Driving to Chatt, via Knoxville Saturday morning (Chattanooga, Maryville: apartment complexes, rental)

[Putty]

Hi, think I will drive from Greensboro, NC to TN on Saturday via Knoxville, head south to Chattanooga and home again. I have been to alot of cities around Knoxville, and north to northeast of Knoxville but none to the south except for Maryville, are there any cities I should try to look at on the way to Chatt?

Keep in mind this not for pleasure but for relocation purposes, I like older historic cities, bikeable, walkable, and lots of water, or rivers. Also has to be big enough that there is still enough for a single person to enjoy....coffeeshops, bookstores, libraries, churches. Not into bar scene, but do not mind listening to jazz, or concerts in the park.

I might even look into Knoxville again!

Thanks

Merry Christmas everyone!

[mmw]

Let me know how things go for you. I'm very seriously considering a move to the Knoxville area ~ probably Maryville. Hoping to make a trip sometime soon to check things out!

A single person as well!

Enjoy your journey!

[jkmewright]

Loudon and Lenoir City are pretty cool if you like old cities. Both towns are close to water. I don't know about civic/social events as I only drove through there and did not stay. Just a short jump off of the highway so at least you'd get a nice scenic drive out of it!

Here's a pretty good link about Knoxville and surrounding counties. I have it set for Loudon. http://www.relo-info.com/loudon.html (broken link)

We welcome you! Have a wonderful trip!

[JENNYN]

We just moved here, and we love it. We are by a lake and even had a Christmas Flotilla

[utvolsfan13]

I may be able to add some helpful info. I actually live in the historic Old City in Knoxville. Knoxville is a very interesting city. Downtown is totally different from the rest of the city. I know plenty of people who have never even been downtown. I'm not sure why. It's way better than the rest of the city.

The main part of downtown Knoxville is Market Square and Gay Street. Everything is walkable downtown.. I mean EVERYTHING. Downtown is seperated from the Fort Sanders area by the World's Fair Park. The Fort Sanders area is where UT is and is comprised mainly of students. Fort Sanders is also within walking distance (unless you're lazy, which all of my friends are) from downtown.

Market square is at the center of downtown. It's a huge market area with several restaurants, bars, and shops. The bars on market square almost always have bands. They are usually bluegrass, hippy-type bands.. good stuff (not honky tonk like some people would assume). During the spring, there are free concerts on market square every Thursday night. They continue through the summer. There is also a time in the year when they show free movies. There is a farmer's market every week too.

Gay street is adjactent to Market Square and is home to the historic Tennessee Theater. It just got remodeled and absolutely gorgeous inside. It's really impossible to describe how awesome it is. There are a lot of shops and restaurants on Gay street. It is the main street in downtown Knoxville. I believe it is actually possible to live and work in downtown Knoxville without the need of a vehicle (if you so chose).

The Old City is about a 90 second walk from Gay street. It is the oldest part of Knoxville and has several bars and coffee shops. All of them offer concerts a few nights a week. I live down an alley behind a law office in the Old City. I'm a college student so this is ideal for me. We got really cheap rent because there aren't many families who would like to live downtown (schools, no grocery stores, no chain restaurants, etc.). I actually pay less to live in a huge, old, brick, hardwood floored apartment in the Old City than many of my friends pay to live in small, crappy, dirty carpet, low ceiling apartment complexes near campus.

It is cheaper to live in the Old City than downtown near Market Square. The apartments downtown are much nicer though. (Keep in mind the Old City and "downtown" are about 1/5 a mile apart. There is currently a huge revitilization going on downtown. The Knoxville Beautification Committee has been doing a fantastic job cleaning up the city. Drive down Gay street and you will see entire buildings with huge ads out front for loft apartmennts. Several very large buildings are being converted into apartments and should be finished by this summer. I won't be surprised if the downtown population doubles in the next 2 years (Don't worry about this.. Barely ANYONE lives downtown right now so it still won't be crowded). Go down Gay St. and you'll see it's pretty obvious that the town is changing..

The Tennessee River is adjactent to downtown and is about a 3 minute walk from Market Square down the Gay Street. It's a beautiful river and there is a sidewalk on the bridge so you can walk it. There is a nice greenway on the river that runs toward west Knoxville. The city is about an hour from Smoky Mountain National park, which is pretty nice.

Not gonna lie, my first impression of Knoxville was a bad one. I lived there for about a year and a half before I had ever seen downtown. West Knoxville cannot be compared to downtown Knoxville. They are totally different places. I hate west Knoxville. It consists of one main road, random subdivisions, and countless strip malls, chain restaurants, walmarts, etc. I despise going out there. Fort Sanders is a cool area but is full of loud drunken college kids (me). Downtown is a completely different area. I avoid West Knoxville by doing my grocery shopping and such across the river. From downtown, you can drive right over the Gay street bridge and be at grocery stores, gas stations, etc.

Downtown Knoxville is a great place. Might as well drive through! Just make sure you avoid the dreaded West Knoxville. Good luck!

[Putty]

Oh My Gosh, I am so glad I saw your post, you have described a place very much like what I am looking for. Funny, I was in Knoxville about 10yrs ago and don't remember even seeing anything like u described, I was probably not even near the downtown.

Would their be any chance that u could give me zipcodes or names of some places u would recommend I look?

It is hard on the rental sites when u have no clue about the city itself.

I can even maybe look up an address of one or two on mapquest and look for them........

Thanks,
Gotta run!!

[Putty]

Oh, I will be coming into Knoxville on 40, can u tell me what exit to take to get to the downtown and this area u are talking about?

[utvolsfan13]

Hello again! I'm glad I could help. I live in zip code 37902. I think that zip code encompasses a lot of downtown. This is how I would get to downtown.

On 40 West, when you're getting into Knoxville, one of your first exits will be James White Parkway. It will be a left exit.

Exit James White Parkway and stay to the right.

You will see a sign that says something like "toward Neyland Dr." Go that direction. Just make sure you keep staying to the right while on James White Parkway and you'll be good. You will see a sign for Cumberland Ave.

Turn right on Cumberland Ave. You will be downtown.

A couple blocks up is Gay St. To the left will be the Gay Street Bridge and the Tennessee River. To the right will be the rest of downtown. Turn right on Gay St. You will see the Tennessee Theater on the right. There is a huge TENNESSEEE light up sign.



I'd suggest parking on the street somewhere around the Tennessee Theater. You can walk around downtown Knoxville from here. You will see loft apartments for rent all over the place. Market Square is across the street from the Tennessee Theater and a couple blocks further down Gay St. The entrance to Market Square is right by the big Christmas Tree on Gay Street.

If you want to check out the Old City, you can either walk or drive. The Old City isn't quite as nice as the rest of downtown, but is definitely worth checking out.

Keep going down Gay St. until you reach Summitt Hill Dr.

Turn right on Summitt Hill.

Once you reach the bottom of the hill, turn left on S. Central St. This is the Old City and there are plenty of places to park here. Also a few signs in windows for apartments to rent.

A good website that has apartment listings in downtown (this is where I found mine) is

http://www.downtownknoxville.org/live/a_place_to_call_home.cfm (broken link)

Let me know if I can be of any more assistance!

[utvolsfan13]

Also, I'd feel bad if I didn't tell you about some of the negative sides of downtown. There are a good amount of homeless people. It's nothing like big cities, but you will see some. It's not that big of a deal, but can get annoying (especially in the Old City). The city just made it illegal to beg for money so things may be changing. It also seems to rain a lot in the winter, but this typical for the whole region. Snow is rare because Knoxville is in the Tennessee Valley. Oftentimes, the city will be surrounded by winter storm warnings, only to get cold rain downstairs. It does snow sometimes though!

[Putty]

utvolsfan.........U are the Da-Bomb!!!!! You made my day!

I am listening closely to the weather, I hope it is supposed to clear up tomorrow, the weather, and the homeless.......NO BIGGIE!!!

I don't know if I am going to feel like walking around much if this weather doesn't let up........GGGRrrrrr!!!