Living in Oakdale, TN (Knoxville, Kingston: crime, to buy, school)

[SnowBunny]

Hi,

We are originally from PA, and are considering moving to TN. I ran across Oakdale, and it looks beautiful. Can anyone tell me about living there, raising a family and the school there. We have two young girls, 14 and 8. The school seems like a small school, which i like, as long as they provide a good education.

[rtpprp]

hello,
i have livrd in oakdale for 38 years. and i love it here.i have vacationed all over the u.s. and have never found anything more beautiful than right here. the oakdale eagles k-12 school is a great school.the staff works well with the students. lets just say there has been alot of doctors,lawers,etc. graduate from oakdale school.and the everyday living is quiet,&comfortable. i dare say there is less crime here than most anywhere in the u.s. i think you would be very happy here.
rtpprp

[rtpprp]

sorry if i seemed to boastful. didn't mean to.

[snow1953]

Oakdale is a beautiful place to live,it is so quite you can hear the birds sing.Everyone is so friendly.Pine Orchard is beautiful too.

[SnowBunny]

it looks like the perfect place, but now i'm scared about some of the stuff i was reading. I know everywhere has health risks, but I don't want to knowingly subject my girls to any kind of potential harm. I mean they warn you about eating too much salmon off the salmon river in New York.

[TnHilltopper]

Well if you like to hike, I can let you in on a very spectacular spot along the way. I have hiked from Deermont/Camp Austin bridge just north of Oakdale, along the rail grade about two miles or so past the Crooked Creek railroad trestle there is a small notch called Bear Creek. If you walk up in that notch about 100 meters there is a small treeless glen surrounded by Hemlocks and Oaks higher up. There is a waterfall that empties into a pool about 20' around that is chest deep and mighty cold. The small glen is full of soft green grass and native wildflowers and is perfect for pitching a tent. I have no idea if it is private or public as it is about as in the middle of nowhere as you can get. It was one of the most amazing little surreal places I have ever laid eyes on and my only regret was only having a single picture left on my 35mm.

I was just on one of my "wanderin" walkabout trips from Oakdale to Wartburg the back way and stumbled on the place. If you are not much into back country hikes, you can always just cross the Camp Austin bridge and either park down below or head up on the road about 1000 meters to the next pull off and there is a series of nice swimming holes and if you stick near the Camp Austin bridge, there is some really good spots to take your kids fishing. (the Red eye's are thick as ticks up there)

Oakdale is one of those little forgotten rail towns that I suspect is quirky like that TV show, "Northern Exposure", but it is certainly beautiful and the few folks I know from that neck of the woods are fine and decent, salt of the earth folk. It is one of the areas that I looked at to buy property. The Emory river is far cleaner and far more safe than the Clinch below the confluence of the "clemery" (where the clinch meets the emory in Kingston)

Not sure what exactly you are looking for in a place but if you like country living with the convince of surrounding small towns and Knoxville not more than 45 min away, then I would certainly consider that area. There is often an undefinable quality and fellowship to such small quaint places that is almost gone anymore.

[pack4466]

I have grown up in Oakdale, and am now 34. My husband and I have decided to live here instead of Knoxville were he is from. He absolutely loves it here . We are raising my daughter here who is now 12 and she too cant imagine living any where else. I guess that kind of speaks for Oakdale. Hope this helps.