Our fam just crossed the three-year mark for living in Knoxville. This is half the time that Katie and I lived in Lansing, which we loved. Moving to Knoxville has been good. The last three years have been years of maturing, challenge, and accomplishment, especially for Katie, but also for me. After traveling to Michigan to visit family last month, I have been thinking a lot about Knoxville - what I like about it, what I do not like about it, and what our plans are here. This is compounded by a move (down the road to a quieter street) that has brought up a lot of memories about living in and now packing up and moving from our house.
In short, I love Knoxville. It has taken awhile for me to feel this way, much longer than Lansing and Michigan, which I loved around a half year or so (note: I grew up around Detroit, so it was easier to become familiar with Lansing).
- First and foremost, I love the outdoors here. I don’t really know how to sum up how and why, and I won’t try to, for now.
- Second, I have made friends. Two of them are moving away, which makes me sad, but having friends is non-trivial.
- Third, our son has a great daycare. This is a gift.
- Fourth, Katie and I have jobs we like and are challenged by.
- Fifth, downtown is great.
- Last, we like our neighborhood. We can walk to the river, bike to the park and to daycare and work.
It is in the south, which is different for me, still. Knoxville has problems and inequalities that make it less than it could be. Where I work has issues. I think these matter, perhaps even more as we live here longer.
This is about all I have to say. The last three years have been good, and hard. The second half of our six years in Lansing brought us our little one on a snowy February morning. I am unsure what the second half of our time in Knoxville will bring but am cautiously optimistic about it.