Need help deciding which neighborhood is best for me. (Chattanooga: 2015, rental)

[Adriana5alexi]

Hi there! So, I'm researching a move I'll be making in about five months, and I'm seriously looking at the Chattanooga area. My boyfriend and I will be attending community college starting either in the summer or the fall of 2015, so proximity to Chattanooga State cc is important. He'll be enrolled in the EMT program, while I'm just going for a general aa for now. Also, my boyfriend may or may not be buying a motorcycle for himself or a moped for us when we get there, but either way, we would like a place that's well covered by the bus system. We're both expecting to get minimum wage, hourly pay jobs doing anything from retail or making coffee or anything else we can find, so an area that has a decent amount of those jobs would be nice. However, he has a lot of experience logging, trail building, and working around trees in general, so if you know of anything along those lines, we'd definitely love to know
As far as free time and recreational activities go, he's really into hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting, so it seems like Chattanooga in general is a good fit for him. For me, I would like to put in some serious volunteer hours, particularly with non profits that specialize in children and/or literacy. Maybe something like big brothers big sisters or united way? Are there any neighborhoods that have a higher concentration of those organizations?
Vibe is also something were looking at. We'd love a place that gives a lot of support to local businesses, with interesting places to eat and breweries. We're both 20 years old, so somewhere with a younger population would be nice, but we don't really like to party, so I'm not sure if the UTC area would be right for us. I'm not the hugest fan of crazy college towns haha.

I know this is a lot of criteria, but I've mostly ordered it so the earlier I mentioned it, the more important it is. And of course, if the public transportation is steady enough, we'd be willing to sit on a bus or train for half an hour or 45 minutes each way to get to volunteer opportunities or school or something like that, if it meant living in a better area for us. Thank you for reading!

[farmerjesse]

The Ooltewah/Collegedale area is a very nice area to move to. My cousin lived there while attending Chattanooga State and the commute was really simple, not too much traffic, and took about 15 minutes normally to get there from Collegedale. Collegedale is a college town but is very quiet, peaceful, and has a nice rural feel although its actually far from rural. It is an area that is building quickly and there are lots of newly built places to rent or purchase. You are a bit closer to outdoor recreation options there as well. Southern Adventist University has a great system of mountain biking/hiking trails on White Oak Mountain that is VERY popular locally as well as the Volkswagon Nature Park which is between Collegedale and Chatt. State. If you want to drive a bit, the Cherokee National forest offers everything in the way of recreation: rafting, boating, hiking, camping, etc.

I would highly recommend the Ooltewah/Collegedale area. Recently several new local restaurants have opened up and there are a couple of new breweries there as well. It is definitely an area that will be VERY popular in another year or so. The only downside is that I don't think city buses run there. But, IMO, it is well worth getting your own transportation instead of relying on city buses, especially if you enjoy the outdoors and want to do lots of outdoor activities. I have relatives that have done both: lived downtown, and lived in the suburbs. All in all, they have all said that it was best to live out from the city a bit and commute. Even the ones who DID like the college scene! :-)

Best of luck with your studies! I attended EMT school at Cleveland State Community college several years ago and got my AA degree there as well. Its a great school which you may want to consider. But Chatt. state is good too! Just a lot more crowded than Cleveland state. That said, you may want to take a look at the Cleveland area. Not only are there great outdoor opportunities close by, but lots of non-profits in the city. I live between Cleveland and Chattanooga and prefer Cleveland over Chattanooga by a long shot. The school there is great as well. I have attended both schools and ultimately chose to go with Cleveland state over Chatt. state. Rental housing is more reasonable in Cleveland as well. Just something to think about...

[Litefoot]

Ditto on.....
"The Ooltewah/Collegedale area"
nice place..