Questions about Moving to Smokies Area (Knoxville, Maryville: for sale, real estate market, to rent)
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After reading a ton of threads here, I still have some unanswered questions I was hoping somebody who lived in the area could help me with. Let me get some background info out of the way first. The hubby and I have lived in either Northeast MS or Southwest TN all our lives. I cannot count on both of our fingers & toes the number of times we've been to the Smokies, together and separately. Because we've been so many times, we've done A LOT of non-typical tourist stuff like taking backroads, driving around looking at homes in the area, shopping at local grocery stores, etc. The last time we went (March 2011), we spent a little over a week and looked at a lot of homes for sale (not working with a realtor or touring the homes, just driving by) to get a feel of the real estate market. After talking to some of the locals, reading posts on this board, checking out the GSMAR MLS listings, and taking our own experiences into consideration, we have almost completely decided against living in PF or close to it, which is what we were originally considering. We actually like the touristy stuff there and enjoy doing everything we've already done 10 million times (LOL). We live in rural North MS now. The closest big name supermarket (Kroger) is about a 25 minute drive. The closest WalMart Supercenter is a 15 minute drive. We work about 25 - 30 minutes from our home. Basically any form of modernized civilization is at least 25 minutes from our house. This leads me to the main question. We want to be moved to that area by next summer, as I am an elementary teacher (Yes, believe it or not, the TN teacher pay is higher than MS!), and want to be able to have a job starting in August. My husband is both an ASE certified auto mechanic and is currently a diesel tech, who will have a couple of ASE certifications for diesels by the time we move. So, jobs shouldn't be an issue, but we are planning to most likely work in Knoxville. We don't want to live in Knoxville though, mostly because we want the mountain views, like living in the country, and want to be closer to GB, PF, Cades Coves, etc than a big city (Yes, Knoxville is a big city to us - lol.) Our town has a population of about 3500 people, and the closest larger city (where we work) has about 45K people. We want to live somewhere similar to that makeup, but within a 30 - 40 minute drive to Knoxville. I've been thinking Seymour, but the hubby hasn't seen any pics that he's in love with. He says it looks more like a "city" than a "country" setting. Basically this is what we want - 40 min or less to Knoxville, 30 min or less to GB/PF area, good schools, no more than 5000 people, 15 min or less to civilization (WalMart, restaurants, fast food, chain grocery stores, etc). This is the list I've narrowed things down to: PF, GB, Seymour, Townsend, Dandridge, Pittman Center, Wears Valley, Jones Cove. I know traffic is madness in GB & PF during peak season & the rod runs(OMG @ AWFUL traffic), but if we lived on the Wears Valley side, would really be that bad? Hubby has his heart set on PF/Wears. As long as we could avoid the strip at all costs, would it be terrible? When we were there in early March (off-peak), traffic was never an issue, but we've been in June & July when it's awful too. We are going back within the next few months to pick our location for sure, and I want the list narrowed to just a couple of places that will be exactly what we are looking for. Having only been to GB, PF, Sevierville, Townsend, Cades Cove, Wears Valley, & out around the Arts & Crafts loop towards Pittman Center, I'm not sure abnout Dandridge or Seymour. How are the mountain views from there? Sorry this post is so long, but I have SO many questions. It's so hard to plan a move when you're 7 hours away from the place you're planning to move! Thanks in advance to all who answer this!
After reading a ton of threads here, I still have some unanswered questions I was hoping somebody who lived in the area could help me with. Let me get some background info out of the way first. The hubby and I have lived in either Northeast MS or Southwest TN all our lives. I cannot count on both of our fingers & toes the number of times we've been to the Smokies, together and separately. Because we've been so many times, we've done A LOT of non-typical tourist stuff like taking backroads, driving around looking at homes in the area, shopping at local grocery stores, etc. The last time we went (March 2011), we spent a little over a week and looked at a lot of homes for sale (not working with a realtor or touring the homes, just driving by) to get a feel of the real estate market. After talking to some of the locals, reading posts on this board, checking out the GSMAR MLS listings, and taking our own experiences into consideration, we have almost completely decided against living in PF or close to it, which is what we were originally considering. We actually like the touristy stuff there and enjoy doing everything we've already done 10 million times (LOL). We live in rural North MS now. The closest big name supermarket (Kroger) is about a 25 minute drive. The closest WalMart Supercenter is a 15 minute drive. We work about 25 - 30 minutes from our home. Basically any form of modernized civilization is at least 25 minutes from our house. This leads me to the main question. We want to be moved to that area by next summer, as I am an elementary teacher (Yes, believe it or not, the TN teacher pay is higher than MS!), and want to be able to have a job starting in August. My husband is both an ASE certified auto mechanic and is currently a diesel tech, who will have a couple of ASE certifications for diesels by the time we move. So, jobs shouldn't be an issue, but we are planning to most likely work in Knoxville. We don't want to live in Knoxville though, mostly because we want the mountain views, like living in the country, and want to be closer to GB, PF, Cades Coves, etc than a big city (Yes, Knoxville is a big city to us - lol.) Our town has a population of about 3500 people, and the closest larger city (where we work) has about 45K people. We want to live somewhere similar to that makeup, but within a 30 - 40 minute drive to Knoxville. I've been thinking Seymour, but the hubby hasn't seen any pics that he's in love with. He says it looks more like a "city" than a "country" setting. Basically this is what we want - 40 min or less to Knoxville, 30 min or less to GB/PF area, good schools, no more than 5000 people, 15 min or less to civilization (WalMart, restaurants, fast food, chain grocery stores, etc). This is the list I've narrowed things down to: PF, GB, Seymour, Townsend, Dandridge, Pittman Center, Wears Valley, Jones Cove. I know traffic is madness in GB & PF during peak season & the rod runs(OMG @ AWFUL traffic), but if we lived on the Wears Valley side, would really be that bad? Hubby has his heart set on PF/Wears. As long as we could avoid the strip at all costs, would it be terrible? When we were there in early March (off-peak), traffic was never an issue, but we've been in June & July when it's awful too. We are going back within the next few months to pick our location for sure, and I want the list narrowed to just a couple of places that will be exactly what we are looking for. Having only been to GB, PF, Sevierville, Townsend, Cades Cove, Wears Valley, & out around the Arts & Crafts loop towards Pittman Center, I'm not sure abnout Dandridge or Seymour. How are the mountain views from there? Sorry this post is so long, but I have SO many questions. It's so hard to plan a move when you're 7 hours away from the place you're planning to move! Thanks in advance to all who answer this!
It appears that you have already decided you want to live in Sevier County and ANY place you live, with the exception of Seymour or Kodak, is going to have major traffic. You will minimally have a 45 min commute to Knoxville, more if you go farther north or west. Pittman Center and Jones Cove will add considerably more time to your drive. Dandridge, if you're close to the interstate, will probably be around 40-45 min. And yes, if you're in the Wears Valley area you definitely will have traffic. There are some back roads, they're not quick, but probably quicker than traffic on the Parkway. My daily commute was from a subdivision behind Hampton Inn at traffic light 0 in Pigeon Forge to downtown Knoxville. It was a 45 min commute door-to-door unless there was an accident on Chapman Hwy, and that could literally add an hour or more, or traffic was unusually bad (Fridays). The drive was more than I wanted on a daily basis and it made the work day VERY long, especially in the winter when leaving in the dark and dark coming home.
I wouldn't be quick to dismiss how easy it will be for your mechanic husband to get a job. Hiknapster is the one who has a world of experience with that and I'm sure she will offer comments. Just make sure you have your teaching position secured.
Seymour and Maryville have tons of mountain views. You have not listed Maryville, but keep in mind the area along 411 which connects M-ville to Seymour - it is VERY rural. As far as Seymour looking like a "city" according to your husband, that's just along Chapman Hwy, none of the roads off it look city-like to me. Based on what you want (time/mileage restrictions) I would say your choices are Seymour, Maryville, Rockford or Kodak.
I can't imagine narrowing down your area to live before you find job. Get the jobs and then you can start the elimination process. It's not going to work the other way around.
Getting a teaching job is not always easy. What if you can only find a position four counties over from where you want to live? All plans will drastically shift. Same with the auto tech or diesel job. My husband has 22 years experience and we own our own shop. Knox County has a fairly decent unemployment rate but we are still in a tough economy and getting jobs for either one of you is far from a given.
What if you finally get a job while living in Wears Valley but your husband can't find anything but in Kingston and you in Clinton? What happens then? Do you both start commuting two hours a day for each of you?
Find the jobs first and everything else will fall into place.
And I also urge you to rent first before buying. Perhaps the jobs, when you get them, won't work out. Or you'll hate the area.
It took us three years to find a great area. In the meantime, we rented.
When I read that you thought that Seymour was more "city", I almost spit out my ice water onto my keyboard. If you get more than 500 feet from Chapman Hwy, you are in the "country".
Ditto what TNgal said about mechanics jobs. I don't know about teachers jobs either, but you really should secure jobs before you make the move.
Depending on what part of Knoxville you will work will have a huge impact on your drive time. Forget peak season drive times - traffic sucks in GB and PF all year long. At peak time, it REALLY sucks. 15 minutes to Walmart could mean 1/2 mile away.
If you are like us and are going to move here no matter what, and will need to find jobs once you do, the 4 areas I mentioned (they are not all towns) are ideal IMO because of their proximity to more than one city, making job hunting a little easier. If you're NOT like us, then by all means, secure jobs first! (and yes, renting first is always a good idea)
NJDevil, didn't you come here when the economy was good? And didn't the two of you have a devil of a time finding jobs? Pun intended. It seems to me that there were lots of posts about that.
So why encourage that in a recession?
Once again, what the heck good is any of those towns if their jobs are one hour away? Or worse?
Edit: I looked it up. NJDevil and her husband moved here in 2006 and there were lots of posts and crying and gnashing of teeth regarding finding jobs.
Hik, more than half the time I agree with you on things and yet every time I give my opinion (which is what these forums are all about), you jump on me and I don't get it. What is wrong with my post? What does it have to do with how things were when we moved here? I said we were coming no matter what, that's why we chose Seymour, because it's equi-distance from 3 major towns. The places I suggested for the OP are all close to Knoxville which has the most jobs in our area. I made it evident that I'm not trying to swing them either way - what am I encouraging? They posted this in the Knoxville forum, not general TN.
When I first read NJD's post I thought the same thing that Hik did. However, re-reading it, I got the point NJD was trying to make - and it made sense.
But I do understand where Hik is coming from. I believe its a horrible idea for someone to move anywhere without having a job first. Knoxville having less unemployment than other areas does not mean that jobs are abundant here.
Moving anywhere without a job lined up ahead of time is a bad idea in this economy, unless you have at least six months living expenses saved up.
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