36 reasons Knoxville's 36th worst city ranking is 'bogus'

Cortney Roark | Knoxville

Show Caption Hide Caption Fun facts about downtown Knoxville Here are some fun facts about downtown Knoxville

Knoxville was recently listed as the 36th worst city to live in in the country based on an analysis from 24/7 Wall Street.

As someone who has lived in East Tennessee my entire life and Knoxville for seven years, this shocked me. As it turns out, Knoxville was ranked on the same list in 2016 at No. 30.

Thank you, researchers, for disliking six other cities more than us this time. Really... it means a lot.

"East Tennesseans don’t need some bogus poll to tell them whether this area is a good place to live," Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett said in an email. "The good things about Knoxville and East Tennessee far outweigh any of the bad things out-of-towners might say about us."

So, to make our spot at No. 36 a little more cozy, I asked Burchett and Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero to help the Knox News newsroom create a list of 36 reasons Knoxville is a great place to live.

"Knoxville is a great place to live,” Rogero said. “We have a robust mix of strong neighborhoods. We enjoy a high quality of life. Our local economy is vibrant and our downtown is thriving. But our city’s greatest strength, I’ve always said, comes from the diversity of our people and the beauty of our natural resources.”

After all, there's nothing wrong with a little bragging.

More: Tennessee ranked 26th best state; among worst in health care, best in fiscal stability

More: 5 things I didn't know before I moved to Knoxville

More: Knoxville ranked a top 20 U.S. summer travel destination

1. Downtown

One of Mayor Rogero's picks, she said, "Our vibrant downtown has an array of options for shopping, dining and entertainment, all within a walkable area full of beautiful, restored historic buildings." Click here for a list of all things downtown from Visit Knoxville. You'll find so much of the rest of this list is tied to downtown.

2. Local dining

Knoxville has no shortage of great eats, from breakfast to tacos to fried chicken to burgers. Heck, in downtown there are more than 75 restaurants in one square mile. And so many of our locally owned restaurants have garnered national attention for their cuisine.

More: How did Tomato Head succeed before Market Square's reinvention?

3. Hiking

The Smoky Mountains are visible from Knoxville's downtown and hiking is just around the corner in Sevier County. Mild hikes can even be found within Knox County at Ijams Nature Center or at House Mountain in Corryton, Tenn. With an elevation of approximately 2,100 feet, it's the tallest peak in Knox County.

More: For great fall hiking, look no further than South Knox

4. Dogs

Knoxvillians love dogs! It's impossible to walk downtown without the joy of petting a pupnugget. But if you're eating at a food truck, just don't put your burrito down, otherwise you might not get it back.

5. Breweries

Twelve of East Tennessee's 15 breweries are in Knoxville. Eleven opened in the past four years. We have Knox Brew Tours for the real enthusiasts and an active home brewing scene that can be found at local brew festivals.

More: Knox Craft Beer Week includes new sour beer, chef/brewer special and glass recycling

6. Dogwood trees

Dogwood trees are more than trees in Knoxville. Nonprofit Dogwood Arts began as a civic beautification program centered around the dogwood trees. Now, it promotes art of all kinds through the Dogwood Arts Festival, the Rhythm N' Blooms music festival, Art in Public Places and more.

7. Makers

Knoxville is an Etsy Maker City. It empowers people to build creative businesses on their own terms through events like the Knoxville Maker City Summit and places like Knox Makers community workshop. Pretentious Glass makes hand-blown glassware and has been ranked No. 1 on Etsy.

More: Knoxville officially proclaimed a 'Maker City' at first summit

More: Pretentious beer glasses designed to enhance the drinking experience

8. Fishing

One of Mayor Burchett's reasons to love Knoxville is the fishing. Click here for a list of fishing resources from Outdoor Knoxville.

9. Baseball

Though not in Knoxville, it's worth pointing out that the Smokies minor league baseball team plays in Kodak, Tenn., a half-hour drive or less from Knoxville. What's better than sitting at a ball game with a hot dog?

10. Chocolate

There are so many chocolaty treats in this city. I would pay to just look at Coffee & Chocolate's treats they're so good looking.

More: What makes each of downtown's three chocolate shops unique?

More: Flavors swirl at 2 Knoxville bean-to-bar chocolate makers

11. UT

Go Vols!

Taking the Heisenberg Challenge at Big Kahuna Wing Festival Taking the Heisenberg Challenge at the Big Kahuna Wing Festival

12. Festivals

So many festivals! Knoxville has multiple beer festivals, Big Kahuna Wing Festival, Pride Festival, Rossini Festival, the Southern Tequila and Taco Festival, Greek Fest and more.

More: 19 Knoxville-area summer festivals to check out in 2018

13. Famous Folks

We've got some pretty cool famous people out there who call Knoxville home. Peyton Manning, Johnny Knoxville, Quentin Tarantino and Clarence Brown are a few. Side note: UT's Clarence Brown Theater is great.

14. Entrepreneurs

Knoxville's entrepreneur scene is thriving. The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, Innov865 Alliance and Entrepreneurs' Organization Knoxville provide support to new business owners through meetups, incubators and events like StartUp Day.

More: Innov865 Startup Day returns with bigger prizes

More: Startup central: The Works Demo Day shines light on Knox entrepreneurs

15. Focus on Sustainability

Knoxville is becoming greener, Mayor Rogero pointed out. "We set a goal of reducing government operations greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, and we should exceed that next year once we complete our LED streetlight retrofit."

16. Rooftops

We love a good rooftop drink. Scruffy City Hall and Preservation Pub have rooftop patios open to the pubilc, and the Hyatt Place has a rooftop event space.

17. People acknowledge sneezes

A nice "bless you" or "gesundheit" goes a long way. You don't get that in all cities.

18. We're in a Simpsons episode

Our bright and shining Sunsphere was once featured in an episode of the Simpsons. It was a wig shop in the middle of a run down World's Fair site - both of which couldn't be further from reality. (A wig shop up there would be kind of awesome, though.) World's Fair Park is home to various events throughout the year and the Sunsphere is open to the public with a free observation level.

Take a look at World's Fair Park now compared to 2002.

19. Coffee

Coffee shops are nestled throughout Knoxville, each with their own sense of comfort. And a cute JFG coffee sign.

20. Tennessee Theatre

The Tennessee Theatre opened in 1928 and now hosts a variety of performance art shows, from Broadway plays to concerts and movie screenings.

21. Art in Public Places

Dogwood Arts' Art in Public Places exhibition places sculptures throughout Knoxville, McGhee Tyson Airport and Oak Ridge sponsored by local businesses.

22. Quite a few Quarries

There's nothing like a good swimming hole. In South Knoxville is Fort Dickerson quarry and Mead's Quarry at Ijams Nature Center. At Mead's you'll also find a beer cart and paddle boat rentals.

23. No traffic

Yes, headed west at 5 p.m. you'll sit in traffic, but that's nothing compared to almost any other city.

24. Kingston Pike

Kingston Pike has a wide range of ethnic cuisine. And not just restaurants like Surin of Thailand or Sitar Indian Cuisine. There is also a variety of grocery shops, including Turkish, Asian, Middle Eastern and East European selections.

25. Zoo Knoxville

Zoo Knoxville just opened the new Gibbon Trails and Langur Landing, the second part of an $18 million, 4.92-acre Boyd Family Asian Trek region.

More: Zoo Knoxville: 3 endangered Hartmann's mountain zebras join zoo for breeding program

26. Farmer's Market

The Knoxville Farmer's Market runs every Wednesday and Saturday from May through November with East Tennessee-made and grown products. And that's just one!

27. Einstein Simplified

Knoxville is home to Einstein Simplified improv comedy troupe. They've been performing together since 1994 and currently have a show every Tuesday night at Scruffy City Hall.

28. The Knox County Public Library

The Knox County Public Library has 19 locations across the county and more than a million books, audio books, periodicals, CDs, movies, and downloadable content (including the News Sentinel archives).

29. Greenways

Knoxville features 112.5 miles of paved greenway and natural trails throughout the city.

More: Knoxville greenways coordinator shares current and pending plans

30. Music

Knoxville has an incredible local music scene. There's a live show at almost every night on Knoxville Music Warehouses's calendar. The city also hosts two music festivals - Dogwood Arts' Rhythm N' Blooms and AC Entertainment's Big Ears Festival.

More: Rhythm N' Blooms 2018: Dr. Dog warms up crowd at Knoxville festival

31. Trivia

There's always trivia in the Scruffy City. The Knox Trivia Guys and Knoxville Trivia each have trivia scheduled five nights a week for those of us who like to be reminded how important useless knowledge is.

32. History

Two-hundred and twenty-five-year-old Knoxville is home to various, including the Blount Mansion, home of Governor William Blount, a signer of the U.S. Constitution and the Sultana monument in the Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery. The Sultana steamboat was overloaded with Union prisoners during the Civil War when it exploded, killing 2,427 passengers.

The city is almost home to Knox Heritage and the Knoxville History Project, who work to share and preserve the city's history.

More: Knox Heritage focuses on 6 properties in 'peril'

33. Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra plays all over town and just got invited to play at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts.

34. Pete's Coffee Shop

Pete's opened in 1986 and quickly became a local favorite for breakfast and lunch. It has been visited by various notable people, most recently Harrison Ford.

More: Harrison Ford stops at Knoxville's Pete's Coffee Shop on Wednesday morning

35. Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

We have the world's largest basketball.

36. Dolly Parton

When you live so close to Dolly Parton's hometown, she gets her own number. Dollywood is just down the road in Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg is just a bit further right in the middle of the mountains.