Relocating to Knoxville real soon (Chattanooga, Farragut: new home, transfer, neighborhood)

[Hishiad]

1. Does anyone have any recomendations of towns close to the city with low crime, reasonable traffic and decent schools that they would like to share.

Lenoir City to the south on I-75 also Karns west a bit towards Oak Ridge, and Oak Ridge itself

2. Can anyone tell me what NFL team is carried in Knoxville (please say Titans, I'm a life long Oilers/Titans fan and I'm tired of paying for Direct Ticket.

You'll get the Titan's home games locally no worries there. And if you want to make a 3 hour drive or so west on I 40 you can watch them live!

3. How's the general cost of living? I know the sales tax is up there, but are the items (clothes/food/etc pricey)

For you're family size I'd say you'll spend about 200 or so on groceries week to week depending on where/what you primarily buy (fresh, brand name or cheap)

4. Is Knox county dry (ie: alchohol sales)

It's a fine line -some- parts of Knox County seem to be dry some not. In Knoxville you can buy by the drink without any worries.

5. I'll likely be coming before my family does so they can finish out the school year so can anyone recommend any short stay apartments?

Short stay...I don't know a lot of the places I've looked at are 6 to 12 months leases...sorry can't help on this one much

6. Are there many festivals (art, crafts, harvest). My wife loves that stuff.

TONS! First Friday in Downtown Knoxville I think is year round it's a huge local art show, there's a few fresh markets in the area that are seasonal I do believe. There's the Sundown in the City music festival that gears up from May until July.Also in the summer you can watch live shakespeare in market square!

7. I plan to get a fishing license the minute I can prove residency. Where should I go for that first largemouth? How about that first catfish? Are there many bank fishing opportunities?

You'll be on the TN river so you can find those large mouth anywhere you can land a boat for the most part. Catfish head to Norris Lake. Bank fishing will be at most lake parks. I know there's a few in Roane county, but I wouldn't advise eating too many fish outta the river. Especially not near the fossill plants sorry


8. How are the restaraunt choices?

GREAT choices in Knoxville there's Connor's in Turkey Creek, Melting Pot for fondue, Barley's for pizza/beer (21 and up), Naples for italian on Kingston Pike, Mirage for egyptian! (21 and up thanks to new smoking law) you'll find all kinds of good places. The Tomato Head in Market Square

9. Lastly (for now), are there any college football teams around (Relax, I'm kidding. I'm already conditioning myself to the color orange and trying to read up on the SEC)

Year in and year out the toughest college conference in 4 of the major sports (football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball, and volleyball too!) Also there's some high school level teams you should watch Maryville for example

Thanks to any and all in advance for your help.

9. It seems there are some nices parks in the area. Is this true?

Plenty of parks anywhere you go in TN it seems so don't fret about that depending on how far you wanna travel there are tons of recommendations that can be made

[weisgarber1]

[quote=Hishiad;7438893]

4. Is Knox county dry (ie: alchohol sales)

It's a fine line -some- parts of Knox County seem to be dry some not. In Knoxville you can buy by the drink without any worries.

If I am not mistaken, the entire county is "wet," ie., alcohol can be purchased in package stores countywide.

[VolDude]

1. Does anyone have any recomendations of towns close to the city with low crime, reasonable traffic and decent schools that they would like to share.

Decent school district close to Knoxville: Blount County, which is cheaper and different than Maryville City, but not as regarded as far as schools.

2. Can anyone tell me what NFL team is carried in Knoxville (please say Titans, I'm a life long Oilers/Titans fan and I'm tired of paying for Direct Ticket.

Yes, the Titans are the team.

3. How's the general cost of living? I know the sales tax is up there, but are the items (clothes/food/etc pricey)

When you factor in a) no state income tax and b) housing is assessed at only 25% of the home's value, cost of living is great.

4. Is Knox county dry (ie: alchohol sales)

No it is not dry, but good luck finding specialty beer anywhere in the state. Liqour stores are not allowed to sale beer, booze only, so that leaves gas stations and grocery stores as the only ones who would possibly sell them. The profit margin is just too low for them to even consider that. Ohh, and another annoying thing, you cannot have wine from your favorite California winery shipped in, per the law. Pretty lame, I know.

5. I'll likely be coming before my family does so they can finish out the school year so can anyone recommend any short stay apartments?

There are a TON of afordable, save apartments in the five mile radius around West Town Mall. If you prefer/need something downtown, I recommend Woodmeade South in SoKno.

6. Are there many festivals (art, crafts, harvest). My wife loves that stuff.

Yes. We celebrate everything from wine, beer, Greek heritage, Native heritage, to Hank Williams Sr.

7. I plan to get a fishing license the minute I can prove residency. Where should I go for that first largemouth? How about that first catfish? Are there many bank fishing opportunities?

N/A.

8. How are the restaraunt choices?

At one point a few years ago, Knoxville had the most restaraunts per capita in the nation. You should have no trouble finding what you like, corporate or not (I prefer NOT).

9. Lastly (for now), are there any college football teams around (Relax, I'm kidding. I'm already conditioning myself to the color orange and trying to read up on the SEC)

Maryville College, Knoxville College, and that one in Knoxville who's name escapes me.

Thanks to any and all in advance for your help.

9. It seems there are some nices parks in the area. Is this true?

Yes.

We put "10" after "9", though, down here.

[knoxgarden]

About specailty beer:
Have you tried Earth Fare? I've found some great beers at their store in Turkey Creek. The Food City on Morrell Road, across from West Town Mall, has some non-run-of-the-mill types.
Haven't checked Fresh Market lately, but I've found good stuff there in the past.

[anothertntony]

Originally Posted by VolDude

No it is not dry, but good luck finding specialty beer anywhere in the state. Liqour stores are not allowed to sale beer, booze only, so that leaves gas stations and grocery stores as the only ones who would possibly sell them.

Doesn't McScrooge's sell specialty beer? I recall them having quite a few higher alcohol content beers in the past. (I remember being told that liquor stores in TN could carry beer above a certain percent alcohol by volume threshold, but I don't know if that is true.) Their website indicates that they have specialty beers; they even have a list.

McScrooge's Beer List

[BRH]

World Market in Turkey Creek also carries a large variety of specialty, imported beers. (plus all kinds of cool imported food items, furniture, and household items as well). Love that place.

[VolDude]

Thank you so much knoxgarden, anothertntony, and BRH. I was under the impression that it was a state law, per an Atlanta friend who brags about the availability of brews down there and lack of "back home." I live in Chattanooga now, but I'll definitely have to check out World Market, Earth Fair, Fresh Market, and McScrooge's as soon as I'm back up there. I frequented McScrooge's in college a lot for their wine selection, but never noticed any beer in there. I stand corrected.

Food City carries "mid-major" brews like Sierra Nevada, Rogue, and Stella Artois, but not many smaller specialities.

[BigJoeyV]

I appreciate all of the assistance.

[tennmoto]

I,m a big fan of Seymour.Moved here 10 yrs ago from Central Jersey, and built a post and beam house on a nice wooded lot that the builders( except me) didn't want. So we have a secluded enclave with banks,food stores,restaurants, all 2 minutes away. Knoxville is only 20 minutes away, check out Hockey,Market square,Gay st, Tennessee theater ,old city.
Access to Maryville and gatlinburg-pigeon forge is easy too.
Location,location!

steve

[William Sold]

Joey,

Everyone has pretty much answered all of the other questions fairly well and given you a lot of great choices for living, dining, shopping, etc. So I'll answer an area that is definitely my love, passion, and expertise.....fishing.

We are blessed with many great fishing opportunities here in Knoxville with manny great surrounding lakes and waterways. As an old fishing guide in the past, I've posted some of my fishing photos to show what's available for the sport fisherman.

Lake Loudon is home to many largemouth bass (not great size), but great abundance. Right now is actually prime season for catfish on Loudon, fishing with cut bait in shallow coves, as they're feeding heavily before the spawn season. Cut shad and bluegill work best through April. Below the Loudon Dam is the best striper fishing around. May through September will produce many 25+ pounders on live gizzard shad or threadfin. There is bank fishing available here, but optimum results are from a boat.

Watts Bar Lake, 30-40 minutes southeast of Knoxville provides great fishing all year round with large bass, abundant catfish, large (and tasty!) crappie, and many other species. It's a huge lake, with many campground fishing opportunities.

Norris, what I consider the most beautiful lake, is north of Knox about 45 minutes and is great for camping, fishing, and swimming. Douglas and Cherokee are both east of Knox, and are known for stripers, cats, and bass. Tellico connects to Loudon, and is close to Maryville, and had great largemouth and smallmouth fishing. The Clinch river and Pigeon river are both really good for trout fishing, and is floatable, boatable, and has many guide outfits for a good day trip. Sections are also walkable for bank fishing. Melton Hill is just on the north side of Knox and has some stripers below the damm, also largemouth and even muskie close to the steam plant. So, many great choices to choose from and fish. Typically cats are year round, but prime from Deember-April. Stripers are prime May-September, bass can be caught year round, adjusting for deep or shallow water living, but prime March-October. Hope this helps. If you want a guided trip, look up my old guide partner for any species trip, or just advic on where to go during what month and some shop talk on what to use. Here's a link to his website:
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