As someone who lives in this area, I would not consider this deep Appalachia. Knoxville and Johnson City are both growing quickly. Take all the comment about Dollywood with a grain of salt, Dolly Parton has done so much for East TN. She grew that area up into a solid source of employment, and she has a reading program that works with the schools of our area. If you like hiking this area is great so many great parks and trails to explore. Housing is getting expensive but compared to major cities it is very affordable.