Considering a move to Chattanooga-some help please

[Grey_Day]

jkmewright - don't forget they're moving from Chicago. The city is beyond HUGE - truly mind-blowing to me, every time I visit it. Travel in Chattanooga is usually 15 minutes tops from one end to the other. Downtown to Hamilton Place for shopping is sometimes only 10 mins. In normal traffic, travel from the far end of Hixson to East Ridge/Ringgold Rd is about 25-30 minutes.

Chattanooga is like Tampa was 15 years ago. A very comfortable size. Just enough stuff and culture to keep you busy, not too much to be overwhelming, and not too big so it takes forever to travel from one end to the other.

I will say, you may experience a little culture shock - but of the choices you have selected, Chattanooga or Austin is your best bet. KY would be a major shock, imho. I lived outside Lexington for a while in college. Lexington has changed a lot and is really friendly - but it's a very conservative area in my experience.

Anybody think perhaps Lookout Mountain would work for these folks as well?

[JuliaTN1]

Lookout would probably fit the bill for most of the things Tom is looking for but if "liberal" is a criteria, North Chatt is where I'm going. You also have to come down off the mountain for just about anything except gas so they'd have to drive to N. Chatt to get to Greenlife, upscale restaurants, etc. There are at least a few things opening up in St. Elmo and Lookout Valley but doesn't sound like the kind of places they're looking for.

[orgonebox]

As someone who has lived in Lexington, Louisville, and currently resides in Chattanooga, I thought I might have some worthwhile comments.

1) Lexington: I hate the city. I lived there for ten years, and watched a strong progressive streak and downtown development yen get sucked into the usual taxpayer-financed downtown building debacle. If you want to see an example of what I mean, look into any building built by the Webb brothers over the past forty years. Sure, Lexington can be pretty, but you'll get tired of looking at that countryside when your favorite local business goes under due to a crappy landlord. Otherwise, cost of living is okay.

2) Chattanooga - My girlfriend and I moved here two years ago so she could complete a residency and I could finish my MA. While I can't say I hate it, there are many times when I look for cultural events, music, and art events, and can only find bible camps, gospel sings, and "whole family fun" going on. Want to see a good art film? You can forget about it. Great dining? Eh, there's nothing that a moderately talented foodie couldn't do better in their own kitchen. The best part of Chattanooga is that if you can make some friends, its a good base to access some great outdoors activities. That said, I find all my focus for fun in Chattanooga involves leaving the city. As far as crime goes, I think Chattanooga is on par with some larger cities (like Louisville), which is kind of weird. And my realtor that showed us homes was ridiculously racist and a religious bigot.

3) Louisville - I would recommend this city for someone looking for a bit slower pace without giving up the big-city cultural and restaurant diversity. There's always something to do in Louisville, and I found the city very navigable by bike. Granted, Louisville has its problems also - like whole areas of the city considered "unsafe" due to race or class differences. Then there's the fact that most Louisville natives are very cliqueish/scenesterish, so breaking into the general milieu always requires a bit of a proving on your part. Most native Louisvillians are more concerned about where you went to high school than if you ever went to college. Bad weather in Louisville is a freak incident every five years or so, not a regular occurrence. L-ville and Lextown get about a two-week severe cold snap every winter, but nothing compared to Chicago.

So yeah, just depends on what you've got going into any city also - friend network, job, etc. I haven't made one fast friend during my time here in Chattanooga, so that's part of my problem with the city. Other dweller's experiences may vary.

[antiquesmountainapache]

If you can't make friends in Chattanooga it's your fault! Chattanooga was the friendliest place I ever lived (in Atlanta now). North Chattanooga is great.

[rangelos60]

Austin had 60+ days of triple digit temps this summer. I'm leaving Austin for Chattanooga and can't wait.

[jmarkey]

It was a brutal summer! We're leaving Houston for Chatt. We lived in Knoxville for a year and miss Tennessee.

[blindsolitude]

Originally Posted by orgonebox

2) Chattanooga - My girlfriend and I moved here two years ago so she could complete a residency and I could finish my MA. While I can't say I hate it, there are many times when I look for cultural events, music, and art events, and can only find bible camps, gospel sings, and "whole family fun" going on. Want to see a good art film? You can forget about it. Great dining? Eh, there's nothing that a moderately talented foodie couldn't do better in their own kitchen. The best part of Chattanooga is that if you can make some friends, its a good base to access some great outdoors activities. That said, I find all my focus for fun in Chattanooga involves leaving the city. As far as crime goes, I think Chattanooga is on par with some larger cities (like Louisville), which is kind of weird. And my realtor that showed us homes was ridiculously racist and a religious bigot.

So yeah, just depends on what you've got going into any city also - friend network, job, etc. I haven't made one fast friend during my time here in Chattanooga, so that's part of my problem with the city. Other dweller's experiences may vary.

Did you miss nightfall, four bridges art festival, the chattanooga market, the entire northshore/frazier area, events at the chattanooga african american museum, bluff view art district, CTC, etc? Also the Bijou shows a good number of films that the other theatres do not show (currently has the horse boy and food, inc in addition to the "blockbusters"). Though the original is set to close, I'm sure the new theatre downtown will show some of these as well. You actually have to look for the events; a lot of which are advertised in The Pulse or something like it. You'll also find musical acts/performance list in it as well. Just by clicking on the Chattanoogan's website, I found 4 events that might interest you: One Bridge Folk Art Festival, smART Show, ARt Until Dark, and Liberty Street Hall Concert Series. There are events in Chattanooga, but you may have to take the time to look. In addition, CreateHERE is and has been putting together some fabulous events in the downtown area.

I loved growing up in Chattanooga. I always had something to do and never saw any of the "gospel sings" that have been talked about. . . . probably because I didn't care about them and found events I wanted to go to.If you go into something with a negative attitude, that is what you will get in return. I made a lot of new friends by simply volunteering somewhere.

[peppermint]

Thanks for your post, blindsolitude. I do think it's important to remember that oftentimes we find what we expect. If we expect to find hyper-religious, judgmental, or hateful people, that's often who we do find. Thanks for reminding us.

Our first year in the Chattanooga area has been quite positive. There isn't quite as much going on as in the NYC metropolitan area (where we left), but there's plenty of things we enjoy - hiking, museums, music, etc.

[blsdwmn72]

Originally Posted by peppermint

Thanks for your post, blindsolitude. I do think it's important to remember that oftentimes we find what we expect. If we expect to find hyper-religious, judgmental, or hateful people, that's often who we do find. Thanks for reminding us.

Our first year in the Chattanooga area has been quite positive. There isn't quite as much going on as in the NYC metropolitan area (where we left), but there's plenty of things we enjoy - hiking, museums, music, etc.

Peppermint,
We have been planning our move to Chatt for 2 years. I just made it down from NYC with my girls and my husband comes later this week. We find it to be a great family place and everyone has been friendly and helpful. True, it's not NYC but it offers us more than enought. Plus, being someone who was born and raised in the Bronx, the city-life got too crazy and congested for me. We were ready to leave. If I want a taste of a faster pace, I'll drive to Atlanta or Nashville for a day or night

[TheresaIvey]

You said you like cycling, and whole food grocers and being near to Big Box Retailers,
Living in North Chattanooga would best center you between the things you like.

To the south would be the Riverpark which has cyclists going all over it
To the North is The Northgate Mall Area just up Hixson Pike with a cell of big box retailers.
To the east is Greenlife Grocery is just off Cherokee Blvd.