Reviews & Comments
Sevierville, TN
Life in Sevierville -
6/3/2009To start things I am not originally from Sevierville or TN for that matter, I am from OH (various areas), lived in Ft. Wayne, IN as well. I state this merely for clarification and perspective reasons. Sevierville is the second town/city you will come to on your way to Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg if you come by way of Interstate 40 to State Route 66. I have lived here for 5 1/2 years coming from Dayton, OH. Sevierville is a pass-thru tourist area. During the summer traffic and the amount of people sky rocket which makes the area pretty congested in both aspects given the lack of roadway travel options which keep everyone in the same basic areas though some headwa has been made in recent years to help alleviate some of the traffic congestion issues.
Sevierville is fairly diverse as far as out of state residents though the various minority communities are not represented in high number, except maybe the Mexican community.
The cost of living and property values tend to be a bit higher than average due to the tourist industry but the general area doesn't necessarily reflect this in appearance.
Crime has not really been an issue to me. You can go about anywhere and not have to worry. Safety may be a slight concern in regards to traffic safety, tourist in unfamilliar areas can be a risk as well as frustration from traffic congestion doesn't help, a lot of red lights get run so drive in the area with caution.
In general the populace of Sevierville and the surrounding area, in my experiences, is deserving of the Bible Belt title and tends to lean more to the conservative mind set. There is a good variety of various Protestant Christian belief systems in the area but lacks representation from the Catholic side as well as various others.
The school system is fair but there are some private schools options (at least for elementary school) residents of the county can register and attend any particular county school though bussing is limited. There is only one option in the immediate are for higher education in the form of the Sevierville Branch or Walter's State university. Johnsonville Bible College is not far away for a Christian oriented selection. The University of Tennessee campused in Knoxville, TN is roughly an hour away.
There is a good bit to do in the Sevierville area or within an hours drive from hiking in the Smokey Mountains National Park (one of the only free ones around), snow skiing (winter), ice skating (winter), to shopping, and there are plenty of lakes for various water related activities as well. There is a tremendous selection of dining options around with various standard restaurants as well as a good selection of dinner shows.
The terrain of Sevierville and the surrounding area is rolling hills with a great view of the Smoky Mountains, though for me I miss the corn, wheat, and soybean fields and the open sky of where I grew up in OH, but to each their own. Climatically temperatures generally run in the 90's from around the end of June to the end of September. The temperature will gradually drop to around the 40's in December and will hover around there till March. This is very generally speaking.
Culturally speaking, in my opinion, the populace is highly interested in sports mainly football (especially UT college football, you will see orange everywhere, though about every SEC Conference school has a good following), cars and trucks are very popular with some sort of car show every weekend the weather is warm it seems. People are, in general, pretty willing to talk about politics and the like but religious topics are not quite as openminded if beliefs vary too much. In general the people are nice, humble, friendly folks who will usually say "hi" or at least nod when you walk by.
In general I like the area well enough though I don't really like the tourist trap setting. I work in a small town an hour away that is pretty much the same minus the tourist trap. I don't know if it will ever feel like home to me but not because of the people or anything like that. I like East TN and I like the people, I feel that it is a nice place to live.