City advice please--fiance relocating to E. TN (Knoxville, Oak Ridge: travel, work)

[sthrngrace00]

Hi all. I've spent hours reading a LOT of great advice about places to live in eastern TN. However, I am still having trouble narrowing down the choices to two or three cities so that we can start visiting and looking for homes. My fiance works for a company that requires him to travel a few days out of the week every week. He is being relocated and will now need to travel to Ohio, Kentucky, TN and GA throughout the year. Both our families live in the North GA area so we have chosen eastern TN for our love of the mountains and being somewhat central to these locations. We are hoping to live in a more rural area, away from tourism and busy cities, with access to parks, hiking trails, etc. We would like a smaller home not in a subdivided community with acreage for our three boxers, two rat terriers, and one large tortoise. We would love to be able to still drive 30-45min to town for occasional shopping, museums, restaurants, concerts, etc. We have no children but plan to in a few years so schooling may be an issue to consider--hopefully a private school. As far as my career needs go, I have recently graduated from nursing school and will be looking for a RN position in a nearby hospital or home health agency where we will live. I am turning down a position at Emory University Hospital in order to make this move so I do have high expectations about where I work but don't mind a longer commute.
Wow. That feels like a lot of "wants." I am so excited about moving and look forward to hearing from y'all! Thanks!

[jabogitlu]

I would say: look to Knoxville. There are many westerly burbcommunities like Lenoir City and Kingston that are quite close to Knoxville (and thus I-40, I-75, and I-81/26), but still rural. As far as hiking trails, that might switch your look to areas closer to Maryville, which is a short drive from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

If you choose to live in Knox County (all one school system), Maryville City or Oak Ridge City, public schools would be in your favour.