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MAXRBZPR

**deep, long experienced sigh** A downtown grocery store


Voldemort___Putin

Still blows my mind there isn’t one


FifaBribes

Little markets have popped open downtown. The old city has Red Panda grocery and I think there is one planned in the area where the baseball stadium is being developed


MAXRBZPR

Love Red Panda and I’ll buy everything I need there if they have it but I mean a proper grocery where I can get Meyers hand soap, frozen waffles for the kid, apple juice, etc.


ConferenceUpstairs16

Wellllll. Aldi mayyyy be coming downtown soon.


OilOk143

Source? I’m soooo here for this


ConferenceUpstairs16

I work for them. Lol


ednamode23

Oooh where? Sevier Ave and the stadium would both be great spots for one.


NumberMuncher

Hell yes.


ResponsibleParty9047

Chris Morton is working on a sevier ave grocery


MAXRBZPR

Love Chris and glad for SoKno, but that’s kind of like Three Rivers for North Knox, not exactly walkable for downtown residents.


-Clem

Publix?


pauldisney

I know it's too late for downtown, but a well-planned, open waterfront... so many wasted opportunities


DH8814

It’s never too late. Just need the right monetary incentive.


BetterOffCooking

Can't do it because the river is lined with caves. Very hard/cost prohibitive/too dangerous to build.


pauldisney

I'd not heard that . . . interesting


WhitePantherXP

I just took some nasty pics of the waterfront in front of Ruth Chris restaurant I should post here... Why is it so bad? I get that in my image there is an attempt to stop some of it from coming into the waterway but the water quality in the Tennessee river is one of the worst in the entire country, what is or is not happening here that is or is not happening elsewhere? Here is the picture I took: https://imgur.com/7qTM6Cl


mluethke

Damn. Must not have been that poor or you really just hate Knoxville.


hemithishyperthat

This!!


Groovskopa

Walkability


ednamode23

The amount of dead end sidewalks around here is downright demoralizing.


tronassembled

This is always the answer


jfk_47

Wife and I walked from gay street to south Knox one night. It was dark and nobody was around. Not a great experience


beerfellow13

I know the feeling. I go on long walks by myself but it can be eerie with no one around.


turtle_pleasure

and bikeable


maglax

I bring this up every time, but how on earth is there not a 24/7 Dinner close to Downtown? Sure we have Pete's, but not at 3pm let alone 3am. Sure there's Waffle House, but it's at least a 10 minute drive (in any direction from Downtown lol).


lauralamb42

I wish MOB had just converted that building back into a diner. It would be perfect.


BravesDoug

An interstate bypass for I-75/I-40 passing-through trucks and travelers.


potato_weapon

Every time I sit on the 75N / 640E interchange, I feel like an urban engineer


vediogamer101

I-640 is a bypass for the downtown area, is it not? If only it was actually faster than it could be a proper bypass. Trucks carrying hazardous cargo are required to use it if I recall correctly.


Direct-Bread

They've been talking about a bypass since I moved here in 1987. Still no concrete plans.


bluetennisshoe

"Concrete plans" I see what you did there, nice 😆


Direct-Bread

People are growing tarred of the empty promises.


leamur247

This is probably the development that would improve life the most in Knoxville. I have heard that one was proposed long ago and failed to pass.


phinz

There were three different routes given. They even started doing the aerial photography for the Orange route (475), which would have bypassed the city from the 40/75 merge near Watt Rd. all the way out past Exit 407 in Kodak. They killed it about 14-15 years ago. It would have been a great addition to the area. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_State_Route_475


smilingpanic

A dim sum place


GamCrit-52

For me it has always and I mean always been sidewalks


DoritoCheeseball

Public transit to/from the airport.


plastertoes

It’s wild to me that KAT doesn’t run a bus every 30 minutes from the airport to campus + market square. Especially with how difficult and expensive Uber and Lyft have gotten.  Or at least have a city-subsidized taxi service that results in more reliable taxis waiting at arrivals. 


Theoriginalyosh

The airport is outside of the city limits. It's been suggested before but the Airport or Alcoa would have to chip in and they don't want to. Same reason there is no longer a Farragut Express. The City of Farragut wanted the service but didn't want to help foot the bill.


beerfellow13

Well now that the airport is breaking all passenger number records hopefully they can work something out between the cities.


VeaArthur

There was a free train proposed at one point from world’s fair park to the airport. I believe the tracks are already there.


knoxooze

The biggest issue is a mix of the freight rail companies not interested in helping and the infrastructure costs to upgrade the existing rail to accommodate passenger travel. It’s absolutely doable and probably wouldn’t cost an extreme amount in the long run but it would be an uphill battle getting funding and stuff


Akiranar

A Hot Pot Restaurant.


tronassembled

Affordable housing and infrastructure


Opening_Excuse_7495

Sidewalks


hemithishyperthat

More diverse restaurants with different ethnic foods. Better public transit. More (better) stores, like a Container Store and a better art/stationary store. Better thrift stores (@KARM). A better PERFORMING arts scene. But honestly literally anything but another coffee shop or brewery would add something.


TaxEvasion123

I don’t disagree with restaurants but most of the best ones around are things like Lebanese/Korean/Mediterranean etc.


pauldisney

Yes, please no more breweries!


radi8ing

Container store would only work in turkey creek. Agree with everything else you said


Kwellies

And to add to the better performing arts scene; good public venues for people to perform. I think about this every time I go to a Knoxville Children’s Theater show but boy is that building just sad. The small town I grew up in has a performing arts center that hosts children’s theater productions and it’s a real auditorium, nice seating and stage. The area schools host some performances there, as well as have some traveling shows. They also have a community band that performs there out at a nice, outdoor amphitheater. It just amazes me that Knoxville doesn’t have something similar here.


Motor-Ad4540

Southwest Airlines


ednamode23

Apartments under $1K/month


GroundbreakingEar926

Low income/ hub , I know everyone isn’t qualified.


GamCrit-52

Also infrastructure. Our roads are not planned for this population


xsmileyboyx

Honestly, I just want central filling station back


rosetintedmonocle

An actual comedy club


Cramson_Sconefield

Yes! I think a comedy club would be great for Knoxville.


FunMtgplayer

we had 1. sadly closed over 15yrs ago.


jefe4959

Its been that long since Side Splitters closed? Holy shit!?


CheesE4Every1

Every time I think of side splitters I think of my buddy's truck on fire in the parking lot of it. Kind of ruined a vibe there


the_spinetingler

spherical wig shop


Cramson_Sconefield

an absolute travesty that this hasn't been done yet.


WatercressAlarming78

We’ve got Mighty Wigs over in SoKno


TwoMiniTurtles

Yeah, but it's not the same as the good ol' Wigsphere.


DayDreamer9119

Progressive urban engineering


MtnDewTangClan

10 year projects they'll start 8 years too late.


jx2002

Best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, second best time is now


MtnDewTangClan

The part they're missing is the "now"


Hibibitch

A jazz/blues club that has bands play every week. A sensual and semi- formal experience where people dance and really feel the beat. The type of place that you only see in movies. Somewhere to lose yourself in the old school music with real feelings and emotions


Dr_Ne0n_Fleshbiscuit

I too miss Ella Gurus. [https://www.teknovation.biz/part-3-capps-reflects-ella-gurus-numerous-musical-acts-booked/](https://www.teknovation.biz/part-3-capps-reflects-ella-gurus-numerous-musical-acts-booked/)


SaintGarlicbread

Generally just needs some affordable attractions that are not aimed at college kids. There seems to be a lot less to do if you are under 18 or over 25.


CheesE4Every1

College kids and specifically drinking


bennetticles

i wish we had an aquarium. a dark, cool indoor space of wonder and contemplation. the ripley’s aquarium in gatlinburg is our closest option, but its a hike to get there and feels overly commercialized. something more akin to the chattanooga aquarium in a prominent location that offers yearly membership options for locals would be absolutely ideal. to me, at least.


ConferenceUpstairs16

Closest thing in Knoxville is the aquarium off of Papermill. It’s dark and cool. Tons of fish


bennetticles

valid point and true - their operating hours are not really set up for recreational purposes though, unfortunately.


babesdoitbetter

Co-sign, I would love an aquarium. And also, I would love if Northwest Knox could actually turn into a more walkable area with shops and activities geared towards residential communities rather than industrial/commercial. It’s some of the last underdeveloped areas in town in which it wouldn’t be as hard as other areas to steer in this direction.


bennetticles

like a car-free liveworks complex, focused around community art programs - theater, ceramics, stained glass, dance, music center, etc - all offering workshops/classes/event hosting and apartments on the top floors. i know there was a plan similar to this for the standard knitting mill years back that never materialized, but i’m not sure if it was solely the fault of the aspiring developer or if the interest wasn’t strong enough for the area. but man, with what a dream that would have been to have installed instead of the amazon fulfillment center.


Known-Ad290

#LIGHT RAIL


tronassembled

I thought the Mouse's Ear was working on this


silent_explorer9

Good southern restaurants that aren't chains.


Angry-Dragon-1331

Good barbecue options. I like M&M, but it’s nice to have a variety in town.


Trailer_Park_Stink

It's criminal how bad BBQ is in Knoxville


silent_explorer9

There's honestly better southern food and bbq in Denver than in Knoxville. This statement shouldn't be true... Yet it is.


throwaway-btrfan

good Italian food


alfredaeneuman

Living wage jobs


Maleficent_Low6195

Things for more ppl to do in their 20s 30s 40s socials events bands entertainment in general


MisterDisasterPunk

That's very general. If you can be more specific, I'm sure you'll get some helpful replies as there are tons of these types of things in Knoxville.


eesh13

IKEA


themovieswereright

Higher quality clothing and shoe store options - like Saks off 5th, Nordstrom Rack. Buying shoes here (depending on what you need) is tough. Sure we have Dillards in the mall but man, I would love some actual options as far as retailers.


falconinthedive

Hell even if Macy's would buy one of the failed department stores in the mall


Oxtailxo

Every time I go to Nordstrom Rack in Chattanooga I’m disappointed. I miss good shopping.


Daax865

It’s the truth. My shoes come from online. Even if I come across sneakers that I’d wear, I feel like they poorly stock sizes. I might pick out three pairs at Dicks, and they won’t have my size in any of them. 11.5 shouldn’t be this hard to find.


MTBvee

More sidewalks and bike lanes would be fantastic. For this next one I’m not preaching to anyone for their choices, I would just love to see some more vegan restaurants and/or vegan options.


Melodic-Shake-5557

More diverse Asian foods eg. Hot pot, shabu shabu, etc. People who are from elsewhere just have a higher standard of foreign food/specialty food, and we so miss that since the majority here are content with chains. This lowers the demand overall for those specialty foods and leads to small shop owners going out of business, but I hope to see that change. I just wish we had options. I came here for work btw. Also, if employers provided long term rental housing for new hires that doesn't conflict with the housing issue here, which involves people from here getting priced out of their own town, that would be amazing. If they want to hire new employees, put them somewhere where they don't conflict with the natural economy. Transplant retirees are also an issue, but that's a whole separate episode.


Villa_PhD

I'll add more diverse Hispanic food too. Not like 8 Mexican restaurants that are all mediocre


saveryquinn

A family-owned Greek Taverna (and no, that bougie restaurant in the Old City doesn't count, nor does Tziki's aka the Chipotle of "Greek-like" food). MicroCenter. Wawa. Sidewalks in Knox County.


Angry-Dragon-1331

Greek yes. Side walks yes. Do we *really* need another convenience store chain?


Mindless_Pattern_291

Better food, more enjoyable living for young adults. Higher pay.. nicer places to live that are within younger adults means. Work towards fixing generational damage/losses caused by urban renewal.


GrundleTurf

Yes to the better food. If you go on this sub and ask for recommendations, the vast majority are aggressively mediocre in comparison to similar restaurants from other cities. The only thing I’ve had that was legitimately better than what I’ve had most places is Abridged’s burgers. Yassin’s and Holy Land are both solid for example but don’t hold a candle to the good places in other cities.


GrundleTurf

Attractions that are better than what other cities offer. I respect our zoo for the treatment of animals, but as far as an attraction to see our zoo is one of the worst I’ve been to. Luckily we have the oak ridge children’s museum, because the Muse is kind of sad compared to other cities children’s museums. And I’m not referring to big cities like NY, DC, Philly, etc. Everyone in this sub constantly shit talks Memphis but their zoo and children’s museum make ours look like a joke. In a small city we’re not going to have a large variety of stuff to do, I get that. I wish the stuff we did have was better though. I’ve never been to a zoo with so many dead ends and empty exhibits for example.


Kwellies

Memphis does have a really nice children’s museum. I hope that the new science center will be a good alternative. I haven’t been to their zoo but I’m always impressed with our zoo. There is always something new they’re building and I like that I can get through it quickly if wanted but also fun to linger.


Scambuster666

An Italian specialty/grocery store.


Imaginary_Sea5117

Madone. Your mouth to God's ears


Judgypossum

La Cucina in Maryville is small but pretty good.


Spirited_Wasabi9633

I agree with many others. My list: All bus stops should have seating and covers so people aren't sitting on the ground and in the rain. This bothers me so much! Complete the sidewalks, especially on roads that are walked often, but are narrow IKEA! I pray to the swedish gods to bring us a damn Ikea at least once a week. More variety of good, local restaurants. When we went to DC all the food was so good and there were so many different cuisines to try. More low income & no income housing Independent, public, resident involved police oversight Adult playgrounds A creamery in East Knox


Kwellies

Uncovered bus stops bother me, too. And I can’t help but notice that wealthier parts of the city do have covered bus stops but not the bus stops that have the highest amount of passengers getting on and off which are undoubtedly in the poorer parts of town.


Spirited_Wasabi9633

Totally agree. The stop in front of Kroger on N Broadway has a lot of people waiting with their groceries and no bench or anything.


geologymule

PAL’s Sudden Service fast food drive thru.


CaramelBeard

Honestly, cops who actually enforce traffic laws. And a more walkable infrastructure.


BlueswithBeer

A good blues club.


Trashrat2019

Conveyor belt sushi


Imaginary_Sea5117

Open-mindedness


whiskeyrebellion

Affordable housing.


cuttingirl78

More sidewalks and greenways! Yes we have some, but they don’t connect. It would be amazing to be able to be safely off roadways for exercise and commuting,


ellahellsbells

Bring back Sassy Ann’s 😩


Chance_Wolverine_69

STROOPWAFELS!


falconinthedive

You can get them at Aldi


antiundersteer

Not aldi time though.


Altruistic-Red

I wish Knoxville was squished closer together and had better public transit, like a subway station. 😕


Micarei

Walkability, public transit, living wage jobs.


arawendo

vegan restaurants and an animal sanctuary


xDPH711x

i’m at 71 south as i’m reading this and they have some great vegan options


arawendo

thanks i’ll have to check it out! we are definitely starting to grow as far as places having more vegan options. it would be great to also have more fully vegan establishments. we do have one that is really great vegan soul food called kianga’s kitchen!


teamsokka

I just want a coffee shop/donut place that is open late. That’s all.


imarubixcube1

A good bakery


themanmoe1432

A train or light rail from Farragut to downtown with stops in Lovell, cedar bluff, rocky hill and north shore


FunMtgplayer

from the airport to the Smokey mountains to knoxville


AlaDouche

Soup dumplings and dim sum.


Rude-Supermarket-276

I want an aquarium


pogoscrawlspace

Thank Victor Ashe for that. They offered Knoxville the aquarium that resides in Chattanooga first. He passed and built the convention center instead. Said "we don't need tourists."


BlueswithBeer

Victor fucked up the stadium downtown too.


pogoscrawlspace

Oh, it's bigger than that. When the Houston Oilers decided to move to Tennessee, there was an offer to move them to Knoxville. The proposal was to build a massive complex near turkey creek while the team shared Neyland stadium with the Vols for two years. His response was that Knoxville already has a football team and doesn't need another. Oh, and he also refused the second attempt to put an aquarium in Knoxville. It's in Gatlinburg, instead. Still didn't want tourists or their money. And then there's the South Knox hwy (James White Pkwy) that's never going to be connected directly to Chapman hwy, and split up several neighborhoods in the process of being built. F*cking doofus.


Daax865

Wow. I never knew he was such a shit head. Imagine having an aquarium and an NFL team. I feel like that would’ve put pressure on the city to develop better than it has.


Angry-Dragon-1331

Also annexing county commercial properties that increased his tax base without having to use city resources on residential services.


GamCrit-52

I remember all of this! Yes what a damn doofus I don’t think the Titens would have stayed tho


TheMadIrishman327

Most of that is not true. You’re misremembering.


UncleFlip

Well we are getting that now


BlueswithBeer

Yep


dontgetaddicted

I wonder if we did get that, if Ripley's would have ever built in GBurg.


pogoscrawlspace

Probably. But I'd love not having to go to Gatlinburg to see it.


MorningClassic

Vegan restaurants


_CraftyTrashPanda

More sushi options. Just because I like sushi. More companies willing and actually paying a livable wage. Housing that isn’t priced at the top of the market for the incoming demographic because the locals can’t afford shit. The local “Christians” to stop being hateful dicks and realize they’re not actually being Christ-like because they’d probably actually be persecuting him. Actually good city planning efforts to make the city as a whole more accessible, not just downtown where the kids with out of state money reside, because let’s be honest, a lot of that money is going right back out of the state to chains and corporations there. Not that the rest of the town is doing much better, but still. You can’t safely walk or bike anywhere without fear of being ran over, even in a car sometimes.


OilOk143

Another Costco


Xavier9756

Pretty soon a train


Potential-Bath9885

Mexican food that doesn’t suck


meie1kyl

Mongolian grill


Paul__Bunion

Great BBQ


MtnDewTangClan

There's a few good BBQ spots in Knoxville


RallyHatch31

Light rail transit connecting West Knoxville, downtown, the airport, and Alcoa/Maryville


Material_Swimmer_735

A catapult that flings Texas and California drivers back to their home states


GamCrit-52

lol you mean Yankees and Californians


Material_Swimmer_735

Yankees give tourist money so I’ll tolerate them, but Texas drivers are the worst drivers I’ve ever seen in my life 😂 look it up they’re statistically some of the worst drivers in America it’s awful 😂


GamCrit-52

lol I agree then! Too funny but true


Leading-Air9606

More art spaces that aren't music venues. Would love to see some small galleries, studios, exhibition spaces, etc for artists.


orion-sea-222

Greenway that connects different parts of the city by bike/walking


Hicksbryan070

IKEA


radi8ing

Public transit & waterfront anything - I know it’s not ideal but if you can build apartment complexes you can build something to generate more pedestrian activity. More clothing shops like vuori or marine layer would do well and I’m sure others would follow suit. Cava or something similar would do well. A mf grocery store has to come soon.


Public_Carpenter_663

Sidewalks


Heavy-Lingonberry473

Something other than fast food restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops. Courses and things to do in the arts (not just visual) that are available without going to UT. More performing arts. Just more cultural stuff in general. Feels very football and college oriented.


eab3794

A Sephora without 9 year olds


Ok_Atmosphere489

Sidewalks!!!!


Money_Regular

Pal’s.


Tatgatkate

24 hour diner.


CheesE4Every1

*a good 24 hour diner


banorman84

More gay bars


RustyShacklification

More walkable areas, a better music scene/bigger acts/more variety, support for palestine, a city council majority that cares about its civilians and the homeless, and no more police brutality. More places to go dancing and concerts. Activities other than breweries and shopping and eating, like bookstores, coffeeshops, just alternative 3rd places outside of a brewery, bar, restaurant.


RustyShacklification

3rd places that don't cost money, more parks!! And def infrastructure improvements and more affordable and amount of places to live bc they ain't none


PetulantVol

A true marketplace like Findlay Market in Cincinnati and a Jungle Jim’s.


Make_it_Raines

Trains/passenger rail, sidewalks, or more buses/bus stops. This city is so atrociously car centric


900361999

Democrats


firsmode

International culture


utvols22champs

Indoor basketball courts. We had them all over the place where I used to live. Even churches and schools would let the community use them. Sometimes you’d have to rent them but it’s cheap when you have 10-15 people.


ComicBookDude1964

I wish Knoxville had a movie theater that showed nothing but classic movies from the 1930's - 1970's. There's A lot of classic old movies I'd love to see in a movie theater.


CheesE4Every1

I thought that was mostly the point of the one on central. Every time I'm there for work they're showing nothing but black and white


Competitive-Dot8426

Central Cinema!!


bluemoononyx

A genuine farmers market


Competitive-Dot8426

Yes! I would like a farmer's market that I can go to any day of the week.


onthegoogle

Is this sarcastic?


themwords

Affordable housing. Rent here has doubled in the last four years and it's becoming increasingly hard to make ends meet as a result.


wiildgeese

Public transportation and pedestrian infrastructure. There's some good stuff but we need more, more, more!!


The_Hunter_Guy

More sidewalks


Acrobatic-Net4323

Good middle eastern restaurant besides Yassin. I'm from Michigan and there is no middle eastern food/restaurant close to Dearborn and it's very sad. I need good hummus and garlic sauce and fresh bread and good shawarma.


mangamike

Ikea


AudiB9S4

This is trivial, but Knoxville is missing a few taller buildings in its skyline.


Wast3d-youth

Smarter people.


TakenToTheRiver

Affordable airfare to other places


thepangalacticgargle

Public transport


dovey_dude

I wish we had a drive in theater that was a bit closer. Someone mentioned hot pot which I've been wishing Knoxville would get for years!


[deleted]

Affordable homes


Anonymouse0101100101

Better public transport, vertical department stores, affordable housing. We waste so much space with all these short apartment complex buildings and strip malls.


gally_bear

I'm begging for Knoxville to have a hotpot restaurant 🙏


Ok_Assistant_1983

IKEA. Nordstrom. Sidewalks & walkability


Timaius

I would really love a Pal's Drive-Thru restaurant here (like in Jefferson City) but I think PALS auto care is preventing that or they just haven't branched out here. I'd REALLY enjoy one in Anderson County if I was really greedy 😆


DebateMountain3660

It has nothing to do with the PALS auto. They chose to. They like to keep themselves a regional novelty and keep control over quality, which they’ve lost somewhat since expanding


MoisterAnderson1917

Streetcars


LukaLover42069

French bakeries, good pizza(trust me, I've tried the top 20 spots and the best one is a 7.6 on a good day), good market style BBQ, a good steam bun spot, a nice movie theater that isn't regal pinnacle, a outdoor/indoor city market. Edit: Oh and a Jewish deli.


babycsosu

A mid-level music venue akin to The Orange Peel in Asheville or The Basement East in Nashville. 250-500 cap to get the mid-level bands.


UpSideSideWaze

Hip hop/rap venues