Childrens Activities? (Knoxville, Johnson City, Kingsport: neighborhoods, school, living)

[mia_magination]

Hello everyone! Hope all had a pleasant holiday.

I am trying to decide the best place to settle with my family and for some reason I keep being drawn to this area. I have visited several different areas of Tennessee over the past year and loved all of it, but have not found the little "nitch" I was looking for. I would like to plan another visit and come to the tri-city area next to see for myself if this is the IT place I have been searching for.

I am one of those strange people that want it all but understand a school is only as good as the follow through with parent envolvement with homework, PTA, interest in children's work etc...a school is only 4 walls; a good education comes from the hard work of the child, the patience of the teachers and the involvement of the parent in the kids lives. School is important to my decision but so is family/pet/friendly neighborhoods that are unique...not cookie cutter and planned communities.

My children have congenital heart conditions and can only do certain activities which they enjoy very much so I am interested in areas that will be easily accessible for their interests. My daughter likes ballet and karate and my boys like karate and music lessons (my oldest son plays guitar and drums) and they all enjoy basketball and being outside with kids and playing at the playgrounds. My kids best friends are the four legged ones because they can play or relax without complaint when my kids start to feel sick due to conditions so pet friendly area is very important.

I like being within 30 minutes of shopping as I am about that now but I want a neighborhood where you know your neighbors.

I hear that Knoxville has a lot to offer in the way of activities but what kind of recreation do the kids of the tri-city area enjoy? My oldest son will be 12 soon and my youngest is 7 so I would like to see what the locals do with their kids and how they enjoy being outside.

Any information, links, opinions etc. would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance.

[MarandaStephenson]

I know of alot of girls and boys that enjoy gymnastics and karate. And there is one dog park that I know of in Johnson City. Tae-Kwon-Do is another big thing that I have a few friends who are a part of.

[mia_magination]

Wow! That is wonderful! Thanks so much, my children were asking about gymnastics here but it's not available so that is great! How far is Johnson City to Kingsport? Maps are good but real time travel is always better judge of time I think. Thanks again.

[mbmouse]

I really depends where in JC you are starting from and where you are going to in Kingsport or visa versa. To give you an example you can relate to looking at a map, you can get from Roan St.(11E) exit in Johnson City to the W.Stone Dr.(11W) exit in Kingsport on Hwy 26 in about 20 minutes. It is about 20 miles too.

[mia_magination]

From what I am seeing the Tri-city area is very convenient to each other, meaning you can get to just about anywhere in about 30 minutes whichever town you wanted to be in. I like that idea, being able to be in the middle of everything but still having your space is great. Seems to be a wonderful compromise for us, my husband is a country boy and I'm a city girl trying to raise "suburban kids".hahaha

Are there many public playgrounds, skate parks, bowling alley, roller/ice rink or anything of the kind in this tri-cities area? I have been searching for activities but I think it's going to be one of those things you have to come and see in person to find what you're looking for. Where I live now, we know of places to take the kids for fun but only because we are "local's" and tourists wouldn't know about them unless they have family here to tell them about it.

[mbmouse]

Sure there are lots of places you could bring the kids. There are two bowling areas in JC, a skate park in both JC and Kingsport, several playgrounds, a huge one at Warriors Path in Kingsport. There is a roller skating rink in JC. There is also "the Fun Zone" in JC's old Lowe's building where there is laser tag, go carts, fuze ball and lots of games including an indoor miniature golf course, really neat and the kids of all ages love it.
There is also Dollywood and all of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg less than 2 hours away to go play in.

[williboy]

When summer returns, there's a water park in Jonesborough and a place to play paintball.

[Beretta]

mia,

While there is good healthcare available in the Tri City area, if my children had heart conditions, and I could choose the city in TN in which to relocate, I would probably choose Nashville. (sorry for the run-on sentence). Of course, I do not know your specific situation, so this is just my 2 cents.

Best of luck to you and yours.

[mbmouse]

I too can see the point of Nashville's Children's hospital and Vanderbilt but don't forget the new Niswonger (sp?) Children's Hospital being built onto JC Medical Center which is to include specialists in pediatric cardiac and the equipment for it along with some other pediatric specialties. It is due to be complete within 6 months.

[mia_magination]

Great to know, thank you for thinking of us.

My kids have congenital heart defects. Although it may seem scary, we are pro's at watching for the signs and handling the issues. We love the Tri-cities area for everything it has to offer and the medical facilities seem to have everything we would need. If something more serious should arise, we could always transport to a higher level trauma unit as we do here. Thank God we only had to do that once

We want to live where the kids would be most happy LIVING not waiting for the next medical emergency...but thank you for pointing out the medical in Nashville, I do appreicate it.