What area? What area? Still banging my head on the wall! (Knoxville: rent, house)

[LLuce]

I don't know. Something just tells me to forget it. I think in my mind it might be too far from civilization, although when I mapquested the address for the chamber of commerce in Sevierville it said 10 miles. Would that be "as the crow flies?" LOL! I don't mind hills I think they're beautiful but it also doesn't have a garage and probably not a place to put one. We want a garage. Sometimes what a person thinks they want is not necessarily what they need or should have.

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Why get it out of your mind? It just might be THE ONE. There is a reason that it is staying with you.

There are lots of ways to avoid traffic in Sevierville and lots of the area is no where near the tourists. It will depend about the hills. It may or may not be on flat land. Are you trying to avoid hills altogether or are you just saying that it looks like a long ways from civilization?

[mbmouse]

Have you looked at the Tri-Cities? It really sounds like it would fit you needs by everything you have posted thus far. It has all the shopping, major and minor, plus you are only an hour and a half or so from Asheville NC that has more shopping/specialty options and cheaper sales tax.
Lots less traffic and I believe more county tax only options in areas that you can feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, but less than 15 minutes to grocery, Wal-Mart etc. However, I will give you one word of warning: If you want to only pay county taxes, you will only get county services, which fixing an annoying dog barking issue probably won't happen, that is pretty much anywhere in TN counties, at least in the east part. It is pretty much a live and let live region, you won't find a whole lot of ordnances and such, but that is also one of the reasons property taxes are low, not a lot of enforcement needed.

[hiknapster]

Well, Lluce, you may have the house stuck in your head because something about it just struck you. But the garage and the setting are nagging at you, so I think you should consider what it is about that house that you REALLY like and see if you can find that in another.

By the way, mapquest and google maps are NOT as the crow flies. They even take into account local traffic.

MBMouse has given some excellent suggestions.

It is true about the county taxes. I pay city and county, live in a very country setting on a half acre. Because of this I get garbage, refuse and bulk pickup. Heck, I just watched the city vacuum up my leaves! You also get a discount on your insurance and don't have to subscribe to Rural Metro.

Having said all of that, I am going to let you in on a very secret place. I hate to let too many people in on it, but look around Norris. It is truly Mayberry and would be incredibly easy to get onto the highway and back home to visit family and friends. It is also about 30 minutes to Knoxville.

I told you this because you I like you. Don't tell anyone else.

[knoxgarden]

Take a look north of Knoxville. I like Jacksboro. Close to the Interstate but in small town in the country. Good shopping nearby in LaFollette and just down the Interstate in Powell.
I also like parts of Clinton, the part that's far west off the Interstate. The part between the old downtown and the Interstate is pretty much strip malls but once you get west of the historic downtown, there are some wonderful residential areas on the river and on the mountain overlooking downtown. Lot of country out there but close to services.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

By the way, mapquest and google maps are NOT as the crow flies. They even take into account local traffic.

Yes, they certainly do.
When the driving directions say it's a forty minute trip and you look at it and think "It's only fifteen miles, surely it won't take forty minutes"... give yourself at least forty minutes. I learned that one the hard way.

Heh, I'm also on a 1/2 acre "semi-rural" city lot, in the tri-cities. It's great, you get the best of both worlds. City services, quiet n'hood, and plenty of wildlife to watch! I love living in east TN.

[leonard]

Originally Posted by LLuce

Seymour is definitely on my list for this upcoming trip on the advice of more than one person on here. I have been researching that area a little already so when I get there I can make better use of my time than getting lost!

I'm trying to get this one house I seen with a Sevierville address on the internet out of my mind, because I think that particular house is more in the hills and a bit far out for us, but it sure looks appealing. I don't want the craziness of tourists and traffic so I better look around the Seymour area.

If it is near Boyd's Creek it will be reasonably close to Seymour so that the traffic on 66 and 411/441 won't be an issue.

Unless it is wayyyy out in the hills/mountains, what looks rural is still quite close to civilization here. If you can tell me the address I can give you a better idea.

[Kitties of Domination]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Have you looked at the Tri-Cities? It really sounds like it would fit you needs by everything you have posted thus far. It has all the shopping, major and minor, plus you are only an hour and a half or so from Asheville NC that has more shopping/specialty options and cheaper sales tax.
Lots less traffic and I believe more county tax only options in areas that you can feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, but less than 15 minutes to grocery, Wal-Mart etc. However, I will give you one word of warning: If you want to only pay county taxes, you will only get county services, which fixing an annoying dog barking issue probably won't happen, that is pretty much anywhere in TN counties, at least in the east part. It is pretty much a live and let live region, you won't find a whole lot of ordnances and such, but that is also one of the reasons property taxes are low, not a lot of enforcement needed.

Hey, quit trying to poach our new residents!

[Kitties of Domination]

"Having said all of that, I am going to let you in on a very secret place. I hate to let too many people in on it, but look around Norris."

It is special, isn't it?

[BarbG]

We rented for the first year, in the Powell area, and spent that year driving all over the place. We ended up in Maryville, and are quite happy here. We do not regret the decision to postpone purchasing a house.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by LLuce

Okay here's the deal. Hubby and I are set for another run to Knoxville from Illinois the weekend of November 6-8. We're going to look around Maryville area and maybe up around Seymour. But I wonder if I may be missing something around the outer area of Knoxville, not in the city itself. I want a more rural flavor but not too far out from whatever we want. I don't want to be crammed into a side by side subdivision. We like a small to medium size town where maybe you can actually get to know locals instead of just being another person in that county. Our price range really shouldn't go over 160ish, preferably less of course. Since I don't know all these different "areas" I'm not sure where to stay away from and why. Just county with no city taxes would be great so that means outside of any city limit for us. I have read and read on this forum about different areas and have filtered some areas out but there is still so many left!

I have looked on the real estate sites on the internet until I'm blue in the face. I see stuff I like but it's either too far out probably (found one I love in Sevier county but it's not close to anything but Sevierville mainly) and I don't want to be caught in all the touristy stuff, traffic etc. Please give me some areas around Maryville that is worth checking..I've heard Chilhowee View area maybe? I would like to get a real estate person involved at some point but I think i should have an area of East Tennessee narrowed down I think to make his/her job easier! I'm REALLY getting overwhelmed here.

We'd like to stay around the Knoxville area within reason because we have the only friends we know over there that live in Farragut right now and wouldn't want to travel an hour or more to spend time with them.

Do you live in a city, suburb or rural area now?

How about Clinton up towards Norris near the I-75 entrance/exit ramp? Norris is quite lovely for it's natural beauty. The main drag in Clinton that the I-75 entrance/exit ramp is on has food/restaurants/gas stations while parts of the outskirts of that area is semi-rural. Near that I-75 exit/entrance ramp is a new Wal-Mart. You can hit that interstate to go into Knoxville from Clinton or drive into adjacent Norris to be by the Lake/River and Norris Dam State Park which is quite large. And it's not a tourist town.