Living in Knoxville vs. Chattanooga (areas).... (Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg: homes, pros and cons, restaurants)

[geezerman7]

Would love to hear folks' thoughts on both locales. Likes and dislikes...as well as comparisons, similarities, and major differences. I've heard nice things about both places...and we'd like to weigh/consider them...as an alternative to Asheville/WNC. Relocating Northerner. Late 40's...She likes golf and schmoozing...I like a good motorcycle ride in the woods or mountains. Restaurants and bars..important. Culture and the arts....naah. Lure the kids and grandkids for a visit...very important!

I'm an open book...fire away.

[piedmont]

You know, it's easy enough to visit both cities in one trip so you'll have to do that to get your own feel of the areas.

Personally, I prefer Chattanooga. It feels more like a mid-atlantic southern city and is really beautifully sited. It also has some interested economic/urban renewal programs, with a strong emphasis on the arts. I feel it is a better "destination city" for folks from away. Chattanooga feels close to Atlanta and rather more liberal than Knoxville. If I had to say which city felt closer to Asheville, NC in feel, I would pick Chattanooga.

Knoxville is more of a mountain city in culture and is close to mountain "attractions" like Gatlinburg (hey, some people love it, but I don't). There is a wonderful downtown with a nice walkable array of options for restaurants and musical performances. The suburbs of Knoxville are an example of not very nice sprawl to me, though. Even though both Chattanooga and Knoxville are on the Tennessee River, I think Chattanooga takes much better advantage of this siting and integrates public spaces, homes, businesses and tourism along the river.

You might also want to look at airport flights to get a sense of the different options. Knoxville is fairly limited, with the exception of certain airports. Chattanooga is small, but is within reach at Atlanta if necessary. I personally fly more out of Nashville than Knox because it is cheaper and offers more destinations.

[geezerman7]

Piedmont...

Many thanks for your insights and candor.

[Beretta]

They both have their pros and cons and both would work for you I am sure. However, I think that they definitely have different "vibes". I don't mean to cop out on you but I really think you should visit both and see what you think.

Truly, we are lucky to have such diverse cities in beautiful Tennessee.

[hiknapster]

Chattanooga has done a fabulous job or renewing its downtown. In 1969, Walter Cronkite declared it the dirtiest city in America. To look at it now, with its two aquariums and the art museum city on this beautiful bluff, it is truly amazing.

Due to that, I really wanted to move to Chattanooga but we didn't see a lot of job opportunities, so we moved to Knoxville with the hope that we could move to the city that we really wanted at a later date. That was in 1985.

We are now glad that we did.

I deal with a lot of people in both cities on a daily basis. There are certainly nice people in both places but I prefer Knoxville. It seems like so many people in Chattanooga are one extreme or another. Just an opinion, but I am not a big fan, and I will leave it at that.

With Volkswagen coming in, that will help the job situation, but that won't be right away. In the meantime, it's a nice place to spend a long weekend, but that's it.

And if you want to lure the grandkids, the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area, with Dollywood, will probably do it.