Oak Ridge??? (Knoxville, Maryville, Farragut: hotels, houses, movie theater) - Tennessee (TN) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Shabby18 · 12-23-2008, 06:07 PM

Um i know this post is oldish ..... but i live here ..... its a great small town, um the crime is lower then most of the cities around here ...... i mean people still leave thier doors unlock at night ..... there are no trailors or homeless ( we ship them to knox co. .... jk) The mall is no more .... we have a nice super wal mart ..... bowling ally, movies .... a great high school with awesome teachers ..... i may not like the way some things are run .... like nosiey people and cops who well they give my family trouble all the time for no reason ...... long story ..... so i am counting the moments til i can leave and see the world but its a nice place to raise a family

gnichols · 09-21-2009, 07:13 AM

Oak Ridge is at the top of my choices for retirement. I am amazed by what this community has to offer for it's size. However, when I told a friend who works there, he was appalled - said the community is dying. Well, he lives in a half million $$ home in Karns, so I don't know how to evaluate his comment. It has something to do with the empty mall and no few restaurants, neither of which bother me. I'd really appreciate input!

JMT · 09-21-2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnichols

Oak Ridge is at the top of my choices for retirement. I am amazed by what this community has to offer for it's size. However, when I told a friend who works there, he was appalled - said the community is dying. Well, he lives in a half million $$ home in Karns, so I don't know how to evaluate his comment. It has something to do with the empty mall and no few restaurants, neither of which bother me. I'd really appreciate input!

Well, Oak Ridge's population is aging, that's for sure. Young people who work at ORNL seem to prefer living in West Knox County and commuting. I think part of it is that Oak Ridge's property taxes are a lot higher than anywhere else in the area (I believe only Memphis has higher property taxes in the state).

Some in Oak Ridge will argue that their schools are superior to anything else around here. Maybe. They're certainly very, very good. But housing in Oak Ridge is kind of bland, and there's really no room in the city for new housing developments. The library is small and is merely a monument to the 1970s, and I think there is the same number of banks in Oak Ridge now as there was 20 years ago.

The mall in Oak Ridge is dead. Oh, the big stores are still there: Wal-Mart, Sears, JCPenney. But the inside of the mall is lifeless except for a few mallwalkers. There is a fairly new Home Depot in the northern part of Oak Ridge.

There are a few new restaurants in Oak Ridge, too, such as Outback, but there have been quite a few casualties, too.

I used to live in Oak Ridge, and the friends I have who still live there prefer to drive to West Knoxville to do their heavy duty shopping and to eat out, and I think that's the case with many people in Oak Ridge.

jibanez · 09-21-2009, 07:24 PM

The answer always boils down to what you're actually used to. I'm kinda used to the 'burbs, so Oak Ridge is just fine. It has just enough to get day-to-day stuff done and pretty quick access to W. Knoxville for other stuff.

Whether it's in decline is tough to say. Having only moved here last year, I can't give much perspective on any potential "glory days" of Oak Ridge. But I have seen some promising movement on much needed projects like the redevelopment of the marina and potential renovations to Jackson Square. That, in addition to some rumored new business coming to town gives me some hope.

On the other hand, all of these projects are in planning stages and, while I think they're good ideas, how well they're executed, if at all, remains to be seen.

That said, we have a lot of parks and greenways for hiking throughout the city. And, taxes aside, I was able to get more house for my money here than I was elsewhere. With that I get some great schools (I'll concede to JMT's questioning of the BEST, but very good at least), a short commute to W. Knoxville and a nice house in quiet neighborhood.

So it's not a no-brainer, but it's a nice balance of everything. Let me know if I can answer anything else for you.

oldmanbob · 09-22-2009, 02:56 PM

Congrats gnichols on your soon to be retirement status. As jmt and many have posted, its only an easy 30 minute drive to west knox and most of the resturants, are fast food type and my experience has been, housing is all over the board and the nicer subdvisions, are still runnning about the same as west knoxville. Since your retiring, one would guess your not that concerned about the schools, but they rank at the top, along with the ones in west knoxville.

LauraC · 09-25-2009, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnichols

Oak Ridge is at the top of my choices for retirement. I am amazed by what this community has to offer for it's size. However, when I told a friend who works there, he was appalled - said the community is dying. Well, he lives in a half million $$ home in Karns, so I don't know how to evaluate his comment. It has something to do with the empty mall and no few restaurants, neither of which bother me. I'd really appreciate input!

Tell us what you like to do and maybe we can help you out.

going2tn · 11-19-2009, 05:41 AM

I wish I would have found these forums before we took our vacation to Knoxville! Ya'll are wonderful and so helpful. Either way, we had a fantastic trip and ya'll are still wonderful

.

Anyway, we went to Knoxville and many of the surrounding areas to scope out where we'd like to move to. We decided we'd rather not be in Knox, but close enough. Out of the areas we went to - we really liked Oak Ridge. We liked it's proximity to Knox, the available shopping, it's where the possible job relocation is and on and on.

My question is since we were so busy checking out all different areas - what is Oak Ridge really like? What are the people like? Does it give that "community" feel? We got out and walked a bit, we went to the Target and of course everyone seemed super friendly (but that happened everywhere we went!) to try and get a feel for the area, but since we didn't really know our way around we didn't know how to find the homes, the neighborhoods, etc to check it out more.

About us: We're a family of 6 - mom, dad, 3 kids (ages 2,4 and 6) and a newfoundland. Looking for a home in the $100,00-150,00 ish price range. We like the suburb feel - to have neighbors around, kids, parks, etc. We really don't have too many requirements - we're not that picky as we know we'd like it anywhere around there!

So how would you describe Oak Ridge?

JMT · 11-19-2009, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by going2tn

I wish I would have found these forums before we took our vacation to Knoxville! Ya'll are wonderful and so helpful. Either way, we had a fantastic trip and ya'll are still wonderful

.

Anyway, we went to Knoxville and many of the surrounding areas to scope out where we'd like to move to. We decided we'd rather not be in Knox, but close enough. Out of the areas we went to - we really liked Oak Ridge. We liked it's proximity to Knox, the available shopping, it's where the possible job relocation is and on and on.

My question is since we were so busy checking out all different areas - what is Oak Ridge really like? What are the people like? Does it give that "community" feel? We got out and walked a bit, we went to the Target and of course everyone seemed super friendly (but that happened everywhere we went!) to try and get a feel for the area, but since we didn't really know our way around we didn't know how to find the homes, the neighborhoods, etc to check it out more.

About us: We're a family of 6 - mom, dad, 3 kids (ages 2,4 and 6) and a newfoundland. Looking for a home in the $100,00-150,00 ish price range. We like the suburb feel - to have neighbors around, kids, parks, etc. We really don't have too many requirements - we're not that picky as we know we'd like it anywhere around there!

So how would you describe Oak Ridge?

Are you sure you were in Oak Ridge? There is not a Target in Oak Ridge, the closest is 15 miles away in the Turkey Creek area of West Knoxville.

I used to live in Oak Ridge, and here's how I felt about it: I hated it. Oh, it's a nice enough town I suppose. It's got excellent schools--and the highest property taxes in the area to pay for them. But there's not much in the way of shopping in Oak Ridge, just a Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Sears, and a big empty mall. My friends who live in Oak Ridge do the bulk of their shopping and eating out in West Knoxville.

Even though Oak Ridge is full of really smart people, it's got a huge drug problem. Old-timers will swear it's the hoodlums who live in low-income Oliver Springs and Clinton who infiltrate Oak Ridge, but I don't think that's always the case. My friends in Oak Ridge live in a nice neighborhood just off the big highway to Oliver Springs, and they've had to start locking their car doors at night because car radios keep getting stolen.

It seems that most people in Oak Ridge have moved there from somewhere else. Many end up staying after they retire, so for them Oak Ridge is/was a paradise. But for me, I couldn't wait to get out of there. To me, it had the feel of a snobby, aging suburb full of people who look down on the rest of Tennessee.

jibanez · 11-19-2009, 10:06 PM

I think JMT's right. You're probably thinking about some other area as there isn't a Target in Oak Ridge.

As for the city itself, if you're still curious, it seems to have a bad rep with some fairly well summed up by JMT. As someone who's moved here in the past year or so, though, I find it a very pleasant place to live. Everyone on my block knows each other and the people around town are generally friendly.

Same with the crime rate. If it's as bad as some say, I'm very lucky and thankful to have avoided its ill effects so far.

It's got a great school system and a fantastic set of parks and greenways through the city.

Also, the housing tends to be a bit cheaper, at least while I was shopping. Everyone wants to get into houses in W. Knoxville, Farragut, and Hardin Valley, so your money doesn't go as far in those neighborhoods. The irony of it is that while you get more house for your money in Oak Ridge, you also get (arguably) one of the best school systems in the state in the deal.

On the downside, it is lacking on the retail side. Not so severely that you absolutely HAVE TO go to W. Knoxville every time you need something. But bad enough where, you'll probably make that drive more often than you'd hoped.

I'm certainly not discounting JMT's opinion on the matter. In matters of crime and rudeness, I may be blissfully unaware and lucky thus far. But I figured I'd at least share my experience as a newcomer to Oak Ridge.

going2tn · 11-20-2009, 05:11 PM

Ok, then I wasn't in Oak Ridge. Maybe we didn't make it to Oak Ridge.....dang it! LOL
This is the main part of what I remember (forgive me, it's been quite awhile and I'm going to sound like a dummy). We were cruising down the highway/interstate and I remember following a river for a bit then the road crossing over the river in a sort of right turn. I remember there being a stoplight right around there too. We kept on that same road and were in a sort of retail type area. Target was up a bit yet on our left, but there was a movie theater and more strip malls, etc on our right. I'm thinking that it took us about 20-25 minutes to get back to Knoxville then (at the 70/75 where our hotel was). Hmmmm....I'm thinking that maybe we didn't make it to Oak Ridge yet and just assumed we were there. This is what happens when I let my husband drive and read the map.