Back from Oak Ridge with a concern... (Knoxville, Johnson City: apartment, how much)

[dlk33]

I'm hoping that Laura C will be able to help me understand the meaning behind a comment I read in the Oak Ridge Observer while we were there on vacation last week. The write up was called "you might be an Oak Ridger if..." & it was in the section called Around Town. It said...'you refer to "the sign Nazi" with pride'. I sure hope it wasn't meant the way both my spouse & I took it! We actually liked the area & had fun playing disc golf on the new course. We we wondering why the city would shoot down the idea of including a Target, but I guess they don't want to have to give Target 8 million dollars towards building it, when there is a Target 15 min. away in west Knoxville. I am concerned though that the city is against progress of any kind. What are your thoughts?

We also visited Knoxville, expecting to stay for four days & left after only one night there. It just wasn't our cup of tea, too congested for our liking.

[Barking Spider]

I have to ask. Where were you that was too congested?

[kamoshika]

RE: the term "sign Nazi," here's an explanation from the Atomic City Talk forum:

"There is a City employee who's in charge of making sure signs are in compliance with local regulations -- political signs as well as those of the commercial variety. Signs that don't meet regulation for size or placement are dealt with rather swiftly.

Many people don't realize that the City's right-of-way extends into their yards by several feet, and political signs placed in that right-of-way may be confiscated by the "sign nazi.""

[hiknapster]

Ah, like the "Soup Nazi," ala Seinfeld.

[dlk33]

As you can imagine, an outsider to the city can easily be confused by that & take it to mean something much different then what it is meant to mean. Enough of a reason to have a concern about possibly moving there in the future. I'm glad I asked! Thanks for the more positive answer

Would any of you living in Oak Ridge tell me why you think it's a great place to live, or if you don't like it there, please tell me why. It would be very appreciated!

[dlk33]

Barking Spider...
It seems your main highway goes right through the city & to go anywhere, you have to use it. The city appears to be pretty spread out, compared to Kingsport & Johnson City. I live in a city that has more people, but the traffic pattern doesn't seem to affect it nearly as much as in Knoxville. We just got a negative vibe in a really short time of being there. It just wasn't what we'd be looking for as a retirement place.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by dlk33

As you can imagine, an outsider to the city can easily be confused by that & take it to mean something much different then what it is meant to mean. Enough of a reason to have a concern about possibly moving there in the future. I'm glad I asked! Thanks for the more positive answer

Would any of you living in Oak Ridge tell me why you think it's a great place to live, or if you don't like it there, please tell me why. It would be very appreciated!

Yeah, it's like the soup nazi not the WWII Nazis.

As a retiree, I like it here because there are plenty of things to do, that I like to do, and I don't have to live in a big city like Knoxville. I never go to Knoxville. I have never been to any mall or any event in Knoxville/Farragut. I should tell you up front that I don't like shopping so I would never choose a place to live because it's near a lot of retail stores. I also like to drive and park in parking lots, not on the street, so I avoid "downtowns" in nearby towns. I like sprawl - that's Oak Ridge.

I like that Oak Ridge is big, area-wise and that I don't live anywhere near I-40. Because of that, we don't have a lot of people passing through (meaning traffic) on their way to someplace else like they do in Maryville.

I love my Oak Ridge doctor. Best one I ever had in my adult life.

I like that I live within 3 miles from just about everything I do on a regular basis and I like driving North or West or South for distances, for scenic beauty. I like the historical importance of Oak Ridge. I've learned more about the history of Oak Ridge and Anderson County than any other place I've ever lived in before. I think I like the personal histories as much or more than the book history. I've been to Y-12 and ORNL and I don't work there. I like that we have a science museum.

I've been to 7 State Parks and 3 National Parks/Areas since I have been living here and they are all different and they are the best thing about Tennessee.

I love the Christmas Parade more than any other Oak Ridge event.

I really like taking retiree classes here - it's the primary reason I chose to live here in retirement. I didn't pick up a photography hobby until I moved here.

I like my apartment. It's big and modern and cheaper than places I lived in, in NY and MD that were half the size.

I got my class schedule today (retiree program) and I was filling out my calendar to see when in late October I could do an overnight at Fall Creek Falls and I only had two dates free (and I'm not in the workforce) -- that's how much is going on around here. This area (not just Oak Ridge) rocks between October 1 and Christmas and the temperatures are wonderful during that period to make you want to spend a lot of time outdoors - which I like to do, taking photos.

I don't like summer here and mostly only go out when I have to.

All of that being said, my favorite town in East Tennessee is Norris, two towns away. I spend a lot more time outdoors there than I do in Oak Ridge. It's just not practical for me to live there but I do feel safer there when I am outdoors taking photos and The Museum of Appalachia is my favorite place in all of Tennessee.

Thing I don't like about Oak Ridge: crime. I'd spend less time in other Tennessee towns if I felt safe here when I was out by myself or didn't have to worry about theft.

P.S. People didn't shoot down Target because they didn't like Target. They didn't like where they wanted to put it or the financial incentives.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by dlk33

Barking Spider...
It seems your main highway goes right through the city & to go anywhere, you have to use it. The city appears to be pretty spread out, compared to Kingsport & Johnson City. I live in a city that has more people, but the traffic pattern doesn't seem to affect it nearly as much as in Knoxville. We just got a negative vibe in a really short time of being there. It just wasn't what we'd be looking for as a retirement place.

Aha! You were in West Knoxville, I bet. There's a whole other Knoxville to be seen. I live in Fountain City, which is just north of I-640, and it is lovely with its beautiful park and duck pond.

But, in West Knoxville's defense, there are lots of roads to use besides the highway.

Staying in a hotel, and shooting up and down a highway doesn't allow you to see many things.

But you are interested in Oak Ridge, and that is great, but I just wanted to clarify a few things for other readers that may be considering my wonderful city.

And I can see someone not understanding the "Sign Nazi" reference, especially if you were not a big fan of Seinfeld. I'm glad that you asked the question! That's one misconception that the people around here don't want you to have.

[hiknapster]

By the way, how did you like the disc golf around here? I drove by the Admiral Farragut one on Labor Day and thought of you. It looked really nice!

[dlk33]

LauraC... Thanks so much for all your input, it has given me a really good picture & filled in the gaps for me. Shopping convenience is important to me as well as having options. I do appreciate nature as well. I understand your concerns about the crime. We read many signs reminding us not to leave anything in sight of any value & to lock the car. I've actually never read signs like that anywhere else. Either it's a huge problem there, or the city is really looking out to prevent potential problems. I'm not sure Oak Ridge would be our perfect place though.

hiknapster...
We gave up really fast on bothering to check out other neighborhoods after the vibe we got. That's not to say we wouldn't have liked your neighborhood, but there were already too many negatives for us to want to consider living there. The disc golf courses didn't impress us at all, sorry to say. We compare the one we have that we really appreciate to any we play on & only a couple made the grade (a course we'd want to play on almost daily). None of those courses were in Knoxville. Oak Ridge's newer course was pretty nice, it was more open but still with interest. One thing that drives me crazy is either a bad course layout, where you have to back track to get to the next hole, or no decent signs with information about the hole or directions to the next hole, or a course that doesn't offer a mix of in the woods & out of the woods throws.
Everyone comes from different living situations & looks for different things that are going to make them happy. What's good for one person, isn't for another. Some people love living in NYC for the action going on all the time. You couldn't pay me to live there. If anyone is thinking of living anywhere, they should make a point of visiting the area to get a feel for themselves, the internet offers lots of information, but it just not the same as being somewhere