Can you answer some questions about Chattanooga? (Memphis, Knoxville: attorney, travel)

[WantingoutofAz]

Hi,

I am new to the Chattanooga forum as my husband and I were pretty much set on moving to a suburb of Nashville (visited twice and loved it). We have also researched the tri-cities area and like that too but I don't like that there isn't an airport with direct flights to Phoenix close by. Then this week I read an article in Business Week that talked about the top 50 small towns to raise a family and two suburbs of Chattanooga were on there so I have been reading this forum nonstop for a few days. I really love what I have read and what I have seen as far as pictures. My husband and I are both natives of Phoenix, Az., we have four small children and are looking for a better, less expensive, beautiful place to raise our children.

So here are my questions if you don't mind

1) Cost of living seems really low but are there jobs there? My husband is an attorney and in Nashville it is appearing that he can make close to what he makes here in Phoenix but the houses are so much less expensive. So are there jobs and if there are do they pay fairly? Here in Phoenix salaries are not matched to the cost of living.

2) Do most of you drive to Nashville or Atlanta to fly out? There are direct flights from both places to Phoenix. ALL of our family is in Phoenix so my guess is we will be flying back 2-3 times/year. Traveling with 4 children is tough and I want it to be as smooth as possible.

3) I had briefly looked at Chattanooga in the past and stopped pretty quickly because the crime rates seemed really high. Crime stinks here in Phoenix and we want to live somewhere safe. I realize that every place has crime but are there low crime suburbs of Chattanooga? Do you SEE the crime when you visit downtown?

4) I am homeschooling my children right now as the schools in Phoenix are ranked last in the US. My two oldest are in kindergarten so I just started. I am open to putting them in school if there are good schools around but are there any homeschoolers or homeschooling groups in Chattanooga that anyone knows about?

5) It seems like there is just so much for families and children to do there. Am I right? That is one of the things that I was just blown away by reading past posts yesterday. I love being outside as I am a runner and my three oldest are boys so they need to get out and burn energy. I love the walking paths along the river downtown. It seems there are a lot of parks around. Is Chattanooga a family friendly area?

6) How far to the closest beach? We are 5 hours from San Diego right now and we love the beach. That is one of the downsides to Nashville. I would guess we would be a little closer in Chattanooga.

7) What are the best neighborhoods for young families? The two towns that were ranked in that article I read were East Brainerd and South Cleveland. It seems that people on here have a lot of good things to say about Signal Mountain as well. Are there any neighborhoods were there are new homes being built?

8) Do most of the homes come with some land (at least a 1/2 acre)? Here in Phoenix all the houses are on tiny lots and are crammed together. Like I said earlier I need some land for my kiddos to burn energy.

9) Anyone moved here from the Phoenix area that can offer how they have adjusted and how they like it?

I appreciate anyone who took the time to answer my questions. Have a great day.

[Celsius]

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

Hi,

I am new to the Chattanooga forum as my husband and I were pretty much set on moving to a suburb of Nashville (visited twice and loved it). We have also researched the tri-cities area and like that too but I don't like that there isn't an airport with direct flights to Phoenix close by. Then this week I read an article in Business Week that talked about the top 50 small towns to raise a family and two suburbs of Chattanooga were on there so I have been reading this forum nonstop for a few days. I really love what I have read and what I have seen as far as pictures. My husband and I are both natives of Phoenix, Az., we have four small children and are looking for a better, less expensive, beautiful place to raise our children.

So here are my questions if you don't mind

1) Cost of living seems really low but are there jobs there? My husband is an attorney and in Nashville it is appearing that he can make close to what he makes here in Phoenix but the houses are so much less expensive. So are there jobs and if there are do they pay fairly? Here in Phoenix salaries are not matched to the cost of living.

2) Do most of you drive to Nashville or Atlanta to fly out? There are direct flights from both places to Phoenix. ALL of our family is in Phoenix so my guess is we will be flying back 2-3 times/year. Traveling with 4 children is tough and I want it to be as smooth as possible.

3) I had briefly looked at Chattanooga in the past and stopped pretty quickly because the crime rates seemed really high. Crime stinks here in Phoenix and we want to live somewhere safe. I realize that every place has crime but are there low crime suburbs of Chattanooga? Do you SEE the crime when you visit downtown?

4) I am homeschooling my children right now as the schools in Phoenix are ranked last in the US. My two oldest are in kindergarten so I just started. I am open to putting them in school if there are good schools around but are there any homeschoolers or homeschooling groups in Chattanooga that anyone knows about?

5) It seems like there is just so much for families and children to do there. Am I right? That is one of the things that I was just blown away by reading past posts yesterday. I love being outside as I am a runner and my three oldest are boys so they need to get out and burn energy. I love the walking paths along the river downtown. It seems there are a lot of parks around. Is Chattanooga a family friendly area?

6) How far to the closest beach? We are 5 hours from San Diego right now and we love the beach. That is one of the downsides to Nashville. I would guess we would be a little closer in Chattanooga.

7) What are the best neighborhoods for young families? The two towns that were ranked in that article I read were East Brainerd and South Cleveland. It seems that people on here have a lot of good things to say about Signal Mountain as well. Are there any neighborhoods were there are new homes being built?

8) Do most of the homes come with some land (at least a 1/2 acre)? Here in Phoenix all the houses are on tiny lots and are crammed together. Like I said earlier I need some land for my kiddos to burn energy.

9) Anyone moved here from the Phoenix area that can offer how they have adjusted and how they like it?

I appreciate anyone who took the time to answer my questions. Have a great day.

I'll do my best to answer some of your questions:

(1) As far as jobs,,, Chattanooga in general across the board will pay less than larger cities, but jobs in the "legal field" such as your husband pay very well here. There was a report/article (I'll see if I can find it and link it) that showed that Chattanooga's pay for attorneys was higher than all the major cities in TN, including Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville.

(2) Yes,,, most people do fly out of Nashville or Atlanta but Chattanooga's airport has been adding more and more non-stop direct flights for reasonable prices and therefore boardings have increased significantly.

(3) As far as crime, Chattanooga is not unlike any other city- There are places you wouldn't want to go and also places that are completely safe. Downtown with all of the revitalization is, in my opinion, safe.

(4) Homeschooling has grown immensely in this area. My wife is going to homeschool our now 4-year-old. There are some very good magnet schools but the city schools still need a lot of work although things are getting better. There are several highly regarded private schools in the area as well.

(5) Chattanooga has a lot of things to do- The TN Aquarium, the Children's Discovery Museum, IMAX Theatre, Rock City, Ruby Falls are some just to name a few. If you like water parks, a $12 million water park is slated to open in East Ridge(suburb 10 minutes from downtown) this May. There are a lot of hiking trails and outdoor activites in the area.

(6) The beach- You can be in Myrtle Beach, SC in probably about 6 hours. If traveling to Florida, you can be in Panama City Beach on the gulf side in 8 hours or if you prefer the Atlantic, you can be in Jacksonville Beach in 9-10 hours.

(7) There will be varying opinions on neighborhoods, but I grew up in East Brainerd and want to move back there. I currently live in the Brainerd area and they are really two totally different areas. There is a lot of growth in the East Brainerd and Ooltewah areas which is south of Cleveland TN and north of East Brainerd. Ooltewah is really a hotbed right now with a lot of new subdivisions being built and also a lot of commercial development.

(8) As far as finding places with land, your best bet would be in areas outside of the city such as the Ooltewah area which I mentioned above and areas such as Soddy Daisy which is north of the city that still have some open areas as far as land is concerned.

I hope this helps a bit. --BTW... if you do move to Chattanooga, let your husband know that I'm a court-reporting student so if he needs someone to take his depositions eventually maybe I could help him out.

[RiverView]

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

Hi,

I am new to the Chattanooga forum as my husband and I were pretty much set on moving to a suburb of Nashville (visited twice and loved it). We have also researched the tri-cities area and like that too but I don't like that there isn't an airport with direct flights to Phoenix close by. Then this week I read an article in Business Week that talked about the top 50 small towns to raise a family and two suburbs of Chattanooga were on there so I have been reading this forum nonstop for a few days. I really love what I have read and what I have seen as far as pictures. My husband and I are both natives of Phoenix, Az., we have four small children and are looking for a better, less expensive, beautiful place to raise our children.

Wow, I'll take a stab at it . Nashville is nice. which burb do y'all like?

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

So here are my questions if you don't mind

1) Cost of living seems really low but are there jobs there? My husband is an attorney and in Nashville it is appearing that he can make close to what he makes here in Phoenix but the houses are so much less expensive. So are there jobs and if there are do they pay fairly? Here in Phoenix salaries are not matched to the cost of living.

The cost of living is low compared to most places. There are several medium and large law firms in town so that shouldn't be a problem. When my WC buddies see the size of the houses / lots over here that just can't believe it.

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

2) Do most of you drive to Nashville or Atlanta to fly out? There are direct flights from both places to Phoenix. ALL of our family is in Phoenix so my guess is we will be flying back 2-3 times/year. Traveling with 4 children is tough and I want it to be as smooth as possible.

More often than not I fly out of Chattanooga. But I don't fly that much. Mostly out west to go skiing. There is a shuttle service that services the Atlanta and Nashville airports several times / day. Both airports are less than 2hours out of Chattanooga (depending on time of day traffic)

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

3) I had briefly looked at Chattanooga in the past and stopped pretty quickly because the crime rates seemed really high. Crime stinks here in Phoenix and we want to live somewhere safe. I realize that every place has crime but are there low crime suburbs of Chattanooga? Do you SEE the crime when you visit downtown?

I have seen that crime stat and just find it hard to believe. I just don't see it. I don't see the crime DT either. I'm sure in the parts you wouldn't go to anyway there is crime but the now, happening, and cool places just don't have it. The city installed several cameras at Cooledge Park, Walnut Street Bridge, The Waterfront, The Riverwalk and the Riverpard so I don't think there is a problem in those places.

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

4) I am homeschooling my children right now as the schools in Phoenix are ranked last in the US. My two oldest are in kindergarten so I just started. I am open to putting them in school if there are good schools around but are there any homeschoolers or homeschooling groups in Chattanooga that anyone knows about?

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

5) It seems like there is just so much for families and children to do there. Am I right? That is one of the things that I was just blown away by reading past posts yesterday. I love being outside as I am a runner and my three oldest are boys so they need to get out and burn energy. I love the walking paths along the river downtown. It seems there are a lot of parks around. Is Chattanooga a family friendly area?

There is something to do (usually free) everyweekend. Usually geered towards families. There are a ton of parks and as I mentioned above the Riverwalk from DT to the Chickamauga Dam is 7 miles of paved multi use path. Not to mention the parks attached to the Riverwalk system.

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

6) How far to the closest beach? We are 5 hours from San Diego right now and we love the beach. That is one of the downsides to Nashville. I would guess we would be a little closer in Chattanooga.

We are 6 to 6.5 hours away from the most beautiful white sandy beaches in the world. My friends from SD who now live in Murfreesboro were blown away by the Beached of Walton County, FL. We spend at least 2 sometimes 4 weeks there per year. Check out Beaches of South Walton home page.

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

7) What are the best neighborhoods for young families? The two towns that were ranked in that article I read were East Brainerd and South Cleveland. It seems that people on here have a lot of good things to say about Signal Mountain as well. Are there any neighborhoods were there are new homes being built?

East Brainerd is just not my thing (nothing wrong with it just not for me). That is the Mall and national chain side of town. That area reminds me of Nashville or Atlanta. You can get a bunch of house for the money right now.

I know nothing about South Cleveland.

Signal Mtn is a neat community especially if you use the school system. You mentioned you home school and there is a huge home school community in the Chattanooga metro. The schools on Signal are great and they are building a brand new middle and high school for 2008.

The North Chattanooga / Riverview area is awesome (IMHO). You really get spoiled living there because of the convenience, especially if you enjoy the parks and DT. It does cost a lot more to do the Riverview thing. But as you know Americans pay for convenience (location, location, location).

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

8) Do most of the homes come with some land (at least a 1/2 acre)? Here in Phoenix all the houses are on tiny lots and are crammed together. Like I said earlier I need some land for my kiddos to burn energy.

It depends, some houses are on top of each other and some are not. My house on SM has a huge lot and I'm ready for a postage stamp.

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

9) Anyone moved here from the Phoenix area that can offer how they have adjusted and how they like it?

I don't know any.

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAZ

I appreciate anyone who took the time to answer my questions. Have a great day.

Hope this helps

[TriDad]

I keep telling my brother who lives in Miami that Tennessee has great beaches

[WantingoutofAz]

Originally Posted by Celsius

I'll do my best to answer some of your questions:

(1) As far as jobs,,, Chattanooga in general across the board will pay less than larger cities, but jobs in the "legal field" such as your husband pay very well here. There was a report/article (I'll see if I can find it and link it) that showed that Chattanooga's pay for attorneys was higher than all the major cities in TN, including Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville.

(2) Yes,,, most people do fly out of Nashville or Atlanta but Chattanooga's airport has been adding more and more non-stop direct flights for reasonable prices and therefore boardings have increased significantly.

(3) As far as crime, Chattanooga is not unlike any other city- There are places you wouldn't want to go and also places that are completely safe. Downtown with all of the revitalization is, in my opinion, safe.

(4) Homeschooling has grown immensely in this area. My wife is going to homeschool our now 4-year-old. There are some very good magnet schools but the city schools still need a lot of work although things are getting better. There are several highly regarded private schools in the area as well.

(5) Chattanooga has a lot of things to do- The TN Aquarium, the Children's Discovery Museum, IMAX Theatre, Rock City, Ruby Falls are some just to name a few. If you like water parks, a $12 million water park is slated to open in East Ridge(suburb 10 minutes from downtown) this May. There are a lot of hiking trails and outdoor activites in the area.

(6) The beach- You can be in Myrtle Beach, SC in probably about 6 hours. If traveling to Florida, you can be in Panama City Beach on the gulf side in 8 hours or if you prefer the Atlantic, you can be in Jacksonville Beach in 9-10 hours.

(7) There will be varying opinions on neighborhoods, but I grew up in East Brainerd and want to move back there. I currently live in the Brainerd area and they are really two totally different areas. There is a lot of growth in the East Brainerd and Ooltewah areas which is south of Cleveland TN and north of East Brainerd. Ooltewah is really a hotbed right now with a lot of new subdivisions being built and also a lot of commercial development.

(8) As far as finding places with land, your best bet would be in areas outside of the city such as the Ooltewah area which I mentioned above and areas such as Soddy Daisy which is north of the city that still have some open areas as far as land is concerned.

I hope this helps a bit. --BTW... if you do move to Chattanooga, let your husband know that I'm a court-reporting student so if he needs someone to take his depositions eventually maybe I could help him out.

Celsius,

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate your insight into the area. Are you a native? Just wondering since you said something about wanting to move back to East Brainerd.

If you can find the link to that article you mentioned my husband and I would love to see it. I will let my husband know about the court reporting:-)

[WantingoutofAz]

Originally Posted by RiverView

Wow, I'll take a stab at it . Nashville is nice. which burb do y'all like?



The cost of living is low compared to most places. There are several medium and large law firms in town so that shouldn't be a problem. When my WC buddies see the size of the houses / lots over here that just can't believe it.



More often than not I fly out of Chattanooga. But I don't fly that much. Mostly out west to go skiing. There is a shuttle service that services the Atlanta and Nashville airports several times / day. Both airports are less than 2hours out of Chattanooga (depending on time of day traffic)



I have seen that crime stat and just find it hard to believe. I just don't see it. I don't see the crime DT either. I'm sure in the parts you wouldn't go to anyway there is crime but the now, happening, and cool places just don't have it. The city installed several cameras at Cooledge Park, Walnut Street Bridge, The Waterfront, The Riverwalk and the Riverpard so I don't think there is a problem in those places.






There is something to do (usually free) everyweekend. Usually geered towards families. There are a ton of parks and as I mentioned above the Riverwalk from DT to the Chickamauga Dam is 7 miles of paved multi use path. Not to mention the parks attached to the Riverwalk system.



We are 6 to 6.5 hours away from the most beautiful white sandy beaches in the world. My friends from SD who now live in Murfreesboro were blown away by the Beached of Walton County, FL. We spend at least 2 sometimes 4 weeks there per year. Check out Beaches of South Walton home page.



East Brainerd is just not my thing (nothing wrong with it just not for me). That is the Mall and national chain side of town. That area reminds me of Nashville or Atlanta. You can get a bunch of house for the money right now.

I know nothing about South Cleveland.

Signal Mtn is a neat community especially if you use the school system. You mentioned you home school and there is a huge home school community in the Chattanooga metro. The schools on Signal are great and they are building a brand new middle and high school for 2008.

The North Chattanooga / Riverview area is awesome (IMHO). You really get spoiled living there because of the convenience, especially if you enjoy the parks and DT. It does cost a lot more to do the Riverview thing. But as you know Americans pay for convenience (location, location, location).



It depends, some houses are on top of each other and some are not. My house on SM has a huge lot and I'm ready for a postage stamp.



I don't know any.



Hope this helps

Riverview,
That is really cool how you responded to each part of my message. I have no clue how to do that.

First of all we are looking into Pleasant View in Cheatham county. Initially we were interested in the Franklin/Brentwood area just like everyone else but it has gotten very pricey. We have some friends who moved from Nashville up to Pleasant View and love it. It is a very small rural town. We visited last April and loved it too. Do you have a preference for Nashville over Chattanooga?

Do you have a link to the Chattanooga aiport or can you tell me the name of it. I wanted to see if they had any direct flights to Phx. I doubt it but I guess you never know. And if not maybe they will soon.

Well if you decide to sell your house in Signal Mountain soon maybe we will be interested:-) I understand how you probably get tired of taking care of all the land. You could move to Phoenix, land of the cracker box lots.

Your post helped tremendously. I can't wait to check out the link to the beaches. Thanks so much for your insight.

[RiverView]

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

Riverview,
That is really cool how you responded to each part of my message. I have no clue how to do that.

It's what I do

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

First of all we are looking into Pleasant View in Cheatham county. Initially we were interested in the Franklin/Brentwood area just like everyone else but it has gotten very pricey. We have some friends who moved from Nashville up to Pleasant View and love it. It is a very small rural town. We visited last April and loved it too. Do you have a preference for Nashville over Chattanooga?

I don't know a thing about Pleasent View, Franklin has gotten kinda built up, Brentwood is nice. I guess I prefer Chattanooga over Nashville since I live here. Over the years I've spent lots of time in Nashville mostly business related. The traffice has gotten bad (IMHO) and I don't like the topography. I always have a great time when I visit though.

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

Do you have a link to the Chattanooga aiport or can you tell me the name of it. I wanted to see if they had any direct flights to Phx. I doubt it but I guess you never know. And if not maybe they will soon.

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, Gateway to Southeast Tennessee & North GA. I don't think they have any direct flights to Phx but they are adding direct flights often. Look into this shuttle service <<< Groome Transportation >>>

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

Well if you decide to sell your house in Signal Mountain soon maybe we will be interested:-) I understand how you probably get tired of taking care of all the land. You could move to Phoenix, land of the cracker box lots.

We will be selling the house on SM. No doubt about it . 5bd / 4ba chef's kitchen, spa master, freakin tons of storage, all brick, etc....

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

Your post helped tremendously. I can't wait to check out the link to the beaches. Thanks so much for your insight.

I do what I can

[Celsius]

Originally Posted by WantingoutofAz

Celsius,

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate your insight into the area. Are you a native? Just wondering since you said something about wanting to move back to East Brainerd.

If you can find the link to that article you mentioned my husband and I would love to see it. I will let my husband know about the court reporting:-)

Your welcome... I am a native and actually grew up in East Brainerd so I guess that explains my affinity for that area.

I was able to google and find the article on pay. It was from the TimesFreePress and if you scroll down the article you will see a paragraph heading "Paying a Higher Authority"- it talks about it there. Here is the link - Click

[SPLIT]

W.A. Been here 1 1/2 yr from Hot climate and great county. I did vendor in Phoenix / TEMPE and you guy are hot. Our beautiful, Free ,County BEACh(In Photo) is a great place to take kids , from our big BOATING lake / river.
Camping also, and Fall county fair, Chester Frost park, Hixon , just north of City , rt #27 .
. Your mag article gave you a hint. The secret has been out over a year. Affordable family region. Crime down in south city after dark hours.
Celius gave you a lenghty good info reply.

[TriDad]

now that's the kind of beach I'm talking about!