Future Grad student at UTK.where to live while in school (Knoxville: for rent, condos)

[lenalogan]

I am researching the option of doing my Master's degree in Rehab counseling at UTK. I will be bringing my husband( electrician) 3 boys. ( 14,8,5) dog, birds, rabbits.bla bla bla.. We will be looking for a rental. Yes, Iknow it will be difficult with the pets but most live outdoors. I am looking for GOOD public school or is that an oxy moron in TN? We would love to live in the country, and yes we are hillbillies to begin with so COUNTRY is Okay, If you can combine country with good schools,not sure.

[Blink101]

Originally Posted by lenalogan

I am looking for GOOD public school or is that an oxy moron in TN?

What a horrible thing to say... If that was a joke then I would not advise making it when you're in the company of your future neighbors.

As for your question, I can think of quite a few areas which might be nice if you don't mind commuting. But first, do you have any preferences about renting in a house or a condo? Most students I know who rent houses are in the Fort Sanders area, which is fine for rowdy college kids, but I would not recommend that area for a young family... Many of the nearby condos are beautiful and very safe, but most of them are also more geared towards young college students so your kids might be exposed to things like beer pong in the parking lot. I think that for renting it might be better to look somewhere within 10-20 minutes from campus for a more family friendly environment. I know of some friends who rented a nice home in the Bearden area and they have a very nice school district there.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by lenalogan

I am researching the option of doing my Master's degree in Rehab counseling at UTK. I will be bringing my husband( electrician) 3 boys. ( 14,8,5) dog, birds, rabbits.bla bla bla.. We will be looking for a rental. Yes, Iknow it will be difficult with the pets but most live outdoors. I am looking for GOOD public school or is that an oxy moron in TN? We would love to live in the country, and yes we are hillbillies to begin with so COUNTRY is Okay, If you can combine country with good schools,not sure.

Oxymoron is one word. I'm sure the public schools will teach you that.

[lenalogan]

Blink101; I have no idea what the public school system is like in TN. I am in Fl and I cannot say that public schools are not much to brag about. the definition of good is very broad. What somebody says is good, can be poor from others prospective. Anyway, through little greater research on my part, I have found (like any other state) counties with schools that are ranked high on the national level. Thank you for the input, I obviously cannot live in a condo with all my animals, so I will look at the areas that you mentioned. Thanks!!
Nashvols. wow,you must be the official spell checker on this forum. I had my computer set on another language, so it changed over to another word automatically. I guess I have to proof read my short blurbs. I hope people in TN are a little more helpful than Nashvols.

[lenalogan]

Blink101
I checked the areas that you suggested.Well checked it as well as you can over the internet. One thing that is harder to find out is the morning traffic congestion. What areas should be avoided from that standpoint? ( going to UTK, morning commute)

[Blink101]

Originally Posted by lenalogan

Blink101; I have no idea what the public school system is like in TN. I am in Fl and I cannot say that public schools are not much to brag about. the definition of good is very broad. What somebody says is good, can be poor from others prospective. Anyway, through little greater research on my part, I have found (like any other state) counties with schools that are ranked high on the national level. Thank you for the input, I obviously cannot live in a condo with all my animals, so I will look at the areas that you mentioned. Thanks

That is very true. Good (like beauty) is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, I don't have the data off hand about which of the local public school districts is the best in the county... But I do know the school I went to, Farragut, has consistently performed well above the state average. The Farragut area is kind of pricey, but you might be able to get a place around there. Though it's technically only a 20-30 minute drive to the UT campus from there, I advise starting around 1 hour in case of morning traffic so you'll still have plenty of time to walk to class. Bearden is a fairly busy place for traffic if you go by Kingston Pike, but there are lots of back roads and I-40 is very convenient and reliable. Once you get to the interstate it's smooth sailing! Oak Ridge is also a good place to shoot for. Some people get nervous about the Secret City being home to ORNL (where the uranium for the atom bomb which devastated Hiroshima was enriched) but to my knowledge the Department of Energy is very good at regulating its largest research lab. I think Halls is also supposed to be pretty good, but I'm not sure about how pricey it might be to rent around there or what the commute might be like... Sorry, that isn't terribly helpful, but those are the school districts I'm most familiar with which are rumored to be high performers.

Oh, and don't mind nashvols. Some people are very sensitive to "outsiders" poking fun at Tennessee when it comes to education. That's why I don't advise making jokes about that sort of thing. For some reason it's fine with Tennesseans when we jokingly call our state the "Edumacation State" (or whatever) but we get all kinds of upset when someone else does it. Once you've settled in, I'm sure you'll do just fine making friends so long as you have a positive attitude.

[lenalogan]

Blink101, Thank you for your very informative posting. It is so difficult to know where to start looking. I will do some "research" ( incorrect use of " I know Nashvols, but otherwise you will get me for using research incorrectly) about your suggested areas. Blink101,thank you for be so helpful.

[Barking Spider]

Traffic congestion is also relative. For someone coming from a big city such as Atlanta, Los Angles, etc, the traffic in Knoxville is nothing. If you are coming from a city where the traffic never slows down, then you will be in for a shock.

Traffic for the most part is not an issue, unless there is an event going on, a wreck, Christmas shopping season, or bad weather. That said, there are two times during the day that the traffic coming into and out of Oak Ridge make doing the turn around on Pellissippi Parkway almost impossible.

There is the regular commute times that traffic is heavier than mid day, but you will get the feel after a few days.

[lenalogan]

Barking spider. Thank you.
My husband and I are heading up to your area in the near future. I am all to familiar with traffic congestion. lived in Ca for years, cannot get any worse than that. Now in Fl, with very little issues ( Jacksonville) There are always pockets in any city where the planning was poor and we pay for it with our time.

[weisgarber1]

Originally Posted by lenalogan

I hope people in TN are a little more helpful than Nashvols.

NV's comment seemed to be related to your education/schools comment and attitude, imvho.