Need info about apts in Oak Ridge and Knoxville (Bristol: realty, budget)

[jevoyager]

Hi all!

I will be moving from KY next month to start an internship in Oak Ridge and am in the process of apartment hunting. I would prefer to move to OR or West Knoxville, but will consider other areas. Its just me an my mother and we're really looking for someplace relatively quiet and safe (I don't mind regular noise like normal street traffic, but its the partying and such that I don't like, or people hanging out right in front of your apartment all night long). We'd like a 2BR townhome, but we'll look at apartments too, preferably keeping rent ~ $600 or less a month. And some place that takes small pets as I have a small rabbit

I've read through as much info as I could get my hands on about different apartments, but most of the reviews and ratings are for those that are either bad, or the few good ratings are places that are out of our budget range. So most of the ones I've compiled into a list of places to check out when we come down next week, I don't really know anything about. So I was hoping that some of you might know about any of these and if they're ok or not?

Knoxville Apts
The Canyon
Cherokee Ridge
Creek Ridge
CreekWood
Crestridge Apts
Hillside Place
Hillwood Villas
Papermill Square
River View Park
Summit Chase
Sunset Rill
West Vista Ridge
Williamsburg Village
Wrights Ferry

Oak Ridge Apts
Rolling Hills
Tara Hills

Also found a mention of Windy Lakes which are in Lousiville, a bit further south than I want, but they looked nice from what I could tell and very affordable.

Or if there's another apartment that I should check out that's not on my list that would be great! Thank you so much in advance!

Jennifer

[BST]

The apartments in Louisville are probably much closer than you realize. I-140 (Pellissippi Pkwy) is a straight shot from Louisville to Oak Ridge that rarely has traffic backups. I know nothing of the apartments though.

Don't waste your time on Summit Chase, Williamsburg Village, or The Canyon.

[jevoyager]

Great thank you BST for the info!

[charz]

The Canyon is in north Knoxville, not west. I moved from another state last month. A realtor recommended Realty Management, Inc. This company rents and sells homes. We are now renting a 2 BR condo that we love. J. Bratcher is the owner. On her website, you can select the area you're interested in and pull up the available properties.

[jevoyager]

Thank you for the info charz - checked out the website but unfortunatly all that's available are places out of our price range.

I realize not all the apts on my list are in West Knoxville, as while I'd prefer to live in West Knoxville or OR, I will consider other parts of the area - don't want to limit myself if there's a great place to be had in another part of the city!

[jevoyager]

Any other suggestions?

[DubbleT]

My son and his friends moved into Country Oaks in west Knoxville about four mos. ago. They had a 2 bdr townhouse on the end, so no neighbors upstairs or on one side, and noise was not a problem. Small pets ok with a pet deposit. I believe he said they were paying $650, but I could be wrong. ??? (They moved to a larger apt in the same complex last month) He absolutely loves it for the easy access to I-40 and Papermill Dr.
Slightly older complex so it's not all bright and shiny, but it seemed to be fairly well kept up, and the rooms were pretty good sized for an apartment.
He hasn't had any complaints about pests, or about maintenance problems, or anything of that sort.
The only thing is, that on my few visits there it seemed to be mostly college kids and young adults. But then again it was early summer and perhaps I was so busy gawking at the young people going to the pool that I failed to notice any older adults.
The complex does like to tow cars though. If you go to check it out make sure you read the teeny tiny signs about visitor parking and make sure to park in a designated spot! Found out the hard way.

[jevoyager]

Thank you - unfortunatly it appears they're now 700+ for a townhome. But thank you for taking the time to post here - its really appreciated!

[jevoyager]

Anyone else know anything about these or other apartments? I'm hoping to come down there this Friday to get my first look of the area - I'm so excited!

[jevoyager]

Well I got to come down Friday. Knoxville was a LOT larger than I thought. Oak Ridge was smaller than I thought, lol. However between the two I'm more partial to living in OR as I am not a big city type of girl. Unfortunately we had a delayed start getting down there, it took more than 3.5 hrs (more like 4+) to get there, so we didn't get to see much of either city as I'd have liked. And I wasn't totally satisfied with any of the places we looked at, so I'm still looking.

But here's my thoughts on the few apts we did see, to provide info for those who will be needing info in the future on apts in the area.

In Oak Ridge - Tara Hills and Rolling Hills are very similar. Both are older apts. Tara Hills looks nicer on the outside, but Rolling Hills looks nicer on the inside (they recently renovated). Both are kind of on the small side for our needs (the 2 BRs we looked at one was 1000 sq ft the other 975 sq ft) - very small kitchens (more like kitchenettes?) Staff was very friendly at both places. Both were willing to let me have my rabbit. RH had a LOT of spiders though which I really don't like (there's no way I'd use their porch, it was covered with 'em!) So while these are ok, and if I have no other choice it wouldn't be bad living there, I'd prefer somewhere else.

We did drive by Brittish Woods and the Manhattan - I was told by someone else not to move there and found some comments online that weren't very favorable for both places, so we didn't bother with going in and looking around. I will say they looked run down and not very appealing.

Also drove by Bristol Park - look very nice, they are new, for anyone who could afford the rent I'd definitely make it my first choice. Unfortunately its way out of our budget (almost $900 for a 2BR).

We looked at 2 places in Knoxville, Papermill Square and Wrights Ferry.
We didn't even set foot in Wrights Ferry - they looked that bad from the outside alone. Very unsafe, noisy, bugs everywhere, trashy.

Papermill Square was ok, but considering they wanted a $100 more rent and weren't even as nice as Tara Heights or Rolling Hills, so thanks but no thanks. Staff was friendly enough, but again these are run down, kinda dark, right off the highway so they are noisy.

Two other places on the list I will comment on - Cherokee Ridge the guy I spoke to was rather rude, and Creek Wood wouldn't rent to a student (*possibly* they'd consider it IF I would PAY FOR THE WHOLE YEAR UP FRONT!) Didn't check anywhere else out as all the other places on my list didn't answer their phones (called each at least 2-3 times) or return my messages.

One thing I did learn though is I don't really want to live in Knoxville. I'm just not a big city girl, while I'd get used to it, I don't think I'd be happy living there. The out skirts of Knoxville might be ok, say the edge of city limits, but definitely not in the city itself. I don't think I"d like the commute either.

So now I'm still looking, this time focusing on OR or very near it, possibly the very northwest edge of Knoxville, maybe even Clinton (which I know nothing about).

If anyone could help me out with other places in OR I'd really appreciate - time is growing short for me as I need to move in 2 weeks. I did some more research online, and found these places mentioned but again, didn't find a lot of info - anyone know about these apartments or rental agencies in OR?

Robbertsville Apts
Stonebridge Apts
Southhill Gardens
MFS Rentals
Carden Rentals
GP Developments
Briarcliff Realty
Realty Center
Linda Brown Realty

Thanks again for everyone's help!