Driving Around Downtown Knoxville, TN and University of Tennessee in 4k Video

Filmed on Thursday, May 4 2023, I drive around downtown Knoxville, Tennessee and the University of Tennessee Campus to see what's going on.
If you want to control the camera and take a look around, try out my 360° video tour of Knoxville: • Driving Around Downtow...
As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the state's third largest city after Nashville and Memphis. It is the principal city of the Knoxville metropolitan area, which had a population of 879,773 in 2020.
The end of the French and Indian War and confusion brought about by the American Revolution led to a drastic increase in Euro-American settlement west of the Appalachians. By the 1780s, white settlers were already established in the Holston and French Broad valleys. The U.S. Congress ordered all illegal settlers out of the valley in 1785, but with little success. As settlers continued to trickle into Cherokee lands, tensions between the settlers and the Cherokee rose steadily.
Knoxville served as capital of the Southwest Territory and as capital of Tennessee until 1817, when the capital was moved to Murfreesboro. Early Knoxville has been described as an "alternately quiet and rowdy river town". Early issues of the Knoxville Gazette-the first newspaper published in Tennessee-are filled with accounts of murder, theft, and hostile Cherokee attacks.
Knoxville initially thrived as a way station for travelers and migrants heading west. Its location at the confluence of three major rivers in the Tennessee Valley brought flatboat and later steamboat traffic to its waterfront in the first half of the 19th century, and Knoxville quickly developed into a regional merchandising center. Local agricultural products-especially tobacco, corn, and whiskey-were traded for cotton.
After the civil war, Knoxville recovered relatively quickly. Between 1880 and 1887, 97 factories were established in Knoxville, most of them specializing in textiles, food products, and iron products.
The post-war manufacturing boom brought thousands of immigrants to the city. The population of Knoxville grew from around 5,000 in 1860 to 32,637 in 1900.
Knoxville hosted the Appalachian Exposition in 1910 and 1911 and the National Conservation Exposition in 1913. The latter is sometimes credited with giving rise to the movement to create a national park in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Knoxville's reliance on a manufacturing economy left it particularly vulnerable to the effects of the Great Depression.
In 1947, John Gunther dubbed Knoxville the "ugliest city" in America.
Knoxville's textile and manufacturing industries largely fell victim to foreign competition in the 1950s and 1960s, and after the establishment of the Interstate Highway system in the 1960s, the railroad-which had been largely responsible for Knoxville's industrial growth-began to decline. The rise of suburban shopping malls in the 1970s drew retail revenues away from Knoxville's downtown area.
Knoxville initiated several projects aimed at boosting revenue in its downtown area. The 1982 World's Fair-the most successful of these projects, with eleven million visitors-became one of the most popular expositions in U.S. history. The fair's energy theme was selected due to Knoxville being the headquarters of the Tennessee Valley Authority and for the city's proximity to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The Sunsphere, a 266-foot steel truss structure topped with a gold-colored glass sphere, was built for the fair and remains one of Knoxville's most prominent structures.
With the dawn of the 21st century, Knoxville's downtown has been developing, with the opening of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Knoxville Convention Center, the redevelopment of Market Square, a new visitors center, a regional history museum, a Regal Cinemas theater, several restaurants and bars, and many new and redeveloped condominiums. Since 2000, Knoxville has successfully brought business back to the downtown area. The arts in particular have begun to flourish; there are multiple venues for outdoor concerts, and Gay Street hosts a new arts annex and gallery surrounded by many studios and new businesses as well.
In April 2008, Forbes magazine named Knoxville among the Top 10 Metropolitan Hotspots in the United States.
As of the 2020 census, there were 190,740 people residing in the city.
The racial and ethnic composition of the city was 76.1% white, 17.1% black, 0.4% Native American, 1.6% Asian, and 0.2% Pacific Islander. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.6% of the population.
The per capita income was $21,528, and the city's poverty rate was 25%, compared with 16.1% in Tennessee and 15.1% nationwide. #driving #travel #drivingtour

[@martyaz]

Thanks for identifying the Sunsphere.

[@exploreusacities]

th-cam.com/video/7MQIeIlYxUE/w-d-xo.html

[@RjAllen420]

What a beautiful city. Enjoy your videos of central Illinois cities

[@exploreusacities]

I agree! Thank you! There is more central IL to come

[@terrybane6206]

WELL ! I hope that will be the last red light you run...lol. I enjoyed the ride. Thanks

[@exploreusacities]

I want a lawyer! I'm not guilty! You can't prove anything!!