I appreciate these types of postings because I constantly think about moving out of the D.C. and living somewhere in the south in around 10 years. What I'd love from these though would be less consumer elements and something a bit more difficult to capture. I'd be interested in seeing some information on where people lived before moving to certain area and whether it was difficult to adjust. What is the culture/social scene/temperament of their neighborhood is like. Is it more a young hip town, quiet family neighborhood, or crunchy hippie commune?

Yay! This is my home! We moved away in late 2008 and just moved back (from the extreme west - Alaska!). Knoxville In answer to TKPKgirl: Knoxville is a University town (UT mainly, but several other community and private colleges are in the area), so you have a very diverse mix of people. Yes, there are smatterings of foolishness goings on - but every town has that! I'm from Ohio originally, and up there, and in AK, there was more blatant prejudice then I've experienced or seen here in Knoxville.
Knoxville is beautiful: surrounding by the Smokies an hour away and the Cumberlands going the other way. As far as your "young, hip, quiet family, crunchy hippie" question: all of the above. Seriously. My son's school (we live close-in West Knoxville - older suburbs) has children from 40+ different countries - first generation! This website is really good: http://www.notawigshop.com/ to show you how we kinda are.
It's not a huge town, but we have HUGE towns close by (Atlanta, Nashville - love Nashville!!) and Asheville is a comparable size to the east and super cute, too.

My goodness sorry for all of the typos. I get a little excited.

Oh, and we have a great library system, some beautiful museums and historical landmarks, music history, and natural beauty. Thanks so much for featuring my town, AT! Wheee!

I currently live in Knoxville and I don't care for it myself. I grew up in the Midwest and I lived in various cities in the south and northeast during my adult life. I moved here a few years ago for work. I am trying to leave. I sorely regret moving here. I really don't recommend Knoxville unless you have family in the area or are accustomed to life in small, insular, southern towns (and all that that entails).

The best thing that I can say about the region is that it is pretty. The Tennessee River winds through part of town and the Smoky Mountains are nearby. If you like hills and greenery at the expense of all else, then you may be happy with the place.

The second best thing is that the cost of living is low - there are low rents and reasonable prices. There is no state tax on wages, but sales tax is very, very high (including a tax on food).

Religion is a very big deal here - particuarly certain Protestant groups. I don't think the people in Knoxville are good at observing the separation between church and state. Coworkers of mine with children (I don't have any myself) have been alarmed and angered to find their children have been proselytized by teachers in the public schools here. There are a lot of religious commercials on television and from my perspective, people talk about their religious faith in a presumptuous way and judge others about religion.

IMO, Knoxville is the victim extraordinarily poor land use practices. The town is very, very sprawled out and it can take a surprising amount of time to travel from part of the town to the other. For many locations, you simply need to have a car. There is a city bus, but like most small towns, bus travel is very limited. City zoning seems to be non-existent and you can find rather toxic and dangerous commercial enterprises located literally next door to a house with small children present or near a school.

An alarming number of people in Knoxville are blatantly racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic and are greatly intolerant of normal human differences. If you are a minority of *any* type, my advice would be to AVOID Knoxville no matter what people here tell you about the social climate.

Aww, I hate that's how you feel @KWorld. I'm on my second stint living in Knoxville. I've been here three and a half years, and it's sure changed for the better since I first moved here 10 years ago. Sure, it's got problems like every city, and I don't really like to admit the suburban parts of Knoxville exist, but downtown -- the part of Knoxville being profiled here -- is a great community. Very livable and affordable. Lots of great local businesses that are doing it right.

Anyway, I would add best restaurant -- The Tomato Head on Market Square. It's the first restaurant I take any visitor to.

@KWorld, so sorry that's how you feel too. I can't argue that you're wrong because I've never walked in your shoes, you know? So I won't. I will say that I felt exactly that way in Anchorage, and was one of the few in my circle to feel that it was a crummy town to live in. I think if a place isn't right for you then it's not home. I guess I've been lucky to be mainly around University folks and the artists/film and tv industry and library/literary/museum communities and I've certainly never had anyone in my circle be any sort of jerky bigot, you know? Like I've stated my neighborhood is really diverse - I think it really matters where you live around here. Farragut/Turkey Creek, etc is totally a nightmare as far as sprawl goes. My little area off Robinson Rd. is awfully quiet for being West - we're not that far West, though!

I would second The Tomato Head! SO tasty!

@KWorld, thanks for perpetuating a certain view of the South. I grew up in Knoxville, and it's not all like you say it is. In fact, it's only when I moved up North that I began to witness acts of racism and homophobia.

What a surprise to see Knoxville on Apartment Therapy today. As a student at the University of Tennessee and a devoted AT reader, this post couldn't come at a better time (right after Florida used our helmets as urinary tanks).

@kworld

I'm a minority of every type (and handicapped if you truly count wearing extra strength contacts at 23). Knoxville isn't the best at being open minded, but hell a lot of places in the South aren't. However, there are a number of interracial couples in Knoxville.

If looking for something lesbian or gay... take a weekend trip to Nashville or Atlanta like the rest of us. There are only 2 gay bars in Knoxville (located near UT campus and in Bearden). Both suck, but when you have limited options... well, you just deal.

Knoxville is a nice city. Great for going to school

Thank you all so much for expounding on life in Knoxville. This kind of feedback is super helpful whether your experience was good or bad. I definitely would not have considered Kville otherwise but now I kinda want to visit and explore some more :)

@shawnamuffin, she's not throwing around stereotypes, she's detailing her own experience (which seems to be the only negative one out of all the comments).

I agree with KWorld on a lot of these points. I grew up in Nashville, but my family is from Knoxville, so I've spent a lot of time there over the past 25 years. The insane religious pressure and constant proselytization is consistent with a lot of communities in Tennessee, including both Nashville and Knoxville. There's a lot of, well, redneck behavior and prejudices there that are a shock to the system if you didn't grow up there. The public transit system is extremely limited. The pollution is some of the worst in the region. The tax rates in TN are extremely punitive for poor people (9.25% sales tax with no exemptions on food, hello??). The few relatives I have who are still stuck there absolutely hate it.

I will say, though, that I encounter far more racism in DC than I did growing up in Tennessee (although religious discrimination, homophobia, and xenophobia are all more prevalent in TN).

That said, the city does have a thriving arts community. It's cheap. There are lots of good outdoor activities in the region. Knoxville is a good fit if you're looking for a very specific type of community - outdoorsy, artsy Christian families fit in there extremely well.

Yay for Knoxville! I grew up there but haven't lived there for a couple of decades. Honestly, it was a pretty idyllic childhood. It's neat to see that downtown is thriving and cool stuff is going on. It's one of the most beautiful places in the country, to be sure.

I LOVE Knoxville! I moved down here from upstate New York five years ago and it feels so much like home. The music community is so personal and engaged, and the arts community is extremely active. There are many non-chain stores, so it's easy to support local businesses. And the farmer's markets allow for me to eat locally very reasonably. Add to that at least three local breweries and a winery (and innumerable hobby brewers, winers, and distillers) and you're set for an amazing time.

We moved to Knoxville three years ago and really enjoy living here! Downtown is great and growing. It's actually an exciting time to live in Knoxville and witness the growth and development that is happening in the downtown area. I feel Knoxville is progressing (maybe slower than other parts of the country, but it is progression) and the overall vibe is pretty positive.

Having grown up in Knoxville, I hated it and wanted to escape. I thought it was dreadfully boring, and some of the negative aspects that KWorld brought up really bothered me.

But, having just recently moved to a small town outside of Nashville, I have to say, I really miss Knoxville sometimes (and now I REALLY know the meaning of "dreadfully boring"). I don't think I knew how to appreciate it when I lived there. Now that I'm gone and the downtown is making such progress, it makes me kind of sad that I'm missing out. I could do without most of the rest of the city, but I think the downtown community is great. I'm glad to see that it's improving.

Several months ago, my husband and I moved to East Tennessee (outside of Knoxville) after several years of living in New Jersey. There's much that we miss about living in the densest state in the nation and one of the most ethnically diverse--food, public transportation, walkability, etc. But East Tennessee has also been full of lovely surprises. One that I think the AT Community would appreciate, that hasn't yet been mentioned in the comments, is that this a a good place to be a DIYer. I'm constantly bowled over by the number and quality of fabric stores in the greater Knoxville area. No matter how far I drove in NJ, I could never find a single good store--and here there will be several fantastic ones within a few miles!

Of course, there is a serious downside to living amongst all these DIYers--it's frustratingly difficult to ever find anything good at a thrift store. (Okay, part of the problem here is that my taste differs from the donors....) People here aren't too proud to buy used furniture (unlike in NJ), so the available supply is low and the prices high. But I really can't complain about this--I'm totally in favor of an alternative to American disposable, landfill-filling culture--so really, it's another plus of life around here.