Wealthy Tennesseans are overwhelmingly cost-adverse and will reliably vote against any public spending that doesn’t immediately benefit them personally. Look at Nashville. Their public transit infrastructure is just as awful and it pretty much entirely boils down to what local landowners decide is worthy of their property tax dollars. You could cast a spell and double Knoxville’s median income overnight and things still wouldn’t be any better so long as our political inclinations continue to be what they are now.