Questions about where to live (Knoxville, Chattanooga: apartments, rental, how much)

[scottcolby]

Hi everyone!

I'm wondering what you can tell me about Fountain City.

I visited Knoxville about 3 weeks ago to look around to see if I'd like living there. I looked at a few apartments while I was there.

I primarily looked at places in the neighborhoods of 4th and Gill, Old North Knoxville, Old City and South Knoxville (along the river).

I really enjoy walkable neighborhoods and these seem to be the best locations for me, especially in a new city as I try to meet people.

The problem I'm running into in the places I looked at were for the most part, they were out of my price range, there was no availability (or they won't know their availability for a few more weeks) or catered more towards students than I prefer.

As I continue my search online, I found some pretty nice apartments in Fountain City called Cottages on Tazewell (address 5000 Tazewell Pike). These are in my price range and they have availability.

It looks like it's not really walkable to anything, but was looking to get an idea on what that area is like. One of the reasons I like walkable areas is because I work from home, so I often like to walk to coffee shops to work, or just walk around shops if I get bored.

Besides liking walkable areas, I do like being outside in nature as well and it looks like there are some parks near there.

Unfortunately, this would put me further from Urban Wildnerness and it looks like the closest non chain (non Starbucks, Dunkin) coffee shop is about 5 miles away.

How would the drive to downtown and the Smokies be?

Thank you!

[creeksitter]

Tazewell pike is a busy road with very few sidewalks. That particular complex is not suitable for a pedestrian lifestyle. A rental in Fountain City closer to Broadway will give you lots to walk to - but you will still face lots of traffic lights when it is time to drive downtown or south Knoxville.

What is your budget for a rental?

there was no availability (or they won't know their availability for a few more weeks)

Can you elaborate? Is there a hurry to move out of where you are now?

[scottcolby]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

Tazewell pike is a busy road with very few sidewalks. That particular complex is not suitable for a pedestrian lifestyle. A rental in Fountain City closer to Broadway will give you lots to walk to - but you will still face lots of traffic lights when it is time to drive downtown or south Knoxville.

What is your budget for a rental?



Can you elaborate? Is there a hurry to move out of where you are now?

Thanks so much for your feedback, and I agree, I would have to give up the pedestrian lifestyle if I live in that particular complex. It is a very nice complex and it looks to have easy access to House Mountain for the outdoor lifestyle that I like (vs going to Urban Wilderness)

I'd love to stay right around $1000 (or less) a month, but if I fell in love with a place, I'd go higher - $1100 or slightly over. I pay about $1400/month in Denver and a lot of 1 bedrooms here are over $1800 a month.

In terms of my statement: "there was no availability (or they won't know their availability for a few more weeks)" many of the downtown Knoxville places only require that their tenants give 30 day notice. So if I want to move in mid May, they won't know availability (if any) until mid April. My lease ends here in mid May and I have to give 60 day move out notice.

[creeksitter]

If you can just hang in there, mid may is the optimal time to be looking for a place in Knoxville. There is a 95%+ chance you can find something in a more suitable location.

House mountain is very easy to get to from downtown via Rutlege pike. I clocked the trailhead at about 18 minutes from the downtown on-ramp.

I'm curious how you chose Knoxville over Chattanooga. I guess that question is best answered in the Knoxville vs Chattanooga thread.

[scottcolby]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

If you can just hang in there, mid may is the optimal time to be looking for a place in Knoxville. There is a 95%+ chance you can find something in a more suitable location.

House mountain is very easy to get to from downtown via Rutlege pike. I clocked the trailhead at about 18 minutes from the downtown on-ramp.

I'm curious how you chose Knoxville over Chattanooga. I guess that question is best answered in the Knoxville vs Chattanooga thread.

Awesome, thanks for the tip about mid May. That helps. Is it because it's summer break for the Tennessee students?

One of my favorite places I looked at while I was there were the Fire Hall apartments at Knoxville High.
Old No. 3 Fire Hall Apartments at Knoxville High – Knoxville High . They are in the 4th and Gill neighborhood. They turned the high school into senior living and the firehall into apartments. Only 12 units. They did a great job with it. There are only a couple units in my price range (actually slightly higher than my price range) and they will only hold a unit for 30 days. So I would have to check back in mid April. The least expensive one is $1110, so a little more than I'd like to pay, but I do love the location.

To answer your question about Knoxville vs Chattanooga (and Roanoke), it's been a tough one. And I haven't 100% decided on Knoxville, but I'm leaning towards it.

In my limited time visiting both, I think I like Chattanooga a little better, actually. But I think my impression of Knoxville was skewed a little bit due to the rain and I stayed with my friend who lives in Farragut so I didn't like the drive into town each day (traffic-wise and distance wise). When I visited Chattanooga twice, I stayed in places (North Shore and Signal Mountain) that afforded me being able to either walk everywhere, or make a short drive with very little traffic. I love downtown Chattanooga and the surrounding mountains for hiking 10 minutes outside of downtown. Both of those are really appealing to me.

Anyway, the advantages of Knoxville over Chattanooga for me are:

1) College sports vibe (I'm a big fan of college sports, primarily basketball and football).
2) Many more direct flights including to Denver (I'm sure I will want to visit Denver once or twice a year as that's where I'm moving from)
3) I have some friends in Knoxville now. One moved to Farragut a year ago, one is in the process of moving to Maryville, and one will be moving by Fall and will be living closer to the city.
4) Close to the Smokey Mountains
5) Closer to my family than Chattanooga (sister is in Christiansburg VA - near Blacksburg, and my parents are in Smith Mountain Lake). Of course Roanoke would be much closer to family than Knoxville or Chattanooga, but it's my least favorite place of the 3.
6) Proximity to other cool places, like Asheville.

Ultimately I could probably be happy in any of the 3 places. They all have a good outdoor scene. I know it's about what I make of it and the friendships that I make. I'm hoping to find a community that I love.

[creeksitter]

Thanks, that's a good explanation. I shouldn't have asked you to post in the K vs C thread - I don't want to encourage "sibling rivalry". Chattanooga is a great place, I just get annoyed by its paid promoters.

If you don't snag an apartment in the Fire Hall, give us a shout out for other suggestions.

[scottcolby]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

Thanks, that's a good explanation. I shouldn't have asked you to post in the K vs C thread - I don't want to encourage "sibling rivalry". Chattanooga is a great place, I just get annoyed by its paid promoters.

If you don't snag an apartment in the Fire Hall, give us a shout out for other suggestions.

Thank you!

I think I found one!

Tyson Court Apartments in the 4th and Gill neighborhood, still under construction.

http://www.tysoncourt.com

They will be ready for move in on Sept 1 which means I'd have to stay in Denver a few more months, but I think worth it to me to move into a new building in that neighborhood for the rent more in my price range.

These are only 0.3 miles from the Fire Hall apartments that I mentioned, but are considerably less expensive for the same square footage. Rental rate for a 1 bedroom is $875 and goes to $925 depending on floor.

They are really close to Remedy Coffee which I went to when I visited, so at least I've been over walking around that neighborhood.

Thoughts on this address?

[calvinbama]

Wow, I wasn't aware of this Tyson Court infill project. That is a great location for your needs. Central Ave is currently the most rapidly re-developing area North of the River, I just heard some people last night chatting about how much they love living in that area. It is probably the last example of downtown style traditional pre-auto development in the city. There are loads of good bars, restaurants and shops clustered close by and you could even walk to 3 Rivers Market grocery co-op. I'm glad they have some relatively affordable new apts down there to meet the growing demand. But technically not 4th and Gill neighborhood. https://www.kgis.org/kgismaps/map.htm has loads of cool official maps including neighborhood groups. I think this would be considered Happy Holler or Downtown North.

[creeksitter]

That is a great location as far as being convenient yet off the beaten path. I like the street/alley pattern that creates unique spaces.

I did see a news clip about harassment/land grab concerning the Bar Marley. The bar gives the area character and is a hidden treasure. I would be disturbed if that was instigated by the builder of Tyson Court.

It is probably the last example of downtown style traditional pre-auto development in the city.

I'm going to quibble with this. Outside of Happy Holler, North Central above Broadway is/was very auto oriented. The old Knox Rail salvage building has a concrete car ramp - I suspect it was an auto dealer. The lawyer office nearby used to be a Blue Circle drive in. Mid-Mod collection looks to be in an auto repair shop. While the Central filling station was a rental yard - you could say it was auto dependent as people had to drive to pick up the equipment.

So it is fascinating to see it redevelop for unique businesses.

[calvinbama]

When I say non auto-oriented development patterns I'm referring to buildings set up to the sidewalk with no dedicated front parking as you will see all around the Broadway/Central intersection. I think we're talking about the same place. It is a small island of pedestrian orientation and a good location for the OP. I ride my bike almost everywhere from Parkridge and I would totally recommend trying it out all around the central city.