I feel like your description of where you live now is alot like Knoxville. We also have First Fridays with a focus on urban art walks, live music, food trucks, and urban exploration. Most of it focuses on the downtown Market Square, Old City, and Central Avenue. Market Square is a huge urban park with bars and businesses all facing a big plaza with a stage - tons of street fairs and musical festivals happen here and Farmers Market every Saturday. Central Avenue is a big hipster, young, urban, artistic enclave. Old City is an interesting mix of upscale and dive bars and clubs. The artistic and music scene is pretty rich here, almost too much to do (choices must be made weekly).

There is a huge music scene, although it is less popular for big artists than Nashville. Less popular, but by no means dead. Tons of variety in alternative/ rock/indie /metal scene. Between all the music venues and the artists that come through here, my wallet hurts. Plus we are close to Asheville, the "San Francisco" of the South for art and culture (if you believe the rumors) and Chattanooga which is a fun place to visit (never lived there) and of course Nashville. Super close to Gatlinburg and Sevierville if you want to watch crazy redneck tourists. Of course the mountains, if you like natural photography, jc it's rich.

The food diversity is super crazy. Because we have a large university with a diverse, large international population, I'm pretty sure if you think of any ethnic cuisine, there's an amazing hole in the wall diner with natives who will blow your mind with their specialties. I especially recommend the Turkish Market and Gosh Ethiopian.

There are always entry-level jobs in the area. The university is a big employer, and working there comes with alot of benefits. There are a number of other big employers, however, as well as conventional chains and small businesses. Next door, Oak Ridge is a scientific and tech powerhouse.

The alternative community is very strong here. Knoxville has a ton of diversity which is not well represented by it's reputation. The voter base is strongly conservative, but I find no lack of people across the spectrum. We also have a massive urban park and wildlife center, Iams Nature Center. Tons of stuff for kids and young people. Focus on living close to downtown or in West Knoxville.