Possible Move to Knoxville (Memphis, Jackson: transplants, apartment complex, crime rate)

[VolunteerTN]

Hello, residents of Knoxville! I am thinking about a possible move to Knoxville and I am eager to know more about the city.

Does the city of Knoxville feel more urban with less than 200,000 people?
I live in Jackson, which is halfway between Nashville and Memphis in western part and it has population of 96,000. To some, it feels urban but it certainly does not feel like it to me.

Is Knoxville more disaster-proof than most of TN?
I'm tired of ocassional floodings and tornadoes in Jackson with high risk of earthquake due to New Madrid Fault in MO.

I learned that all dams of TN Valley Authority are likely to break to wash out Knoxville and other valleys in E. TN due to aftershocks from the future New Madrid Quake. Is that even possible or just a conspiracy against TVA?

How is Knoxville's crime rate compared to Jackson if any one know?

[Barking Spider]

Here is some info about KNoxville: Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County.[6] It is also the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city (behind only Pittsburgh) within the region of Appalachia. As of the 2000 United States Census, Knoxville had a total population of 173,890;[3] the July 2007 estimated population was 183,546.[7] Knoxville is the principal city of the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area with a metro population of 655,400, which is in turn the central component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette Combined Statistical Area with 1,029,155 residents.

It is very hard (if not almost impossible) to tell where the city limits are when driving around Knoxville. Much of the greater Knoxville area is considered "County", but it all looks like one big city when driving around.

After the storms last night, you can add tornado risk to Knoxville.

This is the first I heard about the dams. Interesting! While there certainly would be flooding downstream from the dams, I seriously doubt that Knoxville would be washed off the face of the planet. Moving here from So CA kind of makes me chuckle when people talk about earthquakes in East TN.

To see if Knoxville fits your image of "urban", why not come for a visit and see how it feels for yourself? You are the only one that can answer that question.

[calvinbama]

Downtown knoxville has a very urban feel to it. It is crammed into a small space surrounded by freeways and the river therefore it is very dense. There has been a lot of good redevelopment and there are plenty of good entertainment venues, restaurants and bars in the area. The streets are alive w pedestrians well into the night. So I'd say it has a very urban feel for our population. Outside of downtown there are a few city view type neighborhoods with a somewhat urban feel like 4th & Gill, south knoxville, Parkridge, and Ft. Sanders. Beyond that it is all suburban or semi-rural.

With regards to disasters you can't really tell. Anything can happen anywhere. Flood risk depends on where your house is actually situated in relation to drainage patterns, and you can't really make a blanket statement about a whole city. A lot of times heavy storms coming from the west will get cut up by the Cumberland Plateau before they get to Knoxville. If they come up through the valley from the southwest like those yesterday did then knoxville is vulnerable to tornadoes.

[VolunteerTN]

The two posts above provided details about Knoxville. I like what I learned about Knoxville and the city does sound much more urban than my hometown.

I ought to visit Knoxville again soon to get the feel of the area for myself. I only went there once for the campus tour of UTK but I didn't get to see the city itself though. I ended up choosing Rhodes College in Memphis.

Is Knoxville badly damaged from tornadoes recently? I only heard about Farragut but not in Knoxville except for tree damages. How bad is it in Farragut?

[oldmanbob]

Hey Voluntertn, I just met a loan officer, thats from Jackson, now living here in Knoxville, and the town is so spread out, you will find it a lot like Jackson. You can use this site, City-data, and it will have the crime stats. We live in the Farragut area, and the latest storms we had, are rare and property here is built a lot like your area, and nothing is built to withstand the tornado type storms, but they are rare here.

[NJDevil]

There's also spotcrime.com. There's gonna be some future catastrophe that will have everyone worried no matter where they live. I believe the Smoky Mountains will protect us from some of those disasters : )

[calvinbama]

If you live in the Farragut area like Oldmanbob then the town would seem spread out. Farragut and west Knox county developed in an auto-centric way around the freeway and 4 lane highways. On the other hand, if you live in the central city/downtown/Ft. Sanders area then the city is not very spread out. I have just about everything I could possibly need within 2 or 3 miles from my house. I would consider that to be compact and urban relative to the rest of the country.

[VolunteerTN]

Originally Posted by NJDevil

There's also spotcrime.com. There's gonna be some future catastrophe that will have everyone worried no matter where they live. I believe the Smoky Mountains will protect us from some of those disasters : )

I feel that way about both the plateau in the west and the Smoky Mountains that gives us less extreme climate.

By the way, I noticed you live in Seymour. Would you by any chance know anything about Smoky Crossing (townhouse complex) at 11746 Chapman Highway? Is it safe & attractive with good reputation?

Will Seymour be friendly to outsiders who are not from the little town?

Will it be difficult commuting to Knoxville due to Hensley Bridge being closed for construction?

[jason263]

This is really nice that you are moving to knoxville. Foremost thing which is ideal to live in there is the climate. Knoxville falls in the humid zone although it is not quite as hot as areas to the south and west due to the higher elevations. Summers are hot and humid, with July highs averaging 31 °C, lows averaging 19 °C, and an average of 29 days per year with temperatures above 32 °C.. Winters are generally cool, with occasional small amounts of snow. January averages a high of around 7 °C and a low of around 2−4 °C, although low temperaures in the teens are not uncommon.

Have a good day.

[NJDevil]

Regarding Smoky Crossing, it's the only "real" apartment complex in Seymour and the answers to your questions are yes...if I were single and wanted to live in Seymour I'm sure that's where I'd be. Seymour is FULL of transplants. It's very safe, quiet and friendly, it's like an extension of south Knoxville. It's not too quiet Sat nights though with the racetrack on 411, I think they race one night during the week too. I know nothing about it, just glad I don't live too close.

The commute to Knoxville is just a few minutes longer, but you don't sit in traffic as long. We're 20 minutes from downtown, 40 minutes from Turkey Creek. Just depends what part of Knox you're working in. You can also take 168 to 129 to get to 40 west, and there are 2 ways to get to the Turkey Creek area, both the same in time/mileage. It's nice being 25 minutes from Maryville, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Kodak too, in case of jobs.