Small town girl moving to big city (Chattanooga, Cleveland: apartments, leasing) - Tennessee (TN) - City-Data Forum

corrinl · 08-11-2011, 11:30 AM

My boyfriend and I are moving to Chattanooga, TN in October. It seems as though there is pretty high crime, which worries me. I have lived in Tacoma, WA where I couldn't even walk around at night safely. I live in a 15% liberal small city in Utah right now and enjoy it, its just too cold. I would like to move to a safe affordable ($600 mth) neighborhood within a nice bike ride to the grocery store or locally owned coffee shop. I do have pets, a certified therapy pitbull and a cat. Are there smaller areas to live in that may help a small town girl adjust to a big city? I am not an apartment person either. Do you know of any good websites to look for housing on? I don't mind living outside Chattanooga either if there is a smaller town. But if its a smaller town, I would like it to have a farmers market and a small liberal crowd. Any suggestions?

~Worried about crime.

dasmarian · 08-11-2011, 09:04 PM

There is a small area of Chattanooga, near downtown, that meets your parameters -- it's called Northshore and is a narrow band from 24 to Hixson pike along the north part of the river if you look at google maps. The problem you will have is your price range -- a decent rental in that area will run you 1200-1800 for a house. Apartments are less of course. For $600 a month renting a house you will not be able to afford a very nice area - at least not one that meets your other requirements.

Nonlocal · 08-15-2011, 06:36 PM

I feel obligated to respond to this since I lived in Tacoma for 24 years and have now lived in Chattanooga for almost 2 years. When I first moved here, I thought I had upgraded in terms of crime. There have now been murders (I believe) in the double digits this year in/around the city. By word of mouth, gangs seem to be a growing problem as well. With that said (and as with most cities), most of these threats are isolated to specific areas that you can relatively easily avoid.

I would say don't expect a big difference in crime between Tacoma and Chattanooga. Chattanooga, however, is slightly smaller overall, and DOES have nicer "upscale" (arts, local businesses, river walks, entertainment) areas than Tacoma. That's just my opinion though, and I have heard that Tacoma's 6th Ave has been receiving a revival in the last couple years.

The North Shore area here in Chattanooga seems very close to what you'd want, with the only hang-up being that it might be a little over your $600/month price limit. Anything right on/around Frazier Ave./Manufacturers Rd. (and on the other side of the river) is pricey, but maybe you could find a deal on a small house just a few blocks north of the area. In/around the North Shore are several local businesses/restaurants (incl. coffee shops), Coolidge and Renaissance parks (very nice), Greenlife whole foods grocery store, and arts as well.

There's a Farmers Market right here in Chattanooga as well, on the south side of the city, every Sunday from (I think) about May to December. It's a great place to buy local produce, arts & crafts, local meats, that sort of stuff. It would also be a long bike ride (or short drive) away from North Shore--across the river and maybe 20 blocks.

My advice: Utah is beautiful. If I had my choice, I'd stay there (it's where I'd rather move). But if you must, Chattanooga is definitely not a bad choice at all. Crime IS definitely an issue here (and rising), but it's generally avoidable. Most areas around the North Shore, much of Hixson/Red Bank, maybe some of the south side/St. Elmo area (improving) are all relatively safe from my limited experience. I've had no issues in the North Shore/Red Bank/Hixson area. East Brainerd is supposed to be nice as well, though a little further away from downtown/North Shore. Places to watch out for (in terms of crime) would be Ridgeside, East Ridge, Alton Park, really much of the "other side of the tracks."

Other areas you might consider would be Cleveland (~20-30 minutes north of Chatt.), East Brainerd (already mentioned), maybe Ooltewah/Collegedale (between the aforementioned two). All three are smaller but still offer relative convenience to Chattanooga. Cleveland is the largest of those three and kind of has its own vibe, though I haven't spent enough time up there myself to really comment in depth on it.

Hope this helps, and hope my information is accurate (most of it is just from my experience/second-hand worth of mouth info). Hopefully if I stated anything inaccurate I'll be corrected. Good luck!

RiverView · 08-17-2011, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corrinl

My boyfriend and I are moving to Chattanooga, TN in October. It seems as though there is pretty high crime, which worries me. I have lived in Tacoma, WA where I couldn't even walk around at night safely. I live in a 15% liberal small city in Utah right now and enjoy it, its just too cold. I would like to move to a safe affordable ($600 mth) neighborhood within a nice bike ride to the grocery store or locally owned coffee shop. I do have pets, a certified therapy pitbull and a cat. Are there smaller areas to live in that may help a small town girl adjust to a big city? I am not an apartment person either. Do you know of any good websites to look for housing on? I don't mind living outside Chattanooga either if there is a smaller town. But if its a smaller town, I would like it to have a farmers market and a small liberal crowd. Any suggestions?

~Worried about crime.

$600 / mo for a nice home isn't going to happen here. There has been a HUGE run on lease / rental here because of businesses locating here and leasing nice homes for $600 - $800 / bedroom.

I live in Riverview and must wear rose colored sun glasses. I just don't see the crime that some mention. But then again I don't hang out late at night into the morning hours (not that there is anything wrong with that

).

corrinl · 08-21-2011, 10:43 AM

What about towns around Chattanooga such as Cleveland or Ooltewah? Any opinions on those? Or any other small towns you can think of.

ayekantspeylgud · 09-03-2011, 06:01 AM

Good luck finding the coffee shops! I come from Washington State too. There are a few Starbucks... a couple Panera Breads... I don't think most people here know what a Breve is and to prove it I ordered one from Joe Mugs in the bookstore. I asked for a mocha breve... ended up changing to a plain americano after trying to explain it several times.

Annyyyyway... I'd try Collegedale. If you want safe, it's packed with cops. Avoid the outskirts of downtown. It does seem to be pretty high-crime but it could also be a perspective issue (Chattanooga's pretty small when you really think about it). It's decent, but people don't know how to drive.

Nonlocal · 09-04-2011, 04:48 PM

I will second that Chattanooga drivers are down-right horrible. Re: coffee shops, I don't drink coffee myself but there are certainly more than just Starbucks and Panera. Stone Cup is on the north shore, Joe Friday's is just off MLK, Rembrandt's in the art district, Greyfriar's downtown. They're around.

MountainAire · 09-04-2011, 11:02 PM

Dunlap or Soddy Daisy will fit your needs. Close to Chattanooga.

ayekantspeylgud · 09-19-2011, 06:05 AM

Depends how country you wanna go...

ciggi · 09-21-2011, 06:26 AM

You might check out Harrison! I just recently move down here from a small town in KY and I really like it here a lot.. to me it really is a prime location.. approximately 10 miles to just about everything you need. There are a lot of stores here in Harrison, with the exception of Walmart and there is 3 of them within a few minute drive. There is also Harrison Bay State Park here which is wonderful!!

There are a lot of town houses here, idk if that's acceptable to you but we didn't want an apartment either and houses were really too high. Rent is reasonable for this area i suppose. Best thing to do is call realtors in the area and tell them what you're looking for... that's what I did!