Cocke county (Knoxville, Newport: 2009, new home, taxes)

[kevenlm]

Hello. My wife and I are seriously thinking of moving to cocke county. We are looking at property in Cosby, Hartford, Del Rio. We found some property near Hartford, east of rt. 40 on one of the creeks in the area. I have some questions about the area. Thank you all for your responses.

How are the gravel mountain roads in the winter?

How are building jobs going? I know most are seasonal, that is OK. I have been dealing with the Chicago winters my whole life (44yrs.) I have been in the building trades for 22 years. I know how it goes.

How are the building codes for building a new home?
Costs for all aspects please
Time frame from start to finish
Well and septic costs

Grading for road costs
Any misc. costs you entailed while doing similar projects.
I am going to contact the "Building codes and permits" dept. for a lot of my questions.

What is the cost for taxes after property is improved with home?

What about the Trout stocking the state does. Is the Trout fishing that big of a deal for people that own property that has some Trout streams/creeks on it?

Sorry for so much in one post. I will ask more, and answer your questions as this post progresses.

Thank you for reading my post. Have a nice day.
Keven

PS:*****What is the truth behind the meth labs and other criminal activity in this county?
Do the local folks and cops hassle new residents. Are there any real dangers of living in the mountains between Hartford and Del Rio?

[Beretta]

moving thread to Knoxville area

[anothertntony]

Originally Posted by kevenlm

PS:*****What is the truth behind the meth labs and other criminal activity in this county?

I admittedly cannot offer an unbiased opinion here. My opinion of Cocke county is very low.

At the very least I recommend that you read the wikipedia entry for Cocke county (no, I did not write any part of it):

Cocke County, Tennessee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here are some quotes.

"In the early 1980s, marijuana production and smuggling of illegal drugs became prevalent in the area. For example, in 1982 more than 40,000 marijuana plants with an estimated value of $15 million were found growing at one site. In 1983 a massive state and federal probe led to the discovery of an interstate prostitution ring and the FBI's arresting the county sheriff and 43 other people on cocaine conspiracy charges."

"On the afternoon of June 11, 2005, more than 100 federal and state agents, led by the FBI and supported by snipers and helicopters, raided and closed a large illegal cockfighting ring in Cocke County. The Del Rio Cockfighting Pit was described by officials as the United States' largest and oldest illegal cockfighting pit. The agents seized more than $40,000 in cash and issued criminal citations to 143 people."

"The raid occurred as a result of "Operation Rose Thorn," a four-year investigation of criminal activity in the area, including drug trafficking, chop shops, the hijacking of interstate shipments, organized gambling (including cockfighting and video poker), prostitution, fraud, attempted money laundering, racketeering and public corruption. By the end of July, the investigation had resulted in closure of the cockfighting pit and two brothels, criminal charges against a total of more than 170 people, ..."

This is all in a county of about 34,000 people. The important thing to note in all of these cases is that it is always state or federal agencies that make these discoveries - never local agencies. Why do you think that is?

The Knoxville News Sentinel recently had an article regarding meth lab closures in TN:

Officials weigh tougher meth laws after 40% spike in number of labs seized : Local News : Knoxville News Sentinel

Notably, there were no meth labs found in Cocke county. To what did the sheriff attribute this? Let's see:

"Cocke County Sheriff Claude Strange, whose agency also recovered no meth labs last year, didn't return a phone call seeking comment."

Oh. My guess is that they never looked.

[JMT]

I agree with anothertntony. If you do a search in this forum of Cocke County you'll find plenty of posts of people who have pretty much the same opinion of Cocke County. It's beautiful in Cocke County, but whenever there's something in the news of a marijuana bust, or a meth lab explosion, or a dog fight or rooster fight ring, it's invariably from Cocke County.

[dave1961]

A little history lesson about Cocke County. As the saying goes, look before you leap.

Cocke County Confidential : News : Knoxville News Sentinel

[Barking Spider]

Building jobs? You are joking right?
Building codes? You are really joking right???
Others have touched on the county as a whole. There is no building code enforcement at all in those areas. The people that build around there for the most part adhere to a couple basic principals....
1. That's the way my Daddy always did it!
2. That's good enough, or That'll do.
or
wait for it


3. It's good enough for who it's for.

As far as trout and fishing go, I think it all is under the State regulations.
As far as getting alone with locals.... your mileage may vary. Meth labs and drug activity usually bring some less than desirable characters.

[Beretta]

I was just in Cocke County a week ago. I drove through it from one end to the other smack dab through Newport. I have never been so happy to see the Sevier County line in my life. The cops were out in force something fierce; tons of people pulled over.

Kevin, have you actually been to Cocke County? You're coming from Chicago? Oh my.......

[kevenlm]

Thank you for the links and feedback.
BarkingSpider: LOL
SmokyMtnGal: OH NO!!what do you mean "Oh my" Yes from Chicago. No, I have never been to Tenn. as an adult. I was the kid in the back seat (starting around 1974) with my nose pressed against the window. Last visit was early 80's.
I have been doing a lot of reading(6 months or so) but I read as many Good posts and stories as I see bad ones for all the different areas.
Am I hearing it without it being said? --Tennessee Is a great place to visit for most. If you have family in the area then things are better if you want to live there?

Oh ya SmokyMtnGal :The cops were out in force something fierce; tons of people pulled over.More cops means safer town? As far as pulling people over. What's the big hunt for DUI's. That's ok.

[anothertntony]

Originally Posted by kevenlm

Am I hearing it without it being said? --Tennessee Is a great place to visit for most. If you have family in the area then things are better if you want to live there?

There are many great places to live in TN. Cocke County is not one of them. There is basically no law and order there (the referenced police presence was probably more about revenue generation than public protection). It's like Tennessee's Tijuana. Every once in a while, the Feds fly in with sniper support and haul off some criminals, but otherwise outsiders just stay out.

Other areas, such as Knox and Blount counties, are great places to live. This thread would have gone much differently if you had said that you and your wife were considering moving to, say, Knox County (or many other counties). If you start a thread like that, I would expect it to be more encouraging.

[kevenlm]

I will start looking in those areas. Thank you. I will search past posts and then maybe start one of my own. If needed. I would like to keep this post open for a few more days to see if the common response is the same. Thank you.