Need help finding rural Eastern TN town for our large family! (Knoxville: homes, find a job)

[momwifenp]

Hi, my husband and I are planning to relocate to the rural Knoxville area (we're also looking into Chattanooga) within the next 12 months. Work is not an issue as my husband is a physician and I'm a nurse practioner and it will not be difficult to find a job. We also are both able to do "telemedicine" (online) and willing to drive, so a job is not a concern at all. I say this mainly because all the advice on here is usually concentrated on finding a job before relocating, which we will not be doing.

We are originally from about 90 minutes outside Chicago and we moved to a Dallas suburb for my husbands residency. We have 5 children under 6 and are hoping to add a few more! We are Christian with very conservative values and have spent a lot of time researching areas of the country to move to and think Eastern, TN will be a great fit! I've read basically all the posts about that area here online but can't find anything really on our situation, so I decided after years of following city-data to finally make an account! Any help will be tremendously appreciated!

What we're looking for:
Within 20 minutes of a grocery store, fast food, gas staton
Within 40 minutes of a mall, movie theatre, etc
Small school (preferably high school graduating class under 100 students)
5+ acre lot
Price point is 300k-800k
What are some areas you suggest?

FYI-my husband and I went to a small rural school like this and although "poorly rated" we both felt we got a great, wholesome education and turned out okay! We have also considered homeschooling. We will not be sending them to private school because with 7ish children the cost would just be more than were willing/able to pay.

We plan to come to the area this summer and check it out. Just need help narrowing down my search. Thank you!

[Beretta]

Welcome and so glad that you finally came out of lurkdom!

Just about anywhere around here will fit the bill. Have there been any towns that have sparked your interest while reading the forum? We are happy to give additional information. You truly are in a unique situation and could pull out the map and select just about any location and be quite happy as long as there is good internet!

I don't mean to sound evasive but I sure hate to throw out any town's name because so many would be just fine for your family needs.

[Dr. Evil]

That criteria is going to fit a lot of areas and doesn't do much to narrow it down.
You may try to narrow it down a bit more by listing other criteria that is important. Do you want lake access? How about proximity to state parks and other outdoor activities.
Good luck and welcome.

[momwifenp]

Thank you so much for the replies! Are all the schools around Knoxville generally that small? When researching it appears many of the schools are larger, high schools having 1500+ students. I'm really looking for a school K-12 in the same building, or as small as possible in a safe area! Are most of the schools really that small?

Thank you so much for all your help.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by momwifenp

Hi, my husband and I are planning to relocate to the rural Knoxville area (we're also looking into Chattanooga) within the next 12 months. Work is not an issue as my husband is a physician and I'm a nurse practioner and it will not be difficult to find a job. We also are both able to do "telemedicine" (online) and willing to drive, so a job is not a concern at all. I say this mainly because all the advice on here is usually concentrated on finding a job before relocating, which we will not be doing.

We are originally from about 90 minutes outside Chicago and we moved to a Dallas suburb for my husbands residency. We have 5 children under 6 and are hoping to add a few more! We are Christian with very conservative values and have spent a lot of time researching areas of the country to move to and think Eastern, TN will be a great fit! I've read basically all the posts about that area here online but can't find anything really on our situation, so I decided after years of following city-data to finally make an account! Any help will be tremendously appreciated!

What we're looking for:
Within 20 minutes of a grocery store, fast food, gas staton
Within 40 minutes of a mall, movie theatre, etc
Small school (preferably high school graduating class under 100 students)
5+ acre lot
Price point is 300k-800k
What are some areas you suggest?

FYI-my husband and I went to a small rural school like this and although "poorly rated" we both felt we got a great, wholesome education and turned out okay! We have also considered homeschooling. We will not be sending them to private school because with 7ish children the cost would just be more than were willing/able to pay.

We plan to come to the area this summer and check it out. Just need help narrowing down my search. Thank you!

Seymour would fit. It is a rural community south of Knoxville and fits all the criterion. We look for 3 years before we moved here from California.

[hiknapster]

I don't know of any area that has all of the students from K-12 in the same building. Seymour had 273 in its last 12th grade and Lenoir City had 302. Even little Corryton (population 2,300) sends their kids to the big town of Gibbs (population 9,000). The graduating class was 239.

Personally, I don't understand the fascination with the little red one-room schoolhouse. Kidding. I know you aren't looking for that, since they are no longer operational. But I don't know of a school that puts all of their students into one building. Small towns and especially rural areas don't have a lot of money so it is cost effective to consolidate. Speaking of which, in some states, coming from a small school in a small town doesn't mean you are going to get a bad education but in some states, ahem, you could.

For point of reference, Texas is ninth in the nation for best high schools. Tennessee is 41st. It's why I put such an emphasis in carefully choosing a town and school. Yes, parental involvement is 90 percent of the issue, but once your child hits college (and the high school he is coming from plays a part in acceptance) they can be behind if they didn't go to the right school.

Plus there is the matter of commute times for your husband and possibly you. Knoxville has the feel of a large town and you'll find a lot of like-minded individuals.

And of course there is homeschooling. Take a look at my thread on education in this area. Knox County has very good schools. However, homeschooling is well-supported here. I think you are best off with those two choices.

[bdavis2900]

Greeneville is nice. In fact, anything from Greeneville to Knoxville is going to be mountain country with plenty of lakes and other outdoor activities. The rural schools in Greene, Hamblen and Sevier counties would be small schools much like you describe. Greeneville has two hospitals. Morristown has one. Hamblen County is full of lakes. Take a look at a map of that general area.

[momwifenp]

Thank you, I've been researching all your suggestions! I'm at work now so I'll have plenty of time to research tonight LOL :-P

How do you think our children would be accepted in the rural areas? I've read those towns/areas sometimes are not the nicest to "outsiders" when looking for a job, etc. but we wouldn't be competing for their jobs, so to speak,

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by bdavis2900

Greeneville is nice. In fact, anything from Greeneville to Knoxville is going to be mountain country with plenty of lakes and other outdoor activities. The rural schools in Greene, Hamblen and Sevier counties would be small schools much like you describe. Greeneville has two hospitals. Morristown has one. Hamblen County is full of lakes. Take a look at a map of that general area.

Greene County has smaller graduating classes because it has a few high schools. However, when you start talking Greene County you're not really talking Knoxville area but Johnson City area, at that point.

Hamblen County has larger graduating classes and it is still a haul to Knoxville.

Sevier County High School has one of the largest graduating classes of any that we've mentioned. Pigeon Forge has less kids and Gatlinburg has even less but then you're talking about an hour away from a mall, plus then you're living in the middle of tacky, tourist, bumper-to-bumper traffic land.

I hate to say it but I think you're going to move here and then find out that an education in rural Tennessee is going to fall far, far short of the schools in rural Illinois or the Dallas burbs. I'm originally from up north and I used to think all states were alike but they are not. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE it here. My daughter attends Knoxville schools and I they are great. But rural Appalachian schools are notoriously bad, for the most part.

Why Rural Matters 2011-12 Press Release: Rural School & Community Trust

Edit to add: It occurs to me that you may be equating Christian values and conservative ideology with rural and small-town living. I'm not sure if you've been to Knoxville before but East Tennessee could be considered the buckle of the Bible Belt. You could be in the middle of the city - which you'll find to be pretty darned small - and it's probably going to feel "right" to you.

I understand that you might be the type of folks to enjoy large lots, open spaces, etc., as well. But you can be in rural territory 10 or 15 minutes in almost any direction from the center of the city.

In any event, hope this helps. Best of luck to you!

[momwifenp]

Thank you so much for all your advice! I really appreciate it! I've been looking into Rockwood/Kingston area. What do you think of those areas? Thank you.