Transportation and walkability (Knoxville, Lexington: neighborhoods, movie theaters, taxi)

[River Runner]

I am looking for feedback on how Knoxville stacks up for getting around without a vehicle. So if I lived in town and used a combination of walking, biking, buses, and the occasional taxi would I be able to get around to do necessary errands and occasionally go out do to something social? Or would I likely end up being thoroughly frustrated by the lack of ability to do so (without it being a seriously massive pain in the rear)?

I have looked at the KAT maps and schedules online but that will only give you so much information if you are not highly familiar with the areas they depict. Especially in terms of where typical errand type things would be in relation to the transportation or to where I would reside.

I am looking at several other small to mid size cities and am planning a trip to re-review as I have been to most of them. But with limited time I have to make it count and make the rounds of my top choices. Two of my top runners currently are Knoxville and Lexington. I have family in Corbin so I have spent some time in the areas to the north and south. But did not have the time to go check out the transportation situation specifically when I was around the region. So thought I would post and see if the feedback may help in narrowing down my top runners further by weeding out a few. I am posting the same question in forums for some of the other cities I am looking at including the Lexington forum.

Any insight would be appreciated!

[creeksitter]

It is quite possible to get by without a car, especially if you are willing to bike. You would need to be selective where you live and we have discussed this in other threads if you want to use the search function. The most important question is where would you be working?

[JMT]

It is absolutely possible IF you live and work right in the downtown area. Now that a multi-level Walmart and Publix have been built adjacent to U.T. campus, and with movie theaters and oodles of restaurants downtown, there will be very little need to leave the downtown/U.T. area unless you just want to.

[creeksitter]

For day to day errands you can't beat the Bearden area. But there are also services close in on Broadway and Chapman highway. So the OP wouldn't be limited to the downtown area unless (s)he chose to be. But downtown is where you find the best concentration of bars and restaurants. The KAT busses on the trunk routes run until midnight. Would that be a problem? You can put your bike on the bus.

BTW, looking at your screen name I think you'd choose Knoxville over Lexington because they don't even have a river! Plus we have miles of greenway along the river and there's Cherokee Park as well.

[River Runner]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

It is quite possible to get by without a car, especially if you are willing to bike. You would need to be selective where you live and we have discussed this in other threads if you want to use the search function. The most important question is where would you be working?

I telecommute currently and unless I found a position that is more appealing in some way I would just continue to do that.

I actually have been through many of the threads but most of the discussion I found about walkability seem to be about people who had cars but wanted to know about walking just within the neighborhoods where they were going to live for purposes of kids walking around or recreation etc. and not really for purposes for doing everyday necessary errands. The discussions didn't really go into having no vehicle and having no choice to walk or bike or use the bus. But then again it is entirely possible I may have missed something.

[River Runner]

Originally Posted by JMT

It is absolutely possible IF you live and work right in the downtown area. Now that a multi-level Walmart and Publix have been built adjacent to U.T. campus, and with movie theaters and oodles of restaurants downtown, there will be very little need to leave the downtown/U.T. area unless you just want to.

I have moved enough times and lived enough places I have begrudgingly come to accept that (for the most part) I will have to live right downtown for the no vehicle thing to work and retain being able to get around without it being a completely frustrating pain in the butt. And by the looks of downtown rents don't seem that bad. That is in relation to some places I have lived like Boston which just became so expensive I left even though I liked that city. It sounds doable as long as I scope out real well. Thank you.

[River Runner]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

For day to day errands you can't beat the Bearden area. But there are also services close in on Broadway and Chapman highway. So the OP wouldn't be limited to the downtown area unless (s)he chose to be. But downtown is where you find the best concentration of bars and restaurants. The KAT busses on the trunk routes run until midnight. Would that be a problem? You can put your bike on the bus.

BTW, looking at your screen name I think you'd choose Knoxville over Lexington because they don't even have a river! Plus we have miles of greenway along the river and there's Cherokee Park as well.

I confess that the river earned Knoxville a point in the pro column.

The buses running until midnight would work. I have lived places where the buses only ran until like 9 but there was a 24 hour cab service so on the off occasion I missed the last bus I would do that and it worked fine.

[creeksitter]

I would definitely advise living near one of the trunk lines if you don't live downtown.

There was a poster named bullie who was needing walkability for practical reasons, if you can find that thread.