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If I had your requirements I would look at the West Hills neighborhood north of Winston Rd. You can walk to the YMCA, trader Joe's, the mall and all the businesses near there. In addition there's a Greenway that will take you to Walmart & Sam's. Some of the houses may be high enough for mountain views.
I wonder if you are restricting your search by insisting on actual sidewalks.
Thank you, but too close to retail hubs for me. I like it away from major retail centers and away from the I40.
The point of my walkability post is that Knoxville is not a good place to move to for those people who desire a highly walkable city. For example, the same site gave Asheville a 93 walk score and Huntsville AL a 78 walk score and Lexington VA is an 87. Lexington KY is an 88. Williamsburg VA is 85. Bluffton SC is a 65.
A lot of states have good walkable cities. Tennessee just doesn't. It may be the hills or it may be the lack of tax revenue or just historic culture. I don't know why.
Walkability is desireable to me, but not a need at this point. I am resigned to Knoxville not being walkable, as I enjoy its other benefits.
I just am thinking ahead to when I am late 70s and either lose my driver's license or need a scooter to get around -- also why I don't want a two-story home.
Some people make it to their 80s with health/mobility and other's don't make it out of their 60s. You just don't know what life will hand you. I am just looking ahead to cover my bases in case my eyes go or I have a stroke or have to surrender my car keys.
Just like, I find areas I love on hills but would never own because the harrow, twisty roads would be an accident waiting to happen on a dark rainy night. It is disconcerting just passing head on traffic at speed on some of these narrow roads at night.
In my 60s, the eyes are already going and night driving is getting more challenging. I want my house be in a subdivision that is not far from a major road that is more wide, or if narrow, at least straight so I can see a good ways. These are no problem today, but I don't want to have to drive them at 75 or, heaven forbid if I live to my 80s and still need to drive.
Here is to autonomous self-driving cars becoming a practical reality before than. Fingers crossed, but not holding my breath.
Meanwhile, at some point as I age out and struggle to see or lose my license, I will just sell the house and move to a condo a short walk to a grocery and pharmacy. I may have to live close to a retail hub eventually, but I am fighting that for now while I am only in my 60s. Or I may have to move to Huntsville where can ride a scooter to medical.
Who knows?
The area you mentioned is great for when I age out, but just too close to retail hubs while I can drive everywhere. I do appreciate your help.
As for now, I am still focused on West Knoxville, west of the Pellissippi Parkway and not too close to I40, except the northern portion of Farragut near I40 would be fine. If I get priced out or can't find a single story home, then Karns, Powell, and Halls Crossroads are my areas of most interest.
Last edited by Igor Blevin; 01-10-2023 at 04:45 AM..
If I had your requirements I would look at the West Hills neighborhood north of Winston Rd. You can walk to the YMCA, trader Joe's, the mall and all the businesses near there. In addition there's a Greenway that will take you to Walmart & Sam's. Some of the houses may be high enough for mountain views.
I wonder if you are restricting your search by insisting on actual sidewalks.
As regards sidewalks, twice now I have tried walking the mile-and-a-half along Kingston Pike from my Dodge Dealership to K-Brew near West Town Mall, and both times it was like taking my life into my hands. Never again.
It was mostly walking through parking lots and over damp grass while dodging ditches, fences, low walls, and various dead ends I had to backtrack from. At 65, there are obstacles I hit that I could bound when I was 20. Not anymore. Throw in some steep slopes that give me fits. No thanks.
In a few places, there is NO option but to walk in the street with 50 mph cars flying by within 18-inches of my fragile body. One text, and I am in the hospital.
This is what I mean by "walkable". Instead of having to sit in a car dealership waiting room in Knoxville, I wanted to pass the time with an enjoyable walk to where I could sip good coffee while waiting for my car service.
In many cities, you just walk down a safe sidewalk. You just can't do that in Knoxville. It is not a walkable city.
I am resigned to that and just don't attempt to fight those conditions anymore. As a car nut, I am OK with adapting to that because I love driving. It is just frustrating at times that I can't just make a short walk from point A to B like you can in many American cities, especially having had the option most of my life. The roads here just have few sidewalks and painfully narrow shoulders.
It is what it is.
Last edited by Igor Blevin; 01-10-2023 at 05:11 AM..
As regards sidewalks, twice now I have tried walking the mile-and-a-half along Kingston Pike from my Dodge Dealership to K-Brew near West Town Mall, and both times it was like taking my life into my hands. Never again.
It was mostly walking through parking lots and over damp grass while dodging ditches, fences, low walls, and various dead ends I had to backtrack from. At 65, there are obstacles I hit that I could bound when I was 20. Not anymore. Throw in some steep slopes that give me fits. No thanks.
In a few places, there is NO option but to walk in the street with 50 mph cars flying by within 18-inches of my fragile body. One text, and I am in the hospital.
This is what I mean by "walkable". Instead of having to sit in a car dealership waiting room in Knoxville, I wanted to pass the time with an enjoyable walk to where I could sip good coffee while waiting for my car service.
In many cities, you just walk down a safe sidewalk. You just can't do that in Knoxville. It is not a walkable city.
I am resigned to that and just don't attempt to fight those conditions anymore. As a car nut, I am OK with adapting to that because I love driving. It is just frustrating at times that I can't just make a short walk from point A to B like you can in many American cities, especially having had the option most of my life. The roads here just have few sidewalks and painfully narrow shoulders.
It is what it is.
I agree with your assessments on driving and walkability. My girlfriend is 75 and I'm 70 and we have visited eastern Tennessee twice and Asheville NC once and we decided against these places because of our age. We felt it would be too hard to drive and walk as we get older. Few sidewalks and narrow winding roads wouldn't be good. Otherwise I think the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee are beautiful and the weather is suitable too. We are in a coastal city on the Gulf coast of Florida and hate the weather here 90 percent of the year. We do have sidewalks and bike lanes but I wouldn't ride in any bike lane here for fear of getting mowed down by my fellow oldsters.
I should note that "WalkScore", while an interesting concept, has a goodly amount of criticism lobbed at its algorithm because it only calculates point A to point B, but doesn't take into account whether there are sidewalks or crime or traffic or the size of the road one has to cross - and IMHO, you can't just assign a generic "score" to an entire city. There are far too many variables inside a city to be able to say "You're a 78".
That said, in my preparation for moving to Knoxville, I've been watching a slew of YT videos from various realtors (not for home information, but just for general information about Knoxville) and one thing that I learned very early is that multiple videos said "Knoxville is not walkable" other than parks, urban wilderness, etc. So as someone who does enjoy walking but for years has lived where walking is not practical (YOU go on a leisurely walk when it's 90 at 8 in the morning, heading for 110), treadmills have become my thing. I just had to learn not to fall off.
I should note that "WalkScore", while an interesting concept, has a goodly amount of criticism lobbed at its algorithm because it only calculates point A to point B, but doesn't take into account whether there are sidewalks or crime or traffic or the size of the road one has to cross - and IMHO, you can't just assign a generic "score" to an entire city. There are far too many variables inside a city to be able to say "You're a 78".
That said, in my preparation for moving to Knoxville, I've been watching a slew of YT videos from various realtors (not for home information, but just for general information about Knoxville) and one thing that I learned very early is that multiple videos said "Knoxville is not walkable" other than parks, urban wilderness, etc. So as someone who does enjoy walking but for years has lived where walking is not practical (YOU go on a leisurely walk when it's 90 at 8 in the morning, heading for 110), treadmills have become my thing. I just had to learn not to fall off.
Hi Adamson,
This isn't Fargo in winter. You are not forced onto a treadmill.
Downtown is walkable as well as any college campus, like the University of Tennessee.
Many parks have paths. You can walk forever at Lakeshore Park. There are some greenbelts that have walking paths.
Farragut has a system of walking paths that should eventually be connected into an area-wide system that you could walk or bike a long distance, and for transportation to shopping etc. if you choose.
If I was young and vigorous, I could utilize all of the nature paths in the various parks and woodlands, but at my age and state of physical decline, it is not only a bit of effort to tackle the hills, but I just don't want to trip over a rock or slide on some loose dirt and wind up injured. If I was under 45, I would be all of the nature trails up here.
You can walk any subdivision as well. I avoid the really steep hills. The subdivisions are really safe to walk in as very few allow through traffic, so traffic is only local. Outside of commute times, you barely see any traffic in subdivisions, so it is perfectly safe to walk in the street. My complaint is many of them are smallish, so they don't tend to allow for long walks and it is just the same view every time you walk that subdivision.
C-D member TheShadow said there are great walks near Tellico Village, so I need to check that out some time, but that is quite a drive for me just to take a walk.
I can always find walks here in Knoxville, it just isn't practical for getting around and you have to kind of plan. You can't just walk anywhere. If all you want is a vigorous walk, there are plenty of places to do that. You just can't do it from home, because the second you leave your subdivision, the odds are strong the main road will have no shoulders at all.
The thing about Knoxville is you have to plan and drive to an appropriate place to take walk. You can't just walk, or just pull up anywhere and take a walk, but there are lots of places to drive to and walk, included hundreds of very nice and quiet subdivisions to walk in with beautiful homes.
I was trying to point out that there are parts of Knoxville where one can safely walk from the house to most necessities. Though car dealership isn't necessarily one of those necessities.
I thought Kingston Pike had sidewalks at least on one side. Maybe I'm wrong. Not claiming it's a pleasant walking experience.
But you were just saying Knoxvile isn't walkable. Which is it? Yes or no?
Knoxville is not a "walkable" city, meaning that you can't walk on safe sidwalks or pathways in most places around town, and especially not for routine travel. You can't just walk from the front door of your house to the grocery or to work or to school or to go out and eat.
You need a car for almost all of your purposeful travel, unless you say happen to live downtown or on the UT campus.
That said, every city has places where you can walk. I was pointing out the places where you CAN walk. I was saying, when you move here, you won't be forced to do all of your recreation walking on a treadmill, but would have plenty of out of the way places to enjoy recreational walking. You will not be able to walk to places for travel or for errands.
I was trying to point out that there are parts of Knoxville where one can safely walk from the house to most necessities. Though car dealership isn't necessarily one of those necessities.
I thought Kingston Pike had sidewalks at least on one side. Maybe I'm wrong. Not claiming it's a pleasant walking experience.
Kingston Pike has sidewalks east of Bearden, and some runs of sidewalks in the 9 miles west of Bearden to Farragut. It is a far more walkable street in many places than most streets outside of downtown.
Kingston Pike has about four miles of continuous sidewalks all the way from Bearden to downtown where it becomes Cumberland Avenue. Even Papermill along that area has continuous sidewalks.
After that, there is less sidwalks than more.
West of Bearden, Kingston Pike has sidewalks along West Town mall, some bracketing the Cedar Bluff retail area, and then from West End down to Farragut. I think most of the 9 mile run lacks sidewalks, and west of Campbell Station is going to be slim.
Of course, there are sidewalks all along Parkside for the Turkey Creek shopping zone.
West Knoxville is not without sidewalks along a few major streets. They generally serve to let you walk from one strip mall to the next in more dense retail areas. They are disjointed and you can't walk between those areas or from your home in most subdivisions to them. If you let walkability force your choice of home, you could find places to live to walk for goods and services.
Last edited by Igor Blevin; 01-10-2023 at 06:46 PM..
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