jacksboro in a nutshell?! (Knoxville, Clinton: co-op, houses, find a job)

[sevenseascresties]

im currently in the process of re-evaluation my life, and part of that re-evalutation is getting my butt out of Connecticut.

im origionally from the UK, currently in CT and after 8 years, its still not home, infact, i hate it here.
between the snow thats going to be comming soon (heck were not even out of october and theres been snow) and the attitude, combined with the prices...
i just want out.

im a country girl at heart, and looking for a little land, at least 2 acres, i make alot of natural products to sell online, and raise dogs.
i also want to start raising milk goats, and have a small homestead.
(and no, im not going into this blind, im an agricultural major just looking to do a little more supporting of me...)

i found a nice looking property in Jacksboro, in my range on the right amount of land and ive ocntacted the listing agent for more details...
but outside of the tri-state i havent traveled the us much.

i dont mind rain, im british, i can deal with humidity (give me a window ac unit and a cold drink and im ok), id like to avoid the huge snow dump, though a few inches a year is fine, im just sooo over loosing my small dogs in FEET of snow each winter!, quite frankly im a spring/fall girl...
i want fairly rural, somewhere on the outskirts of a small picturesque frinedly town, i like to know and be there for my neighbors, but not be in their buisness...
but i also want to be within about an hour to a larger city with its conveniences, larger groceries, public warehouse mabe (im a costco member and USE it lol) and some friendly night life, after all i am still a single woman in my mid 20's and making some frineds would be great.

i also want to be neer water...it doesnt have to be huge, but enough to swim, fish, and toodle about on my little 2 man day sailer would be great...
im looking for the simple life, somewhere i can raise my dogs, raise my goats, mabe some chickens and rabbits, where i can have a more back to basics life and wont be hassled...

i hear good things about knoxville as a city and think the eastern side of the state could be perfect, with its scenery, lakes and low prices (at least compared to CT lol!)

i do not have kids...nor do i want any EVER, so school systems ect are NOT important to me.
a nice local vet however is important (and by local i mean within 1/2 hour), i do all my own vac's now and an a licsnese wildlife rehabber and vet tech and worked as a zookeeper, i raise my animals my way and will need a vet who ill be able to work with, essentially someone who can come and do the stuff i simply cant.
i am not main stream religious...but i keep myself to myself and my belifs stay that way too so churches are not important either...

i like agricultural faires, country markets, and festivals so neer a town that takes pride and does things like that would be excelent.

i Do know im not going to get everything i want in one town...
but as close as possible woudl be great.
and i have no problem commuting an hour to a bigger city with the larger conveniences as long as the local town has a basic market for any last minute stuff, and a nice downtown type feel...

do you think jacksboro might work for me?!

[hiknapster]

I have some ideas but I have to ask one question first. Are you going to be looking for a job or does your online business make enough that you won't need one? I promise I'll answer your questions!

[TN Gal now]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I have some ideas but I have to ask one question first. Are you going to be looking for a job or does your online business make enough that you won't need one? I promise I'll answer your questions!

and it's always the first one that comes to mind when someone here asks about moving to a rural community in the E TN area. I just cannot stress enough that someone either needs to be financially independent or have a good job lined up somewhere if they're going to depend upon an income from this area.

[sevenseascresties]

as it currently stands, i will hopefully be paying for my home in cash, ill hopefully have no debt comming with me, and i own my car. currently my online buisness is relitivly new (about 1 1/2 yrs old) but im brinign in enough to cover low-medium taxes, electric for a moderate home and groceries for one, plus normal water usage shoudl i get somewhere with town water...
im hoping the goats will pay for themselves (in milk, meat and wool) i may be interested in picking up a little part time mimimum wage thing for some "fun money" every month, but i would be able to survive if im watchfull on what my online buisness brings in.
if i do have to pick up work, im not opposed to up to a 1 hour commute to find a job and im willing to do pretty much anything, generally though i stick to working with animals whenever possible so im not opposed to shoveling poop and doing jobs most people would turn their nose at. however finding work is not on the top of my "looking for" list.
CT is horrible for jobs right now and i survive currently out of "work" on what my buisness brings in...

the goal would be to eventually become self sufficient, or at least mostly so, growing alot of my own food, making products to sell (from cheese to soaps to wool).
eventually id like to do solar/wind as a suplimental energy, though that would have to be worked towards.
i would need to find a local butcher who could process the meat goats though, just due to size, i do my own chickens and rabbits so...

based on what im brining in on average, i wont be "rich" but i should be able to live comfortably on what ive got comming in

[sassykat&joe]

hmmm... I happen to like the area, but it isn't for everyone. The Caryville, Jacksboro, LaFollette area is a kind of long, narrow 'town' that runs down the middle of Powell valley. If you miss the city limit signs, you aren't sure which town you're in. The valley runs pretty much east-west. Just to the north are cliffs of the Cumberland mountains, and to the south is Norris lake. Knoxville is less than an hour away, with a lot of shopping even closer than the downtown.

It is very rural, very Appalachian. I'm not sure you would think any of the towns are picturesque, as they remind me a bit of coal mining towns. LaFollette has the best downtown. The area is rather run-down in a lot of ways, but with a Wally, Lowe's, small hospital, wonderful hardware store. If you are not into the lake resorts, property is very affordable, and taxes are good. It is also close to Clinton, which has a great antiquing downtown. Norris has the Museum of Appalachia, and just had their huge fall festival.

The weather is pretty good - because of the way the mountains and valley run, it doesn't get much snow coming from the west or north. Gotta watch the weather when it comes up from Knoxville, tho.

There are lots of public boat ramps for Norris lake that are convenient to town, so getting your boat into the lake would be easy.

Since you do a lot online, that part would be easy, too.

I'm a bit further up the valley, past LaFollette. This is a very agricultural area, with lots of working farms. Real farms, with cattle, sheep, crops, even a co-op with great prices! There are several vets.

People are very friendly, but not pushy. They will respect your privacy, although if you are the least bit odd - say, for example, you talk about building underground - everyone in the community will know and will be curious about it if you give them the opening.

[knoxgarden]

I'm quite fond of Jacksboro. I haven't lived there but I've spent some time there recently doing research at the courthouse. Very nice people and a pretty town and gorgeous area.
It's about 35 minutes to downtown Knoxville if traffic isn't bad. It has the advantage of being relatively close to the Interstate and also close to services in LaFollette but still rural and small town.

[hiknapster]

Well, everyone did a great job answering your questions!

I'm from New England, and it is different down here. For instance, it becomes very rural right out of the city, so you could actually move closer.

CT has a very low unemployment rate compared to most of the country.

So, here's the situation, if you move to Campbell County you probably will not find that part-time job. Their unemployment rate is pushing 14 percent.

However, Knox County's unemployment rate is comparable to CT. It is the second lowest in TN.

So it may behoove you to look closer to Knoxville. You can easily get over two acres for a very good price.

By the way, I lived on the Mass/Ct line for 34 years and I love Knoxville.

[sevenseascresties]

alot of good info, thanks so much.

i dont mind curious, curious is actually great, i just dont like the folks who are pushy about trying to change you...
im dont plan to try and change anyone and expect the same in responce...

i personally find mining type towns charming lol, im from neer the lake district in the UK, lots of farm houses, coal mining villages ect, i think when i was quaint or pretty i mean more of that "small town" atmosphere, a pride and frinedlienss in a comminity, nice parks, and a warm comfortable feeling as well as older buildings, they dont have to be fancy victorians, ect, i think i more like the character than anything else, i like "different" i cant stand cookie cutter houses and comercialized storefronts on a dowtown.
im certainly not set on Jacksboro, its just a town that came up and im liking what im seeing in that general area.
everyones given alot of great infomration, if theres more to come even better!
definatly food for thought