Local knowledge - Knoxville TDOT

New Market, Jefferson City, Dandridge, all great places, Alcoa and Maryville also good, Oak Ridge used to be great, check with Sleepy on that. I lived in Jefferson City for 10 years, but that's all the wrong way if you are working near where the old CW was.

Knoxville is an atypical Southern city. The major influences are the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Valley Authority offices, Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the Northwest, Alcoa to the South, and local boat manufacturing of the East and South. The population in the Knoxville area does swell during the tourist season and on Tennessee game day. The Smoky Mountains are one of the most visited National Parks. Notice the y. :)

It does not have a significant downtown like you would typically find in other larger cities in the South. There is some activity with younger people around the University of Tennessee since it is a rather large student body of around 25,000 - 30,000. There is some residual impact of the Worlds Fair of '82. Even the history of the area is someone unique in that it was not clearly South or North during the Civil War or the period thereafter. If you read more about the history, it will become more clear. Sure, there are probably "tiny" pockets to avoid, but relative to other areas of the South, it is relatively crime free.

Where to live has more to do with what she intends to do in the time off. The problem with being in the sticks is that you have to go farther for any downtown activities. Obviously, buying acreage means that you are looking toward the outskirts of Knoxville. All of the lakes in the area have ample parking for boondocking. It is not a high population area so campgrounds are more limited.

Finally, keep in mind that you can easily travel 1 mile/minute on the interstates in the area except maybe on game day or during the most heavy rush hour days. The West area is generally more expensive to live and has the most traffic. The North and East areas are pretty rural. The area South of downtown toward Maryville is perhaps the very worst traffic since there are no interstates with prices being a little higher than North and East due to the compression due to no interstate travel. Unfortunately, the major airport is South of Knoxville.

There are a lot of lakes in the area but most draw down quite a bit during the Winter with the exception of the relatively shallow lakes of Melton Hill in the North West and Fort Loudon and Tellico in the South.

If I were chosing a place to live and would be workin in the area of the (old) camping world site I would continue east an Ashville Highway (US-11) in this area it parallels I-40 on the Noth Side. Maybe even the New Market area... or furthur east to Dandrich

The reason (s)

1) going to work in the mornings the sun is on your back not in your eyes

2) going home in the evenings... the sun is not in your eyes

3) east has nice areas, close enough to the Smokies to see them and be there in 10 minutes... but avoiding all of the tourists between home and work

4) affordable along the US-11 corridor (Look in the Reynolds road area... I know people there.)

5) safer in this direction than any other

6) the highway and roads are in realitively good shape.

TNRIVERSIDE - thanks. Was not aware Camping World closed that location. I bought some repair parts from them on my last trip to TN. Guess it was longer ago than I remember and not long before they closed. Will update my original post.

Definitely looking east of Knoxville out of town where she can have a couple acres hopefully. Need room for a shop and parking for 3 truck campers so the entire family can visit at once. :)

I have traveled to Knoxville many times. there are a couple of smaller towns south of Knoxville that many people live and commute to Knoxville. Alcoa and Maryville. Traffic can get heavy heading in in the morning but flows good.

kohldad wrote:
My daughter recently graduated from Clemson and just landed a job at the Knoxville TDOT (east side across the street from Camping World). Headed up there soon to scope out living options and was looking for someone with detailed knowledge of the area to provide some advice on the good and bad of the area.

It can get confusing when you state TDOT across the street from Camping World. Camping World is not across the street from TDOT. There was a store there that has relocated to the Camping World RV sales close to the airport.

To answer you question about living options I would stay east of Knoxville. You do not want to commute through town daily. The area around Douglas is really nice.

Is your question about where she should live or where you should visit?

Trying to be delicate... areas east and north of Downtown Knoxville nside the city are often questionable or bad... crime wise

look here

Your sister has my phone number... or PM me for it if you'd like. There is no place in the area that I mentioned that I'd park my camper over night,

The camping world is about where the high crime starts to taper off. East town mall is not far away from the Camping World and I don't know a single person that would shop there. Not worth the risk based on past news reports.

This is as honest as I can get in print... and I'm still trying to not slander....

Outside the area mentioned is very nice.. more than a dozen stae parks nearby.

(I live about 30 minutes from there

Congratulations on your daughter finishing school, landing a great job in a lousy economy and moving to a great part of the country if you enjoy the outdoors (East Tennessee).
Brad