Bluegrass

The community of Bluegrass doesn’t seem to be named for non-annoying country music. Nor does it seem to have some sort of association with Kentucky, long hailed as the Bluegrass State. It’s a little unclear where the name actually comes from.

Bluegrass may also be Knoxville’s most unknown neighborhood. Where is it? What is it? It’s a bit like trying to find the train to Hogwarts. It’s there somewhere. You just have to uncover the secret entrance.

Truth be told, Bluegrass isn’t all that hard to locate. In fact, it’s kind of hard to miss this development explosion.

Bluegrass is a budding new area in West Knoxville. It is a large territory, rolling west from Rocky Hill on Northshore Drive. It follows along the Tennessee River/Fort Loudoun Lake, just beyond the Pellissippi Parkway overpass toward Concord. It also encompasses the Ebenezer Road region moving north toward Kingston Pike and Cedar Bluff.

The centralized location means that you can get from Bluegrass to several key locations easily. Pellissippi Parkway makes Bluegrass convenient for getting to the airport, the Smoky Mountains or to Interstates 40 and 75. West Town is nearby to the northeast, and shopping haven Turkey Creek is to the northeast.

Bluegrass has a bedroom community feeling to it. Mostly residential, subdivisions are everywhere, many of them upscale and exclusive. Whittington Creek, for example, has immaculately landscaped lawns and a number of amenities, including a 25-meter Olympic pool, tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, a playground and a full-size basketball court. Other subdivisions include Northshore Hills, Saint Ives and Cottington Court.

Bluegrass is also beautiful. As Northshore Drive meets up with the Tennessee, it’s hard to know where to look. Do your eyes explore the new businesses and shops that are popping up? Or do you look at the pristine backdrop of mountains and trees edging up to the river? But while you’re gawking, don’t forget that cars are still on the road around you.

South of Northshore, on Keller Bend Road, is a waterfront peninsula known as Keller Bend. The serpentine road weaving through the cape will take you to grand homes surrounded by forest that resembles the Amazon. There’s a 16-acre park at the peninsula’s southern tip.

Northshore Drive near Pellissippi Road is abounding with commercial development. There are businesses galore, many of them chains, but quite a few that are local. There are restaurants, a grocery store, a coffee shop, a salon, an eyewear shop, even DVD rental, if you’re still into leaving your house to go rent those. Like the neighborhood homes, these businesses have an upscale feel, almost as if someone decided to build an outdoor shopping mall in the middle of a golf course.

West of Pellissippi will be Northshore Town Center, a 155 acre mixed-use “urban enclave” set to feature retail stores, restaurants, single-family homes, town homes and condos, all “intentionally designed to encourage interaction and promote quality of life.”

Nearing Concord to the west are two parks. The first is Admiral Farragut Park, a 23-acre section with disc golf, picnic shelters and tables, and trails that connect to Carl Cowan Park just down the road.

Carl Cowan Park is itself a 32-acre park with a soccer field, tennis courts, a walking loop, picnic tables and shelters, and a splash pad that’s open from April through October. The park was originally dedicated in 1949 as Knoxville’s only park for African-Americans. A swimming pool was here from 1959 until 2004, when it was removed to make way for the county’s first splash pad. The park is named for African American attorney and community activist Carl Cowan.