Chattanooga or Nashville? Has anyone lived in both places? (Memphis: condo, high crime)

[Smart Shopper]

Mary, we moved to the Chattanooga area 20 years ago and have never once regretted the move. We love it here. After spending a few years in the Illinois prairie flatlands, we thought we had gone to heaven with all this beauty around here. My husband seems to think that the problem with no seeming interest from employers is the fact that most of them probably don't want to pay traveling/relocating expenses unless absolutely necessary. Chattanooga was just rated last month as the #3 city in the nation as far where people would like to relocate. (This is from the Relocate America website.) Traffic problems are few and the public school system is great (especially in North Hamilton County "Soddy Daisy" - but I'm prejudiced as that is where we live). My kids all attended the local university "University of Tennessee-Chattanooga", and that is another big plus that Chattanooga has over Nashville. Nashville does have Vanderbilt and several other colleges/universities, but they are all private, I'm pretty sure, and fairly expensive. I'm all for letting my tax dollars pay for the education if possible. You might try getting a local P.O. address with mail forwarding and list a local address and see how your husband's job hunting goes. That would be my suggestion.

[Mary77]

One of the companies we sent a resume to called and invited my husband to come down for an interview. But since driving to Chattanooga from Vermont costs a fortune right now, my husband asked to be interviewed by phone first. It turned out that the pay rate was too low (as far as we know). I think this is one of the problems we are going to have with our job search. The cost of living is low there--so what businesses pay is probably lower. It's hard for us to gage what is considered "good pay" in Chattanooga after living in Vermont where the cost of living is through the roof. I think what we really need is some idea from someone who lives there what it's going to cost to live there. I'm almost sold on Soddy-Daisy. I have three sons ages 8, 11 and 14 and I agree with you "let the tax dollars pay for the education" and I've heard nothing but good things about that school district. My only concern with Soddy-Daisy is how far my husband will have to drive to work in Chattanooga. I've seen posts here that say it takes about thirty minutes. With gas prices so high and with some "experts" predicting that they won't be going down anytime soon, I wonder if we should find another community closer in?

[Mary77]

mysticfire0213-

Has your husband had any luck?

[chattamom]

Mary, I would strongly suggest you visit here before committing to any move. Yes, it's a beautiful area, with a low cost of living. However, we pay the price in our school system, which is downright awful. Hamilton County suffers from huge budget problems, overcrowded classrooms, underpaid teachers, the list goes on and on. The schools on Signal Mountain are good, and some of the elementary schools (Lookout Mtn, Westview, Big Ridge, a few others including some of the magnet schools) are good. However, most of the middle and high schools are NOT. There are gang problems, fights, drugs, major discipline issues. I have several friends who moved here from New England- one from CT and one from MA- and both were shocked by the poor quality of the schools here.
Here's a recent news story about the budget:
Tennessee's Budget Cuts Likely to Impact Hamilton County Schools Harshly | WDEF News 12 | News, Weather and Sports for Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley

Another factor to consider: our hot, muggy summers. Basically, 4 months of the year we have highs into the 90's for weeks on end and no relief in sight. Now, if you love hot, muggy weather, you will love it here. But if you prefer mild New England summers, you're going to be in for a huge shock. Of course, the flip side is that winters are relatively mild, with just the occasional snowfall here and there (whereupon the entire town shuts down because nobody knows how to drive in it!) Fall here is absolutely beautiful, and not unlike New England, with all the leaves changing (though it happens about 6 weeks later here in than in VT.)

Crime is also a much bigger problem here than anywhere in Vermont. I felt safe walking all over downtown Burlington, but there are many parts of Chattanooga I would never set foot in (or drive in). In fact, Chattanooga has one of the highest crime rates in the country for a city of its size. There are, of course, safer suburban neighborhoods outside the city limits. Here's a brief article on crime in Chattanooga:
Top Stories: Chattanooga is 59th, Cleveland 53rd when it comes to Violent Crime | crime, chattanooga, ranks - www.newschannel9.com
Now, if you're coming from a big city like LA, you would probably feel comparatively safe in Chattanooga. But compared to VT...well, the numbers tell the story.

Anyway, don't mean to burst your bubble- I just don't want you to be in for a shock. And I happen to love New England- I'd move there in a heartbeat if I could possibly ever afford it!

[Mary77]

Wow. That does kind of bust my bubble. I know that this forum has discussed the high crime rate before and a few people said that they think that the way Chattanooga reports their crimes makes them look worse than other cities who maybe aren't that honest. When you say that there are parts of Chattanooga that "you would not step foot in", can you give a more detailed explanation why? Are there gangs of dangerous looking people hanging out on the corner selling drugs? There seems to be a strong mix of opinion on this forum. Most people go on and on about how much they love Chattanooga and don't seem to be too concerned about crime. Is it just concentrated in one part of the city?

[chattamom]

Mary, that's precisely what I mean. There are some bad parts of Chattanooga full of youth roaming the streets, drug dealers, prostitutes, public housing projects, drive-by shootings, etc. I never saw anything like that anywhere in VT. There are even more quasi-bad areas that may be ok to drive through during the day, but I'm cautious even then and would avoid at night. The questionable areas aren't really confined to one area of Chattanooga. The immediate area around downtown is ok, since it's so busy and touristy now, but we've even had a few incidents in those areas (e.g., Coolidge Park- a nice and very busy family park on the North Shore- but last summer there were repeated episodes of gang violence there.)

The suburban areas tend to be much safer, especially outside the city limits. Again, it depends on what you're used to. Folks from big cities tend to feel very safe here compared to LA or Miami. But it's a whole different world than anywhere in New England- well, maybe akin to parts of Boston, e.g., the public housing in Southie.

With all that said, Chattanooga is a much better place to live now than it was 20 years ago. Much of the public housing has been razed and converted to nicer subsidized housing for low-income. The downtown in particular has been revitalized and is now a vibrant, happening place that is comparatively safe. Still, crime remains a major problem- it's just a fact of life here.

[Mary77]

Well, than is there a city in Tennesse that you would recommend? I've only lived in Vermont for six years. I actually grew up in Panama City Florida, so the muggy summers would not seem that bad to me. We like Tennesee because there is no income tax, the cost of living is reasonable, it's far enough from either coast that the humidity is not so bad, there's not a lot of snow and it's in the Bible belt.

[chattamom]

You're right about the income tax and the cost of living, as well as the lack of snow and Bible belt- but be warned: the humidity is AWFUL!! It's as bad here as along the Gulf Coast, but without the ocean breezes to cool things off. In fact, the humidity is what makes summers here so intolerable.
Also, I don't mean to scare you away from Chattanooga completely- there are a lot of good things about living here...low cost of living, wide variety of stuff to do for the kids, mild winter weather, relatively little traffic compared to some other places I've lived. I just wanted to make sure you weren't viewing the place through rose-colored glasses, KWIM? (My DH and I made that mistake once- relocated to what we thought would be an idyllic little town in Washington State- and it turned out to be a disaster. Fortunately, this was before we had kids, so we just picked up and moved away again.)
There are some nice smaller cities in TN- Cookeville, for example, which is in middle TN about an hour or so east of Nashville. Signal Mountain- about 20 minutes from downtown Chattanooga-is wonderful- if you can afford to live there. I've also heard great things about Williamson County, TN- which is about an hour or so south of Nashville- but again, housing is going to be steeper there (though still a bargain compared to most places in the country.) The NE corner of Tennessee is beautiful- Johnson City, for example- though jobs are hard to come by up there.
Could you pack up the family for a vacation and come check the place out? At the very least, you'd get a nice vacation out of it- and then you could see for yourself whether or not it might be a good fit for your situation.

Originally Posted by Mary77

Well, than is there a city in Tennesse that you would recommend? I've only lived in Vermont for six years. I actually grew up in Panama City Florida, so the muggy summers would not seem that bad to me. We like Tennesee because there is no income tax, the cost of living is reasonable, it's far enough from either coast that the humidity is not so bad, there's not a lot of snow and it's in the Bible belt.

[Mary77]

O.K. so it sounds like you are saying as long as we don't live in Chattanooga or send the kids to most of Hamilton County schools, then it could be a good place to live, right? Your name on this forum is Chattamom so I assume you have kids? Do you live on Signal Mountain? Do you send your kids to a private school? What about your friends from New England that moved there. Did they stay? How did they deal with the poor school problem?

Why is Signal Mountain so great? If it's only 20 minutes from so much violent crime, then why isn't it affected?

[Bluebird9872]

This is the first time I've read anyone saying that the humidity in Chattanooga is awful. Does everyone else feel that way, too? I've been through most areas of TN in the month of July and remember the humidity in Nashville and Memphis being awful, but don't recall it being bad in Chattanooga. I had assumed it would be similiar to the climate in the Hendersonville/Asheville area of NC being it is just on the other side of the mountains. I lived there for 5 years and absolutely loved the climate. The climate and it's central location (to the rest of our family) is why we are looking to relocate to Chattanooga. I don't mind it getting hot during the day, but I remember the nights being really nice and cool and it just made the hot days seem more bearable.