Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am humbled by the Great Smoky Mountains but also love the Ozark Mountains. Northwest Arkansas is beautiful, but the eastern border of Tennessee is amazing. It would be impossible for me to choose one over the other. So much so, that if I had millions of dollars, I would buy a home in each spot
For the scenery that's an easy decision. However, for the towns you're basically comparing Fayetteville area to Knoxville.
I know people who live in Fayetteville and love the area. They go to Arkansas baseball and football games and enjoy the bustling job market there and the vibrant social life of a growing metro area. Presumably they enjoy some camping, hiking, and fishing in the Ozarks.
I know people who love Knoxville for identical reasons. The difference to me is just the type of city of Knoxville is in comparison to Fayetteville. Knoxville feels a lot bigger. The commercial development is intensely clustered along I-40 on the west side of town and between the commercial development and traffic it feels like a big city.
Fayetteville is quite spread out, but each town is kind of its own thing, which makes the Fayetteville a bit more quaint. The towns outside of Fayetteville are actually kind of sprawly and slightly bland to me, but at least they are small.
For me personally, I probably would find it hard to turn to being by the Smokies and being in a larger city. The only thing is having to be surrounded by all things UT Vols. I just don't know if I could do that. It might drive me to pick Chattanooga instead, even though to me Knoxville is a more attractive city.
East Tennessee is head and shoulders above Northwest Arkansas on an economic, development and overall state level.
The Knoxville metro area itself is closing in on 900k, with a consolidated area being just over a million. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and surrounding resort region offers an abundance of activities, amenities and beauty that is hard to beat in a lot of regions iin the eastern US.
Northwest Arkansas is geographically beautiful but just not as many amenities as the Knoxville region/smoky mountain region of east Tennessee.
Tennessee is a more thriving, larger state that has better infrastructure, more opportunity and growth than Arkansas, in general.
The southern Appalachians are on a much larger scale compared to the Ozarks. East Tennessee has multiple peaks above 6000 feet elevation, while the Ozarks don't get to half that level anywhere. This makes a significant difference in the climate, as escaping from summer heat is very achievable in the Great Smoky Mountains. In the Ozarks as throughout the south central US, when a persistent hot spell sets in, there is nowhere exempt from such conditions. Tornadoes are a considerably greater threat around the Ozarks as well.
I live in the East Tennessee region, in fact the Smoky Mountains can be seen on the horizon here they are so close. Yes it is beautiful here, yes Knoxville has a lot of amenities. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else BUT....many people are moving here. Traffic is way up, housing costs are way up. Areas that were once rural are now subdivisions. This area has become quite popular, the secret is out and we are headed for being the next Nashville.
If the OP values the quieter life without all the growth we are experiencing he/she may want to consider Arkansas. I’ve been out there, yea their mountains are no where near as large as ours but it’s peaceful and beautiful just the same. Of course if you like the color orange then Knoxville may be for you LOL
I live in the East Tennessee region, in fact the Smoky Mountains can be seen on the horizon here they are so close. Yes it is beautiful here, yes Knoxville has a lot of amenities. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else BUT....many people are moving here. Traffic is way up, housing costs are way up. Areas that were once rural are now subdivisions. This area has become quite popular, the secret is out and we are headed for being the next Nashville.
If the OP values the quieter life without all the growth we are experiencing he/she may want to consider Arkansas. I’ve been out there, yea their mountains are no where near as large as ours but it’s peaceful and beautiful just the same. Of course if you like the color orange then Knoxville may be for you LOL
The bolded describes northwest Arkansas as well. The metropolitan population is quickly approaching 600k and shows no signs of slowing down as one of the fastest growing regions in the country.
Northwest Arkansas is geographically beautiful but just not as many amenities as the Knoxville region/smoky mountain region of east Tennessee.
.
Not so sure about this. There is not an art museum in the entire state of Tennessee, let alone Knoxville that can hold a candle to Crystal Bridges. What would be the equivalent LGBT resort town to EurekaSprings in eastern TN?
UT is a better university than Arkansas, but the difference is not huge.
I have always wanted to visit Knoxville because I like doing "home base" vacations where you can stay in one place for a week and take a different day-trip radiating out from there. In Knoxville you can day-trip to the Smokies, Chattanooga, or Nashville. Nashville is pushing it at about a 3-hour drive each way, but we have day-tripped from Pittsburgh to Columbus before at about the same distance (we just left at like 6 AM and got home in the late evening).
From Northwest Arkansas (NWA) what are your options within that same 2.5-3-hour each way driving range? Tulsa? Little Rock? Joplin? Fort Smith? Springfield, MO? Pretty much just the Ozarks/Eureka Springs.
I also like that Knoxville feels more like a denser and more compact "pre-WWII"-styled city whereas most of NWA is urban sprawl with a few smaller town center clusters. As others have noted when it is a hot, steamy summer you can escape Knoxville to climb to a cooler elevation. From NWA the Ozarks won't offer much heat relief.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
