Moving to St. Elmo? (Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain: for sale, to rent, condos)

[Profilewriter]

Hi,
We are thinking seriously about moving to St. Elmo.

We don't know a whole lot about Chattanooga, and have had very little time to look around (we live in New Jersey), but are attracted to St. Elmo's location near Lookout Mountain, its front yard gardens, mature trees, sidewalks, and new playground. Oh yes, and the prices seem low --- houses priced at about $113,000 to $130,000. Also, we love that it is a quick drive to downtown.

Do you think this is a good choice?

Are there similar neighborhoods that we should consider?

I am grateful for any and all information.

Thanks so much!

[noogakl81]

I have lived in Saint Elmo for the past four years. To find out more about Saint Elmo, you may want to go to Saint Elmo Forum :: Index (http://www.saintelmoforum.com - broken link) and post there. Alternatively, you could register for the neighborhood e-mail list at [url=http://www.st-elmo.org/]St. Elmo Historic District[/url]. However, I would caution you to use an e-mail account that is not your main account, as you can expect to receive 10-15 e-mails a day, everything from event announcements, things for sale, people complaining or offering opinions about neighborhood issues, etc.

Here is my simple summary of the pros and cons of living in Saint Elmo

Pros: beautiful historic homes, close to downtown, diverse neighborhood, nice neighborhood park, good neighborhood communication via e-mail/forum

Cons: traffic noise: lots of big trucks going down St Elmo Ave (the main road through the neighborhood), safety on the streets: lots of people speed, and the speed limit on St Elmo Ave is 35, crime (lots of drug dealing and theft and about one murder a year), if you want to modify the exterior of your house, you have to go through a lot of red tape, and it will cost you more than if you lived in a neighborhood that wasn't designated as a historic district.

I hope this is helpful.

[Jon F Moss]

noogakl makes some good points. We put some serious thought into renting in St Elmo when we moved to town. My advice is to GO THERE FIRST, and take a look for yourself. The neighborhood can vary from block to block in some parts, and although the prices are attractive, you may find that you're buying a project house. Then again, that may be exactly what you're looking for.

After taking a closer look and driving through the neighborhood we decided it was not the best place for our family to move to initially. That doesn't mean we wouldn't consider buying something there in the future though.

[Profilewriter]

Thank you so much, both of you, for replying to my questions about St. Elmo.

We spent only about 30 to 40 minutes walking around in the neighborhood, and liked what we saw ---- sidewalks, front porches, lots of restored homes, families out walking, new playground, mountain views, friendly couple who called hello from their porch.

Are we missing something?

Is crime a serious problem? Are people bailing out?

Have restorations slowed --- or reversed?

We would be most grateful for all information.

Thanks so much!

[scotiapryncess]

Well, I am moving there, uh, tomorrow. I loved the neighborhood. I'm moving onto the 5600 block of Alabama so it's a pretty busy street. I know about the ups and downs. What one resident told me is that the banks were pretty free with funding to rehab the historic homes, but when the recession hit, the funding was pulled. So people are stuck with half-finished projects.

The rent is reasonable, the house is nice and I just cannot live in the condos and new construction. No soul. I prefer a diverse neighborhood. I work in drug counseling with offenders, so messing with me might be a mistake for local drug dealers. Anyhow, I'm excited. I'm coming from the flat, frigid, midwest. I wish you the best.

[jkmewright]

Welcome and good luck Scotia!

[Jon F Moss]

congratulations! maybe we'll see you at Mocha Joe's someday

[Vols08]

We are moving in June 28th and we see the pros and cons and still want to live in St Elmo. They named Thankful street and church after my great great great... grandmother. We cant wait to move. We have a 2 year old and looking forward too the change.

[Jon F Moss]

5600 Alabama? We looked at a remodeled 2/2 in that vicinity. Nicely done, but to small for us.

there's a great little park on St Elmo Ave.....kids love it!

[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.