considering moving from southern CA to Chattanooga--need candid advice! (East Brainerd: how much, neighborhood)

[PlaneFolks]

This is what I would do.

1. Put in for that job. You don't have to take it if you don't want it.
2. Get on Southwest Airline and fly into Nashville,TN.
3. Groome Transportation $39 each to Chattanooga. <<< Groome Transportation >>>

Come on and check the area out. You can also look at North West GA,
we have some nice rentals and homes.
Fall is here now and Temp. have come down, it is a good time to look.

Wife and I have a friend who is a Broker/Property Manager and has places for rent in the Chattanooga and NWGA area.
She has a web site: Chattanooga Property Management - Experience the Difference - Home

We moved from Northern California in 07 and have not look back. WE end up in Catoosa Co. GA.

[An Einnseanair]

Originally Posted by PlaneFolks

This is what I would do.

1. Put in for that job. You don't have to take it if you don't want it.
2. Get on Southwest Airline and fly into Nashville,TN.
3. Groome Transportation $39 each to Chattanooga. <<< Groome Transportation >>>

Excellent idea, except I'd skip Goome. Nothing against Groome, it's a good service and I use their shuttle to the Atlanta airport on occasion. But you're going to absolutely need a rental car to get around Chattanooga, so you might as well get one at the Nashville Airport and save the $80 round-trip ticket (per person) on the shuttle.

Also, I like flying Southwest (LOTS of flights available out of your area, and I used Southwest exclusively when I lived in Kansas City), but several airlines fly straight into Chattanooga. I now fly Delta. Depending on price and flight availability, sometimes I fly right out of Chattanooga, sometimes I take the Groome shuttle to Atlanta.

[kvryan298]

thanks again everyone, I have applied for the position and am nervously waiting...

[370z]

I also live in So. CA & want to move to TN. I've been to Nashville & Knoxville & was considering both. I've been researching for a couple years now. Then lately I've had a few people tell me I should check out Chattanooga. So this is my first time & it looks wonderful. The only reason I really like Knoxville is because it doesn't seem that they have much tornado activity. That kind of scares me even though we have earthquakes here! We were in Nashville when one hit a few years ago. So I'll take a trip to Chattanooga & check it out & check out more on the websites.
Is the job situation bad there as every where?Thanks./

[Blue502]

this is the job situation in chattanooga as I see it,purely my opinion. There are tons of jobs available,in all hourly/salary ranges. You have to want to work, and maybe even take a position you don't like or money you don't like then work yourself up the pay, job you do like. the people I find bitching about not finding a job are the ones who don't really want to work or put themselves out there. Pay isn't big around here, but neither is the cost of living! Some here that are jobless expect someone to hand them 50 grand a year to sit around and delegate...not going to happen. Chattanooga is full of opportunities, you just have to hunt them down,no one is coming to you. The temp services are an excellent starting point,especially since Amazon and the like are hiring thru them.

[370z]

Originally Posted by Blue502

this is the job situation in chattanooga as I see it,purely my opinion. There are tons of jobs available,in all hourly/salary ranges. You have to want to work, and maybe even take a position you don't like or money you don't like then work yourself up the pay, job you do like. the people I find bitching about not finding a job are the ones who don't really want to work or put themselves out there. Pay isn't big around here, but neither is the cost of living! Some here that are jobless expect someone to hand them 50 grand a year to sit around and delegate...not going to happen. Chattanooga is full of opportunities, you just have to hunt them down,no one is coming to you. The temp services are an excellent starting point,especially since Amazon and the like are hiring thru them.

Do you have "Labor Ready" out there? That's how my husband got his permanent job in CA. He's such a good worker that they hired him & fired someone else that wasn't doing as good of a job! Looks like manufacturing is big in Cleveland area. Thanks.

[Samoi137]

Originally Posted by jwkilgore

A

Environmentalism is more of a "protect the environment so we can enjoy it" attitude instead of the rabid "protect the environment and don't interact with it in any way" attitude more prevalent in CA. .

There are also many people who seek to protect the environment so that we have cleaner air and water now and in the future (in addition to protecting it so they can use it for recreation, agriculture, etc.). . I lived in L.A. and Sacramento for years and didn't know anyone, even in the Sierra Club, etc. who advocating not intereacting with the environment in any way (physically impossible if you breathe), but they may exist. Maybe it's best not to make such gross characterizations of peolein another area (just as people in California shouldn't make gross characterizations about people in Tennessee).

[An Einnseanair]

Originally Posted by Samoi137

There are also many people who seek to protect the environment so that we have cleaner air and water now and in the future (in addition to protecting it so they can use it for recreation, agriculture, etc.). . I lived in L.A. and Sacramento for years and didn't know anyone, even in the Sierra Club, etc. who advocating not intereacting with the environment in any way (physically impossible if you breathe), but they may exist. Maybe it's best not to make such gross characterizations of peolein another area (just as people in California shouldn't make gross characterizations about people in Tennessee).

It's more of a gross generalization, and definitely a gross exaggeration, but it IS based on experience. I'm currently working on a project in SoCal. The client I'm working for has a large in-house staff of protect the environment types who are so afraid of being called out on any type of environmental "oops" that we have to jump through hoops you would not believe (we call them the "ists"... environmentalists, archeologists, etc.)

During one field visit there were going to be quite a large group of people, and there was serious discussion about bring along a tow-behind porta-pottie... not for convenience, but because they didn't want anyone urinating in the desert. Fortunately, this was nixed after they realized the interior would be... messy... after bouncing along the rough roads we were traveling.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING could be left behind. I despise people who litter, and I often volunteer to help pick up trash along trails and public areas. But seriously. Someone was yelled at for leaving a few pieces of orange peel behind (this is in the open desert). One of our guys dips snuff (and if he can't do that, he chews sunflower seeds). He was SOL because they wouldn't let him spit either because of the tiny bits of snuff and the seed hulls counted as "trash". I agree that dipping snuff is gross, but common.

Another guy was yelled at because he dared to park his vehicle off the graded road and in a smooth rocky area (nothing living there, just gravel, but it was not on the road). Another guy was yelled at because he drove down an obvious road, but it wasn't marked on our maps and therefore wasn't an "official" road. Another guy was yelled at because he dared to stack a few rocks on top of each other in a pyramid shape (he was "creating a false archeological site").

When discussing marking underground utilities for this project, it took 3-4 meetings (each with up to a dozen highly-paid manager types) to decide that it was OK to use little metal wires with flags attached. One person almost had a stroke when the traditional method of marking underground utilities (spray paint) was mentioned.

So yeah, what I said was an exaggeration... but...

[Litefoot]

You'll like it here, and $55k + per year you can live very comfortable........

[Blue502]

$55K + here and you are living comfortably! You can eek out a living on $20 K a year, no lie (and no large debt). THat's one of the best things I love about this town!

Yes, we do have a labor ready here. We have lots of temp services. There is absolutely no reason , aside from yourself, that a person can't find a reasonable job with reasonable pay to at least get a start on life here. Plus with all the FREE activities Chattanooga has to offer , aside from the beautiful outdoors, your entertainment expenses could be at nil There are even neignboorhood "free sales" in the Brainerd area that bring quit a crowd. A "free sale" is more or less, you have stuff you don't want, you take it there. Other people have stuff, they have it there. Sort of a "swap meet". Easy way to find furnishings and knick knacks!