Travel along the Tennessee River to find Knoxville, site of the 1982 World's Fair (the World's Fair globe is one of the first landmarks you'll spot upon entrance to the city), and the city that has been nicknamed "Gateway to the Smokies." It's an appropriate title, given that Knoxville is located approximately 40 miles from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, a wilderness wonderland around which the Appalachian Trail, Clingman's Dome, Cades Cove, and an abundance of forests and streams are located -- not to mention some 800 miles of hiking trails. Knoxville proper, a city of approximately 168,000 residents, is the site of an annual festival of spring blooms called the Dogwood Arts Festival. Sixty miles of thriving dogwoods show their faces along a trail that cuts through Knoxville. This dazzling display ushers in the arrival of spring each year and has been dubbed the "best 17 days of spring in America."

To appeal to the growing numbers of tourists to Knoxville, the Gateway Regional Visitors Center rolled out a new program in March that allows visitors to receive a thorough introduction to the area in the Southern Highlands Natural Atrium, the Tennessee Valley Overlook Theater and the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Technology Garden. Visitors may obtain information about Knoxville's varied attractions through a series of interactive displays. Also coming this spring is the grand opening of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, an interactive museum that recognizes the contributions women have made to the sport.

Knoxville is home to the Frank H. McClung Museum, the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, and the well-preserved Laurel Theatre, as well as the Jubilee Community Arts program and the Knoxville Museum of Art. Factory outlet fanatics can indulge themselves at Pigeon Forge, located just outside Knoxville; or in nearby Gatlinburg. For something out of the ordinary, head to Dollywood, where adults can enjoy the region's country music scene and check out crafts made by local artisans, and kids can head to an amusement park.

For relocating families, Knoxville has several inherent economic advantages. The city's cost of living is approximately 2.8 percent lower than the national average, according to 1999 statistics provided by the Knoxville Convention and Vistors Bureau. Tennessee has no personal state income tax, the lowest turnover and absentee rate in the nation, competitive utility rates both regionally and nationally, and a diverse and vital economy. Unemployment stands at 3.7 percent (based on 1999 figures). The city enjoys the presence of a major university, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, which supplies many jobs and skilled workers to the local economy. The median price of a single-family home in Knoxville, according to 1999 statistics, is $105,700, up 5.4 percent from one year ago.

Knoxville is reaping the benefits of an increasingly more diverse economy marked by more incoming high-tech businesses; an active real estate market in which homes are a comparative bargain; an abundance of natural beauty; and good old Southern hospitality. Look for this Southern city to make more headlines in real estate circles as we enter the next millennium. Knoxville provides a refreshing change from more crowded and more expensive metropolitan centers.

Additional Real Times Community Profiles

Published: April 19, 1999

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