[Tn-talk] some questions about East TN

[Dewey Bradley]

Is anyone on here in East TN?

I ask because I have long ago fallen in love with the area, but I know
visiting and living some place is not the same thing.

I live in Missouri where all the blind people are moving because of the
blind pension and the Tap I and Tap T programs.

I am making my list of yays and nays to see if I will make this move.

>From what I can tell it looks like Knoxville is the only city that has a
fixed route bus system, and it looks like it is an OK system.

I know people in several towns like Madisonville, Sweetwater, Vonore,
Merryville, and other towns,  but all of them are sighted.

I have questions like how blind friendly is Knoxville, things like is the
KAT bus system easy to use, some cities are not easy because they won't
comply with the ADA, the Nashville MTA was like that when I rode it, I got
around though.

And what is in Knox for blind people, do they have any community centers or
anything, a place for local resources.

And I wonder about the job market.

I talked to the Volk rehab people but didn't get any answers.

I do understand that TN does not spend much money on disability services
compared to MO, so the rehab budget is not as large.

So anything anyone can tell me about the area would help!

How is it living down there?

Though I have friends all over the area, I don't like to rely on people, so
I have to be in an area with transportation.