Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

816 Luttrell

2,300 sq. ft.

3 or 4 bdrm, 2 bath

$159,900

Contact: Steve Hill

Elite Realty: 687-1311

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by Matt Edens

The ancient Greeks had the oracle at Delphi. The Romans sought answers in sheep's guts and the flight of birds. Voodoo priests had their bones and Tarot. But we're modern, forward-thinking people with no need to seek answers in superstitious mumbo-jumbo, right? After all, we've got polls.

Last week, the other paper spent days bombarding us with the latest revelations from what must have been the mother of all polls. Conducted by UT's Institute for Social Science Research, it sought up-to-the-minute answers on everything from the mayor's race (according to the poll, about half of us know there is one) to downtown (once again, seems about half of us know there is one). But the numbers themselves weren't necessarily as interesting as the interpretation. My particular favorite was this little gem reported Wednesday: "'Developers planning the downtown theater are going to need to market it', said Michael Gant, the institute's director."

Well, duh? I love it when pollsters and pundits state the obvious and act as if it's profound. At least the priests at Delphi had sense enough to be cryptic. Oh, and I love the statistical fact backing up Gant's prediction: "There already are county residents who don't go downtown as much as city residents. In West Knox County, 56.2 percent said they are not at all likely to go to the theater, which basically means no."

County residents don't go downtown as much as city residents? Oh dread magi, what terrible truth will you reveal next? Or better yet, try this one on for size. I've lived in Knoxville for going on 16 years. I go to movies pretty often. And yet I've never set foot in Regal's Farragut Towne Square 10. And I've only been to the Halls Cinema 7 once (for a midnight movie).

The reason is obvious: I don't live anywhere near either of those theaters. I do, however, live within a stone's throw of downtown. Lots of people do. Downtown Knoxville and its ring of surrounding neighborhoods (the UT campus, Fort Sanders, Mechanicsville, Old North Knoxville, Fourth and Gill, Parkridge, Morningside and Old Sevier) are home to damn near 30,000 people. More than 12,000 of them are college students (the prime movie-going-age demographic). And, while many of these neighborhoods are still struggling to reverse decades of poverty and abandonment, they still contain nearly 1,000 households with incomes over $50,000 (nearly 200 of them six-figure earners). What's more, those numbers have grown steadily over the past decade.

You're looking at one of the primary reasons why: a fabulous old home in Fourth and Gill. And a fabulous price too: $159,900 (about $70 a square foot; you'd be hard-pressed to find anything more affordable in a deep West Knox subdivision). Fourth and Gill and Old North Knoxville may account for half the center-city's six-figure households, but you don't need a six-figure income to live there. Plus, unlike a lot of similar priced homes going up in the green fields just inside the county line, there are no cheap materials or low-end finishes in this "starter home." Nope, its oak and pine floors, French doors and grand staircase—all beautifully refinished—would be rare in suburban homes costing twice as much. Then there are the five fireplaces with original mantles, tile and ironwork. Or the original wainscoting and drainboard sink in the kitchen.

With homes like this—for prices like this—I'd say 56.2 percent of West Knox County doesn't know what it's missing. But some folks out there are apparently starting to wonder. Because if you ask me, the bigger news story isn't that 56.2 of West Knox County residents said they wouldn't go downtown to see a movie. Rather it's that 43.8 percent—potentially tens of thousands of people—said they would.