Have you been during a car show weekend? Pigeon Forge is worse than NYC on several weekends every year.
No, never had the pleasure. I bet it gets really crowded, but there's no way Pigeon Forge could ever contend with the stench, stress and overt rudeness that is NYC, every day. Even though I'm sure a big car show will bring about a lot of bad smells, boorish ppl, and tension, I doubt if it even approaches the typical afternoon in places like Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The concept of "worse" and "better" are subjective, but NYC has stewed in an overcrowded, fast-pace, dog-eat-dog atmosphere for hundreds of years. While those big car shows will be able to create a pretty bad situation, at least there's the light at the end of the tunnel. No car show lasts forever.... But the Big Apple never sleeps, never takes a rest....
I gotta say, I really like TN. I look back fondly on the time i spent in NE Tennessee, not to far from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. I will say that the town of Gatlinburg is pretty vile; it's like the Boardwalk at Wildwood NJ, but without the ocean or ubiquitous bikini-clad women. A nightmare Tourist Trap, where everything is really expensive, but few things are any good. But the trails up in the Great Smoky Mtns Nat'l PArk are awesome, and I like spending time in nearby Knoxville and all the little towns in the foothills....