Need Rural...but w/in 30 min of Knoxville (Chattanooga, Johnson City: real estate, low crime)

[bbkaren]

My husband and I are looking to relocate to Tennessee. We have a friend who lived in Knoxville and we like the TN culture, although really want a more "pure" rural setting. We still need to get to work, though, and hubby feels Knoxville is the best place to work, for him (he's an installation manager for a large alarm company) and probably for me as well (I'm in Marketing).

We live in NJ right now but don't belong here. We need to be further away from people and we're becoming stressed out with the overcrowding here. We'd like to leave the rat race behind in 5-7 years.

Right now we have the best of all worlds: we have 1/2 acre that is surrounded on 3 sides by protected state land. Our road is a dirt road and we're at the very end, so we have no traffic or problems here, really. We need to be away from the general populous, that's just our personality; we're friendly people but really relish being left alone because we're so busy.

We're just looking for a slower-paced life. Our mortgage payments on this house are $3,500 a month and it's killing us. We both work full time, plus we're musicians and work on the weekends as well, to make ends meet. We're running every second, just to keep up.

We're also concerned that, although our home is 20 minutes from "everything" (wal mart, grocery stores, etc.--which is perfect for us!), that soon we'll see "civilization" moving up the mountain towards us.

We have two teenagers, who will probably be on their own by the time we move, and also a 1-year old, who'll be in school, so school quality is a concern.

So...we're looking for:

1. Rural area--peaceful, maybe mountains (or at least near them!), a decent piece of property (2 or so acres...or another spot near protected land!). Within a 30-minute commute to Knoxville. I also like the idea of having Oak Ridge in the loop since that area seems to have some good job opportunities as well. We are not in the least bit interested in the new gated communities or subdivisions.

2. A slower-paced lifestyle. I know most people look for "growing" communities. We want a community that's likely to stay small. But we need it to be close enough to Knoxville that we have a reasonable trip to work.

3. We tend to be more on the conservative, old-fashioned side, so a "forward-thinking" or liberal mindset isn't really on our list of priorities.

4. Any sort of music scene (at bars, nightclubs, etc.) would be a plus! My husband plays classic rock and I'm in an 80's cover band so it doesn't have to be a "cutting edge" music scene for us. I'm sure there's a scene in Knoxville so it's not that big a deal.

5. Good, competent school system.

6. Of course, low crime, good air quality, etc...

Any ideas? There are so many communities that have promise but I have nothing but raw data to go by. I'd like to hear from people who know!

My idea of what we'd be looking for is a place like Erwin (I fell in love with that town, just by reading about it). It's right in the mountains with the Cherokee National Forest and whatnot...but only a few miles from Johnson City. Hubby rejected that idea, though, because he's afraid Johnson City isn't large enough to offer adequate job opportunities. Boo! I really liked the look of the place...

[Putty]

Have u checked into Maryville? I am not from the area but I have been thru there many times, and it is right outside of Knoxville. Really great library and park system. Still be close enough to Knoxville to work and enjoy nightlife.

[JMT]

Maryville is indeed a nice choice. It's got great schools and is only 20 minutes from downtown Knoxville. My only concern is the traffic. Another post mentioned how much traffic there is in Maryville.

Dandridge is becoming a popular bedroom community of Knoxville, but it's also a very old town with a quaint, historic downtown on the banks of Douglas Lake. It's about 30 minutes east of Knoxville. Dandridge is the only town in America named for Georgie Washington's wife, Martha Dandridge Washington. How about that.

As for a conservative lifestyle, you definitely will find that just about anywhere in East Tennessee. Even Oak Ridge with its thousands of PhDs and nuclear physicists skews conservative in its election results.

And my goodness, for less than half of your current house payment you can find a lovely home with land in rural East Tennessee.

Good luck to you!

[mbmouse]

You might want to rethink Johnson City if you really liked Erwin, I personally don't care for it, and I don't think the school system is that great, But there are good job opportunities here and you don't have to deal with the traffic of Knoxville. As for music, there are a lot! Check out the local newspaper: wwwtricitiesnews.com and look at the "music scene" section. Lots of local bands play in this area.
As for a town to live in, try Blountville, great schools, feels VERY rural in many areas, affordable and the schools are good. You can get to any one of the tri-Cities in less than 30 minutes.
Just a suggestion if you really did like East TN.
If you are insistent on Knoxville, try looking into Mascot or Strawberry Plains they are just to the East of Knox and rather rural, you can find several acres for under 100k.
Good luck to you and keep us posted!
Merry Christmas.

[bbkaren]

I don't know why, but the newspaper link doesn't seem to work. I'll keep tweaking it...

I really am fond of the tri-cities area and feel that sprawl (which is a nightmare here in NJ) would take longer in that area, than in the Knoxville area.

I just need to convince hubby! lol

He's judging a city by its population to determine its "worth" as a source of employment. I feel that the population doesn't determine what companies exist there--only what people live there!

Is there a resource about the economics of an area? I'd love to be able to say, "Hey, in Tri-Cities, there are this many companies of this size, and in Knoxville there are this many..." or something to that effect.

He feels that Tri-Cities is sort of a non-contender because of the cities' smaller populations. I want to change his mind!! ; )

[jonesy]

mbmouse & JMT mentioned Strawberry Plains, Mascot, and Dandridge. These are all good locations. You may want to add New Market to your list. It is nestled in with those other communities. If you look to south Knoxville for employment, you may consider Lenoir City and Greenback. Sometimes you can find good real estate nearby. If you are not locked into Knoxville, Chattanooga is another fairly large city with many possibilities. You can usually find housing in Cleveland that meets your desires. However, I prefer Knoxville. As far as the Tri-Cities goes, you have to lump the populations together. Don't forget the outer lying cities such as Blountville and Elizabethton.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by bbkaren

I don't know why, but the newspaper link doesn't seem to work. I'll keep tweaking it...

I really am fond of the tri-cities area and feel that sprawl (which is a nightmare here in NJ) would take longer in that area, than in the Knoxville area.

I just need to convince hubby! lol

He's judging a city by its population to determine its "worth" as a source of employment. I feel that the population doesn't determine what companies exist there--only what people live there!

Is there a resource about the economics of an area? I'd love to be able to say, "Hey, in Tri-Cities, there are this many companies of this size, and in Knoxville there are this many..." or something to that effect.

He feels that Tri-Cities is sort of a non-contender because of the cities' smaller populations. I want to change his mind!! ; )

The Tri Cities and Knoxville both have a lot of jobs, although Knoxville has more. According to the Tennessee Department of Labor, there were 233,820 people working in the Tri Cities area in October and 429,300 working in the Knoxville area. Sounds like a lot of jobs to me. Both areas have very low unemployment rates: Tri Cities was 3.9 percent in October, Knoxville was 3.4 percent.

The Tri Cities is beautiful and offers a more rural lifestyle. But I don't know if I agree that the Tri Cities has less sprawl. Since the Tri Cities is so spread out, by definition it has more sprawl than Knoxville, which has a highly concentrated urban core that doesn't exist in the Tri Cities.

I really like both areas, though. I'd probably rather live in Knoxville just because I like a downtown with big buildings and an airport with more than just a dozen flights a day (I love to travel). But if you're looking for a more rural lifestyle, then the Tri Cities might fit the bill for you.

Good luck!

[borntoservegod]

Hi! I am a resident near Maynardville, TN in a little place called Powder Springs! Union County is a great county all around!!!!!! Very nice communites, lakefronts, and it is within 20 minutes of Knoxville!
Go to www.unioncochamber.com to find out alot more about this wonderful county!!! Best of luck!

[mbmouse]

Sorry about the newspaper link issue, try this one: http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/home.html

[bbkaren]

No problem, mouse! Thanks--I'll give it a go.

I've just been made aware of another issue and if I'm not mistaken, you can clue me in on it.

We'd like to buy a piece of land now, and build sometime in the next 5 years or so after the land is paid off, then move down after this house sells.

Our friend is a realtor and just bought some land in vermont...and cautioned us of two things:

1. The environmental laws are about to change, so they have to build now instead of several years from now, or they might never be able to build on it.

2. He says it's difficult to get financing on a piece of land you're not building on immediately. I suppose I see some logic to that, but if the land is worth it and we were to put, say, 20% or more down, wouldn't a financing company go for that? We don't have the cash to pay it off in full right away.

I know you're in financing of some sort...can you shed any light?

Thanks so much for all your valuable input.

Incidentally, what are your thoughts on the Townsend area...or Walland? The homes seem a little pricier there and land seems to be exclusively sold in subdivisions but I imagine there's got to be something hiding there for us if that's the right place to be. After all, we found this little slice of heaven in the middle of the most congested state in the country (or something like that...)! We're only 45 minutes from New York City but you'd never know it.