Sidewalks in Knoxville neighborhoods? (Oak Ridge, Morristown: how much, houses, high school)

[bbrendy13]

Hey everyone,

My wife an I are in the process of relocating to the Knoxville area from a suburb just north of Milwaukee. Our current neighborhood in WI has sidewalks that we frequently use when taking the kids for a walk, going for a run, walking the dog, etc. During our search for homes in the Knoxville area, we aren't finding a single neighborhood that has sidewalks. We like Farragut and Maryville for the good schools (we have 2 young kids) and proximity to everything. Am I missing something here? Or are we just looking in the wrong place?

[onetoughkitty]

Originally Posted by bbrendy13

Hey everyone,

My wife an I are in the process of relocating to the Knoxville area from a suburb just north of Milwaukee. Our current neighborhood in WI has sidewalks that we frequently use when taking the kids for a walk, going for a run, walking the dog, etc. During our search for homes in the Knoxville area, we aren't finding a single neighborhood that has sidewalks. We like Farragut and Maryville for the good schools (we have 2 young kids) and proximity to everything. Am I missing something here? Or are we just looking in the wrong place?

When you find one, let me know. The only sidewalks I seemed to find were in downtown or in business areas. The residential areas seem to lack them.

[hiknapster]

The South, generally, doesn't have a lot of sidewalks. You know all those taxes that you pay in California and Wisconsin? Yeah.

Don't get me wrong. We have a great fire, police department. A wonderful library system. Great schools! But sidewalks aren't going to come with the deal.

By the way, Farragut is part of the Knox County school system, which is great, in general. Also, Oak Ridge schools are excellent. Maryville City schools are good, but I'm not a fan of Blount County. There's more than one person that has property in the city but lives in the county for that reason.

[bbrendy13]

Hiknapster - I was looking at Oak Ridge, and noticed that the property taxes there are much higher than anywhere else. What is the reason for that?

I don't need sidewalks, I'm just looking for a nice quiet subdivision where the kids can go ride their bike, we can walk the dog, and not have to worry about getting hit by a car. And what's with the super narrow streets down here?

[Barking Spider]

Many sub divisions have sidewalks, but they are few and far between. There are some in Farragut.
Just keep looking.

[hiknapster]

Isn't Oak Ridge's property tax rate about half of what you are paying now?

Why it is higher, I don't know. I live in Knoxville. My daughter attends Knox County Schools.

[creeksitter]

Taxes are high in Oak Ridge because of the excellent schools. Look at the per-pupil spending. The older neighborhoods in OR will have sidewalks, I'm not sure about the newer ones.

[onetoughkitty]

If you check out how much Oak Ridge puts into their schools per student, you will see why their property taxes are high. The last time I checked, it was almost $10K per student, about $2k more than Knox county and where I am right now in CA. Interesting thing is that they were not listed as a top 10 school this year for the state of TN on the US News Report despite what they are putting in.

[creeksitter]

That's probably due to demographics, the older houses are inexpensive and will attract poorer families from the surrounding counties. But the educational resources are there throughout the city for families that are willing and able to take advantage of them.

I bet if you compare home prices to educational attainment you'll see OR is the most "bang for the buck".

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

That's probably due to demographics, the older houses are inexpensive and will attract poorer families from the surrounding counties. But the educational resources are there throughout the city for families that are willing and able to take advantage of them.

I bet if you compare home prices to educational attainment you'll see OR is the most "bang for the buck".

Well no, because they were in the top five, or something, for the past several years. Hardin Valley was as well. Several schools have dropped out of the top 15, or so, and new ones have replaced them. I'm not sure if this is due to new criteria or something else. In any event, Oak Ridge High School, Farragut, Hardin Valley, Bearden, West and Maryville City have great schools. Also, Morristown does as well, for those that are relocating there.

I have to mention that more money doesn't always translate into results. My other children went to schools in the northeast. There were lots of money thrown at those schools and with mixed results. That's not to take away from Oak Ridge. It's excellent. But I did want to mention that.