Signal Mtn or Ooltewah (Chattanooga, East Brainerd: for sale, houses, neighborhoods)

[Canuck26]

I'm a Canadian contemplating accepting a job in Chatt. Family of 5 with 3 kids under 8 years of age. Done a fair amount of research and it seems Singnal Mountain is winning. Public schools seem top ranked and the area has a lot going for it. Although most of the homes look older and prices higher. Ooltewah homes look much newer and you get more for your money. Are there newer homes in Signal as well or is it older and more established, don't want to renovate. Looking in the $300k to $450k range. Also, doesn't seem many homes have inground pools there. You would think with the warm weather there would be more. I see more pools up here in a Canada than seem to be there. Anyone know what it cost to have a pool put in there. Up here it can run around $25-$35k

[pioti]

Both areas have their + and -. I moved here 2 years ago. Before arriving based on research Signal Mt was my first choice. After spending several months here and meeting with school personnel I discounted Signal Mt and ended up in East Brainerd.

East Brainerd will have a new Middle/High school starting in August whereas Signal opened theirs up last August. There are different programs in each of the schools (Signal has an IB program, East Hamilton will not). I imagine that both schools are/will be excellent. High parental involvment in both, top teachers in both, new facilities etc.

Your location of work might impact your decision on where to live. There are lots of threads on relocation in this forum. Almost every opinion is available. I personally am not crazy about Ooltewah which I consider seperate from East Brainerd. OOltewah has more more new development where the infrastructure has not kept up with development.

Regarding pools a lot of sub divisions have pools that open Memorial Day to Labor Day. Friends just bought a house - 4000 sq ft, a pool, good condition for 325K in our area. So houses with pools are also available.

Good Luck- I recommend a visit, recon neighborhoods and meeting with school personnel before making a decision. School is out end of May so it will be harder after that to get a feel for schools.

[Canuck26]

We're coming down for a visit next weekend so we'll have to scout out the various areas. Work would be over on the West side of Lookout Mnt on Birmingham Hwy. I am having trouble looking up homes in E. Brainerd...Realtor.com does not recognize it...what Zip code to you live in.

What was it that you didn't like after meeting Signal school personnel? I've only read great things about the schools. I'm not familiar with the U.S. school system...what is an "IB program"?

[GeorgiaPeach08]

Might want to check out the neighborhood..Windstone Gated Golf Community. It's in Ringgold School system, 15 minutes from a great mall, restaurants and such. Also, fast drive to downtown Chattanooga. Lots of families with kids and activities set up by neighborhood association. We have a home for sale there. We had to move to another state for a job but absolutely loved the neighborhood. The other High School is brand new...it's called Heritage.

[Canuck26]

Looks very nice. Is your house on the GA or TN side? I like that TN has no State Income tax. I suspect if I live in the GA side I'll have to pay that state's income tax??

[VolDude]

Originally Posted by Canuck26

Looks very nice. Is your house on the GA or TN side? I like that TN has no State Income tax. I suspect if I live in the GA side I'll have to pay that state's income tax??

Yep.

IB means the school has an International Baccalaureate program, basically meaning the curriculum has a worldwide focus and the diploma will be more relevant towards acceptance to universities throughout the world.

If you end up going with Signal, stock up on break pads.

[hbc423]

Signal mtn. is like 5 min away from downtown chattanooga, like 10 min from georgia, 10 min from sequatchie county, and 10 min from marion county. It's a bird sanctuary up here, your on a mountain so there are creeks everywhere to go swimming in during the summer, why swim in a little pool when you can go jump off something high into a creek. The air up here is better, the woods down here are so thick during the summer that it looks like the amazon or something down here, chattanooga has the greatest variety of trees of anywhere except somewhere in china. Ooltewah is close to the biggest mall in TN and close to harrison and brainerd and its probably like 7 miles to georgia but signal mtn. still has the best location and it's just all around better than ooltewah theres nothing going on out in ooltewah, it's the country. You can come off the front of the mountain and be in downtown in less than 5 min. or you can come off the gap on the backside of the mountain and be on the backside of hixson almost in soddy daisy, but the houses are more expensive up here but it's because if your house is in the right spot up here there aren't too many places better.

[u4icmusic]

check zip code 37421, which is near the shopping district and has some really nice housing. Some communities have pools too. Use chattanoogamls.net to search for a home that is listed on the mls, you can narrow your search to East Brainerd. I don't like Oltewah, there is a large community seventh day adventists that live there, so unless you are a seventh day adventist, I would avoid that area.

[shinestx]

Originally Posted by hbc423

Signal mtn. is like 5 min away from downtown chattanooga, like 10 min from georgia, 10 min from sequatchie county, and 10 min from marion county. It's a bird sanctuary up here, your on a mountain so there are creeks everywhere to go swimming in during the summer, why swim in a little pool when you can go jump off something high into a creek. The air up here is better, the woods down here are so thick during the summer that it looks like the amazon or something down here, chattanooga has the greatest variety of trees of anywhere except somewhere in china. Ooltewah is close to the biggest mall in TN and close to harrison and brainerd and its probably like 7 miles to georgia but signal mtn. still has the best location and it's just all around better than ooltewah theres nothing going on out in ooltewah, it's the country. You can come off the front of the mountain and be in downtown in less than 5 min. or you can come off the gap on the backside of the mountain and be on the backside of hixson almost in soddy daisy, but the houses are more expensive up here but it's because if your house is in the right spot up here there aren't too many places better.

Dang, you must drive like a banshee! My experience has been more like 15 minutes from the center of the town of Signal Mtn. to downtown Chattanooga without the usual backups at S.M. Blvd. and U.S. 27. Living further out in the newer areas of S.M. will add anywhere from 5-15 minutes to your commute.

Signal is more like 20-25 minutes from the GA border, whether you go I-24/75 or TN 153/I-75. It's about 20 miles from the town center. The new high school in Signal has been open for a year now, and it's obviously very good (although there was a huge fight between Signal and McCallie students last month). Signal is definitely removed from the action, if you like that, and as such, it really is its own community. My wife wanted a bit more variety and we chose the E. Brainerd area which is zoned for Westview and the new East Hamilton H.S.. I'd say the commute to downtown from both areas is about the same, although you'll see more traffic from E. Brainerd. It's where the mall is and the main Interstate (75) through the metro area. Of course, you have every restaurant you can imagine in E. Brainerd... but not so much on the north side. Downtown has the finer dining establishments.

[shinestx]

Originally Posted by u4icmusic

check zip code 37421, which is near the shopping district and has some really nice housing. Some communities have pools too. Use chattanoogamls.net to search for a home that is listed on the mls, you can narrow your search to East Brainerd. I don't like Oltewah, there is a large community seventh day adventists that live there, so unless you are a seventh day adventist, I would avoid that area.

That's my zip too (Mtn. Shadows). I like the housing stock in Ooltewah. I have not noticed the huge population of 7DA members outside of Collegedale, which lies between E. Brainerd and Ooltewah, and I've never had an issue with them. They tend to be "earthy" people and live clean lifestyles. There is a great 7DA health food store in the middle of Collegedale, across the street from the college.