Areas to avoid in Knoxville

[hiknapster]

Yeah. It's not like some places where life is so exciting that this wouldn't have been noticed. Local news would have been all over it yet we mysteriously have never heard of this. Hmmm.

[nashvols]

The simple answer to the question, areas to avoid in Knoxville, is the UT area right before and after a football game.

Knoxville has it's shady areas, projects, run down, and trashy areas, but overall it is a somewhat safe town. Violent crime isn't much of an issue like it is in Memphis, or even areas of Nashville. In Knoxville, they just want to rob you, not kill you.

I wouldn't say there are many large scale areas to "avoid" in Knoxville...there might be some places where you don't want to walk, or possibly even drive at night, but very few that will give you any sort of problem in the daylight hours (even some of the more run-down areas).

The key is to possess common sense about when and where you are. This mainly applies to walking alone at night, or leaving your house or car unlocked. Most areas of West Knoxville are as safe as it gets...yes, even in the city limits (as someone so ignorantly said "avoid the city"). There are a number of places in North, South, and East Knoxville that are perfectly safe to live and raise a family. However, if you are very concerned about safety, mostly west (West Knoxville, Bearden, Farragut) and south (Blount county and Maryville) will be your best bets.

There is a bit of a homeless issue in the central area of town, but this mostly affects the UT/Fort Sanders area (which is not a choice area for raising kids -- it's a college neighborhood) and the area north of downtown on Broadway and in the Old City. Downtown Knoxville is pretty safe, and has a fair amount of foot traffic, especially when there are events such as Sundown in the City.

If you have lived in an actual city before, Knoxville is not a scary place -- it would mainly be scary to those who come from isolated rural communities, or more affluent suburbs.

[hiknapster]

It's pretty subjective, too. West Knoxville gets more than its fair share of crime. Sometimes you are less safe in affluent areas, especially parking lots of shopping centers, because criminals are drawn to where the rich folk are.

I live north of Cedar Lane in the city limits and feel safer there than I do at my work in Bearden. Not that Bearden is unsafe. It's a great area. But where I live, although in the city, feels more like the burbs and there is less people and activity, too.

Bottom line: Knoxville is pretty darn safe.

I also like that there isn't the loitering problem like there is in so many parts of Florida. There seems to be groups of people in front of convenience stores and apartment buildings in the bad areas of Florida. I've never seen any of that in Knoxville. The worst areas are more like areas in Florida that are considered "not too bad." Seriously!

[mahavisnu]

Originally Posted by babyblueeyez

You definitely want to STAY AWAY from cherry street,magnolia, Martin Luther king blvd.......this entire area is very dangerous!!! As a matter of fact my brother & I just stopped off the exit to get gas and as he went in to pay 3 gun shots went off, he got pistol whipped, everything on his person got taken & they even took his clothes and shoes!!! Needless to say its NOT SAFE AT ALL!!!

While I would believe that violent crime gets less reporting in certain parts of the city, this would have at least made the news had it actually happened on those streets, which are fairly prominent thoroughfares. Not saying you're lying, but I'd like to see a write-up, as this is not what one would call a common occurrence, even in the seediest parts of Knoxville.