Moving to St. Elmo? (Chattanooga, East Ridge: middle-class, condo, neighborhoods) - Tennessee (TN) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Vols08 · 06-13-2008, 02:51 PM

Well my reply is we fight back call the cops were there are drugs,watch each others backs and win this battle to make St Elmo a great place to live and raise a family. Dont get me wrong I know its not the safest place and I do and will arm myself in my house to protect my family but I will not let the "bad guys" run everyone out! Most of my family that has passed away is at the Forest Hills cemetery (mother) and am looking forward to moving at the end of the month. 5700 BLOCK St Elmo Ave.

Vols08 · 06-13-2008, 03:00 PM

By the way anyone that is living there now have any advice for us that are moving there at the end of the month? thank you.

Jon F Moss · 06-13-2008, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vols08

Well my reply is we fight back call the cops were there are drugs,watch each others backs and win this battle to make St Elmo a great place to live and raise a family. Dont get me wrong I know its not the safest place and I do and will arm myself in my house to protect my family but I will not let the "bad guys" run everyone out! Most of my family that has passed away is at the Forest Hills cemetery (mother) and am looking forward to moving at the end of the month. 5700 BLOCK St Elmo Ave.

St Elmo could improve more by having more folks like yourself - hope the move goes well.

Kim Gallagher · 06-18-2008, 04:24 AM

I just went on a real estate web site and found a cute craftman style house.
It is located on 5004 16th ave. It is priced at 67,900.00 and is quite nice. Just wondering if any one out there knows this area? I realize I have to actually go to the area, as real estate web pictures can be deceiving. I will be making a trip to TN this fall to check out future places to live.

u4icmusic · 06-18-2008, 05:43 AM

Go to Google maps or Microsoft maps at maps.live.com and put in the address, go to "street view" and you can actually "drive" down the street and look at all the other houses. Remember the old adage, you get what you pay for. I would avoid St. Elmo, unless you have no children and plan on having a monitored alarm system. Most houses there have on-street parking only, very few have driveway and even less have garages. I'd also complelely fence the yard in and get a watch dog. Be very careful. I'd also buy a handgun or rifle if I were to live there for protection. There's no doubt that St. Elmo has cute old homes, but it's hard to overlook the crime, noise from the large trucks that plow through the neighborhood and the drug problems in that neighborhood.

Vols08 · 06-22-2008, 01:32 PM

Hello Does anyone know the rules or what not on putting a pickett fence around your yard we are moving on 57th street in Saint Elmo and we have a little one and dont want her running into the street! Will someone let me know if we can put up a fence?!?!?!?! thank you

jkmewright · 06-23-2008, 05:13 AM

Website Contact Info (http://st-elmo.org/page/contact/ - broken link)

These people ought to be able to help you Vols. Good luck and keep us updated

jarcricket · 06-24-2008, 09:21 AM

Hi - I work in St. Elmo & live in Red Bank. Crime anywhere near a downtown can be bad - there are drive-by shootings in the area, streets that are nice back up to streets that are not so nice. You hear about all the bad on the news & not a lot of the good, so it's hard to say for sure which there is more of, but it seems that most of the bad you hear about comes from St Elmo, Highland Park & areas downtown. If you need emergency services, I've heard that you might as well walk to the hospital.

Other places to consider & why:
East Ridge - near downtown, some houses have that character, CHECK FLOOD ZONES though. It's hit or miss as well, but the schools would be better. St Elmo - schools - certainly check for yourself & look online at "TN school report cards" & that sort of thing if schools matter. They should even if you don't have kids because you need to know what happens when school is out.

Red Bank - near downtown, most houses have that character, some are real steals, value is rising apparently (I'm selling mine soon & was happy to learn that), archways, large yards, quieter than St Elmo, better emergency response time, convenient to major roads, very close to most major shopping areas - I think East Ridge & Red Bank both have county taxes only.

North Chattanooga - in between Red Bank & downtown, very convenient, mostly houses with same older character, similar to St Elmo with very nice places right next to not so nice places, prices are pretty high, some yards are great, some are terrible, parking can be a problem, may be able to walk to nearby shopping & parks, crime is a little more problematic than Red Bank.

Missionary Ridge - really expensive for the most part, great views, great houses, some places aren't so nice, some are. Highland Park - the "scary" part of town that's being revitalized. Pretty much ALL old houses, again check schools, check nearby neigborhoods. Check for bars on the windows of all gas stations anywhere you look - that's a pretty good tip-off.

Check government housing websites to see where those are. Those are problematic & where the gangs are.

Brainerd - some older good character homes, crime, schools "better" than downtown (generally), another old money, new money, no money area. Chattanooga is filled with places like that so the best thing to do is be way of a price that looks "too low" & check into it yourself. If the houses on the same street look questionable, chances are they will stay that way. Check flood zones anywhere, especially East Ridge & some parts of Red Bank. Anywhere can flood, but some do a LOT more than others.

Some places on Signal or Lookout Mountain are very nice & older but they are also very, very pricey. A little further out than Lookout Mountain into GA is also a place to consider if you aren't dead-set on living in TN.

Hope this was worth your time to read.

jarcricket · 06-24-2008, 09:27 AM

5004 16th ave

House looks nice - the area is a mix - I just drove through there. Not for me, but the houses are very cute. Yards are level & smallish. You drive by most of the "Adult Bookstores" to get there. It's close to a busy street that connects to I-24 & close to hospitals, tourist stuff, downtown & GA state line. Lots of the fast food places are closed up, lots of "buy here, pay here" car lots there, too. You'd need to drive by to see where it is, but I saw the photos, too & the houses looks good. I believe it was recently redone, too.

xtine · 07-21-2008, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u4icmusic

I drove up and down every street in St. Elmo last summer. Personally, I wouldn't live there. Too many run down properties, too many restrictions on remodeling, too much crime and way too many people walking the streets and selling drugs. Some of the houses are cute, but remember you get what you pay for. There is a reason the prices there are so low, it's the crime, the noise and race issues going on there. They have been calling this neighborhood "up and coming" for years now, but it hasn't happened yet, and may not.

Yep.