Quote:
Originally Posted by Moab1
I think Asheville is pretty gritty. Def. wouldn't call it Disney like. They have a lot of bums downtown.
Nooga does have a gritty downtown area with a lot of prostitution and crime. There's not a lot of jobs in Nooga, it is mostly a tourist town at this point.
You could look at Greenville which is about 45 minutes south of Asheville in SC. It has a great downtown area and a better job scene than nooga and aville.
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I disagree with the comparison to Greeneville and Asheville, which I like, but are dispersed with pockets of activity. Both are nice compact downtowns, but are not on a major river, which is an enormous asset. Just this weekend, the city will be hosting Head of the Hooch, which is an international rowing competition that lasts all weekend and brings thousands to the city. Plus, the surrounding scenery is amazing (yes, I like Asheville's too!). But take an autumn or spring drive up the Sequatchie Valley or take in the vistas of Cloudland Canyon, and you'll see what I mean. Not to mention all the Civil War history that seems so "alive" around Chattanooga. A large portion of Chickamauga Lake is in the city limits too. Plus, the Chattanooga MSA has approximately 550,000 residents, but that doesn't include Cleveland-Bradley (100,000) which is only 20 minutes north... and Dalton-Whitfield (100,000) 20 minutes south.. all which combine to form a relatively compact market area of over 750,000
And regarding jobs... The greater Chattanooga area is booming with approximately 4000 new jobs right now. That percentage growth leads the state among all the major cities. And the new VW plant is just a "small" part of the overall picture. There are factories that supply the auto, plastics, ceramics, logistics and textile industries that are expanding. Examples: Aerisyn, Amazon, General Electric, Whirlpool, T Mobil, Honigsberg-Duvell, Mars M&M, Access America, Homeserve, and Wacker. And speaking of VW, Team 3 Logistics and Woodbridge are expanding with hundreds of jobs. Plus, VW just announced a 1000 job expansion... with a real possibility of adding a new car line in the next two years (a new SUV model will be made at either Chattanooga or a plant in Mexico). Plus, there are large established F500 corps with significant presences in the area: Dow, Dupont, Olin, Rock-Tenn, BASF, ADM... and several with divisions based here: Wrigley, Sanofi, Cigna, TVA, ... not to mention the "homegrowns" Blue Cross Blue Shield, Unum, Miller Industries, Aztec, Fillauer, Miller and Martin, Luken and CBL.
And there is a rapidly growing entrepreneurial sector that has both started and moved to Chattanooga (mostly in South End/South Market) because of the city's fastest Internet in the world, with the EPB's (yay, you have to love competition) Gigabyte fiber optic infrastructure that supports all the emergency response and phone systems, along with cable TV. And Erlanger Medical Center is a teaching hospital and L1 trauma center. Plus... the Tennessee Riverpark (greenway)... ah, the Riverpark. Just Google it for a glimpse of what an asset the Riverpark is.
Then there is the hospitality industry, which has grown just this year with four Hampton Inns, and new Embassy Suites, a new Marriott downtown on the river and over 1000 new residences currently under construction downtown. There are another 500 apartments planned downtown, as well. There are two new Publix supermarkets under construction (one on the northshore) and two large hospital expansions underway (Memorial and Erlanger East). Plus, there are two fine 4-year universities in UTC (13,000 students) and Lee University (5,000). Covenant College (1000 students) is a Presbyterian affiliated college on Lookout Mountain and Southern Adventist University (3000) is located in Collegedale (10 miles north). And Chattanooga State (CC) has 12000 students and partners with many manufacturers in the area. Plus, the downtown bus/shuttle system operates without having to pay fares. Then again, compared to those other cities (and this is no small thing), Tennessee has no state income tax.
Plus, if you ever get a bit of wanderlust, I can make it to Atlanta in 1 hour and a half... and Nashville in a little over 2 hours. Air service in any of the three G'ville, A'ville and Nooga are not the greatest (actually, they can suck depending on where you need to go), but that's another good reason to be so close to Atlanta (and Nashville too if you like to fly Southwest). Plus, there are three Interstate highways that traverse the city (I-75, I-24 and I-59).
On the diversity point, I haven't noticed that Chattanooga "flaunts" diversity (although I can believe it... as that's something a lot of "progressive" cities and towns want to be known), but the current Mayor Andy Berke is quite left-center in his politics; so this might be a "push" of his. However, I can tell you with certainty that the city has a lot of diversity outreach with the inner city areas (e.g. Chattanooga Housing Authority and Urban Alliance, Families First, Benwood and Ochs Center, and the Hamilton County Department of Education) have all had tremendous success with programs for minorities. Plus, there is even an "international area" along a two mile stretch of Lee Highway (ironically) lined with Indian, Asian, and Middle Eastern restaurants and shops.