Moving to Knoxville. Questions!

Hi all!

My fiancee and I are moving to Knoxville in the next month or so. I am from Wisconsin and we lived here for about 3 years but she is from Kentucky and her southern blood cant take the winters up here (she is actually staying in KY this winter).

What is the best neighborhood for a young couple in their early 30's who dont plan on having kids and plan on having a social life?

Where are the high crime areas and what is the most common crime in knoxville? Robberies? Muggings? Drug dealing? Murder? Rape?

How is your public transportation? How much does it cost and what do you get for your money?

Does anyone know of any good apartments that rent month to month for under $400/month? We want a medium size studio until we find jobs then we will look for and move into our dream apartment.

Where are some places that are always hiring? I will need a job right away. It doesnt have to be great but it has to pay at least $9/hour and get me 30-40+ hours a week. I dont have a college degree, but I have lots of work experience and great work ethic that's more like someone who grew up in the first half of the last century, instead of a baby-boomers kid.

What is the restaurant scene like? Are there restaurants raising the bar and trying new things, getting locally sourced ingredients?

Does anyone know if there are reggae nights at any of the bars?

I appreciate any and all serious, polite answers. If you cant be polite and informative, please take your BS elsewhere, thanks!

-BPG

I've lived here my entire life, so here it goes:

The high crime areas are East Knoxville (anywhere off Magnolia Avenue). This is the lower income area and highest crime area. The most common crime is robbery, theft, burgleries and they are in this area.

I lived in South Knoxville when I attended UT and it is quiet and somewhat rural, but close to Knoxville (15 minutes). West Knoxville is the up and coming area and the wealthier people are there. North Knoxville is nice as well and you might find an apartment for around 500 in the North or South.

When I lived in Knoxville in 2002 I paid 500 for a 800 square foot apartment. I honestly don't think you will find anything for less than 500 and if you do, then it will be very cheap and probably in a rough area. West Knoxville (Farragut) is big money, so the apartments there start at the cheapest around 600 and go up to a couple grand a month.
Now if you live in Anderson, Jefferson, Union, Sevier, or maybe Blount Counties you MIGHT get a small place for 400 a month and you can commute in to work if you work in Knoxville city.

Public transportation is limited to an okay bus system called KAT (Knoxville Area Transit). I do not recall prices, but they have a nice hub downtown and you can get monthly cards or pay each time. We do not have trains or trams. Knoxville has plenty of cabs. Knoxville area is spread out, so you will need a car. There are many smaller communities in the Knoxville metro area you might want to check in on. I live 30 minutes outside of Knoxville (about 20 miles away) and I drive into work now.

Jobs are somewhat scarce here. I am college educated and just got a solid job. I became unemployed in May 2009 and just found a job in December 2011. For 9.00 an hour you can work some retail jobs, maybe food service or paper push at one of the medical offices or colleges/universities (we have many). Check the jobs at UT, Elavon (credit card processor), many hospitals (UT, Park West, Fort Sanders).

If you are interested in restaurants then Knoxville is up and coming. Most of these restaurants that are trying new things are located off Market Square in downtown or in the Old City (North East of downtown about 2 blocks). Some are located in West Knoxville (about 30 minutes West of downtown).
We have tons of local farms here and I think most of these places are trying to source local. We do have a farmers market in downtown during the spring and summer months.
I am a foody myself and there are a few places that I find interesting and impressive sometimes, but nothing mind blowing.

Reggae nights? Hmm, dont think so. The big thing now is open mic for comedy and some music. They have a big indie band, bluegrass, rock and country scene in Knoxville (This is Tennessee). They have a hge party every first Friday of the month in downtown with tons of restaurant specials, dances, comedy bars, bands, etc called "First Friday". There is a big art scene in K-Town, which is somewhat snobby, but interesting.

By the way, the traffic is crap in Knoxville during rush hour, especially West.

Since you ae not from here there will be a ton to do (I have done it all during my lifetime). We have many museums, art, music, and the Smokies are just an hour drive away (Gatlinburg, Sevierville). Atlanta is 3 hours, Nashville is 3 hours, Myrtle Beach is 5/6 hours away. Asheville, North Carolina is a pretty hip place for restaurants and hippie style living, which is 2 hours away.

If you plan on going to school we have many colleges and universities that are pretty good.
There are also many manufacturing and factory type jobs in east Tennessee.

I suggest coming down for a visit for a few days and checking things out to scope out some jobs and maybe a few places to live.

Good luck to you!

thanks!

anyone else got ideas/suggestions to share?

moving in a couple months! my fiancee is already down there. anyone else have suggestions/ideas?

No. I have been in this area for 16 years and OriginalVol did a great job covering it.

If you need you lawn taken care of when you get here i can take care off you there or maybe even help you out with a job if you have any experience doing lawn care or landscaping .. i will try to help you out to give you a good welcome to TN to show you what kind of people we have here .. post back if you are interested in working . i take care of a lot of property management companies maybe they will have something i will start asking when will you be here

you should look on craigslist you can find anything on there you can find a mobile home for that you may find a apartment in clinton , anderson or somewhere in the out skirts of knoxville . knoxville is a good choice there is a lot of money to be made here