Need Rural...but w/in 30 min of Knoxville (Finger: mortgage, zoning)

[sandymwp]

I used to live in Knoxville (Farragut) and will be moving back to Lenoir City. We own a lakefront lot there and will be building shortly. Lenoir City or Loudon will have what you are looking for......all within a short distance from West Knoxville (where all the action is).

Good luck. I can't wait to get back to God's country!!

[tntornadox]

I'm sorry I didn't catch this thread sooner, or you could have put this place on your "must visit" list when you came down.

Since you seem interested in Maynardville/Luttrell (Union County), perhaps you could look a little more north of Luttrell in either Powder Springs or Washburn in Grainger County. Taxes are lower, land cheaper, and is very much less developed, and will be some time before anything happens anyway. I am a graduate of Washburn High School, and have lived here all of my life, I still live at home and commute for work in Knoxville almost every day- it takes me 30-35 minutes to get to either Halls, or East Towne, which ever direction you take. (East Towne has the Knoxville Center Mall, where I work).

Best thing about it- you really don't have to get on any major roadways to get there from here. I commute down Washington Pike straight into Knoxville every day, and never get into any traffic!

Another huge plus of North Grainger County (Powder Springs, Washburn) is the school itself. While i'm sure it dosen't look like much on paper, Washburn has a fine, public, PreK-12 school that is all connected and on ONE campus (very rare, I know). Classes (grades) will usually have less than 60 kids each, usually less than that, alot of attention is granted to the kids. I think this is a huge advantage over Union County, where they have a several elementary schools, a huge county middle school, and a huge county high school (commute to each).

Washburn has medical/dental facilities, and library. Not much else going on in this town- the school is the life. Best of all, it is rural, but close enough to Knoxville that you don't feel like you are in the sticks.

Reading your first post, it seemed everything you wanted matched here quite well. If you have any questions, just post here.

[shareff98]

Originally Posted by tntornadox

I'm sorry I didn't catch this thread sooner, or you could have put this place on your "must visit" list when you came down.

Since you seem interested in Maynardville/Luttrell (Union County), perhaps you could look a little more north of Luttrell in either Powder Springs or Washburn in Grainger County. Taxes are lower, land cheaper, and is very much less developed, and will be some time before anything happens anyway. I am a graduate of Washburn High School, and have lived here all of my life, I still live at home and commute for work in Knoxville almost every day- it takes me 30-35 minutes to get to either Halls, or East Towne, which ever direction you take. (East Towne has the Knoxville Center Mall, where I work).

Best thing about it- you really don't have to get on any major roadways to get there from here. I commute down Washington Pike straight into Knoxville every day, and never get into any traffic!

Another huge plus of North Grainger County (Powder Springs, Washburn) is the school itself. While i'm sure it dosen't look like much on paper, Washburn has a fine, public, PreK-12 school that is all connected and on ONE campus (very rare, I know). Classes (grades) will usually have less than 60 kids each, usually less than that, alot of attention is granted to the kids. I think this is a huge advantage over Union County, where they have a several elementary schools, a huge county middle school, and a huge county high school (commute to each).

Washburn has medical/dental facilities, and library. Not much else going on in this town- the school is the life. Best of all, it is rural, but close enough to Knoxville that you don't feel like you are in the sticks.

Reading your first post, it seemed everything you wanted matched here quite well. If you have any questions, just post here.

Hi. What would be the closest stores like a Walmart, grocery store and those types. How long to get to? Thanx

[SmokyMtnGal]

Originally Posted by samiam1215

Hi everyone. Thank you to the regular readers and writers who take care of us wanna be Tennesseeans. I am from Western NY. My husband and I want to move to the Knoxville area. I have a severe migraine problem. Both Knoxville and Buffalo, NY (the area we are leaving) are high on the list of "migraine cities." They published this list right after we decided we wanted to move to Knoxville! I see that someone wrote that most people have sinus problems, which kind of coincide with migraines. I am curious to hear from any migraineurs out there. Has anyone felt any better or worse since living in the Knoxville area? And also very important, are there any neurologists in the area who specialize in migraines? Mine is atypical, just like me! Thanks again.

Hi -

I am also a migraine sufferer who finally has them under control! Two fabulous neurologists are Dr. William Paulsen and Dr. John Dougherty. They both practice at The University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Also, one thing to note about this area. Those people that suffer with allergies do need to understand that due to the natural beauty here that there are a lot of allergens and pollens in the air. Many, many people have to seek help for their allergies here. It's all worth it to live here.

Best of luck to you.

[hiknapster]

And there is incredible pollution that gets stuck in the Tennessee valley. Right here in Knoxville. In the middle of summer you can barely see the trees.

[tntornadox]

While Washburn does not have a grocery store of its own, almost all of the towns around it do. Maynardville has several, as does Rutledge, Bean Station, among others. Depending on where you are in the area, most stores such as these are 15 minutes or less away.

The nearest Wal-Mart, once again is dependant upon where you are... There are Supercenters in East Knoxville (35 mins), Morristown (20-25 mins), and regular stores in Halls (North Knoxville, 25-30 mins), and a shot up 25E lands you in Tazewell, which also has a (very small) Wal-Mart... (15-20 mins)

There is also a huge, new Target store near Knoxville Center Mall, about the same distance to the East Knoxville Wal-Mart. I prefer Target to Wal-Mart, but everyone has their preferences.

We have several family owned stores in the area, however. You can get the bare essentials here in town, although we usually go elsewhere.

There are malls in Knoxville and Morristown. The big local regional mall is Knoxville Center in East Knoxville, but there is also West Towne Mall (other side of town), and Turkey Creek.

All the malls have traditional anchors in common: Sears, JCPenney, Belk.
The two Knoxville malls also feature Dillard's. West Town has all these plus Parisian.

Any other q's, let me know.

[bbkaren]

Originally Posted by bbkaren

...
Still waiting to hear from the TVA on whether or not we'll be able to use that land for lake access...

So...we finally heard back from TVA. Coming from NJ, we're used to disclaimers and whatnot anytime we see something in writing, so we're encouraged by what we see:

"TVA would entertain a request for private water use facilities (including an access corridor or vegetation management plan) at the location you have inquired about. TVA would also like to inform you that due to the presence of significant wetlands on this tract any request will be looked at very closely to determine if the proposed action(s) would interfere with the wetland vegetations ability to function. An application for a private dock will also be heavily scrutinized due to the size of the cove at this location. All Section 26a approvals are subject to Natural Resource and Cultural Resource reviews, which may require modification or denial of the proposed facilities. If you have any further questions please contact me using the information provided below. I apoligize for the delay in responding to your inquiry."

And as a followup:

"FYI. Any vegetation alteration on TVA property does require a permit. Give me a call or e-mail me and we'll talk about that process when you are ready. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions."

This is as much of a commitment as I think we could hope for in writing. We just wanted to know we could make a trail to bring a boat through so we could go fishing.

So now what? Do we do a perk test? Make an offer first? I'm sort of excited now, because I cannot wait to get out of this Godforsaken state.

[mbmouse]

I would make an offer but be sure to put in contingencies that the perk test and any other tests needed come back for the good. You may also want to continue your conversations with TVA and see if they will come out and meet you on the property and show them exactly what and where you want to clear. You could put the TVA approval as a contingency as well.
Just my thoughts on it. Hope it all works out the way you hope it will.

[bbkaren]

Thanks everyone! We have offer/contract in hand waiting for us to sign it and see if he accepts our offer.

There's lots of contingencies basically saying that if we aren't satisfied by all the soil surveys, etc., or we can't put in a septic, or that the land survey doesn't confirm the advertised lot size, all bets are off.

It's listed as .81 acre, and I think they calculated wrong (or lazily). Using the measurements of the two sides of the triangle (89 and 398 feet), and calculating as though it were a rectangle, this lot is .81. But keep in mind, it's not a rectangle; it's half of that.

SO I think we're going to see a significant dip in price once the survey is done. Or again, all bets are off...

Setbacks seem okay, (I did a rough model on graph paper; we could theoretically put a 30x50 house there without a variance--larger than we'd want) and it's not in a flood plain.

Assuming he accepts our offer, we have 120 days to get all the testing done and close. That gives us until November to figure it all out.

Cross your fingers for us!

[hiknapster]

I will! Sounds like you really know what you are doing. Good for you!