Trip planned for next week - a few Q (Knoxville: hotel, neighborhoods)

[SunnySkies100]

An initial scouting trip for this weekend - through next Thursday. I'll have the 10yo with me, and spouse. We are staying in three different locations (hotel and Airbnb mix). So, a few questions:

- some places we should explore? We won't be going to GSM Ntl Park, as we want to check out Knoxville and some neighborhoods.

- Realtor recommendations (if allowed on this site)

- What exactly is "West Knoxville"? I see this referenced a lot, but would like to know the general boundaries of this area.

- I had noted that Hardin Valley, Bearden, and Farragut high schools were said to be good - any other suggestions (including Middle Schools)? Youngest (10) is a few years from HS, but good to know in order to get situated in the "right" location. "right" location is, of course, subjective.

- Any events happening this weekend/next week (thru Thursday) that would be good to try to attend/see?

Thanks in advance!

[geranium]

Best as I can guess, 'west Knoxville' must be anywhere west of 'West' Town Mall. I think it actually starts around Bearden and goes as far as the Lenoir County line. Knoxville grew in a westerly direction so much of it is 'west' of the downtown area. The further west, the newer the subdivisions, so the prices climb. (There are of course exceptions to this.)

I'm far west - outside Farragut - near the Lenoir County line. It's suburban country. You could take a ride along Northshore Drive and get a feel for the area and see a few of our Knox County parks. When you get to the west end of Northshore, it's a short drive into Farragut. Then Harden Valley will be on the other side of the interstate. Or Kingston Pike toward downtown will take you through Bearden. Obviously, you need Google maps and not me!

What part of town are you staying in?

[weisgarber1]

Originally Posted by geranium

Best as I can guess, 'west Knoxville' must be anywhere west of 'West' Town Mall. I think it actually starts around Bearden and goes as far as the Lenoir County line. Knoxville grew in a westerly direction so much of it is 'west' of the downtown area. The further west, the newer the subdivisions, so the prices climb. (There are of course exceptions to this.)

I'm far west - outside Farragut - near the Lenoir County line. It's suburban country. You could take a ride along Northshore Drive and get a feel for the area and see a few of our Knox County parks. When you get to the west end of Northshore, it's a short drive into Farragut. Then Harden Valley will be on the other side of the interstate. Or Kingston Pike toward downtown will take you through Bearden. Obviously, you need Google maps and not me!

What part of town are you staying in?

Actually, There is no Lenoir County, only a Lenoir City. The county you are referencing is Loudon County (the Loudon County Line), which borders Knox County, and which Lenoir City is located in.

[SunnySkies100]

Thanks Weisgarber!

[SunnySkies100]

Thanks Geranium - this is helpful.

[Barking Spider]

Glad you had a good visit.
Traffic is really relative. I moved here from So CA in 94, so I still don't view the traffic in Knoxville as heavy. If you want heavy traffic, visit Nashville or Atlanta. Granted there are times the traffic is bad, but, for the most part, I don't consider Knoxville traffic as heavy. You might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You ventured to Pigeon Forge, which is more than I do. I can't stand the traffic in PF and Gatlinburg, and avoid it like the plague.

[Badbird2000]

Originally Posted by Barking Spider

Glad you had a good visit.
Traffic is really relative. I moved here from So CA in 94, so I still don't view the traffic in Knoxville as heavy. If you want heavy traffic, visit Nashville or Atlanta. Granted there are times the traffic is bad, but, for the most part, I don't consider Knoxville traffic as heavy. You might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You ventured to Pigeon Forge, which is more than I do. I can't stand the traffic in PF and Gatlinburg, and avoid it like the plague.

Agreed! I moved from Tampa in 2008. Traffic was miserable then (a 14 mile commute took 50 minutes on a toll road). It's 10x worse now. It's almost refreshing here. But, I live in Corryton and work downtown, so I travel I-40 from the east to d.t.


And, I cringe whenever the kid wants to go to PF for the day..lol

[SunnySkies100]

Traffic is relative, for certain - I lived in Atlanta 94-95, and it was a headache then - now it appears much worse. I lived in Tacoma 95-96, driving to Olympia for work, and to Seattle occasionally - the traffic was generally pretty good then, but not anymore - it is very bad (we go to visit relatives there). Since I grew up in the DC area, I learned to drive in a lot of traffic, but again, in the intervening years, the traffic has become even heavier and certain portions are like nightmares on a daily basis (still visit relatives there too). And, like anything - if you live and work in close proximity or drive against traffic, then the headaches are less. One good thing about Knoxville, is that there are a good selection of stores in all areas we looked at, so we felt that unless we were really in the country, we could access many things relatively easily.

[SunnySkies100]

Originally Posted by Badbird2000

And, I cringe whenever the kid wants to go to PF for the day..lol

Yes, I was not looking forward to the drive - but since we were able to leave for PF around 230pm (on a Wed), I figured traffic would be ok, and it was, but still heavier than one would think with the widened roads, on a weekday, when kids are in school and leaves are on the trees! I laughed when we passed Dollywood as the parking lot was only partially filled in the front area - indicating very low crowds, but kid wanted Dixie Stampede, so that is where we ended up. We went to Gatlinburg 1x on a previous trip - that place was a zoo and nothing special was occurring the 4 days we were there, but it was over a weekend.