Conscious Community in Knoxville? (Memphis, Chattanooga: appointed, organic, living in)

[nasuse]

Hi All,
I am thinking of relocating from the SF Bay area to Dandridge TN, where my family lives. I am inquiring about communities and mentalities in Knoxville area. I am hoping there is some sort of conscious community, tolerant, open-minded...places where I can get organic produce, healthy holistic living, yoga studios.. I cannot handle religion or any dogma shoved in my face, but a tolerant, open minded community. I reallize there is dogma and righteous intolerant people anywhere, but I am really looking to see if there is a holistic sort of community in Knoxville.
I am single, 39, female, a life coach and a writer, so I work from home, but need to be fed w/ community occassionally too!

Thanks anyone for your input!

[knoxgarden]

You'll find a lot of like-minded people in Knoxville. Check out the Knoxville Permaculture Society.
Knoxville Permaculture Guild - Building Permanent Culture in Knoxville
The links on that site will take you to other Knoxville communities.
Slow Foods Knoxville is a great way to meet people.
Slow Food Knoxville
There's an excellent yoga studio/restaurant that recently opened:
The Glowing Body
You'll find food coops, Earth Fare, lots of farmers markets and a very active writers' group. Check out Metropulse, the Knoxville weekly, for more.
Metro Pulse: Knoxville News, Issues, Entertainment, Culture, People

[jabogitlu]

I love east Tennessee and Knoxville, but I'm going to be honest with you. What you're describing doesn't equal Knoxville. There is a lot of religion in the South. There isn't a high demand for life coaches. There's a lot of yoga but it's mostly soccer moms looking for some soft exercise.

There's nothing here like holistic living in San Francisco. Make sure you visit for a lengthy period of time before you decide to relocate.

Best of luck to you. Have you looked at Asheville in general or downtown/Northshore Chattanooga? Both close to Knoxville, with much different vibes.

[hiknapster]

Hmmm...Well, here's my take on it.

Chattanooga has a nice aquarium and art museum but it has less of a holistic community than Knoxville. Take a look at the listings. Body Mind Spirit DIRECTORY | Tennessee | Day Spa | Massage | Knoxville | Memphis

Having said that, yeah, Knoxville is not San Fran, nor is it Asheville.

It's an extremely tolerant city with a Libertarian attitude. In other words, no one is going to push a holistic lifestyle or atheism on someone, nor are the Baptists going to shun you if you don't go to church.

However, if you are the type of person who becomes insulted because there is a church on every corner and one in between, well, then Knoxville is not for you. The people are extremely religious, dominated by Baptists but if you are an atheist you will not be bothered. No one is shoving anything around here.

We have fabulous farmer's markets during the season and our holistic community seems to keep expanding. It has grown quite a bit since I moved here, four years ago. Now we have two Earth Fare's! So there are people supporting these things.

In fact, that list isn't up to date, I noticed. The Glowing Body Yoga with Shanti (Home)

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I love east Tennessee and Knoxville, but I'm going to be honest with you. What you're describing doesn't equal Knoxville. There is a lot of religion in the South. There isn't a high demand for life coaches. There's a lot of yoga but it's mostly soccer moms looking for some soft exercise.

There's nothing here like holistic living in San Francisco. Make sure you visit for a lengthy period of time before you decide to relocate.

Best of luck to you. Have you looked at Asheville in general or downtown/Northshore Chattanooga? Both close to Knoxville, with much different vibes.

I agree with above.
You just can't compare SF to Knoxville..or anywhere in TN really. If you are looking to find all the same amenities and such in East TN that you currently have in SF, you might be very disappointed. However if you are willing for some compromises and/or to do without some, or travel to get to certain needs/wants, than it might work for you because you prefer to be by family.
You said you were thinking of moving to Dandridge but wanting to know what amenities you are looking for in Knoxville correct? I will be honest with you, Dandridge is a very old town that the majority of it's residence are natives, it is a historic town, dry still I believe too. It is growing as there have been some new housing communities built in the last few years, but it still is an old TN town which has strong roots and not to keen on fast changes. There are also a lot who do not want anything changed and are not too tolerant of outsiders. Not all, but quite a few. You will be asked what church you attend or if you are looking for one seeing as you are new to town and get an invite. They are just being friendly. I used to live in neighboring Jefferson City area. Pam and Bill on here moved from Dandrdige to Knoxville I believe (am I right there Pam?) maybe they could help you out a bit more?
I hope that helps some.

[hiknapster]

I apologize. I didn't catch that they are planning to move to Dandridge. I agree with Jab and MBMouse. I was describing Knoxville.

[galactic_hombre]

Originally Posted by nasuse

Hi All,
I am thinking of relocating from the SF Bay area to Dandridge TN, where my family lives. I am inquiring about communities and mentalities in Knoxville area. I am hoping there is some sort of conscious community, tolerant, open-minded...places where I can get organic produce, healthy holistic living, yoga studios.. I cannot handle religion or any dogma shoved in my face, but a tolerant, open minded community. I reallize there is dogma and righteous intolerant people anywhere, but I am really looking to see if there is a holistic sort of community in Knoxville.
I am single, 39, female, a life coach and a writer, so I work from home, but need to be fed w/ community occassionally too!

Thanks anyone for your input!

When I lived in Knoxville, I found a freshing "tolerant, open minded community" through the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. The church's membership is made up of various individuals, including professionals of every kind. Here's a link to the church: Welcome » » TVUUC Also, I miss the Winter Solstice Dance: Here is a link to a video of the 2008 celebration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnW-EMt786Y Establisghing a relationship with people in this community is a must! However, a word of caution: this church community was a target of domestic terrorism. Don't let that this knowledge frighten you, this community is very strong.

[creeksitter]

I think what you are looking for is the Center for Peace between Sevierville and Seymour. Fortunately it is closer to Dandrige than Knoxville (if you go the back roads). Which is good because I agree you won't find a lot of kindred spirits in Dandrige. I could be wrong. It is a cute enough town that might attract all sorts of folks.

[hiknapster]

Thanks for that video, GH. It was beautiful. I've always wanted to check out TVUUC. Hopefully, that video will give me the motivation to go.

BTW, the shooter was an anomaly. He was convinced that the Democrats had taken away his food stamps so he took it out on the TVUUC. Unbelievable.

[creeksitter]

I should have said closer to Dandrige than Knoxville is.

I also have to wonder - how many kindred spirits does it take for the OP to feel community? 5,10,20? Because you might find that many new agey people near Dandrige and that is a good circle of friends IMHO. It's the people who come here looking to be surrounded by like minded people who are doomed to frustration.