Moving from Denver to Knoxville

[onetoughkitty]

Questions:
1. What's the weather like - summer and winter specifically. How hot and humid? Do the mountains offer any relief? Your concern will be Summer. I suggest visiting in July/August. If you have never been in high humidity, you might have issues with it at first.
2. How dog friendly is Knoxville? With 2 GSDs I know renting will be tough (been there) but assuming that's settled how dog friendly is the city?Dog friendly but rentals, not so much. Be prepared to shell out extra deposits and pay for fencing (wireless or physical).
3. What are some good areas to live in as a young couple (given the housing constraints below)That is really something you will have to review personally. If you want young couple things to do, I'd stick closer to downtown because it's pretty "corporate" restaurant scene everywhere else. I love Fountain City, South Knox and Old City but I absolutely needed a good high school for my kid so I live in West Knoxville. You shouldn't have trouble finding a rental for under $1600 a month in any part of town. You may find houses on the water for under $200k but it won't be where you want or in the best condition. Honestly, you're gonna find a lot of silvered hair folks here... ALOT. It's definitely not Denver with it's single scene though. The only time I find people have issues with your politics is online. No one ever says anything to your face.
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[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Lizap

BTW, Hendersonville is 24 miles from Asheville. Regarding the traffic on 26, we don't plan to drive to Asheville very often. The Hendersonville/Flat Rock area has approx. 20k people and most of what we'll need..

But it's 40 minutes to Asheville from your property.

Once again, best of luck to you but not pertinent to what the OP is looking for.

[hiknapster]

NYC heat and humidity is NOT the same as here in East Tennessee. I'm from Mass and half my family is from NYC. Not. The Same. It has to do with dewpoint, that's what makes it feel unbearably sticky. The two places aren't even close.

Like The Spider suggested - or someone - visit the last two weeks of July.

For what it's worth, Farragut is 22 minutes to downtown Henley Street. You do NOT want to be 40 minutes away from Knoxville, especially if you are looking for a young vibe.

onetoughkitty is dead on. You want to be closer to the center of the city in order to find younger people.

I LOVE Knoxville and most people on here will tell you that I'm obnoxious about it. Heck, some of my friends in real life might say the same, although most are Knoxville maniacs, too. However, Knoxville is not Denver or NYC.

Check out Zillow, Trulia (same company) and see if anything works for you. The market is hot, right now, so there may be less options. Cost of living is CHEAP here, but for what you want, especially if it is on the water, is not going to be doable.

[Barking Spider]

His said "I guess to someone from Southern California, you can call the weather around here "serious." It's not true, but I guess it's a matter of perspective. However, the average seasonal snowfall for Denver is 57 inches. Where I'm from, the average is 64 inches. A few years ago, they received over 110 inches. THAT is a SERIOUS winter.

Compare that to Knoxville's average of six inches. I don't care what Knoxville got over 20 years ago. It can't compete with "real" winters. "

I did mention in my post that winters were very mild here, and snow did not last. What I meant by serious was in a town where snow removal is pretty much non existent, snow and ice that is heavy (by Knoxville's standards) and stays around for several days. My first winter here in 1995 was fairly heavy and the roads were icy for almost a week. Schools were closed. We also had two back to back heavy winters (by Knoxville's standards) a few years ago.

I was trying to give perspective to the OP regarding his question about Knoxville's winters and snow, not a nation wide perspective. When schools are closed for several days, and the backroads are not passible, I consider that for my criteria for heavy winters in Knoxville. Your mileage may vary.

[hiknapster]

One year, it snowed three inches in Knoxville and my daughter's school was closed for a week. That's not unusual. That doesn't make the winter "serious," especially to someone that lives in an area that gets snow.

I underline all of this so the OP, and anyone else that doesn't live here, get a picture of what winters are actually like. I understand that you're from Southern California, BS, but to many people three inches is laughable.

Now, having said that, the reason schools close due to an inch of snow - I've actually seen them close due to less! - is because the area doesn't have the massive amount of snow equipment like they have in other areas of the country. And they shouldn't. We don't get "serious winters" so we shouldn't waste money on such things.

[KathiOH1]

Since no one else mentioned it, Maryville/Knoxville is quite dog friendly. Maryville has the most wonderful dog park off miles of park trails in either direction. Our little Sierra loves going there. AND Knoxville Market Square has several restaurants where you can eat outside with your dog (Maryville has one or two such as Aubreys). Marti Growl is a fun dog-friendly festival in "Old City" Knoxville the beginning of March. I watch the dogs go by while enjoying a delicious fish & Chips at *** 'n Reel.

[scottcolby]

I live in Denver as well and am looking for something similar, so I'd love to get an update.

Did you visit Knoxville? Anywhere else? What did you think?

Have you considered Roanoke or Staunton, VA?

Originally Posted by ayoitzrimz

Hi there,

We are considering relocating out of Denver and are looking into Knoxville and are wondering if it's a good place for us.

About us:
I work remotely so my job is not an issue. It pays well enough to afford most places.
My wife is a medical office manager so she'll need to find a job in the same field.
No kids (not planning on it). Two German Shepherds.
We are in our 30's

We are looking to leave for a few reasons:

1. Denver winters while mild are long and drawn out - we'd want to live somewhere warmer
2. Denver has gotten crowded and expensive recently - we want something smaller
3. We don't really use the rocky mountains that much. We love to hike in the summer but we don't ski / snowboard - we'd want to be near a place we can hike most of the year.
4. Just looking to explore a little bit with an eye on real estate - I'd like to rent for a year then buy a house within a year.

Questions:
1. What's the weather like - summer and winter specifically. How hot and humid? Do the mountains offer any relief?
2. How dog friendly is Knoxville? With 2 GSDs I know renting will be tough (been there) but assuming that's settled how dog friendly is the city?
3. What are some good areas to live in as a young couple (given the housing constraints below)


In general, things we want (not tied to Knoxville directly, posted on another forum so some repetition):

1. House with a yard - rental under 1600 a month, purchase under 200k. In a safe neighborhood in a safe city that is close to restaurants and live music. We'd rent the first year and then buy.
2. Dog friendly city - we don't have kids but we have two German Shepherds
3. Mild winters
4. we'd love to live near a beach but worry about buying in a place with heavy hurricane risks so that's definitely not a must have.
5. Things to do - good restaurants (love BBQ), live music, outdoor events.
6. Neither ultra conservative nor ultra liberal. We are definitely center oriented and can't live in a place that is too heavy into either one.
7. Young / older couples - not looking for a heavy nightlife or singles scene nor do we want a retirement community (we're in our 30s)
8. Low COL - jobs don't matter because I work remotely and am paid relatively well. Wife will likely find a job in a medical office (she's a clinic manager currently) but we can live on my salary if the housing cost is as I described. I'm in software so would be cool to live where there are software jobs but those usually correlate to higher housing prices.
9. Quiet living! Low traffic, lots of scenery - would love to sit and watch the water for hours on end.

Housing constraints:

We definitely want a yard, and either a SFH or a townhome. (size 1300-2000 SQFT)
We'd want to be in a neighborhood with stuff to do i.e. restaurants parks etc.
Definitely want a safe neighborhood.
Looking to stay below $1600 for a rental (and below 200k for a house).
Don't mind if we are a bit further out (20 mins downtown in any direction).
Reasonable? Unreasonable? Limited research was promising but I don't know areas very well.

Could you recommend some areas to check out for the above?

Full disclosure: you might find a very similar post in a few sub forums - we're looking at a few cities.