Does anyone ride the bus in Knoxville? (Portland, Central: apartments, condos)

[Oliver Cromwell]

If anyone rides the bus in Knoxville, tell me how it is. I know there are only a few routes on major roads. The rest of the roads are too small to even fit a bus!

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Oliver Cromwell

If anyone rides the bus in Knoxville, tell me how it is. I know there are only a few routes on major roads. The rest of the roads are too small to even fit a bus!

You're kidding, right?

[creeksitter]

Knoxville is a car centric culture. But if you want to be able to ride a bus to work and errands we can make suggestions for good neighborhoods. That is if your work is located on/near a bus line.

[Minervah]

This is something I want to explore when I visit next Spring. I don't drive and have always lived near a busline, shopping and work. Knoxville sounds like a great place to live but I must have my public transportation.

[jabogitlu]

I used to ride the bus in Knoxville - but I lived in the very bus-able Fort Sanders area. Living further than Sequoyah Hills can get dicey and you MUST consult a route map to make sure that you're buying close to where a bus even comes.

You'll have no problems getting to major retail and grocers on the bus. You can plan and live near a bus. The only thing that can make public transport a non-viable option in Knoxville is if you work somewhere that a bus doesn't travel to.

[greeneman1963]

There just aren't enough routes. Knox county is so spread out and the schedules are too erratic once you get out of the inner city. The buses are very nice, but I rarely see anyone on them. I don't know what we will do when gas goes back up into the stratosphere

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by Minervah

This is something I want to explore when I visit next Spring. I don't drive and have always lived near a busline, shopping and work. Knoxville sounds like a great place to live but I must have my public transportation.

Hi Minervah: Transit is also very important to me, but I know that PDX is much more into Transit than much of the country. I think for me I have basically had to learn to accept that when looking at locales. With adjustments you could probably find a way to live in Knoxville without a car, but it would not be nearly as easy as PDX.

I did pull up the bus company KAT Knoxville Area Transit. There definitely is bus service, and I read a new Transit Station is to open in Downtown. However I noticed several routes have had to be canx, but then so has PDX. The bus fare is $1.50 and .50 for transfers. $50 for a monthly pass. After age 65 seniors ride free. There is no senior discount before age 65 which I thought there would be. I got the impression it is a very struggling bus company and bus routes can be far and few between.

So my best advice would be to pull up the site. Look for routes that are more timely and frequent, and then find housing on these routes. Just as a research project so to speak. Such as routes that head to Shopping, Medical, Employment areas as well as recreation venues you might want to head to. I don't think that would be much of a problem to find those type routes. When you visit Knoxville in the Spring you would then be that much more familiar with the area, as you ride the bus and look around.

It does appear to be a wonderful city, but transit as we know it will not be there. As for me I would get use to and accept that fact. I would be so thrilled to get away from all the things I find annoying about PDX.

You can also look on Rent.com when looking for apts and many of those listings will tell you if there is transit routes near.

[weisgarber1]

Originally Posted by Oliver Cromwell

The rest of the roads are too small to even fit a bus!

Someone trying to be cute I guess.

[Minervah]

As long as I know there is a possibilty I'm happy. My modus operendi is to find a supermarket then see if it's walking distance from apartment buildings then look for the nearest bus route that will take me there and to work. Of course, the number 1 criteria is that the apartments take my kitty cat.

If that's at all possible I will be ok. The bad thing about Portland Transportation is there are only a few cross-town busses. All roads lead to downtown. People have to go downtown and back track to get to places that are just a bit more than walking distance but in the same direction from where they came.

[knoxgarden]

Originally Posted by Minervah

As long as I know there is a possibilty I'm happy. My modus operendi is to find a supermarket then see if it's walking distance from apartment buildings then look for the nearest bus route that will take me there and to work. Of course, the number 1 criteria is that the apartments take my kitty cat.

You can find that in Knoxville. Fountain City would suit you well. There's good bus service on Broadway and on Cedar Lane, with lots of shopping near the Broadway/Cedar Lane intersection.
There are lots of condos and small apartments around that area. If you're looking to buy, there's a wonderful condo community, Griffin's Gate, on Merchant's Drive near Central Pike that's walking distance to lots of restaurants, a supermarket and on a busline.
If you plan ahead of time to be near a busline, you'll be fine.
KAT Route Schedules