Moving back to Knoxville after 30+ years - What to expect? (Alcoa: apartments, buying a house)

[tvfinak]

After being gone for over 30 years we'll finally buying a house and moving back to Knoxville. The wife and I left in the late 70s and lived in numerous places including our current Alaska location. I was born and grew up in Knoxville, graduated from UT, and worked for TVA, so Knoxville is defintely "home". We also kept some land we own on the French Broad River in Knox Cty so that was somewhat of an anchor.

We'll closing later this month on a home off Alcoa Highway on Ft. Loudon Lake / TN River so it should be a quiet location to settle in for a while.

I've noted the explosion of the wildlife population, the expansion of UT, and the growth in general in the past 30 years. Question is: What other big changes and surprises should we expect to see and experience in the Knoxville area?

[LisaCarol5]

More traffic... Construction...

[BST]

Originally Posted by LisaCarol5

More traffic... Construction...

Ironically...compared to how poorly the interstate system was designed through Knoxville in the late 70s...the traffic flow will seem like a breeze.

There is no more "malfunction junction" at the I-40/I-75 merger.

"Civilization" now extends well past Walker Springs Road, where there once was a gap until reaching Campbell Station Rd. In fact, the developments between Cedar Bluff Rd and Lovell Rd will likely be the biggest surprise to anyone who last saw Knoxville 30 years ago.

"Downtown West" is more like "Downtown Central" as the westward creep pushes out toward Lenoir City.

There is something to do on Market Square every weekend, instead of just during the Dogwood Arts Festival.

The Henley Street Bridge is currently closed for renovations.

Deane Hill Country Club is a strip mall and assisted living apartments.

[hiknapster]

And downtown is mostly restored, including the Old City, South and North Gay and Market Square. Center City is thriving! We have a farmer's market going on around here almost every day of the week and Saturday's one at Market Square is awesome.

[creeksitter]

I was going to say that downtown will blow you away - but since downtown was still a pretty hoppin' in the late 70s you might not notice it as much as someone who moved away 15 years ago.

[Beretta]

The Pellissippi Parkway has made life so much easier!

There's a great hockey team in town. A great baseball team/stadium out at exit 407.

Regas is closed.

Turkey Creek shopping area.

Welcome Home!

[JMT]

The OP left town before the World's Fair was held, so all of World's Fair Park will be new, including the Sunsphere.

Baptist Hospital downtown has closed, but the UT Medical Center has grown by leaps and bounds. Fort Sanders Regional Hospital is also considerably larger than it was in the late 70s. Children's Hospital has also expanded quite a bit.

I-640 wasn't around in the late 70s.

Knoxville Center Mall didn't exist then, either.

The airport terminal is larger and a heck of a lot nicer than it was back in the late 70s.

The old minor league ballpark just east of downtown, Bill Meyer Stadium, is no more.

Neyland Stadium has been expanded. Twice. A "new" basketball arena (built in the 80s) is next to Neyland. It is the largest in the SEC.

Also on campus: the old undergraduate library (Hodges) was expanded to become UT's main library. It's huge. Several new engineering buildings have been built on the Hill. The old Glocker Hall (business school) was torn down and replaced with the mammoth, state-of-the-art Haslam Building. The Haslam family also donated $10 million for a massive new music building which is currently under construction at the site of the old music building. And the old Alumni Memorial Gym has been completely renovated and houses a gorgeous auditorium which features the largest on-campus pipe organ in the country (also courtesy of the Haslams).

There's a nice riverwalk along the Tennessee River downtown. Some very nice restaurants are also along the riverwalk including the upscale chain Ruth's Chris (steaks) and the mammoth, locally run Calhoun's (BBQ). None of that was there in the late 70s.

[Brian]

JMT, I thought that the Baptist Hospital in Downtown is now known as Physicians Regional Medical Center? I believe they reopened it couple of weeks ago.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Brian

JMT, I thought that the Baptist Hospital in Downtown is now known as Physicians Regional Medical Center? I believe they reopened it couple of weeks ago.

The old St Mary's north of downtown is now known as Physicians Regional Medical Center. The old Baptist Hospital downtown is still boarded up and dark. I wish they'd do something with it.

Physicians Regional Medical Center | hma.com

At any rate, I forgot to mention in my earlier post that not only has Baptist Hospital closed, but both the Baptist and St. Mary's names have now disappeared from Knoxville hospitals.

[RichRollin]

Originally Posted by JMT

The old St Mary's north of downtown is now known as Physicians Regional Medical Center. The old Baptist Hospital downtown is still boarded up and dark. I wish they'd do something with it.

Physicians Regional Medical Center | hma.com

^^^this^^^. It's a HUGE building just sitting there. IMO it used to be somewhat of a landmark downtown. I hope they do something with that location in the near future.