Most expensive/exclusive neighborhood in Chatt? (credit, living, vs)

[uncletupelo]

Chattanooga has a very old money, elite social crowd that rivals any other southern town. There is a ton of old Coca Cola related money. Chattanooga has more philantropic foundations per capita than any other city outside of Minneapolis. That being said, the new suburbs do not stand a chance in answer to the op's question. Riverview and Lookout are by far the most exclusive and prestigious hoods in Chattanooga. That is not in dispute. Old money wears well.

[jkmewright]

I agree with Uncletupelo. Mostly old money and lots of it.

[Jon F Moss]

most people on the forum on either new money, or no money

[sgrizz]

Originally Posted by dasmarian

I would add that all these may be expensive for Chattanooga, but compared to some other markets these are really cheap. There isn't a whole lot of truly expensive real estate in this city as compared to say, Atlanta. So I can't say that I believe that there is a true elite in Chattanooga, no Skull and Bones Society. I could be naive, but I don't see the money here to support something like that.

No "true elite" in Chattanooga? Last I heard, Chattanooga had the highest concentration of billionaires in the nation. I don't know how much more "skull and bones" it gets...not a lot of people know about the enormous wealth that surrounds the area. That doesn't make you naive, that just puts you in the camp that most other Chattanoogans are in.

[dasmarian]

Originally Posted by sgrizz

No "true elite" in Chattanooga? Last I heard, Chattanooga had the highest concentration of billionaires in the nation. I don't know how much more "skull and bones" it gets...not a lot of people know about the enormous wealth that surrounds the area. That doesn't make you naive, that just puts you in the camp that most other Chattanoogans are in.

Sorry to disappoint, there is no 'high concentration' of billionaires in or around Chattanooga. Here's is the Forbes list of US cities with the most billionaires. Nashville has 3 and Atlanta 4, those are the closest towns (with at least 3), and both are close to last on the list.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-...gs-2009-a.html

I know the carpet mills in Dalton and Coke have made a lot of people wealthy, but honestly Lookout Mountain is no Buckhead. If there was that kind of wealth in Chattanooga, there would be better restaurants, better shopping, and (until recently) better groceries than Food Lion and Bi Lo. Don't get me wrong, I love Chattanooga. But I stand by my claims . . . if there was a high concentration of really wealthy people here you would see a much different, and more exclusive, class of offerings.

[financelife]

Originally Posted by sgrizz

No "true elite" in Chattanooga? Last I heard, Chattanooga had the highest concentration of billionaires in the nation. I don't know how much more "skull and bones" it gets...not a lot of people know about the enormous wealth that surrounds the area. That doesn't make you naive, that just puts you in the camp that most other Chattanoogans are in.

Yeah, that's why I have to go online or drive to Atlanta to buy Burberry or even Pottery Barn. Because there's soo much money here.

I'm a new resident to this town, and the only people I've come into contact with that go on about "old money", etc are people who grew up here. People that are not from here know that the money in Chatt doesn't compare to what's outside of this city. lol

P.S. I love this town.

[dasmarian]

Originally Posted by financelife

People that are not from here know that the money in Chatt doesn't compare to what's outside of this city.

Amen to that.

[VolDude]

Originally Posted by financelife

Yeah, that's why I have to go online or drive to Atlanta to buy Burberry or even Pottery Barn. Because there's soo much money here.

I'm a new resident to this town, and the only people I've come into contact with that go on about "old money", etc are people who grew up here. People that are not from here know that the money in Chatt doesn't compare to what's outside of this city. lol

P.S. I love this town.

Wow, that surprising. I totally expected a city with a metro area ten times that of Chattanooga's to have less wealth.

Atlanta's wealth doesn't compare to Milan or New York, I guess the same can be said for them - they don't know what wealthy is.

The concentration of the super-duper wealthly in Chattanooga is probably similar to any other southern city of similar size. That would obviously be a much better comparison.

Didn't know Pottery Barns were a new sign of uber-wealth. Thanks for the laugh.

[dasmarian]

Voldude, I think you are taking the last couple posts out of context. finance and I were both referring to the internetish-unfact by sgrizz :

Last I heard, Chattanooga had the highest concentration of billionaires in the nation.

So you're right, it would be a better comparison to look at other small cities, but then the irony would have been lost. I don't think anyone doubts there are some wealthy people here. Perhaps some even post here on this message board out of boredom. But the point remains: there aren't a lot of billionaires in the noog.

[Jon F Moss]

can I just say that there is a wealth of quality people here in Chattanooga and to me that matters more. But Pottery Barn, Trader Joes, Brooks Brothers and Ethan Allen would be nice too