Help!!! Relocating to Knoxville from Missouri with family. Need Advice! (Clarksville: for sale, crime)

[jason010]

Hello everyone,

I could really use some friendly advice from you folks living in Knoxville. I am going to be relocating to the area to work for a company that just hired me. I could really use some help on finding an area that would be good for my family. My wife and I are in our mid 20's and we have a 15 month old girl. We live in a decently rural area and would like to make an effort to maintain that, but it's not a necessity. We really want a very quite area with a very low (virtually non-existent) crime rate. I want a place that will be very safe for my wife and daughter. We also prefer an area that has a "country" feel. The more rural an area is, the better.

My office is going to be located at Cedar Bluff (just northeast of Farragut). I seen that a couple folks on here recommended Maryville and Alcoa. How are those places? I need to be within 20 miles of the office or a 30 minute maximum commute time.

We are very excited that we may be moving to the area. I have heard that Knoxville is a very beautiful place. My father and sisters have vacationed in Gatlinburg.

I appreciate any advice you folks can provide us!!!

[Barking Spider]

You really need to drive around the area and see what fits your needs and travel times. Also, it would help if you defined what you mean by "decently rural".
While parts of Maryville might be considered rural, a good portion of it would not. I live in a sub division in Karns (15 minutes from Cedar Bluff), yet there is a small farm with cows across the road. There are parts of Hardin Valley that I would consider rural.
My suggestion is to find a good Realtor, then drive around and see what fits your needs and budget. Good luck with your move.

[hiknapster]

Agree with Barking Spider.

Lots and lots of rural areas and it also depends on your definition. Recently someone on City-Data considered 35,000 to 45,000 to be rural. In my book it is less than 10,000. "Rural" means different things to different people.

I would not consider Alcoa - lots of traffic, a major airport - to be rural. Besides, you can get more rural and be closer to your job.

Concord and other parts of Farragut are fairly rural. I like the Hardin Valley suggestion, too. It's going to depend on budget, also. North and south of Cedar Bluff can be fairly quiet, too. Street view on google maps and you will see what we mean. As busy as Cedar Bluff is, 5 to 10 minutes away it can be very serene.

I think a lot of people are very surprised at how rural looking Knoxville can be. One minute you're on a busy road with lots and lots of strip malls, turn off it and you can be in a very rural setting.

[airen123]

You sound like a good fit for the city of Clinton, just next to Powell and Karns. It's roughly 10 minutes outside of Knoxville, and has many rural areas. Plenty of access to some shopping along Merchants, Clinton Highway, and Schaad area. I think Clinton was on MSN or Forbes top 10 town to raise a family.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by airen123

You sound like a good fit for the city of Clinton, just next to Powell and Karns. It's roughly 10 minutes outside of Knoxville, and has many rural areas. Plenty of access to some shopping along Merchants, Clinton Highway, and Schaad area. I think Clinton was on MSN or Forbes top 10 town to raise a family.

I'm pretty sure I've always agreed with your advice but I am just not a fan of Clinton. There are some areas that are fairly nice but a lot of that area I feel is pretty "icky." There are a couple of decent elementary schools but the quality drops way off after that. There's a lot of drugs in the area, especially meth and pills.

It's also a 25 minutes to Cedar Bluff. That seems like a long way when there are much better places that are closer.

That's my opinion, so take it for what it is worth.

[airen123]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I'm pretty sure I've always agreed with your advice but I am just not a fan of Clinton. There are some areas that are fairly nice but a lot of that area I feel is pretty "icky." There are a couple of decent elementary schools but the quality drops way off after that. There's a lot of drugs in the area, especially meth and pills.

It's also a 25 minutes to Cedar Bluff. That seems like a long way when there are much better places that are closer.

That's my opinion, so take it for what it is worth.

No, I agree there are some areas of Clinton that are "icky". I'm trying to think of what the OP is asking...and Clinton and Powell are areas that come to mind when I think of "rural", but others may think Dandridge, Louisville as "rural". I think of farmland, plenty of spaces. I have friends that attended Clinton High that were from nice areas and dated a teacher that worked at the high school, so I may have on rose-colored glasses. I didn't think it was that far to Cedar Bluff, I'm thinking of the Emory Rd area off Pellissippi which is 15 minutes to CB.
Here's the article from Businessweek:
The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2011: Best place to raise kids in Tennessee: Clinton - BusinessWeek

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by airen123

No, I agree there are some areas of Clinton that are "icky". I'm trying to think of what the OP is asking...and Clinton and Powell are areas that come to mind when I think of "rural", but others may think Dandridge, Louisville as "rural". I think of farmland, plenty of spaces. I have friends that attended Clinton High that were from nice areas and dated a teacher that worked at the high school, so I may have on rose-colored glasses. I didn't think it was that far to Cedar Bluff, I'm thinking of the Emory Rd area off Pellissippi which is 15 minutes to CB.
Here's the article from Businessweek:
The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2011: Best place to raise kids in Tennessee: Clinton - BusinessWeek

Well, Emory Road off of Pellissippi is really Solway which is in Knox County. It's just north of Hardin Valley. So we are probably all on the same page!

Yeah, I've seen that list. Last year they picked Clarksville, I'm pretty sure. I think most of those lists are hooey.

I can think of many much worse places to live than Clinton, but it's not my favorite place. I like small towns with older homes so Clinton was in the running for me, too. But in the end I couldn't get past the area. It's just not my thing and seems a bit of a drive into Knoxville. Lake City is even worse, in my opinion. I once met a woman that was a native and even she told me that the place was a dump.

[Barking Spider]

I would really like to know how you can get from Clinton to Cedar Bluff in 20 minutes. :-)

[jason010]

Thanks for your replies. I appreciate them.

By "rural" I mean an area where your neighbors aren't right on top of you. We currently live in a town of 400 people. But our town is right outside of a city of about 50,000 people. It is small, but conveniently located. We are not opposed to a subdivision if it is nice enough. We don't want to live in a subdivision that has old housing though. We'll live in a town, but we want to be a rocks throw from the country (farm land, etc). Also, I do not want to live in an area where drugs are a problem. I have no tolerance for drug heads. The town I used to live in had a problem with meth heads. It didn't take long for me to move to another town because of it.

How expensive is land out there? I imagine it is fairly high due to the proximity to the mountains. I wouldn't mind finding a home out in the sticks that has a few acres attached to it. Although our budget will likely not allow that. We are looking to spend around $150,000 on a home. We can afford more, but I want to keep the payment low, so I can focus on paying other debts. I have been doing research on homes for sale out there. But it's hard to pick a home on the Internet when you don't know anything about the area.

My wife and I are planning to spend a few days in Knoxville. We'll likely drive out there in a week or two. That way, we can get a good idea of where we may want to live. I will take all the areas you folks have mentioned into consideration. In the mean time, keep the suggestions coming!

[airen123]

Originally Posted by Barking Spider

I would really like to know how you can get from Clinton to Cedar Bluff in 20 minutes. :-)

Pellissippi Parkway to 40?

Update: Just did a Googlemap of "Clinton, TN" to "Cedar Bluff Rd", 27 minutes.