CommunityLink

Oak Ridge, TN

Welcome

Welcome to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, home of world-class
science, award-winning schools and family-friendly neighborhoods.

Celebrating a 21st-century renaissance, Oak Ridge is a city with heightened energy, and many endeavors are changing the community landscape. Work started in 2005 on a modern, model high school for this new century and on an extensive renovation of the city’s central retail area.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory prepares to open the world’s newest billion-dollar science program, the Spallation Neutron Source, in 2006. The Y-12 National Security Complex has begun an extensive modernization program. About 3,600 new homes will be built across the city in the coming years in Rarity Ridge, Centennial Village, Willow Place, Jackson Crossing, Emory Valley and other neighborhoods.

This energy is focusing attention on Oak Ridge as a great place to live, to work, to play, to raise families and to educate children. Retailers and restauranteurs are now calling Oak Ridge developers to see what’s available. Planners from other states are taking a look at creative housing developments here. Surrounding communities are joining with Oak Ridge to spread the word about the opportunities in the Innovation Valley. Horizon Center is one of the city’s newest greenfield business parks, with the latest in telecommunications and infrastructure.

Our festivals and regattas draw thousands here to enjoy what we enjoy daily — views of mountains and lakes and acre upon acre of parks, trails and woodland.

Mayor David Bradshaw takes pleasure in telling folks that just about every home in Oak Ridge is within walking distance of a park or a greenway trail. He and his family ride their bikes in Haw Ridge Park and hike some of the 55 miles of trails that are all within the city limits. Three golf courses in Oak Ridge also lead residents to play outdoors year-round.

Outdoor recreational opportunities abound just a short drive from the city. Nearby are the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Cherokee National Forest, and the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Mayor Bradshaw will also tell you how blessed this city of 28,000 is to have its own symphony, playhouse, museums, community college and rowing course, as well as what a value residents get for their tax dollar, particularly where public education is concerned.

Oak Ridge schools show up often in lists of the nation’s top-performing schools, highlighted in such places as the Wall Street Journal’s Offspring magazine, Expansion Management magazine and Money magazine. Support for the public schools is so strong here that the community rallied to pass a small sales tax increase designated for the new $55 million Oak Ridge High School. But even more important than test scores, one newcomer noticed, is the care and attention that teachers give to students throughout the school district.

As work progresses on the new, Oak Ridge’s past isn’t forgotten. Museums — the American Museum of Science and Energy and the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge — and a historic preservation group are the keepers of the city’s storied history, reminding us of Oak Ridge’s World War II origins that molded the scientific, technology-focused city of the future.

“It’s a good time to be in Oak Ridge,” John McKittrick, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s 2005 chairman of the board, commented recently. Indeed it is.

Come enjoy our parks, hike our greenways, row on our lake, attend our festivals, wander through our museums, learn about our past and help build our future. Come grow your business and raise your family. The best in Oak Ridge is yet to come.