An All Around Great Week

This past week has been a great one here at All Around K-Town. Not only did the Coldwell Banker CEO find my blog, but I also got a little KNS love in today's paper.

Both of these things have brought about another part of this week's greatness: lots of new visitors. If you're new to AAKT, first of all, welcome and thanks for stopping by. If you're a regular, well, you're always welcome and you already know I think you rock, but here, I'll say it again: you totally rock.

This blog is dedicated to bringing you the latest news on the Knoxville, TN real estate market. If you haven't been here before, you might want to check out a couple of my weekly features, Neighborhood of the Week and Foreclosure Watch. They seem to be pretty popular with the regulars and they're chock full of good stuff about Knoxville and the Knoxville real estate market. And don't forget the Weekly Poll - it's always here in the upper left hand corner waiting for your vote.

Another great thing to do while you're here is subscribe to this blog. This will ensure you that you always get the latest updates from this site. You can subscribe in a reader by clicking here or by you can receive new posts by email by entering your email address in the box at the upper right side of the page. If you don't know what a reader is, check out this great article for an explanation.

Twitter is another tool you can use to keep up with AAKT as well as my whereabouts. If you're new to Twitter, check this out. It's a great collection of explanations on what Twitter is and why it's worth using. And if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can do that here.

I hope you new guys like what you find here and really hope all you regulars still look forward to coming back. If any of you have any questions, comments, concerns, or harangues, you can always give me a shout. I'm used to being harangued.

Thanks for stopping by and look for more great things to come on All Around K-Town.

And in case any of you KNS readers are wondering: yes, Lester is the real brains behind this operation.

Knoxville, Actually

Knoxify, the site concerned with all things great about Knoxville, has put together a little list of blogs and sites they think "exemplify who the real Knoxville is." My humble blog made the cut, and I didn't even have to pay them anything for it. Yet. Thanks guys!

Check out the other guys who made the list and while you're there check out the rest of Knoxify - it's worth your time.

Knoxville Robbed, Size Apparently Matters

Knoxville was robbed. Well, metaphorically robbed, and by our old friend Forbes.com, no less. Remember them? The guys who used to put us on all their lists, calling us the best this and most wonderful that?

Well, Forbes has a new list and although they think that both Nashville and Memphis are among America's best cities for outdoor living, Knoxville didn't even make the cut.

The reason? Well, it's actually only because we're not one of the country's 40 largest cities, which were the only cities Forbes looked at when compiling the list. Apparently, size does matter.

So basically, East Tennessee's natural beauty, the plethora of outdoor activities available here, and the great Smoky Mountains themselves don't mean a thing because we're not "large" like Memphis or Nashville. Phooey. We may not be as big as those guys, but we're sure a lot prettier. Have you ever passed a spring in Memphis? I rest my case.

If you feel like Knoxville was robbed of its spot on this Forbes list due to city size discrimination, why not send a friendly email to the article's author, Rebecca Ruiz , and let her know? And come back here and let me know if you do. Heh.

Color Me Impressed

Nashville now has its very own line of Sherwin Williams paint colors. From The Tennessean:

Sherwin-Williams, which brought us the historic colors of Charleston with the Carolina Low Country Collection, has developed a Nashville palette, and some of the colors are inspired by the city's favorite foods and attractions.

The interior and exterior of The Parthenon inspired three colors: a burnt-red Freize, a reddish-orange Evening Temple and a gorgeous blue known as Coffered Ceiling. Cathedral Masonry, a soft dusty gold, pays homage to the bricks of the Cathedral of the Incarnation on West End Avenue. And Woof brown was conceived over café-au-lait at the Hillsboro Village coffeehouse Fido.

Other Nashville inspired colors include Flapjacks (after the Pancake Pantry) and Vandy (gold, of course). Street names and parts of town also got their own colors.

So, other than Big Orange, what colors would you recommend for a possible Knoxville line?

And what colors would Cumberland Ave, Broadway, Chapman Highway or Kingston Pike be? How about Island Home, Sequoyah Hills, Holston Hills or all of Farragut?

Let your imagination run wild in the comments, people.

K-Town Makes More Lists

Yesterday I posted about Knoxville making the Forbes list of best places to buy foreclosed homes.

Today the Knoxville News Sentinel says Knoxville has once again made the Forbes lists for best metro areas for careers and best cities to do business:

"A low cost of living, an available work force and the region's location at the intersection of three major interstate highways, are among the factors driving job growth in the area...

The magazine cited the region's relatively low business costs - 14 percent below the national average - as one of Knoxville's strengths."

Knoxville Chamber President and CEO Mike Edwards comments on the rankings to KNS:

"Corporate America continues to look at indicators such as Forbes' rankings and they continue to see Knoxville listed. … These rankings drive interest in Knoxville and people give us a look that they may not have given us years ago."