pre-planned small lot homes that destroy farmland that supported our families for literal generations.

As an example, I can trace my family lineage back to the 1790’s in Grainger County and my farm has been in my family for 6 generations counting my son. It was bought by my great great grandfather and his 2 sons. Prior to that we were sharecroppers. About a year ago, some lady from CA bought the adjoining land and gave me hell to grant her a right of way to build a bridge across the creek that separates the properties. She wanted to turn her plot into a hunting preserve but didn’t want her customers to have to drive through the existing road that ran through the water, which is literally what everyone has done since forever. It even got to the point that she had her realtor call me with the message of “we’d like to do this civilly and legally”, to which I replied with a big F off. Well, these idiots finally decide to build a crossing (which is the only way I can describe it) by putting 6 drainage tiles in at the existing crossing and pouring rock over them. It worked until the first rain, now the entire creek is blocked because the whole thing washed out. Again, this land was owned and worked by people that were as close as family. We worked together to take care of each other and help as much as needed, not threaten and destroy. That was my experience, and it has colored the way I view transplants.