Commuting - Knoxville, TN area

Ok people I am hoping you can help out here. I am seriously considering a move to the knoxville area, and I am wondering about commuting conditions there, rent and general community info. If anyone is from around there please help me out!!

I haven't lived there, but I was there on business for a couple of weeks several years ago. What a gorgeous area! As far as commuting, like anywhere, it depends a lot on where you work compared to where you live. And how creative you are. Would you be transferring with your current employer or will this be a whole new game? If current employer you could find out exactly where you would be working then start looking for housing within, say, a 8-10-mile radius, try to identify some possible commuting routes, then look for a house or apartment in that area. Having commuted for a couple of years now that is the approach I would take. You could do your initial research with street maps then spend some time there checking it out by car.

If you don't get any feedback here you could try a few things. Contact some bike shops in the area and talk to them as well as asking for contacts with cycling clubs in the area, particularly recreational or "touring" clubs. You can find bike shops by using anywho.com and doing a search for business type. Go to yahoogroups.com and look through the cycling discussion groups to see if there are some clubs in Knoxville. I have had success doing this for other areas. The search feature at yahoogroups.com is not very good. I can't even get it to find groups I am in. Maybe I just haven't fooled with it enough. The best bet is to make your way to the cycling area and scroll through, looking for club names that mention Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Smoky Mountain, etc.

If you need some incentive to visit the area, Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountain National Park are only about 40 miles away. Beautiful vacation spot summer or winter.

Hope this helps some.

I have done all of the above believe me I got a reply from one bike shop from someone who did the commute I am looking at. However I live right now pretty much car free in a city of 50 k or so. that means to me I can be anywhere in the city in 45 minutes max from home. Knoxville has mixed public transport down pretty well it seems...ie there are racks on the busses you can put your bike on. However the jobs I am looking at are actualyl in oak ridge which is a 16 mile commute from west Knox. For personal reasons I want to stay no farther west than west knox for living. He says that the commute is almost idea a 4 lane open acces hiway with sholders like the break down lane on most interstate hiways. Thats a major increase from what i do now on a regular basis so I suppose I will have to "train" up to it before I leave.

I use to live just off the Oak Ridge Highway (162) in W Kville. The ride out to Oak Ridge is excellent. However, that was about the only road that I would ride on in the area. Most of the roads are narrow and twisty with no shoulders. The motorist are usually kind, but on narrow roads with little visibility things happen fast. I think Kville would be a tough town to live car free in. Why not live in Oak Ridge? Much easier to bike around in.

when and if i move, i will be going into the area knowing exactly one person!!! I would like to keep close for the backup at least for a bit. oak ridge will put me well beyond practical range on a cycle.

not only that it comes down to this: how long are you willing to spend in transit to go see a friend? 10 minutes 20 or even an hour? on a daily basis that is. She and I are quite close and I would like to preserve that seeing as how I am VERY selective with my friends.