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Old 10-17-2016, 05:33 PM
 
1 posts, read 3,474 times
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I'm a single straight male in my early 30s and have lived in Asheville for 10 years or basically my entire adult life. I've seen a lot of change in the past 10 years and Asheville has awesome weather, but there has been a huge influx of tourists (10 million last year) and the most expensive place to live in NC continues to get more expensive (house next door just sold for +20% over what they bought it for 18 months ago). I'm more yuppie than hippie and Asheville has seemed to have gone from a reasonably priced place to live with a good mix of young adults to an expensive place with an increasingly transient population thanks to a low wage economy (far more workers than jobs available) that burns through people.

I've lived a lot of places around the country and I've always said I can't imagine living anywhere else, but I'm thinking it might be time to go as it looks like Asheville's problems are going to get worse before they get better. At the top of my list is Chattanooga, although I have yet to visit and only know what I've been able to research on the internet. Below are the points that are appealing to me and I appreciate any insight on how Chattanooga compares to Asheville for those who have been to both places.

1. Size/People: Metro Chattanooga seems to be about 1.5-2x the size of Asheville, which I assume would be better for dating, making friends, jobs/economy, etc. I'd ballpark at least half the people here are from New York or Florida and very few people are actually from Asheville (or even people who have been here 10 years like myself). It's also not unusual to drive 2 hours to Charlotte to catch a flight, so Atlanta/Nashville being 2 hours away is a draw.

2. Tourism: Chattanooga had 3 million visitors last year versus 10 million for Asheville (Las Vegas is 8x larger than us and only has 4x the tourists so it's truly getting out of hand) and we have 5 new high rise hotels built/being built downtown which is just going to make things worse. This means lots of tourists clogging up the roads and makes it difficult to get a table at a restaurant. It also means most of the people you end up meeting don't live here (see dating/etc. above). Traffic here has also become insane as a result--we have very little room for expanding roads and as stupid as it sounds, building sidewalks is a big contentious issue.

3. Weather: Chattanooga is 600 ft elevation versus 2000, but appears to only be a few degrees hotter than Asheville on average and I assume the humidity stays in check. I'm not a huge outdoorsman, but grew up with hot humid summers and snowy dreary winters in the Midwest--both of which I want to avoid.

4. Real Estate: Housing seems to be half the price of Asheville. We just set records with average sale price of over $300k and average asking price is over $600k right now. It looks like $150k is a reasonable price for a decent two bedroom condo or similar.

5. Culture: Asheville is a weird place as anyone who has visited knows--we're in the South but not really. How weird is Chattanooga in comparison?
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Old 10-17-2016, 10:01 PM
 
Location: Cookeville/Crossville
320 posts, read 534,593 times
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Both cities are known for being outdoor recreation meccas in the Southeast and are regularly mentioned alongside Greenville, SC as being very similar. Though not as extensive as Asheville's, Chattanooga has a modern/hip/ artsy culture too, especially in the Northshore area.

i think it would be a good fit for you based on your post.

Also, The economy seems to be quite stong in the area. I think it will definitely experience some decent growth over the next years or so, including an increase in tourism, but with housing prices around 1/2 the cost of Asheville, I think you will be pleased.
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Old 10-17-2016, 10:41 PM
 
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I'd say your post is fairly accurate, with one exception: The humidity in Chattanooga is absolutely intolerable compared to Asheville- if you don't like hot humid summers, you will be miserable all summer. Signal Mountain and Lookout Mountain provide a little respite since they're both 2000+ feet, but not much in July and August.
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Old 11-05-2017, 06:29 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,811 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwentyCharactersLong View Post
I'm a single straight male in my early 30s and have lived in Asheville for 10 years or basically my entire adult life. I've seen a lot of change in the past 10 years and Asheville has awesome weather, but there has been a huge influx of tourists (10 million last year) and the most expensive place to live in NC continues to get more expensive (house next door just sold for +20% over what they bought it for 18 months ago). I'm more yuppie than hippie and Asheville has seemed to have gone from a reasonably priced place to live with a good mix of young adults to an expensive place with an increasingly transient population thanks to a low wage economy (far more workers than jobs available) that burns through people.

I've lived a lot of places around the country and I've always said I can't imagine living anywhere else, but I'm thinking it might be time to go as it looks like Asheville's problems are going to get worse before they get better. At the top of my list is Chattanooga, although I have yet to visit and only know what I've been able to research on the internet. Below are the points that are appealing to me and I appreciate any insight on how Chattanooga compares to Asheville for those who have been to both places.

1. Size/People: Metro Chattanooga seems to be about 1.5-2x the size of Asheville, which I assume would be better for dating, making friends, jobs/economy, etc. I'd ballpark at least half the people here are from New York or Florida and very few people are actually from Asheville (or even people who have been here 10 years like myself). It's also not unusual to drive 2 hours to Charlotte to catch a flight, so Atlanta/Nashville being 2 hours away is a draw.

2. Tourism: Chattanooga had 3 million visitors last year versus 10 million for Asheville (Las Vegas is 8x larger than us and only has 4x the tourists so it's truly getting out of hand) and we have 5 new high rise hotels built/being built downtown which is just going to make things worse. This means lots of tourists clogging up the roads and makes it difficult to get a table at a restaurant. It also means most of the people you end up meeting don't live here (see dating/etc. above). Traffic here has also become insane as a result--we have very little room for expanding roads and as stupid as it sounds, building sidewalks is a big contentious issue.

3. Weather: Chattanooga is 600 ft elevation versus 2000, but appears to only be a few degrees hotter than Asheville on average and I assume the humidity stays in check. I'm not a huge outdoorsman, but grew up with hot humid summers and snowy dreary winters in the Midwest--both of which I want to avoid.

4. Real Estate: Housing seems to be half the price of Asheville. We just set records with average sale price of over $300k and average asking price is over $600k right now. It looks like $150k is a reasonable price for a decent two bedroom condo or similar.

5. Culture: Asheville is a weird place as anyone who has visited knows--we're in the South but not really. How weird is Chattanooga in comparison?

Never been on this site before so I apologize if I’m not replying correctly. Just moved to chatta from Orlando abut 6 Mos ago. It’s beautiful here and seems like there is a lot to offer. I’m single in my mid 30s with no family so it’s been very hard for me to meet people. Climbing gym is great and there is stuff always going on outdoors. Not a fan of bar scene and it seems like it shuts down early compared to Orlando. People are friendly and it’s clean. Rent is $1450 for me but I live in one of the higher end areas. This was comparable to Florida. I know you were looking for comparison between here and Asheville but figured I could offer a lite insight.
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Old 11-06-2017, 12:27 PM
 
1,396 posts, read 2,480,666 times
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I enjoy visiting Asheville, but never thought I'd like to live there. Yes, the surrounding area is very beautiful. With that as your background, you'll probably find a lot to like in Chattanooga. I've always thought of Chattanooga as more of a city than Asheville (a town), although I have noticed the growth of the latter in recent years. As such, Chattanooga has a more prominent place in regional Southeastern history as a long-time industrial and transportation hub.

I do think the people tend to be different in both cities. I notice a lot of grunge in Asheville whenever I'm there. Yes, there is some of that in Chattanooga, but not nearly as much as in the latter. And lately, it has seemed to me that a lot of it is quite phony, such as wealthy kids (young adults) moving there to flaunt their hippie-ish inclinations, as if it's just a phase for them. I've known several people who moved from Chattanooga to Asheville and they were the kind who just sought a simpler, laidback, even a do-nothing "tuned out" lifestyle. Conversely, I know several Asheville transplants who live here, and they're family, professional types. So maybe the cultural differences drew some from one place to the other, but the surface similarities probably made their moves a lot more comfortable (reminiscent of home).

Yes, there are lots of similarities, but I prefer Chattanooga because it seems less isolated, noticeably different, a bit more of a cross-section of people and actually more cultured. If you're looking for a small city, it's probably one of the best you could choose without a drastic change in weather/lifestyle/scenery.
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Old 11-17-2017, 12:22 AM
 
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I live in Chattanooga, I also lived 15 years in Southern Miss, there is no humidity in Chattanooga.
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Old 11-18-2017, 05:51 PM
 
1,396 posts, read 2,480,666 times
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^^ Troll alert! To say there is "no humidity" in Chattanooga is a false statement.
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Old 11-19-2017, 01:00 PM
 
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Chattanooga is more Republican....
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Old 12-02-2017, 07:05 PM
 
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I would be curious to know if jobs are plentiful in Chattanooga or is it based on your profession?
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Old 12-03-2017, 05:14 PM
 
1,396 posts, read 2,480,666 times
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Lots of manufacturing jobs and of course professional jobs. Keep in mind, Chattanooga is a smaller metro area. However it's growing at a healthy clip. It has seen a surge in manufacturing investment in the current decade and as the region lies in a river valley, it's not really conducive to the typical suburban sprawl you see in other cities of similar size. That means downtown has remained generally healthy during the extended period of post-war urban blight. As such, downtown Chattanooga has a wealth of older stock buildings that (first wave) were renovated into commercial/residential space. Now (second wave) is seeing a lot of new construction, especially in formerly industrial areas adjacent/surrounding the historic CBD. Now you have burgeoning areas on the Southend (Main to St. Elmo), the North Shore (Tn River), UT-Chattanooga area (east of downtown) and now on the western edge of downtown on the bank of the TN River.

To your question: Chattanooga has historically been what was called "son-in-law" town and to some extent that's still true. Meaning, if you want to find a place in society/government leadership, you'd need to marry into the established families. That said, that has changed quite rapidly over the past 20 years. Reflective of national trends, it seems like it's on steroids now in Chattanooga. There's a young movement to Chattanooga, aided by its Gig internet. Startups like Bellhops, Legacy Box and Infosys have become players in a burgeoning entrepreneurial hub (see CoLab). Its mayor is what's considered "progressive" (i.e. liberal) and not a part of the old guard, Probasco, Cartter, Brock, Guerrey, Lupton, Davenport, et.al.

So with an influx of new manufacturing in recent years, there has been in-migration of middle management types and the growth of a professional class. You see this reflected in the housing (sprawl, if you will) northeast and due north of the city. VW, GE, TVA, Olin, Shaw, CBL, the F500 Corporation Unum, Blue Cross-Blue Shield and of course, the usual medical and law/accounting firms that tend to cluster downtown. Along with the large companies based in Chattanooaga, you will find entry opportunities in data processing (IT). There has been lots of growth in recent years, at rates up to 3% annually in gdp. Population is beginning to catch up. Generally, the region is one of the healthiest of its size in the Southeast.

A young person coming to Chattanooga is likely to find professional class jobs in Law/Accounting/Insurance/Medicine/Tourism/Education/Chemicals-Manufacturing/Distribution-Trucking/Startups

Of course, if you start out with one of the large companies, you may find yourself transferred out of the region at some point. Overall, if you like small cities it would be a really great place to start your career (or move early in it). Good luck!
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