Chattanooga vs Knoxville (Jackson, Oak Ridge, Maryville: fit in, transplants, houses)

[jemithao]

Hi everyone,

My family and I currently live in Rossville, GA which is on the outskirts of Chattanooga, TN. We are considering a move to Knoxville and I wanted to ask a quick question. We have not lived here long we are originally from Jacksonville, FL. With that said, I do not mean to sound rude or hateful but, since we have lived here we have noticed that the area is rather trashy. There are many houses where people don't seem to take care of their stuff and it is all just thrown in the yards. Not everyone but alot. It makes the "you might be a redneck if" jokes seem truly legit. Anyway, I wondered if anyone knew if this is also the case with the areas on the outskirts of Knoxville? I am really wanting to live in a clean nice place where people take pride in what they have and really take care of it.

Thank you

[DixieStud]

Originally Posted by jemithao

Hi everyone,

My family and I currently live in Rossville, GA which is on the outskirts of Chattanooga, TN. We are considering a move to Knoxville and I wanted to ask a quick question. We have not lived here long we are originally from Jacksonville, FL. With that said, I do not mean to sound rude or hateful but, since we have lived here we have noticed that the area is rather trashy. There are many houses where people don't seem to take care of their stuff and it is all just thrown in the yards. Not everyone but alot. It makes the "you might be a redneck if" jokes seem truly legit. Anyway, I wondered if anyone knew if this is also the case with the areas on the outskirts of Knoxville? I am really wanting to live in a clean nice place where people take pride in what they have and really take care of it.

Thank you

West Knoxville (Farragut area) is full of yankees; hardly even southern. From the sounds of it y'all will fit in good.

[jemithao]

My prior post never mentioned anything about being southern or yankees. I was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL so I am southern. I think there is a difference between being southern and being down right trashy. With that said, if there is anyone else that could answer my question without an aire of sarcasm I would greatly appreciate it.

[DixieStud]

Jacksonville ain't really southern. Like I said you'd fit in good in Farragut. Y'all will even probably like downtown Knox. Anywhere in west Knox really you'd like

[keithps]

Originally Posted by jemithao

Hi everyone,

My family and I currently live in Rossville, GA which is on the outskirts of Chattanooga, TN. We are considering a move to Knoxville and I wanted to ask a quick question. We have not lived here long we are originally from Jacksonville, FL. With that said, I do not mean to sound rude or hateful but, since we have lived here we have noticed that the area is rather trashy. There are many houses where people don't seem to take care of their stuff and it is all just thrown in the yards. Not everyone but alot. It makes the "you might be a redneck if" jokes seem truly legit. Anyway, I wondered if anyone knew if this is also the case with the areas on the outskirts of Knoxville? I am really wanting to live in a clean nice place where people take pride in what they have and really take care of it.

Thank you

Rossville is kind of a crappy suburb of Chattanooga. There are much nicer ones as well. I imagine the same will apply to Knoxville, or any city.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by DixieStud

Jacksonville ain't really southern. Like I said you'd fit in good in Farragut. Y'all will even probably like downtown Knox. Anywhere in west Knox really you'd like

Have you ever been to Jacksonville? Jacksonville is most definitely Southern, as is most of Northern Florida.


As for the OP...it varies by community. Sadly, there are places all over the state where people don't care for their property. Typically the more expensive suburbs are more well-kept, but that doesn't mean there aren't nice middle class areas that aren't trashy.

As for suggesting anywhere in this state (and either Knoxville or Chattanooga), we need to know a little bit more about your situation...your budget, your community preferences, job situation (do you have a job lined up? If so, how far of a commute is comfortable for you?), do you have kids (schools)?

There are plenty of folks here who would love to help you, but without knowing more, it's more or less like throwing darts at a map.

[SwampFox35]

i don't think there are a lot of northerners in the Farragut area or Knoxville in general. Oak Ridge pulls in some engineers from out of state but I would think most of them are from other southern states.

Kingston Pike in Knoxville is the ugliest sprawl road I have ever seen. Knoxville growth seems to all be west along that one road.

[danielj72]

Knoxville is a clean city, but like all towns there are some areas better than others. Nice clean areas to look at IMO would be Maryville in the south, on the north end Powell and the Halls area are nice, clean and have lots of newer development. West Knox of course is also clean, but prices for housing out there is a bit on the high side. Farragut is ridiculously expensive. Even if I had that money I would not pay that much to live there. I suggest taking a weekend trip here from Ga, that should help clear things up for you a bit. I am a bit concerned that you find north Georgia trashy, as I dont believe we are much different from the people in Georgia. What I see as clean and nice you may not. Good luck and I hope you find what your looking for.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by danielj72

Knoxville is a clean city, but like all towns there are some areas better than others. Nice clean areas to look at IMO would be Maryville in the south, on the north end Powell and the Halls area are nice, clean and have lots of newer development. West Knox of course is also clean, but prices for housing out there is a bit on the high side. Farragut is ridiculously expensive. Even if I had that money I would not pay that much to live there. I suggest taking a weekend trip here from Ga, that should help clear things up for you a bit. I am a bit concerned that you find north Georgia trashy, as I dont believe we are much different from the people in Georgia. What I see as clean and nice you may not. Good luck and I hope you find what your looking for.

First of all, I there can be some areas of Halls that is considered hillbilly trashy. There are a few developments but it is a mixed bag.

Regarding Farragut being "ridiculously expensive" my question is "compared to where?" Perhaps it costs more for a home than in a rural area of a more isolated town in say, northeast Tenn. but it is not very expensive compared to most places. West Knoxville, Farragut and Maryville are slightly more expensive than perhaps Halls but you get what you pay for.

*******

Regarding transplants, yes there are a lot of them in West Knoxville and Farragut but there are also plenty in downtown and even the gentrified areas such as Fourth and Gill. We don't outnumber the locals, even in Farragut and West Knox, but we are here and I work with a lot of them.

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

First of all, I there can be some areas of Halls that is considered hillbilly trashy. There are a few developments but it is a mixed bag.

Regarding Farragut being "ridiculously expensive" my question is "compared to where?" Perhaps it costs more for a home than in a rural area of a more isolated town in say, northeast Tenn. but it is not very expensive compared to most places. West Knoxville, Farragut and Maryville are slightly more expensive than perhaps Halls but you get what you pay for.

*******

Regarding transplants, yes there are a lot of them in West Knoxville and Farragut but there are also plenty in downtown and even the gentrified areas such as Fourth and Gill. We don't outnumber the locals, even in Farragut and West Knox, but we are here and I work with a lot of them.

I looked up Farragut home prices to make sure I was not mistaken, but found them to be very very high IMO. The average listing is 300k plus, some homes are in the millions. The very cheapest homes are 250k, and to someone like me that is unreal. Only people bringing in 150k a year minimum could possibly afford to live out there, and that is far above the average income for east Tennessee. Now I know what is cheap vs expensive is a matter of perspective, and varies person to person. If someone were to move here from New England or California they would find the homes in Farragut to be one heck of a value for what you get. If however your an average person earning the median income in the east Tn area then Farragut is far beyond what you could ever dream of paying for a house. The cost of the house is just the beginning, you have taxes on it, upkeep on a house like that is uber expensive. Putting a roof on one of those Mcmansions cost 50k or more. It is expected in an area like that to have a lawn service, profressional grade landscapping. I wish I knew how people who live there got those jobs, or how they make that kind of money. I guess thats why Im not rich, I just dont know