Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

318 Lynnwood Drive

2,200 sq. ft. (approx.), 3 bdrm/2bath

$99,000

Contact: Phyllis Baker
Coldwell Banker: 584-4000

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by Matt Edens

My neighborhood was made for walking. And that's just what I'd do, assuming 50 years of disinvestment and suburban flight had left me much of anywhere to walk to. You see, just a block and a half from my house on Washington Avenue is a small cluster of commercial buildings that, circa 1920, housed a drugstore, a White Stores grocery and half a dozen other small business to serve the immediate neighborhood—there was even a movie theater.

They're all gone now, although thankfully the buildings aren't. And just as thankfully they're all in reasonably good shape and many are still occupied—a barber shop, a uniform shop, a storefront church and, just around the corner, the venerable Glenwood Sandwich Shop. No place to pick up a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, though. For that I'll have to get in the car and go several more blocks to one of the "convenience" stores clustered around the interstate exit at Cherry Street. Which, quite frankly, is about as far as the Kroger. So much for convenience.

Having everyday needs available within walking distance is one of the basic tenets of The New Urbanism movement that has given rise to such highly publicized developments as Seaside in Florida or Harbortown in Memphis. Although, if you look around to places like Burlington, Vestal or Five Points, you'll see that it was a pretty basic component of old-fashioned urbanism, too.

And, in at least one of Knoxville's original "town centers," it's still possible for a family to meet its everyday needs with nothing but shoe leather. Because, if you buy this lovely bungalow on Lynnwood Drive in Fountain City you'll be just a few blocks away from Hotel Road—Fountain City's historic main street. Which puts you just a couple blocks from a grocery store, several restaurants (including Litton's), a post office, and several bank branches. Got kids? Well, you'd be a short walk from both the Duck Pond and Fountain City Park with its playground and library—not to mention Garden Montessori School and Central High.

As for the house, it's every bit as cozy and practical as the neighborhood—sunny rooms with rich pine floors, plus lots of nice details like the arched doorways, a working fireplace and a built-in china cabinet in the kitchen. And it's all in great shape, the place has been well cared for over the years, and the current owners have put a fair amount of work into it as well—refinishing floors, and doing an updated kitchen and a new roof in 1999. Outside is even better. Behind its charming picket fence, the corner lot has lots of planting beds, three dogwoods, and a half-dozen mature silver maples.