Possible move to Sevierville or Pigeon Forge (Knoxville, Maryville: salons, apartment complex)

[tonsoffunsy]

Hello all. I am going to be moving to the area from FL in 5 months with my husband. We have never been to the area, and dont want to use up our resources to look around. We have been doing lots of "vacationing" online.
Really want to ge out of FL, getting too expensive (and various other reasons).

Wondering if anyone can recommend an area to live that is quiet and safe. Possible apartment complex and or mobile home area.

Also, wondering about jobs. My husband is self employed at home so that's not a problem. I can do pretty much anything just to start off with and get situated. I can do bar, resturaunt, I also am going to transfer my hair cutting license. Any info on chain salons in a safe area that are busy?

We were thinking originally Knoxville but from the looks of it, looks like too many meth labs and murders? Correct me if I am wrong in this assumption.

Any help or leads would be great.

[hiknapster]

I remember you! You were the first person I ever responded to on City-Data!

Anyways, there are not a lot of apartment complexes in that area.

Crime is rising in Knoxville, but it is rising everywhere. Meth, that's more in the country. I haven't heard a lot of news reports about it in a long time. Shootings do seem to be up, though.

Try the local Sevier County newspaper:

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1211

[hoosier07]

C'mom tonsoffunsy, Knoxville is a great area and low crime comparing to other cities, I'm looking forward to move there.

Meth is in almost every country area....same here in Indiana. I've heard good things about Sevierville, besides the traffic due to tourists.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by tonsoffunsy

Hello all. I am going to be moving to the area from FL in 5 months with my husband. We have never been to the area, and dont want to use up our resources to look around. We have been doing lots of "vacationing" online.
Really want to ge out of FL, getting too expensive (and various other reasons).

Wondering if anyone can recommend an area to live that is quiet and safe. Possible apartment complex and or mobile home area.

Also, wondering about jobs. My husband is self employed at home so that's not a problem. I can do pretty much anything just to start off with and get situated. I can do bar, resturaunt, I also am going to transfer my hair cutting license. Any info on chain salons in a safe area that are busy?

We were thinking originally Knoxville but from the looks of it, looks like too many meth labs and murders? Correct me if I am wrong in this assumption.

Any help or leads would be great.

I don't know if you should just base your move without knowing the area your moving to. We too are moving to TN from FL and in fact just bought property there but i'll be first to tell you what you may find online as a nice place can have a whole different environment around it when you actually see it. We spent over a year researching places to move to and some places looked great on the computer but terrible neighborhood when we got there to check it out. Sevierville is a busy place. Almost like moving to Orlando. (Ok not that bad) but it's the big tourist town there and traffic can be a nightmare even if your not on the main strip. Whenever we go to TN we always rent a cabin in Sevierville. We've been there 4 times one trip each season of the year and it's always been busy on the roads all year long. Your a prime example of someone moving to TN and not knowing what they're getting into only to complain about your surroundings when you get there which seems to be what people on the TN forum says is happening up there. People move and don't realize what it's like where they live and then start complaing. Really, i would consider at least take 1 trip to scout out the area your interested in rather than just pack and go. I was like you, i wanted to just pack up and move but when we found a spot we really liked on the internet, we ended up turning it down after visiting. Just a thought from someone who was in your same situation.

[sliverbox]

Honestly, If I were to choose between Sevierville and Knoxville, It'd be Knoxville hands down. Sure-the vacation sites make Pigeon Forge and Sevierville look like a qaint mountain town tucked away in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains,but in reality the place is a hole. Its overcrowded, overdeveloped, and basically more like a kind of 'redneck Las Vegas" more than anything, and that was my impression from the last time I visited over 5 years ago. I'm sure there are even MORE T-shirt shops, put-putt golf courses,and waterslides. Don't even get me started on Gatlinburg... it's even WORSE.

Knoxville is a heck of a lot nicer, plus- you won't have to face the onslaught or Florida and Ohio tourists every summer. Aren't you trying to get away from them?

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by sliverbox

Honestly, If I were to choose between Sevierville and Knoxville, It'd be Knoxville hands down. Sure-the vacation sites make Pigeon Forge and Sevierville look like a qaint mountain town tucked away in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains,but in reality the place is a hole. Its overcrowded, overdeveloped, and basically more like a kind of 'redneck Las Vegas" more than anything, and that was my impression from the last time I visited over 5 years ago. I'm sure there are even MORE T-shirt shops, put-putt golf courses,and waterslides. Don't even get me started on Gatlinburg... it's even WORSE.

Knoxville is a heck of a lot nicer, plus- you won't have to face the onslaught or Florida and Ohio tourists every summer. Aren't you trying to get away from them?

Actually we were just there in March and didn't see any putt-putt places. Maybe i missed them but i'm usually one who will see them if they are there. Water slides?? Nope didn't see that either. I think only Dollywood has the waterpark. I did notice a huge condo or Hotel under construction on the main strip though which doesn't seem to suprise me. I don't think there is room on that strip for anything else to come in. If anything, the strip will start getting longer as businesses have to start moving further up or down the roads.

[hiknapster]

I'll also add that there are a lot more options in Knoxville for jobs and apartments.

I grew up near a town that was a tourist area. Then I moved to Orlando and Fort Myers, both tourist areas. I would NEVER, under any circumstances move to a tourist area, again.

Too transient, too much traffic, too high prices.

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by daniellefort

Actually we were just there in March and didn't see any putt-putt places. Maybe i missed them but i'm usually one who will see them if they are there. Water slides?? Nope didn't see that either. I think only Dollywood has the waterpark. I did notice a huge condo or Hotel under construction on the main strip though which doesn't seem to suprise me. I don't think there is room on that strip for anything else to come in. If anything, the strip will start getting longer as businesses have to start moving further up or down the roads.

I grew up vacationing to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. I was back there about 6 years ago. There are tons of water slides, outlet malls, putt-putt golf, balloon rides, helicopter rides, go cart/nascar "pretend racing," tons of chain restaurants, candy/salt water taffy stores, and almost anything tourist-y that you can think of. It's a blast and at the same time a trainwreck. I would not want to live right there. Get a cabin or house in the mountains near there.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

I grew up vacationing to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. I was back there about 6 years ago. There are tons of water slides, outlet malls, putt-putt golf, balloon rides, helicopter rides, go cart/nascar "pretend racing," tons of chain restaurants, candy/salt water taffy stores, and almost anything tourist-y that you can think of. It's a blast and at the same time a trainwreck. I would not want to live right there. Get a cabin or house in the mountains near there.

Are you talking about on the strip because they are not there anymore. Plenty of outlet malls, shops and restaurants and everything else you said but i didn't see water parks or mini-golf.

[CG&D93]

Hello, I currently live in Sevierville and have been here for over 3 years. Moved here from Central Florida. For the most part, we've regretted our decision to move here. Too 'set in their ways', too close-minded. No culture. And way too much traffic! More visitors every year than Disney World and they ALL come by car. YIKES. When they dismiss schools early because of traffic due to a 'Rod Run' on the strip in Pigeon Forge then you know something is wrong.

The air quality here is something to take into consideration. It's one of the worst in the country. Believe it or not. It's got it's beauty here when the smog isn't bad and you can actually SEE the beauty. I have a few of several mountains in the National Park and there are only select weeks out of the year that I can see them clearly. Though there are some extremely wonderful people here, it's a long way to Knoxville where you can have better shopping (I'm not much into outlets that aren't outlets) better restaurants etc.

Though we are slated to get a Target soon and Home Depot is here just not opened yet. There aren't a lot of long term residential rentals here. There are a few and some of the mobile home parks can be very trashy.

I really think there are better places in East TN. Maryville is much nicer than Sevierville/Pigeon Forge. But close enough if you want to come visit Dollywood or go to Gatlinburg you can. The schools in Maryville are better. Also west Knoxville is wonderful also. I've also heard that the Tri-Cities area is quite nice. I wouldn't recommend you moving here, we did it pretty blindly and learned a HUGE lesson. My husband and I are both self-employed and can live anywhere we want. We can't wait to move out!

We are in the process of selling our house and should be moving this summer. We are looking into Nashville (outskirts) currently.