Moving near Chattanooga Summer 2015 (Cleveland, Red Bank: real estate, crime, homes)

[Jake8105]

What community or surrounding county would be ideal to move to?

I know this topic has been talked about many times and I have read through several threads, but I would still like to get feedback for my specific situation.

We are a white middle class family from a rural area in Northern Middle Tennessee. I just graduated with a Bachelors degree in Business and will be working in sales/marketing. My wife is taking online classes at Chatt State and is planning to start their RN program next summer. We have two small girls ages 4 and 2. We are outdoor people- hiking, going to the lake, riding bikes.

We have already ruled out downtown Chatt and we won't be able to afford a place on Signal or Lookout Mountain.

From what I have read Ooltewah, Soddy-Daisy, and Red Bank seem ok. Is Ooltewah getting crowded, is Red Bank sketchy- as in crime and are some parts run down, and is Sodd-Daisy a bad commute as in terms of traffic to down town?

What about Harrison and Hixon in terms of crime and their schools?

I guess our perfect place would be 15-20 minutes from downtown, a safe school for our girls, living in an older brick or log home on a couple of acres.

Ooltewah looks good geographically because it falls between Chatt and Cleveland and with me having a business degree that would give me even more career opprotunities. Are Ooltewah public schools safe, is Ooltewah a pretty area?

I can provide mroe detail or answer more questions if needed.

Any advice is appreciated!

[SarahScully]

I'm glad you specified that you are white.

[Jake8105]

Originally Posted by SarahScully

I'm glad you specified that you are white.

I'm just providing detail about myself. Nothing about what I said was racist so don't go there.

[Blue502]

For the school info --www.hcde.org . I am sure we can all give opinions on the schools themselves when you see a few that look good to you.
I love the Soddy and Daisy areas. Affordable home prices, acreage still available , and soon the highway construction will be over and it would be smooth sailing to downtown , going the 153 route to the mall is only bad when a wreck happens on the dam, and traffic is horrible everywhere during xmas season.

I personally, from living in Chattanooga my whole life, would go to Soddy Daisy area.

Ooltewah is about to get too expensive. Subdivisions are popping up around the "town" area and they aren't cheap.

I don't think Red Bank is really all that bad. Yes, you have sketchy areas, but you can also find some fantastic older homes with fantastic pricing is good areas! I have called the area RedBakistan forever, but that is because the police use to be like tyrants.

The Soddy and Red Bank areas would also put you closer , if not your backyard , of everything outdoors you desire.

Hixson and Harrison are nice areas also, have their sketchy areas, and don't know much about how well the schools are.

[Jake8105]

Blue 502 thanks for the reply!

We'll probably stick with the Soddy-Daisy area in Hamilton County. Do you know much about Western Bradley County? Is real estate expensive or is there a lot of crime etc?

We'd like to land between Chattanooga and Cleveland but have found a lot of East Hamilton to be expensive and a lot of subdivisions.

[Blue502]

I really don't know a lot about the western Bradley County except you are in Sequoyah area Welcome to Bradley County, Tennessee - Sequoyah Planning

There are a few peeps on here who did live in Bradley County, maybe they can offer insight. I know the area around Lakesite on the Chattanooga/Hamilton County side of Sequoyah is expensive, mostly because it is water property, nukes or not! LOL