Help! Knoxville or Asheville?

[Guest marc82much]

Just seeking some input and opinion...My wife and I may be draggin' up. 14 years in Wisconsin and it may be time for a change. I have two business opportunities, one in Asheville, NC and the other in Knoxville, TN. We have been to both places and like them very much. If I pull this off, it will be a dream come true.So, one question is...big picture, which is a better place to live? I am 58 and my wife 48. This will likely be the last stop. Home prices are not an issue (I know Asheville is more expensive), it is all the other quality of life issues I want to know about.

But, now to shooting...any locals available to give me an idea of which are offers more shooting opportunities? We especially like USPSA, steel target, IDPA, trap and skeet. But I particularly like USPSA stuff.

Any feedback as to which area might offer us the most shooting-wise will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

OUTSIDE KNOXVILLE. dont move INTO Knoxville.. Surrounding counties are nice and quiet..And you can pretty much forget about shooting on a decent range.. I know we have a few but one is way expensive.( Oak Ridge) The other has some range Nazies on there than cant hep them selfs but be annoying and overzealous all the time. Coal Creek is ok I guess..Never been there but heard bad stuff also..Norris Range is good but very simple set up..( Porta Potty)..I hate Knoxville so I might be biased anyway..Crime is getting worse..

[Bubba0031]

Welcome to TGO. I'm not sure if Tulip is saying it's expensive to live in Oak Ridge or shoot in Oak Ridge. If the later then I would disagree and advise you look @ the Oak Ridge Sportmans Assoc. (ORSA) website. Oak Ridge has one of the largest gun clubs in the southeast including a 1000 yard rifle range. I beleive it is the largest non military range east of the Mississippi. Membership is only $120/year. The site is large enough that ESPN has used it and there are members from all over the eastern U.S.

[Lumber_Jack]

Asheville can be expensive to live, very large 2nd home market in that area. They are also very 'Green' in that town, very hippy. Of course this is a generalization, not all housing and people are that way. But the mountains are very beautiful.

I currently live in Knoxville and love it. It has the best of all worlds. Mountains nearby, lakes, sports, relatively good shopping (so says the wife), good communities. I think you would really like Knoxville. But living here and being a UT grad, I may be biased.

Edit: if money is not a factor Asheville has some very nice living! I do believe you shooting opportunities would be better in Knoxville as Oak Ridge Shooting Association is a popular club. I'm not familiar with NC shooting opportunities but I'm sure there are some.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Lumber_Jack

[Erik88]

I would pick Knoxville any day. East TN in general is a great place to live.

[Guest Bang!]

Half way in between. JMO

[peejman]

Asheville and surrounding areas are nice if you can afford it. As stated, the atmosphere is rather ... eclectic. It's beautiful and there's lots to do if you're the outdoorsy type. Beyond that, NC has both a state income tax and personal property tax. TN has neither. I was offered a job near Asheville (Fletcher) but didn't take it due to the cost of living.

The areas surrounding Knoxville are nice, Knoxville proper... not so much. ORSA has lots to offer.

[Garufa]

Asheville is a neat city and the scenery is incredible but I don't know anything about living there, except that if I did it would be at Biltmore.

[G27]

Gun laws are not great in NC...

[leroy]

marc:____________

There are some very nice places to live around knoxville toward the mountains or upper east tennessee. The country is beautiful and the folks are great. The mountains or lakes are no more than 45 minutes away in any direction south or northeast of knoxville.

As others have said, there are some problems with knoxville. There is a burgening crime problem that is spreading west and north from the center of downtown; it is the problem of drugs and plenty of thugs; some pretty mean. Campbell county is right up the road from knox county about 30 or so miles; and it used to be (....and probably still is....) the methamphedimine production capital of tennessee. Its poor and lots of folks make the dammed stuff just like the old time moonshiners used to make whiskey. You also have the usual dip-willies around the UT scene here. The politics is pretty ratty in the city right now, with lots of in-fighting; but the republicans west of UT always win.

Havin said that, the best place in knoxville to live (...inside the city....) is just west of UT out Kingston Pike (...where the traditional movers and shakers live...), or deep west in a corridor loosely bounded by Kingston pike and the Tennessee River.

The county (...Knox County...) is in reasonable shape politically, with the adults in full control. The problem is crime is creeping both west and north in the county; mainly due to drugs. There are more home invasions than i think should be in the north.

It's important to remember that everything east of the Tennessee River is pretty much repbulican territory and the further ya go away from knoxville, the more sane things become (...with the possible exception of the oak ridge city area....).

The downtown of knoxville is dying and knoxville is being kept barely alive by UT and the Oak Ridge operations. Depending on what your business is and how far ya want to commute, there are some great places around knoxville; in Anderson County (...north....), Blount County (...south...) Jefferson, Hamblen, and Green Counties (...east and northeast...).

Tennessee has no state income tax; but a 9+% sales tax. I would say that, all in all, Tennessee is a better deal than Asheville for the reasons others have mentioned. Asheville has some tree hugging and hippie tendenciees; ergo the "eglectic" monaker. There are plenty of doofuses to go around in that area.

Hope this gives a bit more insight into the territories.

Good luck with the move.

leroy