Elements of Urbanism: Knoxville

[reednavy]

I don't think you could pay me enough to live in Tennessee 

why not?

Because it's just a bit too "bible belt" for my taste. I know Jax has its faults in this area, but Tennessee is much worse (or better, depending on your particular outlook). I don't like that sort of thing, personally.

And as a Gator fan, I hate the damn Vols.

If you want better, check out Nashville, nuff said.

[Adam W]

I think Quentin Tarantino is from Knoxville.

Oh well... I guess every silver lining has its cloud 

[JaxByDefault]

I lived in Knoxvegas between 2003 and 2007, when the downtown redevelopment plan was about half done. When we moved to Jax, we picked the Urban Core specifically because of our experience with Old North and Downtown Knoxville. We had a much better quality of life in Knoxville and there was far more to do downtown, old city, and university area. I could bike everywhere and there were good restaurants.

As for the "bible belt" and conservativeness,  I find that worse here, too. The Knox Urban Core is a good mix of crunchy granola, university people, and lassez faire conservative types. Knoxville wasn't perfect--it was small--and at the time I certainly didn't want it to be a permanent move, but after 6 years in JAX, it seems like we had a pretty good set up there that I should have appreciated more at the time.

Yes, (from experience living there) Nashville is good too -- but only if you live in town in Hillsboro village, Belmont, 12 south, Avalon, or those such neighborhoods. Same for Knoxville; you couldn't have paid me to live in the burbs.

[peestandingup]

I have thought about moving to Tennesee (no state tax) and not to far from Atlanta and Jax. Knoxville, I've been through there many times. Very neat and clean. This is not a bash on Jax but why does so many smaller cities have larger convention centers with attached hotels and we do not?

^Bad implementation and long term planning in regards to downtown development.  We've spent just as much money or more than many of these smaller and similar sized places.  However, if it isn't coordinated and clustered together in a pedestrian scale setting with complementing uses (which it hasn't), all the money in the world doesn't really matter.  You won't end up with the desired results.

This is an accurate distinction I think & a fundamental flaw with Jax. Forget the suburbs, downtown here is even sprawled out & not built to a human scale. There's HUGE swaths of our town that are completely void of anything, people included. Just try walking/biking between the Landing & the stadium, or up to Springfield, or over through Lavilla, etc.

Knoxville, while smaller, is actually much more lively overall. That smaller scale works in their favor since all the urban neighborhoods mentioned are pretty easily accessible to one another & all works together to make it feel bigger than what it is. The University helps too. Plus, E TN in general has a lot going on outside of Knoxville (pigeon forge, gatlinburg, dollywood, all the quiet lake stuff, etc). Thats mostly touristy stuff that I personally don't care for, but still. Its industry thats unique to their surroundings & they're rocking it.

I was up there for an entire month earlier this year (not to mention spent a lot of time there in college, I was at Kentucky, wife was at UT) & have to hand it to them. I still have some gripes (like after about 10-11pm there's nowhere to eat), but overall they've done a really good job. Every section of town has its place, there's actually a vibe & activity all week long for all ages to enjoy (not just a bar scene or for weekends), and I didn't see one single building that was abandoned & ready to fall over. Everything was used or in the process of being used.

P.S. That area is indeed part of the bible belt, but I certainly wouldn't call it no more religious than here. In fact, I've ever seen so many churches as I have here. And Jax seems to let that element rule a lot of the land with an iron fist. Everyone here knows that & sees it all the time. Plus, and this is a small thing, but I at least once a day get a "god bless you" or "have a blessed day" somewhere here. I don't think I ever heard that once up there in normal everyday settings.

[Adam W]

Apparently Knoxville is a pretty cool place. And so is Nashville. But (as I originally posted), I don't think I'd want to live in Tennessee. It's just too conservative (and christian) a state for me, in spite of the exceptions to the rule.

Florida isn't perfect, but it will always be home.

[JaxByDefault]

Knoxville had a good daily quality of life, I certainly wouldn't call it cool. You also do suffer the blue dot, red state problem and not being religious, I always found the whole state rather churchy (but I find the whole US that way.)

In terms of urban development, Knoxville is great proof that you can do amazing things with 1) a good plan, 2) decent leadership (party not an issue, just a commitment to the plan), 3) a university integrated into town, 4) a few good kickstarter projects, and 5) free parking options on nights and weekends. In Knoxville's case, Market Square and the Old City redevelopment were enough to get skeptical people a bit interested in downtown's potential.

Even when we lived there, downtown suffered from many of the same stereotypes as JAX's downtown. There were plenty of people who rushed straight home to the burbs from Vols games. But every year, there were more and more taking the free trolley buses over to downtown to spend time in stores, cafes, bars, and theaters.

[Fallen Buckeye]

I just read an article the other day in Backpacker magazine about how Knoxville really transformed a really underused, crime-ridden part of town into a really great natural oasis. They developed a chain of hiking and biking trails (30 miles worth) and riverways in South Knoxville with the help of a bunch of local organizations. They just opened an outdoor adventure center that distributes info about the trails and rents bikes and boats out to people. They said in the article that this organization basically bought these underutilized lots in a bad part of town using grant moneys and started putting in trails. It's pretty impressive if you ask me. Talk about a city playing up its natural assets.

Here's a link with more info: http://www.outdoorknoxville.com/urban-wilderness
Here's a link to the outdoor adventure center: http://www.outdoorknoxville.com/about

[Wacca Pilatka]

From the photos, Knoxville looks really cute. The city center looks nice (and much more 'walkable' than that score would've led me to believe).

I always associated it with the 82 World's Fair. And that Simpsons episode.

The WO  D F IR and the fabulous wigsphere?

I like Knoxville, but I can't ever pass the Sunsphere without thinking of that episode.

[peestandingup]

Apparently Knoxville is a pretty cool place. And so is Nashville. But (as I originally posted), I don't think I'd want to live in Tennessee. It's just too conservative (and christian) a state for me, in spite of the exceptions to the rule.

Florida isn't perfect, but it will always be home.

I think most the south has pretty much the same "churchy" vibe, especially the rural areas. So in my mind, the rural areas aren't counted since I don't really spend any time in them anyway. They're all the same & the cities are what matter to me personally. And like I & others with experience have stated, Jax is much more churchy overall than not only Knoxville, but about any decent sized city in that whole region.

You got Nashville on one side of it, Asheville on the other, and Lexington on top of it, all pretty liberal granola in their own way. Maybe its because the states in general are so god fearing conservative that everyone else who isn't gets the hell outta there & flocks to the nearby cities? Who knows, but they all influence each other to a certain degree & are all the epicenters of culture, diversity & alternative lifestyles for the region. I always thought Lexington & Knoxville had more in common with each other & fed off one another more than the others. They're very similar. Speaking of Lex, the gay/lesbian population there is pretty big. They even elected an openly gay mayor recently, something I would NEVER expect to see not only here, but anywhere around here. It just wouldn't fly. But up there, I could see the same for any of the surrounding cities.

My point is, pound for pound, city by city, you're already living in probably the most christian-influenced, god-fearing churchy one of them all.

[kells904]

It WAS wigs!  All this time I've been thinking there were counterfeit jeans in the Sunsphere.  My memory has failed me it seems.

[Tacachale]

^Counterfeit jeans were stored in the Simpsons' garage, sorry, "car hole", when Marge was a cop.

[Adam W]

^Counterfeit jeans were stored in the Simpsons' garage, sorry, "car hole", when Marge was a cop.

Oh yeah! Good recall.

[DonNeary]

If you want the best way to get a feel of what downtown Knoxville's all about, check out Knoxville Urban Guy's website, www.stuckinsideofknoxville.com