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by Matt Edens

I admit, I was skeptical at first when the local Internet pundit known only as “South Knox Bubba” semi-seriously suggested that “blue” state progressives start infiltrating the Republican dominated “red” states of the South and Rocky Mountain West. For some reason my mind conjured up a Ho Chi Minh trail of hipsters blundering around the backwoods of western Virginia as they slowly make their way from the Upper West Side to West Knox County (with a few modifications, the Appalachian Trail would do nicely). I couldn’t help but chuckle at the image: “It was hell, I tell you, two Sundays without the Times. I nearly cried outside Bristol when Seth’s Blackberry finally got a signal....” Besides, over the last four decades, millions of people have already migrated from the snowy Northeast and upper Midwest to sunbelt communities in the South and Southwest. And the places they tend to end up—golf course and lakefront communities in the exurbs—tend to be some of the reddest bits of red state real estate. They certainly were in Knox County, where a high concentration of out-of-staters didn’t stop Farragut residents from going Republican three to one.

Does it have to be that way? The more I thought about it the more I realized there was some merit to Bubba’s musing. Exurbs like Farragut stay red because they appeal to people with red tendencies, and lure them in by providing what they want—housing and opportunity—at a bargain price compared to similar areas up North (compare, for example, home prices in Greenwich vs. Gettysvue).

But those advantages could cut both ways. Knoxville may not be Manhattan, but the math—and the market—certainly cut our way. A loft on South Gay is considerably less expensive than one in Soho. Prices for Fourth and Gill Victorians compare quite favorably to Frisco. Or, for you back-to-nature types, why go to Vermont when a hillside shack in Vestal will only set you back $35K? Oh, and there’s even kudzu, how kitschy-cool is that?

And as for opportunity, when it comes to the “Creative Class” careers that are the backbone of the blue economy, Knoxville’s actually ahead of the game. Not only do we have a major university and a national laboratory, there’s also a thriving television production industry—a surprisingly respectable 89th in economic development guru Richard Florida’s ranking of “Creative Cities.” Memphis, Yellow dog Democrats and all, doesn’t even make the top 100. The raw material is there; a little work and we can tip the immigrant tide from refugee Republicans to an advanced guard of the Avant-Garde.

So all you folks trash-talking Tennessee after the election, I say do the opposite: talk it up, particularly to your blue-state brethren.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: what about the Baptists? Or, worse still yet, how ‘bout them Vols? Up against hundreds of thousands of fundie, freeper, football fans, how in the hell are a handful of holistic vegans with Harper’s subscriptions going to establish a blue beachhead? It’ll be a slaughter—we’re talking Tarawa, here.

It would be, if Farragut were the front line. But instead of storming the fortress of Fox Den, I say reinforce the progressive perimeter, dig in around downtown and pick off the opposition one precinct at a time. Even Sequoyah’s shaky; all it takes is a few more tenured professors and trial attorneys.

And if you find it oppressive merely knowing West Knoxville is there, don’t sweat it. I know plenty of people who live in and around downtown who rarely go west of Bearden. And there may be no need to in the future, if we manage to lure a couple hundred more left-leaning loft dwellers downtown and develop the critical mass to support a movie theater and some decent shopping (in the interim, there’s always the Internet). Pull that off and we’ll leave West Knoxville the equivalent of, if not “fly-over country,” at least “drive-thru” country—a characterization that, ironically, many West Knoxvillians would no doubt happily embrace.

Victory won’t, however, come overnight. Even Asheville’s New Age-friendly reputation as the “San Francisco of the South” didn’t stop Bush from carrying Buncombe County, albeit by less than 800 votes. And there are other issues, too. For instance, if the folks buying up the real estate are social justice activists whose Jetta bumpers proudly proclaim “Regime Change Starts at Home,” it’s not really gentrification, is it?

November 24, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 48 © 2004 Metro Pulse