Knoxville Tennessee: Opportunityville in Innovati - 12/13/2007

Knoxville Tennessee is a great place to live. Boasting the lowest unemployment rate in the state, the lowest cost of living in the nation and a rock steady housing market with great long term appreciation there really is opportunity around every corner. Our Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership has done a remarkable job participating with the East Tennessee Economic Development Agency in promoting Knoxville as the center of "The Innovation Valley". Their jobs program began in 2003 and has exceeded goals of creating around 35,000 new jobs within 5 years and brought billions in new capital investment. NOW is a great time to live OR invest in Knoxville Tennessee!

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Then go back to Cali - 11/13/2007

I have lived here most of my life and it is not as bad as what it is described here. Anyway, every place is what you make it. I have had the same experiences everywhere I have lived that I have had here. Good and bad. Just research every place for yourself and make your own decision. Geez..I wonder where this person will be next. I bet its just as bad.

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A great mid-sized town to call home - 10/13/2007

A native to Knoxville, I lived there 26 years, and it is a place to call home. I didn't realize how great a place Knoxville was until I moved to Memphis 6 months ago. Knoxville is a safe, friendly, beautiful, and fast growing city. Again, it took leaving to understand how wonderful it truely is. I have moved to hell(Memphis), and cannot wait to return to east Tennessee. Knoxville has so much to offer. 1)University of Tennessee (go Vols!) 2)Beautiful Smokey Mountains 3)Low-cost living, big bang for your buck! 4)Outstanding Healthcare facilities 5)Great public schools 6)4 defined seasons, all of which are beautiful 7)Outdoor recreation 8)Great resturants 9)Lots of community events 10)Ease of navigating. Knoxville has some areas that could use improvement, but in the grand scheme of things they are minor. Knoxville is a great place to raise a family, and it offers most everything you could want. But, if you can't find it in Knoxville chances are that you can find it within a 3 hour drive. After seeing just how bad a city can be (Memphis), I have a new found appreciation for Knoxville. I am counting the days until my return. Of course, that is only if I make it out of Memphis alive. Whatever you do, do not move to Memphis!

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Quality of Life in Knoxville - 9/21/2007

Sorry, I'm completing this because it is required for membership. I grew up in Knoxville but haven't lived there for 25 years (I've lived overseas for about that long). Knoxville was a good place to be from, but I grew up in the rural areas and culturally found it a wasteland.

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Overall quality - 9/20/2007

If you don't need a lot of the big city amenities, then this is a great place to live.

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culture & recreation - 8/26/2007

There are several recreational opportunities in the greater Knox area; hiking, boating with our closeness to the Great Smoky Mountains. Tourist traffic can be a problem, but they are focused on the main drives & if you get off the main road- you can have area all to yourself. Knoxville has a great variety of city/county parks as well and is developing a greenway/biketrail. Unfortunately, like much of america- urban sprawl runs rampant here. One township, Farragut has maintained tighter controls on that ugly beast. University of Tennessee also adds a lot to the cultural experiences in Knoxville - beyond the athletics that most folks flock to.

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Housing Prices - 8/19/2007

In the short amount of time I've lived here, I've seen housing prices in the west end of the county rise considerably. The most affordable areas still seem to be the east and north county areas.

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Simple LIfe - 8/7/2007

Quiet, Family oriented.

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Oh my Lord..... - 8/3/2007

Most of my life has been lived in the North. Moved to Atlanta for a job and lived there for 10 years....another job pursuit took me back to Illinois. After 12 months I realized that I missed the South very much. Decided to move to Knoxville, WHAT A MISTAKE... have never seen such backwards people in my life....looking forward to move to Atlanta ASAP and leave this backwards, deleiverancesque place far behind.

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Job opportunities - 6/27/2007

This is a great area to live in and raise a family. But work opportunities and compensations are really bad. Next to Florids this must be the lowest paying area of the country with very few upward moving positions.

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Not your daddy's Knoxville, not Austin, Nashville, - 6/19/2007

I lived there all my life up until 10 years ago, still visit often to visit the folks. There are certainly far worse places to live, but for a relocating family, far better choices (although I highly recommend it for retirees, cheap property and low taxes). I currently work in marketing particularly analyzing demographics, I know a little about a lot of places. For a growing family, it lacks quality child care and more schools than not are substandard. There is little recreational activity to do that isn't more than an hour drive away (quality parks, hiking, fishing, golf, aquariums etc..). Knoxville is not home to this recreation, I think "D" was creating a little "Progranda" himself, I don't remember music being any cornerstone to Knox either. You do need to know a little history to understand the area. The Feds created TVA during the depression to help bring the area into the 20th century and later created Oak Ridge Labs which may be the largest employer. Almost all quality jobs are created by government, hence why you have such devotion to the GOP (funnel alot of funds into the region). The saying, "20 years behind, and always 20 minutes late" describes Knoxville. You still see some mullets, and you could be labeled as a metro if you have a gel or conditioning product in your hair mixed with a collared shirt:) In closing, Knoxville has potential. If they could get rid of the good ole boy network running the place, a more progressive economy and better infrastructure could be created. I did always hate driving 20 minutes one way to buy this, and 20 minutes another way for that.

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This is the "deep south" - 6/18/2007

Never seen a city with almost 200,000 residents to be so backwards and lacking culture. Surrounding areas are pretty. People ? Remember the movie Deliverance ? Need I say more................

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You get what you pay for....... - 6/16/2007

Best places??? Knoxville???????? Sure, if you care for an economy that is bolstered only by county government employees or one of the few (in comparison to population) to work at ORNL. There is zero business development there, zero opportunities. The property is dirt cheap because it matches its worth. The great majority cannot afford better, and for most of those fools, that's all they care for. I lived there for 5 years before moving to Lafayette, La (now this area should be on your list). Downtown is dead and full of blight just as the skies you will look up at everyday (one of the most air polluted cities in the nation). Now I will say, for the most part, the people are cordial and there is one nice suburb (Farragut) with good schools (the rest of the schools are horrible, and there are few and very expensive private school options). If you are a far, far, right winged republican who flocks with the masses without thought on any issue, you may like this place just as long as you don't appreciate culture, architecture, non-service related jobs, clean air, city or state services, etc... Check the stats, the crime is above national averages and the wages speak for themselves. Bottom line, the place is a dump. You get what you pay for.

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Life in Knoxville - 6/7/2007

Knoxville is a nice city. It has all the makings for a great city. The people have not really figured out the best way to set their goverment up to optimize the cities great potential. Yet.

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Downtown Knoxville is the best kept secret in the - 3/21/2007

Ive lived here three months and found the city to be alive and vibrant with the university of tennessee located here it has a good deal of culture . the art museums are awesome and the people are very friendly. its the yankeeest town in the south and since im from new york, thats a good thing. the city is converting many of its historical office buildings to condos and i am presently on a waiting list for one. Knoxville is a great place to relocate and the weather is super. Not one snowflake here this winter!

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Please don't move here - 3/16/2007

I grew up in the era when the first lesson learned in the first grade was that propaganda story about George Washington and the cherry tree. So, I have to say that some people writing on this blog were never taught that lesson and they are intentionally misleading you about Knoxville. They really don't won't you to move here while they quitely go about making their life long nest. Yes, there are a few metrosexuals and malcontents, who will find it hard to live here, but for families, its a great place. Just don't move here. There is some truth to the fact that the place is growing like a weed and TDOT is run by a bunch of knuckleheads who hate bicycles. Still I ride one to work for adventure. A lot of rich folks move in to retire and we meet a lot of folks from elsewhere who are content here. The size of their stone mansions make me wonder if the carry GPS units around the house. Marriott keeps adding to its facility here. Oak Ridge (National Laboratory) has one of the brightest bunch of high school students in the nation. If you like golf, outdoor recreation, music, sports, a decent public university that gets better every year (not counting the football team), low crime in high places, you know the normal stuff of American life, its really a fun place to live. You can find good schools, not perfect, but my daughter earned $23,000 in scholarships and was recruited heavily. We also have the best Congressman in the nation, who doesn't pull punches. I haven't set foot inside a church since I arrived here either. So, while religion is a prominent feature of life in the South, its also why folks are decent and kind. There were no slaves in E. Tennessee and much of area never seceded from the Union, but outside the metro area things are different and the education level drops precipitously. Yes, Paki you can move here without fearing racism. But all you white folks should go to Mississippi.

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Please don't move here - 3/16/2007

I grew up in the era when the first lesson learned in the first grade was that propaganda story about George Washington and the cherry tree. So, I have to say that some people writing on this blog were never taught that lesson and they are intentionally misleading you about Knoxville. They really don't won't you to move here while they quitely go about making their life long nest. Yes, there are a few metrosexuals and malcontents, who will find it hard to live here, but for families, its a great place. Just don't move here. There is some truth to the fact that the place is growing like a weed and TDOT is run by a bunch of knuckleheads who hate bicycles. Still I ride one to work for adventure. A lot of rich folks move in to retire and we meet a lot of folks from elsewhere who are content here. The size of their stone mansions make me wonder if the carry GPS units around the house. Marriott keeps adding to its facility here. Oak Ridge (National Laboratory) has one of the brightest bunch of high school students in the nation. If you like golf, outdoor recreation, music, sports, a decent public university that gets better every year (not counting the football team), low crime in high places, you know the normal stuff of American life, its really a fun place to live. You can find good schools, not perfect, but my daughter earned $23,000 in scholarships and was recruited heavily. We also have the best Congressman in the nation, who doesn't pull punches. I haven't set foot inside a church since I arrived here either. So, while religion is a prominent feature of life in the South, its also why folks are decent and kind. There were no slaves in E. Tennessee and much of area never seceded from the Union, but outside the metro area things are different and the education level drops precipitously. Yes, Paki you can move here without fearing racism. But all you white folks should go to Mississippi.

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umm... about Knoxville...(from a resident) - 2/28/2007

The phrase "industrial wasteland" comes to mind. I have been living in Knoxville for about three years now. I am planning to move in the next six months. I do not recommend moving here: 1) The sky is perennially a gray color I have dubbed "Knoxville gray." It is very depressing. 2) Knoxville is consistently rated in the top 15 most polluted cities in the US. It feels true as well- especially in the hot summers in which the smog is trapped closer to the earth. This pollution problem is unfortunate, as the nearby mountains and outlying areas are proof that the area could be quite lovely and nature-friendly. One example: signs posted along Third Creek warn people not to touch the water as it is highly contaminated. Fishing on the TN river is NOT ADVISED- or at least- don't eat the fish! 3) If you do not have allergies and sinus problems, you will when you move to Knoxville. 4) There are two main highways moving parallel to one another along which Knoxville's metropolitan/suburban sprawl is aligned. These roads are therefore highly congested, and one example of the poor city planning that causes big-city style nightmares for a relatively small city. Prepare to receive the bird when trying to merge in one of the city's bottlenecks or back-assward interstates. 5) The architecture here is, well- lackluster at best. It consists primarily of squat, brown, modern-utilitarian buildings- these strip mall characteristics have added to the ineffecient sprawl. 6) The public transportation is so poor and unreliable as to be characterized as non-existant. 7) This is not a city for culture. You can find your niche for nightlife- which won't be "downtown" unless you are 18-21. One of two local jazz clubs, for example, plays television with volume while a live band vies for audience attention (and loses). You will have to take taxis to avoid driving intoxicated. 8) On the whole, the metropolitan/suburban areas are grimy, stress-inducing, and aesthetically- unfortunate. 9) One possible positive: cost of living is suitably low. However, it reflects the quality of living in the city.

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I love to visit Knoxville and would move there if - 2/27/2007

I have been visiting Knoxville for years and it is a nice place with nice people.The cost of living is very reasonable.Being a fast moving northerner,it takes a day or two to adjust to the slower pace that seems to prevail,but it is a welcome adjustment!

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Knoxville is Great! - 12/19/2006

I have read some of the comments and thought I should add my own. 1. We moved here 10 years ago and love it. 2. We live in west knoxville where the sprawl is probably the worst, but do not see it as a big issue. Traffic can get bad, but you learn ways around it. Shopping and housing are great. 3. Schools in west knoxville are very, very good. 4. I do not attend a church, and do not find that to be a problem. 5. I had no problem being "accpeted" by the community. 6. I had a job when I came so that was not an issue. My wife found one easily 10 years ago, but stays at home now. Other than that, I can't say much about the job market. 7. If you move here, get used to standing in line with a redneck with no teeth on one side of you and a rich person on the other. There are all types of people here. I like that about the place. 8. It can be clickish at the very high levels of society and the very low levels. But the majority of people who are in te middle don't seem that way to me. 9. Get used to seeing UT orange all over the place. It was annoying (and the fans were annoying) at first, but you get used to it. 10. Cost of living here is very low. For example, I bought my 3,000 sq. ft. house (new construction) 5 years ago for $225,000. I think the going price in my neighborhood now is about $300,000. In other parts of the city, you can get more for your money as I live in the "expensive" part of town. 11. Roads are always being worked on, but things are getting better. Overall, I think this place is the best I have lived in and hate the prospect of leaving if I do.

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