Relocating to Knoxville area, What about crime, etc. (Jackson, Rutledge: salon, apartments)

[ozrock]

Hello. My wife and I are in our late 30's. We are planning to move to the Knoxville area to attend Grad. school. We lived in Nashville about 7 years ago and really liked it.

Lately, we have been reading about the crime rate in Knoxville. Is it as bad as it sounds compared to the national average? We don't plan to live right in Knoxville. Ideally, we would like to live within a 30-45 minute commute of Knoxville. We are looking for some good little towns within that commuting distance with low crime, decent home prices, etc.

Also, if anyone has had any experience living in both Nashville and Knoxville, a comparison of all the above would be appreciated.

All advice is welcome.

[Cassie7]

I've been living in Knoxville for about 15 years now and like everywhere else, there are good areas and bad areas in the city. Knoxville it pretty spread out though with distinctive north, south, east and west areas. Hubby and I are partial to south and north.

[kayddid17]

I have lived in Knoxville my whole life, and have never seen it this bad. And unfortunately, the stuff you are hearing in the news is only about 1/2 of what is going on in Knoxville. I know personally of really bad things that have happened recently that never got reported b/c of bad publicity for Knoxville. Just to give you an idea, in the past few months, I know of a gang rape of a mentally challenged girl, a knife point robbery of a tanning salon attendant, and 2 purse snatchings, one that happened in broad daylight at Knoxville center mall at knife point, in which the victim was stabbed, and one that happened at the famous Washington Ridge apartments where Chris and Channon were abducted, at gunpoint. The one that happened at Washington Ridge resulted in the victim getting her jaw broken b/c the guy hit her in the face with a gun. Crime is definitely an issue here now, and a lot of it has to do with our corrupt system. I am currently looking for a place in Rutledge, which is about a 30-45 minute drive from Knoxville, depending on how far up you move. It is a very nice, quiet area, where people still have morales. I would suggest you steer clear of Knoxville, and look for a place somewhere like that.

[hiknapster]

Actually, Christian and Channon were abducted from the Washington Ridge Apartments, but were then raped, tortured and killed. You don't see Al Sharpton show up to protest THAT.

I think it is getting so unsafe everywhere. Now THAT is a shame.

[pdq]

The violent crime rate in the Knoxville area is much higher than the national average. Google some statistics, you'll be amazed. Even in utopian west Knoxville there is crime, panhandlers everywhere, etc.

Crime is getting bad in many places but I've never seen it this bad here.

[ashsuzmoore]

I found this forum while I was trying to find crime statistics for the city - my car just got broken into Monday afternoon. I parked it under the South Knoxville bridge - where I park all the time, and so do a lot of other people. I walked for 1/2 an hour and came back to find my window busted and my purse gone. I know that car break-ins can happen anywhere though. Knoxville is kind of a weird place. My husband and I just moved here a little over a year ago, from Southern California (although I'm originally from Nashville). Knoxville seems like this happy, sleepy, cozy small town and I thought it was perfectly safe. But I've come to realize that it has a really rough side to it that pretty much permeates the whole place - it's just not big enough to say "oh we're safe, we're on the right side of town." The entire town is what, 9 miles across? While the crime can happen anywhere, though, it seems like opportunity is limited and that the city is incredibly divided. You either have money and live out west or you don't. I think that's what it boils down to - this town won't ever be safe and it won't ever grow if there isn't more opportunity here for everyone, and if the schools aren't improved *drastically*. It's just a poor, poor, ratty, divided little burg, a surprising number of people seem to want to keep it divided, and I can't wait for my husband to finish school so we can leave.

[inave]

Perhaps it's a matter of perspective. I was born and raised in New Orleans and lived in Jackson, MS for 20 years before moving to East TN 19 months ago. Comparatively speaking, Knoxville is virtually crime-free! I can't see ever moving away. Utopia doesn't exist and Mayberry is fictional.

[goodbyehollywood]

Originally Posted by inave

Perhaps it's a matter of perspective. I was born and raised in New Orleans and lived in Jackson, MS for 20 years before moving to East TN 19 months ago. Comparatively speaking, Knoxville is virtually crime-free! I can't see ever moving away. Utopia doesn't exist and Mayberry is fictional.

Thanks for showing some much-needed perspective, inave! Crime is everywhere now, so why should Knoxville, Nashville, Charlotte or Chicago be any different? With an increasingly mobile and transient population comes crime and other undesirable elements. That's not going to change; in fact, it's going to get worse, and the locals like it even less than the newcomers and short-timers do.

Those who think that Knoxville is a crime mecca are not likely to find crime-free happiness in any other growing, mid-size city. You're going to need to go way rural to find that... then there would be a whole new set of problems to contend with. Or spend some time in a big city, where you're in danger of getting hit by a stray bullet walking to your car-- or getting carjacked once you're in it-- and get some perspective firsthand. You might be glad to come home to Knoxville, Nashville, Charlotte or Raleigh.

The purveyors of violent crime are the disenchanted and the disenfranchised, and there seem to be more and more of them moving to Tennessee cities. People move here because it's cheaper than where they were, then pick out all the things they don't like and complain about them. Perspective. Every city has problems. If you're in a bad part of town, move to a safer part. (Yes, they exist.) If you know of a better city, go there and enjoy it. If you don't, stay here and be grateful for the good things, instead of focusing on the bad. You'll be happier... and those around you will be, too!

[knoxgarden]

I grew up in Los Angeles and spent most of my life in Washington, D.C.
There is nowhere in Knoxville I wouldn't go.
I haven't had my car broken into. I went through three stereos in a year in DC before I gave up. I haven't had my house broken into. I had a burglary a year in DC. They even stole an alarm system.
I don't hear random gunfire like I did in DC. You don't hear about drive by shootings every day. I don't see drug dealers on every corner.
Why would you leave a purse visible in a car? That's an invitation to theft.

[jmarkey]

I kind of wondered that myself. Whether I lived in Booneyville or downtown, my purse never was left in my car. In fact, nothing of value is ever visible.

Crime is random and unfortunately you should expect it anytime, anywhere. Taking care to protect yourself and your belongs should be ingrained habits, particularly if you're female.

We had a home invasion when we lived in an area in PA that was farmland. That convinced me that you can't generalize about which areas are safe and which aren't.