Knoxville? (Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg: house, theater, camping)

[evseven]

I'm considering moving to Knoxville. I'm a 26 year old female. I want to know if Knoxville has: entertainment, nice parks, real the mountains, etc.
Can tell me if Knoxville is worth moving to for a twentysomething girl.

[oldmanbob]

Hey evseven, Knoxville has lots of choices, arts exhibits and several downtown activities, and great choices in parks. The night life has several bars and clubs, and not sure about the comment real the mountains, but the Smoky Mtns are only an hour and half drive, and are beautiful. You can connect with several groups, for hiking, extreme sports, and lots of Church's have several outstanding things, for your age. What kind of carreer or job are you looking for?

[hiknapster]

It's closer to the Smokys for a lot of people. I can be driving through the gates of Dollywood in 45 minutes, and that is well into Pigeon Forge. I live in Fountain City.

Just thought I'd mention that.

[knoxgarden]

You should have a great time here. We have wonderful parks of all types, including House Mountain, considered the best hiking and rock climbing in an urban county.
TDEC: DNH: House Mountain State Natural Area
We're surrounded by mountains and parks, not just the Smokies but also Frozen Head and Obed Scenic Wilderness to the west. Lots of outdoors clubs and activities for someone in your age group. You'll find parks, greenways and blueways (greenways on the rivers) all over the city and county.
Check out
Metro Pulse: Knoxville News, Issues, Entertainment, Culture, People
the alternative free weekly for things to do. There's a great live music scene downtown and plenty of events to keep you busy.

[sliverbox]

I'm a early 30's male and grew up in Knoxville and left in my 20's. I'd say Knoxville is primarily for families with kids. There is a pretty nice downtown that has gotten revitalized and every time I go back they've opened more bars, resturaunts, theaters, and so on. But the city itself is very small and the surrounding areas are pretty sprawly and all over the place. Lots of Home Depots and Applebees.

There are several national parks. The Smokey Mountains are the most popular. Whats nice about them is that while Gatlinburg is hokey and sprawly, that's where 99% of visitors stay. With the exception of the main Gatlinburg side park entrance and Cades Cove, which is usually crammed with cars, if you go to some of the lesser visited areas, you can usually be on a trail with very few people. You'll find that Southerners generally don't get into heavy athletics that much, so its different from say- California where everyone crowds the trails.

I'd highly reccomend Big South Fork. Its also about an hour, hour and a half away and its the "secret" park that nobody goes to. It has HUGE natural stone arches, caves, rivers, and very nice campgrounds. That's a good place to go and you can almost always find camping.

So short answer as to whether its a great place for young people, I'd say probably not as good as others. But its better than some others and it doesn't cost as much (yet)

[leonard]

Originally Posted by evseven

I'm considering moving to Knoxville. I'm a 26 year old female. I want to know if Knoxville has: entertainment, nice parks, real the mountains, etc.
Can tell me if Knoxville is worth moving to for a twentysomething girl.

I just returned from the area. In visiting down town I saw a lot of young people.

Is it for you? That depends on what you want or expect from the city.

It is not LA, SF or NY and in fact is not like Nashville. Yet if you want a smaller city feel with a nice ambiance and sufficient activities to keep you entertained, while being able to enjoy the mountains and parks, then I would say yes. If you want more nightlife, a very cosmopolitan feel, etc I would say no.

[knoxgirl80]

It really depends on where you live, but there are many things to do here for a twentysomething year old. I moved here when I was 23 and am now 28. I have found there are plenty of things to do downtown, in the mountains, etc. I agree with the other post that you have realize this is a smaller city so there are not as many options as larger ones. I love to camp and once you live here for a little while, you can find a good amount of out of the way campgrounds and wonderful hikes. Also, if you like the art scence, it's pretty good here. There is also first fridays each month where stores and galleries stay open later. They usually show art and have entertainment. Also there is sundown in the city free concerts at Market Square. If you don't mind a crowd that can be fun as well. I would suggest coming down here for a weekend (esp. the first friday of the month), walk around downtown and just check things out, see if it fits what you are looking for. Good luck on your search.