Alright, since this question gets asked so often, I am going to try to put as much info regarding real estate and places to live near and around DCOM as possible. Obviously, where you live is an important decision, so hopefully this will help you all out.
- The biggest thing about the area, especially near the school, is that the homes are older. This means work may need to be done on them, so be ready for that. Also, having a manufactured home is OK for the area. Back home, manufactured homes were the lowest of the low in the housing food chain (no offense). But here, there are a lot, and many of them are very nice, so those are good options as well.
Also, the area is pretty cheap for rent. Typically, you can get places for anywhere between $400-$900 per month. For those who are single and want to save money, you can get a roommate and you can split the rent. I would imagine that your mortgage payment would be in the same range depending on what you buy. One of the major perks of the area is that property taxes are SUPER cheap, in most cases under $900 per YEAR (yes, you are reading that correctly 😱). Definitely shop around b/c you never know what you are going to find. You will not find any Starbucks, Chilis, Ruby Tuesday, Applesbees, etc. in the area, if you want to go there, then you have to go to Knoxville.
Now for the towns.....
First, let us take a trip on 25 in either direction.
Middlesboro, KY
Many of you, if not all, have seen and been in Middlesboro since that is where the Holiday Inn is at. Everything you need for daily living, plus more, is available here. You will have to travel 5-15 minutes to school depending on where you live in the city. You also will have to go thru the tunnel everyday, so that may add some time to your commute, so be sure to leave a few minutes earlier on test days in case you get stuck when a truck is going thru. Most of the restaurants the students go to are in Middlesboro. Most of these places are fast food, but there are a few sit-down places. Most of these are Mexican places and they aren't too bad, plus a lot of buffet places like Ryan's and J. Miltons. You also have Wal-Mart, Big Lots, Krogar, and Food City, along with various doctors' offices. There is also a very small mall, but is does have a Sears, JC Penney, and other stores. There is also a movie theather that shows new movies for $1.50 Like I said, pretty much everything is in Middlesboro that you will need to function from day to day. For those with kiddos, there are schools for every age. Other than that, I know nothing about them -sorry. You can get either cable or dish and high speed internet is available.
Pineville, KY
About 15 minutes past Middlesboro. There are some fast food places and a hospital (which will be one of our rotations during 4th year), but other than that, I don't know too much. Just another option if you want to be in KY. I would imagine cable/dish and high speed internet are available in most areas.
Harrogate & Cumberland Gap, TN
Obviously, these are the closest to school. You shouldn't have to travel much more than 5 minutes to get to school from either of these two towns. The towns are mostly residental with some businesses, so there are some rentals to be found, as well as to purchase. The major businesses that are in Harrogate are a few banks, Subway, Frosty Mug, Hardee's, Oasis, Dollar General, UNC (club) and an IGA grocery store. There are others as well, but I think these are the most visited. I currently live in Harrogate and love being so close to school, and the town is wonderful as well. There are a lot of hidden subdivisions, so make sure you drive around to find everything. Either have a realtor drive you around or have a Garmin to help get you around if you go back a bit. It is kinda confusing at first if you are used to straight streets, like me. You can get cable or dish and high-speed internet is available.
Tazewell & New Tazewell, TN
If you turn right out of DCOM and travel on 25 (remember that 25 turns into 33 unless you turn to continue on 25 in New Tazewell) for about 10 minutes or so, you will come to Tazewell, and about 20 minutes or so from DCOM is New Tazewell. These towns are pretty similar (are you surprised? 🙄). They both are very similar to Middlesboro in terms of what they have to offer. Many fast food joints with a few sit-down places, most notably, Old Town Grill, which has very good food - it is highly recommended. There is a mixture of new and older homes, but most of the newer ones are in New Tazewell, I believe. There is a subdivision in New Tazewell directly across from the DeRoyal plant that is super nice with all brand new homes that are very, very nice - definitely upscale, but there are some very affordable homes there too. The drive is also very nice as you go thru the mountains, but it is not dangerous - although it is a little freaky until you get used to it (hey, I grew up in the plains where when you spit, that is the highest elevation you find). You can find all the same stores in these two places as you do in Middlesboro, including Wal-Mart. Again, cable/dish and high-speed internet are available.
Maynardville, TN
If you turn right out of school and continue on 25/33 past the Tazewells', then you will get into Maynardville. It takes about 45 minutes to get to school and is about 30 miles or so. All I know about the area is from the drive on 33 and a stop or two at some subdivisions, so there aren't too many details. There is a good amount of newer homes in the area, but you will have to drive about 10 minutes or so to get to the nearest grocery store, fast food joint, or other business. It is a nice drive, but does tend to get curvy and is one-lane for most of the way (there are various passing lanes that show up, so those can be used to pass any slowpokes). Although you are about 45 minutes from DCOM, you are only about 20 minutes or so from Knoxville, which is a plus since anything you will need/want can be found there. Cable/dish and high-speed internet are available.
Halls, TN
A little past Maynardville on 25/33 and is just outside Knoxville. MJB lives there, so he can fill in the details about it since I don't know much about it.
Sneedville, TN
If you turn to continue on 25 in New Tazewell, you will continue on 25. There is not much on this drive, but it is a pretty drive. There is construction on it right now to add lanes in both directions. For me, this would be the drive I would avoid the most. It is very dark at night and a lot of curves. It is pretty nerve wracking. Plus, there are not many stores or anything, so you will have to drive awhile to get groceries, Morristown is the closest town that has lots of stuff. Like I said in the post quoted above, I think Morristown is out of the question when considering a place to live. There is a small hospital in Sneedville. Cable and high-speed internet may not be available, but the dish should work.
Now we will go on 63, which goes to I-75.....
- There are various small towns along 63 before you get to LaFollette, but I can't remember all of them. These are nice with little convenience stores along the road, but that is about it. As long as you stay close to 63, you should be able to get cable and high speed internet, but if you stray far from 63, you will not be able to.
LaFollette & Jacksboro, TN
LaFollette is about 30 minutes/miles from DCOM and is the first bigger town on 63 if you are driving from school. Jacksboro is after LaFollette, about 50 minutes from school, and is bigger. Together, they are both bigger than Middlesboro, offering more businesses. First, the drive on 63 is very scenic. It is one-lane, but it is fairly straight, so passing the slow poke is pretty easy. It is pretty dark at night, so you will be driving with your brights a lot. All of the grocery stores found in Middlesboro are in Jacksboro, as well as Wal-Mart. You can find a mixture of newer and older homes in both places, but older predominate in LaFollette. There are more newer homes in Jacksboro. The biggest drawback to this area is the "downtown" area. There are a lot of traffic lights and if you catch them in the wrong sequence, it will add 15 minutes to your normal commute. Traffic is not bad, especially once you get out of the "downtown" area. There are schools for every age as well. Jacksboro has the only Walgreens besides Knoxville, although you can get Rx's from Wal-Mart or the grocery stores in any of these towns in this post. You can get to Knoxville in about 30 minutes or so. Cable/dish and high speed interest available.
And then you have Knoxville. You can take either 25/33 or 63/I-75 to get there. 25/33 is shorter, but more curvy. While I would not recommend living in K-ville b/c it is a long drive, it can, and is, done. The big advantage to living in K-ville, or the other places farther from school, is that you won't have to move for 3rd & 4th years. Like I said earlier, anything you need/want can be found in K-ville.
There you have it. Hopefully this helps you guys trying to figure out a place to live. If there is something I forgot, please post it.
Time to get back to video games.......
plz don't do 24 hr's. But you get the idea right. Eventually you would need to jog in around 8 hours a day for about 6 weeks to get through your boards..so by then you would find 8 hours to be not so exhausting. Please note that people have their own style..my way of studying is no standard.
