Anyone move from NC to TN? (Knoxville, Chattanooga: real estate market, crime, homes)

[piedmont]

I know lots of folks come to this board to talk about moving from the north, midwest, CA or FL to TN. But what about from another part of the south?

We are exploring the possibility of relocating to eastern TN from the piedmont of NC. We currently live on the outskirts of RTP and enjoy a rural lifestyle (have a small farm) with a reasonable commute to our work (20-40 minutes).

We are aware that our area is experiencing increasing sprawl pressure and that it seems doomed to becoming less like what we love about it. (Loosely translated: While I admit that I will enjoy having a Trader Joe's near by, I'd rather have more farms and less traffic/suburban attitude instead!).

Eastern TN seems some 10-20 years behind our area in economic development and sprawl. Is anyone familiar with both regions and able to offer your impressions? How do you think Knoxville/Oak Ridge/Maryville will evolve over the next decade?

Thank you for any comments and insight.

[Mytown]

Knoxville is becoming one of the hottest spots to relocate to in the Southeast. I am afraid the word is out. People from Fla. are moving up here to escape the hurricans while still having moderate weather and no state income tax. Folks from the North are moving here because they can't affrod to retire up north and are escaping crime and folks from Cal. are moving here because they can cash in their million dollar homes there and buy a modest home here and be set for the rest of their lives financially. Today, Knoxville is wonderful and has many outlying areas that would meet your needs. However, I am not sure what the future holds because I think when the housing market bounces back we are going to see an influx of folks moving into the area.

You might check out some smaller towns a little further out such as Sweetwater, Maynardville, Kingston and Harriman.

[goodbyehollywood]

Originally Posted by piedmont

Eastern TN seems some 10-20 years behind our area in economic development and sprawl. Is anyone familiar with both regions and able to offer your impressions? How do you think Knoxville/Oak Ridge/Maryville will evolve over the next decade?

Though most East Tennesseans dearly wish that were so, the area is no longer lagging the rest of the South.

Knoxville and its once sleepy environs are the new boomtowns, and the same traffic, sprawl and development that you're fleeing there is already here. Granted, the NC cities have transitioned faster than Knoxville, etc. in the development arena, but give it 3-5 years, if that. The things you don't like there are here, too. Not all of it's bad, but Tennessee's major cities are now bustling.

I have friends in Little Rock, and they're bemoaning the same thing! To find the kind of quiet you're talking about, you're going to have to look to small, out-of-the-way towns... and then there are going to be job issues. It's all such a trade-off.

[goodbyehollywood]

Originally Posted by Mytown

You might check out some smaller towns a little further out such as Sweetwater, Maynardville, Kingston and Harriman.

Kingston is very nice and it's close to the water. Commuting may be an issue, however, depending on where you work. Lenoir City is also near the water, but it's really building up. I'd buy water property there, if I could find anything still affordable.

[piedmont]

"Knoxville is becoming one of the hottest spots to relocate to in the Southeast."

But from what I've seen and read, I don't think it's anywhere near as "hot" as the triangle or Charlotte in NC. The Knoxville area real estate market also seems quite sluggish for sellers.

I am also struck at the real estate prices in general in the K-ville area. 1-2M$ homes in the triangle are quite spectacular---either in land, architecture or shear mass. Higher end Knox homes look quite, well, ordinary, and not especially pretty. Interesting.

[piedmont]

"I'd buy water property there, if I could find anything still affordable. "

Where would you buy if you *didn't* want to be on the water (or pay for the privilege of being on the water :-)?

It seems like nicer homes in the country are waterfront, but there is a real drop off in home quality when you move away from the lakes. We'd like a nice place in the country, but have no interest in being on a lake full of powerboats. We like our recreation to be on land!

[piedmont]

Originally Posted by goodbyehollywood

TKnoxville and its once sleepy environs are the new boomtowns, and the same traffic, sprawl and development that you're fleeing there is already here.

Thanks for your perspective. It's interesting that to me that presently it seems like one can get to more rural areas from Knoxville or Oak Ridge *very* quickly compared to say Raleigh/Durham area.

It is a shame to see the same "Atlanta-style" sprawl happening throughout the south. Do you have any sense of the kind of development policies/politics that are evident in the Knoxville area? Are conservation easements or limited or slow growth policies utterly alien ideas?

[JMT]

Originally Posted by piedmont

"Knoxville is becoming one of the hottest spots to relocate to in the Southeast."

But from what I've seen and read, I don't think it's anywhere near as "hot" as the triangle or Charlotte in NC. The Knoxville area real estate market also seems quite sluggish for sellers.

I am also struck at the real estate prices in general in the K-ville area. 1-2M$ homes in the triangle are quite spectacular---either in land, architecture or shear mass. Higher end Knox homes look quite, well, ordinary, and not especially pretty. Interesting.

Well if Knoxville is that far behind hot places as Charlotte and the Triangle, then why are people willing to spend $1 million for an inferior home in Knoxville compared to what $1 million can get you in Charlotte or the Triangle?

You're right that Knoxville is not growing as quickly as RDU or Charlotte, but it is clearly growing much more rapidly than peer cities like Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Little Rock.

[piedmont]

Thanks for your comments.

Originally Posted by JMT

Well if Knoxville is that far behind hot places as Charlotte and the Triangle, then why are people willing to spend $1 million for an inferior home in Knoxville compared to what $1 million can get you in Charlotte or the Triangle?

I frankly have no idea. Knoxville seems like an area with some highly compensated jobs---but many more jobs with a very modest salary (overall wages are quite a bit lower than in NC). I suppose the wealthy in K-ville have to live *somewhere* ;-)

As far as I am concerned, it is a good thing that the area is growing more slowly than Charlotte or RTP. IMO NC is going to be paying for its embrace of short-sighted development for many, many years/generations.

[goodbyehollywood]

Originally Posted by piedmont

It's interesting that to me that presently it seems like one can get to more rural areas from Knoxville or Oak Ridge *very* quickly compared to say Raleigh/Durham area.

It is a shame to see the same "Atlanta-style" sprawl happening throughout the south. Do you have any sense of the kind of development policies/politics that are evident in the Knoxville area? Are conservation easements or limited or slow growth policies utterly alien ideas?

I can speak to the escalating sprawl firsthand, because I looked at property for two years in Knoxville, before I moved back. During those two years, I watched prices skyrocket, lots shrink and the city creep relentlessly outward. The density is becoming a real issue in the most desirable parts of Knoxville, which is quickly becoming pretty much everywhere. Rural land is being snapped up quickly, and there are no signs of this lessening... at all.

Rezoning is rampant, which means that developers are winning the battle with property owners who want to protect their privacy and live in a low density area. Neighborhoods that used to enjoy estate and low density zoning (1-2 homes per acre) are a thing of the past. New developments are being zoned 3-4 homes per acre or more-- and these are large 3K and 4K SF homes-- and zero lot line homes are cropping up everywhere. Knoxville's residential streets and thoroughfares were not planned to handle this density-- because 5-10 years ago, this was farmland! And very few locals were willing to commute very far, so why build an infrastructure to accommodate what people aren't willing to do?

Knoxville is a growing town looking to build an economic base. It needs that, because it has never been an industrial town and national companies with high-paying jobs have traditionally passed Knoxville by. This is changing, but in the meantime, Knoxville is a developer-friendly town. Between my family and myself, we belong to six HOAs and we have never won a battle with a developer. The battles are long and hard-fought, and small compromises are made, but the developers' contributions are too important to the tax base.

Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham are definitely bigger and more aggressively-developed than Knoxville. Now. But if Knoxville keeps to its current path-- and there are no indications that it won't-- it's just not that far behind. People already commute an hour from the outskirts of Knoxville in. Developers from all over are buying up land outside Knoxville, knowing it will someday (soon) be Knoxville. Knoxville is below the radar no more. Where Raleigh-Durham is now, Knoxville will be. Count on it.