Knoxville vs WDC and ATL (Oak Ridge: job market, buying, university)

[globetrekkeress]

Hello, I have been used to living in WDC and ATL and am considering a move to Knoxville due to the lower cost of living and better job opportunities. However, I also hear quite a bit about how it is not a good city for brown, non-Christian people. Is this true or just hyped up sterotypes? Also, how is the city for 30 single women? Thanks.

[H10]

Hope this helps:

Knoxville is 17.16% 25-34y/o, Atlanta's 19%

Knoxville is 56.22% Single, Atlanta's 62.89%

Knoxville is 16.78% Black, Atlanta's 57.14%

Knoxville is 60.5% Christian, Atlanta's 48% Christian

[oldmanbob]

People treat people here, with respect and no regard to color. Relegion is a personal thing, and most Christians, accept everyone, with no judgement percieved. I believe that you will find it a good fit. and I am not familar with wdc, so not sure about that. Good luck, and post more, with more questions and be happy to help.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by oldmanbob

People treat people here, with respect and no regard to color. Relegion is a personal thing, and most Christians, accept everyone, with no judgement percieved. I believe that you will find it a good fit. and I am not familar with wdc, so not sure about that. Good luck, and post more, with more questions and be happy to help.

I agree with oldmanbob. While Knoxville is overwhelmingly white and Christian, people around here seem to be pretty welcoming to others. I think having a big university in town helps. ORNL in Oak Ridge also brings in a bunch of people of different races and religions.

However, I cannot imagine that the job market is better in Knoxville than Atlanta. Wages are probably lower here, although the cost of living is lower, too.

[globetrekkeress]

Thank you I appreciate all the posts...they are reassuring. The other stuff I have heard is probably just hyped up rumor.

[knoxgarden]

A lot depends on the attitude you bring with you.
I'm white and lived in D.C. (Georgetown, Mt. Pleasant, Bladensburg) for most of my adult life and from there moved to Columbus, GA and escaped to Atlanta whenever I could.
In both those places, there were a lot of white places to live, and white events and such where you never saw anyone black. That always struck me as strange, particularly in D.C. There were also black events and areas where whites were not welcome.
Knoxville is much more integrated by race. It is segregated more by economics and most blacks aren't really at the bottom of the scale. You've got poor whites who are a lot worse off than most blacks and hispanics.
I find Knoxville a much easier place to live than D.C. or Atlanta. People are more laid back and more respectful of differences. There is black history here and some night clubs. There's a good live music scene downtown and a great live jazz scene.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Inc - Home

[H10]

The only thing that might appear to be a race issue is the fact that there appears to be less "integration" here compared to other cities I've resided in (I don't know about Atlanta or DC). I've lived in South FL & Long Island NY and in each, English speaking Americans socialized with English speaking Americans regardless of color or background (I say "English speaking," because obviously language barriers in some cases make it harder to socialize with others). In Knoxville, just walking around you will see groups of white people, groups of black people, etc. I wouldn't say that it's racism so much as custom being in a state that has living citizens who have lived under legal segregation; and, I imagine Atlanta would have a similar dilemma.

I've also heard the odd comment which could be construed as "racist," but in every case it's clearly ignorance and not mean spirited at all. And you also see MANY exceptions to the look of division. But the appearance of division was surprising to me, because where I've lived in the past, there wasn't a huge amount of racial diversity, but in terms of social groups, race had essentially no bearing.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by knoxgarden

A lot depends on the attitude you bring with you.
I'm white and lived in D.C. (Georgetown, Mt. Pleasant, Bladensburg) for most of my adult life and from there moved to Columbus, GA and escaped to Atlanta whenever I could.
In both those places, there were a lot of white places to live, and white events and such where you never saw anyone black. That always struck me as strange, particularly in D.C. There were also black events and areas where whites were not welcome.
Knoxville is much more integrated by race. It is segregated more by economics and most blacks aren't really at the bottom of the scale. You've got poor whites who are a lot worse off than most blacks and hispanics.
I find Knoxville a much easier place to live than D.C. or Atlanta. People are more laid back and more respectful of differences. There is black history here and some night clubs. There's a good live music scene downtown and a great live jazz scene.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Inc - Home

This post is dead-on. Unfortunately, I can't give you anymore reps!

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by H10

The only thing that might appear to be a race issue is the fact that there appears to be less "integration" here compared to other cities I've resided in (I don't know about Atlanta or DC). I've lived in South FL & Long Island NY and in each, English speaking Americans socialized with English speaking Americans regardless of color or background (I say "English speaking," because obviously language barriers in some cases make it harder to socialize with others). In Knoxville, just walking around you will see groups of white people, groups of black people, etc. I wouldn't say that it's racism so much as custom being in a state that has living citizens who have lived under legal segregation; and, I imagine Atlanta would have a similar dilemma.

I've also heard the odd comment which could be construed as "racist," but in every case it's clearly ignorance and not mean spirited at all. And you also see MANY exceptions to the look of division. But the appearance of division was surprising to me, because where I've lived in the past, there wasn't a huge amount of racial diversity, but in terms of social groups, race had essentially no bearing.

I noticed that you wrote this before on another thread. I don't doubt you. Clearly, these are your experiences.

When I lived in Orlando and Fort Myers it seemed like people hung together according to race. I have never seen this happen in Knoxville.

Where I work, people of all races, lifestyles, ages, all meld together and carry it over after work is over.

In Fountain City and Inskip I see the same kind of thing. Kids of different races walk down the street together. They are together at the parks, in the restaurants.

Now, when I lived way out in the rural area, practically in Anderson County, that was a completely different story. Some of those people were hostile to you if you weren't RELATED to them.

Admittedly, I am not downtown very often, so it must be different there. Could it be because there are so many students from different places?

[H10]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I noticed that you wrote this before on another thread. I don't doubt you. Clearly, these are your experiences.

When I lived in Orlando and Fort Myers it seemed like people hung together according to race. I have never seen this happen in Knoxville.

Where I work, people of all races, lifestyles, ages, all meld together and carry it over after work is over.

In Fountain City and Inskip I see the same kind of thing. Kids of different races walk down the street together. They are together at the parks, in the restaurants.

Now, when I lived way out in the rural area, practically in Anderson County, that was a completely different story. Some of those people were hostile to you if you weren't RELATED to them.

Admittedly, I am not downtown very often, so it must be different there. Could it be because there are so many students from different places?

Well my experience is admittedly limited to Downtown & West Knox. I'm in Downtown everyday since I live there and I go out to West roughly 2-4 times per week between Turkey Creek & various restaurants (rarely the mall, it's a great mall as far as malls go, but I'm not a fan of malls in general). I really like North, but rarely make it there even twice a week. And I could go weeks without making it to South or East.

I actually taught a course on acclimating to life here to UT Freshman last year. And though I had noticed it before I didn't bring it up to the class, but I had multiple Freshman, even from Middle Tennessee, ask me about the appearances of separation. I'd say 100% of my friends who grew up in West Knox acknowledge that there is a noticeable divide. I've written papers on the racial divide. And between academic associates, personal friends and students, this topic has probably come up with over 50 different people over the last year, and this is honestly the first time I've ever heard someone say that they didn't notice it. I'm not saying there's a hostile polarization, but Knoxville clearly isn't 100% integrated.

As far as FL goes, I noticed a major divide between Cuban Immigrants, Haitian Immigrants & American-raised people. But in that case I believe that linguistic & cultural barriers can account for a lot.

I've studied with the Anthropologist Dr. Yankovskyy who has lived in Florida and she concurred that FL (the Southeast Region anyway) is far less stratified than Knoxville. Now in terms of stratification, it goes beyond race, but also subcultures like emo, preppy, etc. To touch on a dissertation I wrote a while ago, the areas in South FL & Long Island that I lived in were almost like a diversity "sweet spot." While there was some racial diversity there was essentially no cultural diversity. Most everyone grew up in similar cultures and given the areas, most everyone came from similar socioeconomic backgrounds (educated middle class). Now that's not neccessarily a good thing. I personally love Knoxville and diversity is a big part of our city. But along with cultural diversity (which is heavily promoted here) comes some stratification. And the trappings of the smaller "Anderson Counties," is that being starved of racial & cultural diversity can also facilitate stratification just due to lack of experience with others.

Now in terms of Black/White in Knoxville, I think little has to do with racial animosity, and more to do with the process of shedding the customs of old. You have to realize that, for example, my family's area of Long Island, NY, when MLK was marching down the roads, my parents already had black classmates and thought little of it. So even multi-generational Knoxvillians, the Blacks & the Whites are coming from different cultures, as recently as Baby Boomer's parents generations, segregation was just part of life.

I'd say the even bigger stratification in Knoxville is the whole preppy/emo nonsense (sorry if I offended anyone, I'm not criticising the lifestyle choices, I'm criticising the fact that some base their associations on that). Northface & Abercrombie vs. Hot Topic-ware, which I think is utterly ridiculous. Again, in Knoxville this is FAR more prominent than I've seen it elsewhere. I doubt it really would affect any of us directly, but when I have children I wouldn't want them picking their friends based on what they wear, or exclusively buying their wardrobe from a single store for that matter.