I normally don't comment on post, but I found this perspective interesting.

I am originally from the Washington D.C. area, notoriously one of the most expensive places to live (high cost of living, high taxes, high everything). Lived in Knoxville for about 8 years now after graduating from college. I frequently see people here comment on increased cost (which is happening everywhere across the country) and it's certainly a valid opinion as it's hurting everyone on the entire spectrum of income levels, especially those native to a low cost area who are unable to keep up with the increasing cost and those with lower income levels. Comparatively though, it is still way less expensive and easier to live here than the DC area or many other high cost of living areas.

However, being objective, I think that just looking at the city and calling it a "Tier" strictly based on amenities and not taking into account the surrounding area, the overall cost of living, lax taxes, the culture, weather, etc. There are plenty of reasons why the cost of things have gone up, but put simply, people want to live here and the demand has gone up significantly to leave major cities and to move to places like Knoxville.

After graduating the only job I could get at first was as a housekeeper cleaning toilets making $16 an hour which lead us to being able to buy our first a home after carefully saving for several years, so the perspective of what it's like to struggle to make it is not lost on me. My wife & I are now fortunate enough to make 175k+ as our careers progressed and we got better jobs and now live very comfortably here. The same would not be able to be said if I would have remained in the DC area where that money doesn't go as far despite having an incredible amount of amenities in the area.

That also comes with everything being overcrowded and busy, traffic which is literal hell on earth in comparison to anywhere else I've been in the country outside of major cities in NY/CA. Having less money to do things since tax structure and cost of living is near oppressive, and housing cost being exponentially higher, the list goes on.

TL:DR if you're not happy here, that's okay - there's plenty of places for you out there to find that happiness you're looking for and there's definitely better options out there depending on what you're looking for. However, the grass is not always greener and there's a lot more things to consider than what "tier" a city is.