where to live in knoxville? (Farragut, Central: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[vecio]

Hello All,

My family and I are moving to Knoxville in the fall. We are looking for a house to buy in a nice area. We have two children, both still in pre-K, so schools are not crucial at the moment. We want an area with a lot of green (we love big trees) but not out in the suburbs - we like small coffee shops, restaurants with outside patios etc. Not too far from UT would be great. I saw that Sequoyah Hill is great, but kind of pricey for us. What areas would you recommend (and perhaps what areas would you absolutely avoid)? Thank you in advance for your help.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by vecio

Hello All,

My family and I are moving to Knoxville in the fall. We are looking for a house to buy in a nice area. We have two children, both still in pre-K, so schools are not crucial at the moment. We want an area with a lot of green (we love big trees) but not out in the suburbs - we like small coffee shops, restaurants with outside patios etc. Not too far from UT would be great. I saw that Sequoyah Hill is great, but kind of pricey for us. What areas would you recommend (and perhaps what areas would you absolutely avoid)? Thank you in advance for your help.

What's your price range? That will have a big bearing on what parts of town we can recommend.

As far as wanting an area with a lot of green, well, that's everywhere around here.

There aren't many neighborhoods in Knoxville with small coffee shops and restaurants with outside patios, and most of those are in areas that aren't really conducive to families with small kids. If you don't mind a little bit of blue collar, you might try Old North or Fairmont-Emoriland. Both are just a couple of miles north of downtown on the Broadway corridor.

Or just a little bit farther out is Fountain City. Fountain City is an old town (over 100 years old) that was annexed by Knoxville in the 1960s. The old part of town has a little downtown area and tons of beautiful, tree-lined hilly streets with Victorian cottages and craftsman bungalows. You cang et from Fountain City to downtown/U.T. in 10-15 minutes. Oh what the heck, here are some pics of Fountain City:

Fountain City Lake (created in 1890)



"Downtown" Fountain City







Fountain City Library



Street scenes in Fountain City

[vecio]

Thank you, JMT! As far as price range goes, I would say between 175,000 and 275,000

[JMT]

Originally Posted by vecio

Thank you, JMT! As far as price range goes, I would say between 175,000 and 275,000

In that case, I would highly recommend Fountain City. Housing is generally less expensive in Fountain City than in West Knox (particularly posh Sequoyah Hills). But Fountain City is like its own little town rather than a suburb. There are some beeeautiful older neighborhoods in Fountain City. In your price range you won't have any problems finding a beautiful home on a large lot with lots of trees.

Fountain City is like a more affordable version of Sequoyah Hills: it's hilly, leafy, on the Dogwood Trail, historic, but it doesn't have the mansions that Sequoyah Hills has, nor does it sit on the river. Do a realtor.com search using the 37918 ZIP and you should find a bunch of available homes in your price range ranging from 1950s ranchers to neo tudors to new construction.

Good luck!

[H10]

Vecio: as a recent Knoxville transplant, I'd recommend West Knoxville/Farragut for families. When you think of Southern-Suburban-Family living, well that's where it's at. While the homes I've been to have been a bit above your price range, I believe you could find wooded or even lake/river front properties that would meet your needs in that, much nicer area. And many of the homes there have heavily wooded backyards.


As far as bistros and coffee houses, market square area downtown has a few nice ones. However I'd strongly advise against living in the homes in that area, the homes near downtown are in Fort Sanders which would be an extremely undesirable area for a family.

East Knoxville also is less family conducive than West.

[brauhuff]

I live in South Knoxville 3 miles from downtown and UT. Homes go for 125,000- 175,000. I paid 125,000 for 1700 sq foot 3bdr 2 bath vinyl brick home 2 years ago. A great little community elementary school 1 block away called Moreland Heights Elementary. 1 mile from shopping and restaurants and main road Chapman Highway. Neighborhood feels like you are in a rural setting though. Hope this helps.

[charz]

JMT,
How far is Fountain City from Fulton High School on Broadway? I have a job there in the fall.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by charz

JMT,
How far is Fountain City from Fulton High School on Broadway? I have a job there in the fall.

It's not far at all. It's a straight shot up/down Broadway, maybe 10 minutes from the heart of Fountain City to Fulton HS.

By the way, I live a few blocks from Fulton HS and love this area, too. Here are some neighborhoods in the Fulton HS district you might want to check out:

Historic Old North Knoxville

North Hills Area Association

There's also the Fairmont-Emoriland neighborhood but the link to their association isn't working for some reason.

[charz]

Thanks, JMT, for the links. What do you think about the Halls area? I drove through there to get to the teacher fair at Central High and that area seemed nice too.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by charz

Thanks, JMT, for the links. What do you think about the Halls area? I drove through there to get to the teacher fair at Central High and that area seemed nice too.

Halls is nice, it's more rural but is growing quickly. However, there's no quick way to get from Halls to Fulton HS particularly since you'll be battling rush hour traffic and there's only one road out of Halls.