South Knoxville Area? (Maryville, Farragut, Sevierville: house, safe neighborhood, middle school)

[Pryde1]

How is the South Knoxville area? We want a decent neighborhood with direct access to the Urban Wilderness trails (i.e ride our mountain bikes or run/jog from the driveway to the trail system network)

I can't seem to find much info on this area as most seem to recommend Farragut or outer suburbs for relocating families. We have a 2 junior high kids so public schools are a factor but we are not overly snobby about schools and are more interested in a good neighborhood with biking/running trails.

We are open to other spots/recommendations that put us next to a trail system in a safe neighborhood as well in/around the Knoxville area. I appreciate the recommendations. Thank you!

budget around 200k for 3/2 house

[creeksitter]

I used to have a higher opinion of the high school than the middle school, but have heard the middle school is improving a lot. I recently spoke with a 14 yr old who is learning the periodic table of the elements. I was impressed!

Lake Forest is a good neighborhood beside the bike trails and well within your budget.

[Pryde1]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

I used to have a higher opinion of the high school than the middle school, but have heard the middle school is improving a lot. I recently spoke with a 14 yr old who is learning the periodic table of the elements. I was impressed!

Lake Forest is a good neighborhood beside the bike trails and well within your budget.

Thank you creeksitter. We will check out the lake forest neighborhood. Looks like you could jump right into the Hastie Natural Area from there.

What about a bit further up (at the Sevierville Pike/Taylor Rd intersection area)? Looks like we could jump into the Baker Creek Preserve if living near that intersection. Are the homes/streets a bit nicer down by Lake Forest area? Looks like it on Google street view but hard to say from the computer.

We plan on stopping through next week but won't have a lot of time to better check the areas unfortunately.

[creeksitter]

You'll notice the trails are more level coming from Lake forest. Something to consider if you are riding with the kids. There is another trailhead at the Anderson school.

There are nicer homes on down Taylor away from Sevierville pike. But you face a steep uphill at Baker's Creek to get many places.

[Pryde1]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

You'll notice the trails are more level coming from Lake forest. Something to consider if you are riding with the kids. There is another trailhead at the Anderson school.

There are nicer homes on down Taylor away from Sevierville pike. But you face a steep uphill at Baker's Creek to get many places.

OK thank you for the advice. We are coming in for an evening and a full day there this week and plan on checking out downtown (market square, outdoor center, etc.) and some hiking at Ijams in addition to scouting a few neighborhoods.

[WhitewaterVol]

In the Knoxville area, you might want to also consider Alcoa and/or Maryville. Both have good schools and have an extensive inter-connected greenbelt system.

South Knoxville has some nice neighborhoods with quite a bit of not-so-nice areas as well. It wouldn't be my first choice in the Knoxville area to find a home.

[Pryde1]

Originally Posted by WhitewaterVol

In the Knoxville area, you might want to also consider Alcoa and/or Maryville. Both have good schools and have an extensive inter-connected greenbelt system.

South Knoxville has some nice neighborhoods with quite a bit of not-so-nice areas as well. It wouldn't be my first choice in the Knoxville area to find a home.

Thanks. We did check out the S. Knoxville area (as well as Farragut, Maryville, etc.) and didn't see what we were after and there was a lot of traffic congestion. We hiked many trails at Ijams while there as well, pretty fun area. We may try to get another trip in to explore more but our initial look didn't quite speak to us.

[jmecklenborg]

I lived near the rock quarry that is now a park off of Island Home back in 2000-01. I revisited the area this past summer and it's still really relaxed without much development.

If I were to move back to Knoxville I'd either live in the 4th & Gill/Fountain City part or I'd live in South Knoxville in the area where I used to. West Knoxville is a disaster.

[eerodz04]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I lived near the rock quarry that is now a park off of Island Home back in 2000-01. I revisited the area this past summer and it's still really relaxed without much development.

If I were to move back to Knoxville I'd either live in the 4th & Gill/Fountain City part or I'd live in South Knoxville in the area where I used to. West Knoxville is a disaster.

Why West Knoxville is a disaster? Can you elaborate? Because I am planning to move to Knox next year and I want loo live close to the VA hospital and was told it was a good area to live. I'm single, female and disabled veteran. Thanks

[Barking Spider]

This was from someone that used to live in Knoxville. Just one person's opinion, many other have different views. West Knoxville, is also a pretty large area, that takes in a lot of communities.
Some people are "glass half empty", some are "glass half full", and some are "The damn glass is dirty, chipped, and I don't like the shape".