Relocating to Hamilton County - Hisxon, Ooltewah, Soddy Daisy or Signal Mountain? (Chattanooga: real estate)

[RiverView]

Originally Posted by McMar

Signal Mountain is beautiful. Soddy Daisy has the lake. I would think both areas are about the same commute time to downtown. You shouldn't have any problem finding a nice house with acreage within your budget, but you'll have to look around a bit to find both the nice house and the acreage. Welcome to Chattanooga!

The commute from SM isn't as bad as you think. Depending if you live on the front side or back side the commute is only 15 to 25 minutes to DT Nooga.

[McMar]

Originally Posted by RiverView

The commute from SM isn't as bad as you think. Depending if you live on the front side or back side the commute is only 15 to 25 minutes to DT Nooga.

So correct RiverView. And the drive up and down Signal is gorgeous. What is the drive time from Soddy to downtown - about 25 minutes (35 during rush hour)? Still not bad, but I am spoiled and wouldn't want to spend that much time in my car every day. I imagine when we use the word "commute", it is a bit of a joke for these folks moving in from largely populated areas. A "commute" to us is 25 minutes, but to the folks in some outer Atlanta suburbs and DC suburbs, it's an hour and a half.

[lhume]

Originally Posted by McMar

So correct RiverView. And the drive up and down Signal is gorgeous. What is the drive time from Soddy to downtown - about 25 minutes (35 during rush hour)? Still not bad, but I am spoiled and wouldn't want to spend that much time in my car every day. I imagine when we use the word "commute", it is a bit of a joke for these folks moving in from largely populated areas. A "commute" to us is 25 minutes, but to the folks in some outer Atlanta suburbs and DC suburbs, it's an hour and a half.

You're right! Up here in Northern VA, my husband goes in on off hours so he can drive only 30-40 minutes each way. If he ever does try to make it home to eat dinner with us, it can take 90 minutes to get home during rush hour - assuming there are no accidents. He plans to work from home when we move, but if he ever did get something downtown, he'd not think twice about a 30 minute commute.

I do have another question regarding Hixson. As I mentioned before, Tridad has been a wealth of information on Hixson. Just wondering why I don't see it listed as a city on the city-data listings by town. Is it more of a community area? Just a bit confused. I printed data on the other cities/towns we're considering, but couldn't print similar stats on Hixson for a side-by-side comparison.

On another note, we're hoping to make it down during the kids' spring break which is the week of March 24th. In rereading posts from 2007, I noticed people saying many conventions were held last March and rooms were hard to find. Can I expect the same this year? Didn't know if March was a special event time down there.

Thanks so very much for all the information. You've all made the search so much easier. I can't imagine how people moved to other states decades ago without the convenience of the Internet and all the info you can gather!

[RiverView]

Originally Posted by McMar

So correct RiverView. And the drive up and down Signal is gorgeous. What is the drive time from Soddy to downtown - about 25 minutes (35 during rush hour)? Still not bad, but I am spoiled and wouldn't want to spend that much time in my car every day. I imagine when we use the word "commute", it is a bit of a joke for these folks moving in from largely populated areas. A "commute" to us is 25 minutes, but to the folks in some outer Atlanta suburbs and DC suburbs, it's an hour and a half.

I keep my boat in Soddy Daisy and it takes me 30 minutes to get there from North Chattanooga. I'm not exactly driving 65 either

[TNNative]

I used to live in Hixson and have ex-inlaws that still live on Camp Columbus Road. The lake up in that area is beautiful, especially up aroud the Marina and the Chickamauga up in SD.

Might visit that area more often, but 2 hours away from the ex is still too close

[beachbyrd]

Part of Hixson lies in the city of Chattanooga and part in the Hamilton County service area. It is more like a suburb or a community as you say. It seems to me like people in the area talk about it like it is a town, though. If you are looking for good public schools in Hixson, there are more good elementary schools thatn middle and high school, but if you live in the northern part of Hixson or S/D, you can keep good schools from K-12. Some of the good schools in Hixson are:

Big Ridge
McConnell
Falling Water (I believe that serves Soddy-Daisy, as well?)

For middle school, you really need to be at Loftis if you live in Hixson, because Hixson Middle is not great. Also, For High School, no Hixson High, the better one is Soddy Daisy. The Northern part of Hixson is zoned for Soddy Daisy, so that is good.

When I have researched the elementary schools in the area, I have really liked what I have read and heard about Big Ridge, because while it is a really good school academically, it is also much more diverse than the other schools in the Hixson and Soddy Daisy areas. The problem is, Big Ridge kids go to Hixson Middle and Hixson HS.

You can get at least an acre in most areas, but to get 2 acres you probably will want to stay in the north part of Hixson or Soddy Daisy on this side of town. I really can't speak for Ooltewah or Signal Mountain, because we (TriDad, our little one, and I) have only lived here since 9/1 and don't often get to those areas, but the public schools on Signal Mountain are known to be the best in the area.

We may end up doing public school for elementary, becaus it gives us more options for areas to live, and then shoot for private for middle and high school. There are just so many more good elementary schools in the area. There are a lot of home schooling families around here too.

Hope that helps some

[beachbyrd]

Oh, I forgot Ganns Elementary, I have heard that one is a good one, too.

[McMar]

Beachbyrd is dead on regarding the schools. I grew up on Big Ridge, and it is an awesome family area. Very hilly, very pretty. Close proximity to the lake, community pool, etc. Big Ridge elementary school is still good, but unfortunately Hixson middle and high schools have gone WAY downhill since 1990, and I wouldn't want to send my kids there. Parts of Middle Valley (Ganns elementary) are zoned for Hixson middle and high also.

[jkmewright]

McMar, I grew up in Hixson as well but not on the ridge, we were just off of Hamill Road. I was there the first year Big Ridge opened and I remember all of us trying to come up with a theme lol "Good, better, BIG RIDGE!"

[TNNative]

My stepson also went to Big Ridge. It was a good school even then back in 1980.