Home of the "Vols"
Knoxville, Tennessee, was founded in 1791 and rests on the banks of the Tennessee River amidst the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Knoxville’s population is approximately 186,000 with a metropolitan population of 867,000, making it the largest city in East Tennessee and third largest in the state. It is located in a valley between the Cumberland Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. These two mountain ranges help provide a moderate climate with four distinct, mild seasons. Knoxville is also the crossroads of three major interstates: I-40, I-75, and I-81, and the city is within a day's drive from nearly two-thirds of the US population. Knoxville boasts a low cost of living that is cheaper than the U.S. average, and the city was ranked by Forbes as one of the top five most affordable cities in the U.S. (2014) and one of the Top 10 Best Affordable Places to Live by Livability.com (2018). Knoxville was named in the top 10 among "America's Favorite Cities" and "America's Friendliest Cities" (2016) by Travel + Leisure readers. In 2015, Huffington Post named Knoxville as one of "The 10 Best Cities to Relocate to in the U.S."
Knoxville is known as the home of the "Vols" and the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee. The university one of the oldest public universities in the U.S. and serves over 28,000 multi-national students each year. At the Knoxville campus, the University of Tennessee is home to nine undergraduate and eleven graduate colleges. The city of Knoxville is within close proximity of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the largest multiprogram laboratory focusing on nuclear science, energy, advanced materials, supercomputing, and national security in the U.S. The Knoxville area is also a base for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the nation's largest public power provider created as part of the New Deal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Regal Entertainment Group, Discovery, Inc. & HGTV, Pilot Flying J., Ruby Tuesday, Bush Brothers, Sea Ray, and Petro's Chili & Chips.
The Gateway to the Smoky Mountains
The beauty and natural resources surrounding Knoxville mean limitless opportunities for fun and adventure. The Knoxville area is surrounded by seven lakes and multiple rivers, creeks, and streams. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is 45 minutes from Knoxville, Ijams Nature Center, and multiple state and city parks are also a short distance away. The Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum and University of Tennessee Gardens offer acres of walking trails, display gardens, and horticultural displays. The nearby city of Sweetwater is home to the Lost Sea, a series of caverns and the largest underground lake in the nation. East Tennessee is famous for hiking, biking, camping, boating, climbing, caving, tubing, and many other outdoor activities. Knoxville was designated one of the top 10 Best U.S. Mountain Bike Towns with the Lowest Cost of Living by SingleTracks.com (2018) and one of "10 Cities Where Outdoor Lovers Can Actually Afford to Live" by Realtor.com (2017).
Knoxville also offers many recreational and cultural opportunities including museums, festivals, concerts, and sporting events. The cities of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are home to a wide range of fun tourist attractions including Dollywood and Dollywood Splash Country. The University of Tennessee athletic teams, or the "Volunteers," have a storied history in the SEC and NAACP. The Vols' football team plays in Neyland Stadium, on of the largest stadiums in the world, and basketball games are held at Thompson-Boling Arena, one of the largest indoor basketball arenas in the nation. Knoxville is also home of the Knoxville Ice Bears hockey team, the Tennessee Smokies baseball team, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Zoo Knoxville houses over 800 animals and is a world leader in breeding endangered red pandas and tortoises. Live performances and music events regularly take place at the historic Tennessee Theatre, Bijou Theatre, and other venues across the area. Knoxville hosts the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Opera, the annual Dogwood Arts Festival, Big Ears Festival, and numerous other exciting, cultural events and conventions throughout the year. For food lovers, the area's burgeoning culinary scene offers traditional Southern favorites along with diverse cuisine from around the world.
For more information about the Knoxville area, visit:
The City of Knoxville: www.knoxvilletn.gov
Knoxville Convention & Visitors Bureau: www.visitknoxville.com
Knox County: www.knoxcounty.org
Anderson County: www.anderson-county.com
Lenoir City: www.lenoircitytn.gov
City of Sweetwater: www.sweetwatertn.net
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville: www.utk.edu
Great Smoky Mountains National Park: www.nps.gov/grsm