Campbell, Jefferson, Greene & Loudon Counties (Knoxville, Johnson City: fit in, transplants, crime)

[JLD78]

This is another where should I live post. I'm a single, 40 year old female who would like to buy a house with acreage under $200,000 within 1 hour of Knoxville if possible. I don't like having neighbors too close. I've been reading that the rural areas have more crime and drug problems than closer to the city. Being a single woman in a rural area I'd worry about my safety. I also don't want to live in a town where people will treat me bad for being an outsider having not grown up there. I was wondering how the counties I listed in the title are. I don't have to worry about schools and I work from home so I would have to be able to get internet (not satellite). And a grocery store within 15 min from home would be nice. I use to live in Maryville for 8 years and to me Maryville is way too crowded. I hated all of the traffic. Where would be a good place for me?

[Serious Conversation]

Out of these, probably Loudon or Greene. If you want within an hour of Knoxville, that basically eliminates Greene County.

Tusculum and Limestone in Greene County are rural, farming towns with lovely mountain views. The city of Greeneville has the essentials - two small hospitals, Food City, Publix, Lowe's, Walmart, the usual fast food joints, and some sit-down, chain restaurants. More extensive shopping, dining, and medical will be in Johnson City. Knoxville is still quite the haul. I'd avoid the areas of Greene County that are close to Cocke County. The areas of Greene County closest to Johnson City/Washington County are pretty and rural, and mostly without the drug/crime problems you get in more isolated counties.

I'd avoid Cocke, Jefferson, and Campbell counties entirely. Newport (Cocke County) and La Follette (Campbell County) are notorious for crime and drug issues. Jefferson County is somewhat better, but I've had some issues personally down there to where it strikes me as very "good old boy," and I'd be very hesitant to recommend it to anyone not looking at lake property.

I don't know as much about Loudon, but it is home to an upscale, mostly retiree enclave called Tellico Village. It would stand to reason that it has fewer problems and more services than drug counties like Cocke and Campbell.

If you're not from the general area, it can be difficult to make friends in these rural areas. Most of them have few transplants, and are populated mostly by people who have been there their whole lives, and the social circles can be tight knit and closed off.

Internet access can be problematic in rural areas. You'll want to check the website for the ISP in a given area and make sure that a property's street address is serviced. Some small towns and rural areas have good internet access, others are stuck on dial-up.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

Internet access can be problematic in rural areas. You'll want to check the website for the ISP in a given area and make sure that a property's street address is serviced. Some small towns and rural areas have good internet access, others are stuck on dial-up.

Great advice.

I can't stress the bolded segment enough. Don't just check to see if the town is serviced, check the address.

I don't know if Tellico Village has high-speed internet, but it would be your best bet. What you consider "too close" might be an issue, though.

Ultimately, you may not find a good fit in the South, unless you compromise on your wants.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Great advice.

I can't stress the bolded segment enough. Don't just check to see if the town is serviced, check the address.

I don't know if Tellico Village has high-speed internet, but it would be your best bet. What you consider "too close" might be an issue, though.

Ultimately, you may not find a good fit in the South, unless you compromise on your wants.

There was a post on the retirement forum a few months ago about internet access in Hawkins County that got a couple hundred replies.

The person came from California, basically sight unseen, and bought a home on a rural road. Only one home had sold on that road all year, so it was easy to determine which house the OP was referencing. The home could only get satellite internet, and as fate would have it, the person had an internet based business.

It turned out that Charter's service map showed service ending not far from this house. I had to drive down that way for a Christmas party, drove by the house, got some addresses, and plugged them into the map. I'd say service terminated a few hundred yards before that house - not far at all. The service map said the poster's specific house didn't have internet access. It would have been easy to have verified this from anywhere with the house's address and googling "Church Hill TN internet provider."

Here's another wrinkle for the OP. Rural properties that are in valleys may not even have adequate line-of-sight for satellite internet to work. I know a few people who have run into this. Also, some small towns and rural areas that do have internet may be serviced by a small, local telco, and not one of the major providers, driving prices up. I used to work in a small town in southwest Virginia that is serviced by a local telco. A standard 100 mbps package is three times what the same speed is with Comcast in Johnson City, and Comcast will basically throw in 100 TV channels.

You'll also want to check and see if a rural property has municipal water, well/septic conditions, cellular service, and anything else you may need.

[DaveC20853]

On this site: http://distil.flexmls.com/cgi-bin/ma...zs6d64si90i,16 I see 7 listing for homes under 200K with 3+ acres in Loudon County, I would suggest searching on there for your specific requirements then ask about that particular area. You can look up area statistics on the City-Data main site and Zillow pricing trends/history.


Having boots on the ground is vital in making a decision.

[JLD78]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

[TheShadow]

Loudon County sounds perfect for you. You can live in the rural areas, or in a suburban type setting with homes on lots from 1/2 acre to 2 acres. $200k would get you a decent brick (tidy, modestly updated, but not fancy) home on an acre, or a newish manufactured home on a couple acres . The actual town of Loudon is pretty tiny and has a minimum of stores and service businesses, but Lenoir City is also in the county and has most of what you need shopping-wise and restaurants, a small regional hospital, and all the shopping and entertainment of Turkey Creek is 15 minutes away, Knoxville is about 30-40 minutes, depending on exactly where you live. Both have beautiful lakes and quiet country living.