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My city is Knoxville, TN. My zip code specifically is for a small suburb of Knoxville, however, I spend most of my time in the city and that is where my school was. Knoxville is a city on the Tennessee River in eastern Tennessee. Downtown, the Market Square district has 19th-century buildings with shops and restaurants. The Museum of East Tennessee History has interactive exhibits plus regional art, textiles and Civil War artifacts. James White’s Fort, built by the Revolutionary War captain, includes the reconstructed 1786 log cabin that was Knoxville’s first permanent building.

The downtown area has a very nostalgic feeling for me, what I assume Church street is to Burlington residents, Market Square is to me. Market square comes alive every weekend night hosting live music, and movie showings at times. The market square is home to artisan local shops and is a place many Tennesseans take visitors to in order to show them the essence of our city.
In the winter there is always an ice skating rink. As small of a thing as it is, the ice-skating rink is something which is very important to resident’s sense of place. Being able to always count on that little ice rink with Christmas lights and hot chocolate is a winter tradition for many people in Knoxville and the surrounding area.

Within Knoxville, the built environment and the natural environment are often kept quite separate. The downtown area of Knoxville is seen as the cultural hub and the only green areas hosted here are very man-made areas such as World’s Fair Parks. Though it doesn’t resemble a real ecosystem very well, it has contributed as a major part of Knoxville to residents since the 80s. 

Knoxville hosting the Worlds Fair in the 80s had a profound cultural impact on the city. It created a housing market boom and gave an influx of people making Knoxville their home. The world’s fair brought a great amount of business and many people see the 80s as Knoxville’s prime and thus have maintained the park’s original look since the fair took place. The area is now used for the biggest cultural events in the city such as an annual wing fest, BBQ fest, and a farmers market.

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