Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ok I'm originally from grand rapids Michigan. But I want to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'm a college student and plan to transfer from seattle. I'm taking online classes presently. For the past 5 years I've lived in reno and then las vegas nv. I've been in las vegas all my adulthood basically. I'm 20. I'm used to average to medium sized cities. And in part that's why I feel that Chattanooga is a good size maybe a tad smaller than like reno or grand rapids but not much different and seems to have good employment rate.
I was curious about one the natural environment. The climate? The native animals and critters? How sunny is it there? What types of restaurants are there? What type of tourists? How much is rent on average? Is the cost of living expensive or not? What do you think the pros and cons personally for you to live there? Also how open minded are the people there? What's the gay community like there in comparison to like las vegas nv? What are most of the inhabitants like in the region? Also how safe is the environment?
In the Midwest I dealt with a lot of mice like a mouse a year in decent places. Do you have cockroaches like in vegas. When I say roaches I mean huge cockroaches that can fly the American cockroach to be exact. What about beetles? How big? Are they like pale verde big? Or average? What about garden bugs? What types of venomous snakes or scorpions are they prevalent in the city or just in the outside of the city? Like would my dog likely be in danger if I walked him at night? What kinds of fruits and vegetables do you grow in this area? How is the transportation there? I know you have public transportation but like how extensive is it? Also how dangerous is it there crime rate. I know it's less safe than any place I've been but compared to the rest of the state the only city worth going to would be Nashville which I am more interested in moving to Chattanooga in the fall than Nashville or seattle.
Last edited by justawkward11; 05-18-2014 at 06:23 AM..
I lived in Kansas City for about a decade before moving to Chattanooga about 9 years ago.
Climate will be considerably warmer than Michigan in the winter, and considerably more humid than Nevada in the summer (with with less heat). Sunshine will compare with Michigan in the summer, but have more sun than Michigan in the winter.
Pretty much any restaurant you desire, but if you list what you're interested in maybe we can be more specific.
We are a touristy town, with visitors either visiting Chattanooga directly (Civil war history, museums, aquarium, natural attractions, music festivals) or using it as a base camp to do things on day trips (rafting, hiking, etc.). If you expand your search to include things with in 1-1.5 hours of Chattanooga you can do everything from sky dive to hang glide to hike to snow ski to rafting/kayaking to rock climbing to golf.
Rent will be between 600-1000 for a one-bedroom depending on where you live.
I'm not familiar with the local "gay community", other than I know there is one. For the most part unless you're a flaming queen you won't have any problems. And even if you are it's not like you'll have to fear for your life just walking down the street.
Chattanooga actually has a surprisingly high crime rate per capita, but if you pay attention locations you quickly figure out that 90% of the crime happens in a few areas. Stay away from those areas and you'll be good.
Mice and bugs similar to the midwest, maybe more bugs because of the shorter winter. Roaches live everywhere; I'm sure that at least one pair stowed away on the Apollo missions and is happily colonizing the moon. Beetles? Ummm.... average, I guess?
The only venomous snakes around Chattanooga are the Pigmy, Diamondback, and Timber Rattlesnakes (all fairly rare) and the Copperhead (relatively common, but not very deadly). If you go a ways south into Georgia and Alabama you'll also find Water Moccasins (aka Cottonmouths), which can be very dangerous. Scorpions are rare and tiny, but they do exist in the rural areas. You didn't mentions spiders, but we have Black Widows and Brown Recluse. There is also the occasional coyote. My wife spotted one in our back yard a few months back, but I have never heard of a coyote attack in the area.
You or your dog should not be in much danger walking at night.
Pretty much any vegetable if you adjust the seasons (shorter "cool" growing season for things like lettuce). If you're talking fruit trees, then any mid-range tree. Apples and peaches are plentiful, but we're too far north for citrus or bananas. Lots of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc.
Weather seems perfect I wanted sunnier winters than Michigan winter but not the sun intensity of Nevada.
I guess I meant more a restaurant without alcohol but good customers that tip well basically. Because I have someone coming who's muslim we don't serve alcohol.
That's cool so it seems you'd have a good flow of customers
That sounds reasonable.
I'm not gay. I was looking to go to a community that had a smaller gay community or no bigger than that of vegas which is avoidable. And from what you described that's fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jwkilgore
I lived in Kansas City for about a decade before moving to Chattanooga about 9 years ago.
Climate will be considerably warmer than Michigan in the winter, and considerably more humid than Nevada in the summer (with with less heat). Sunshine will compare with Michigan in the summer, but have more sun than Michigan in the winter.
Pretty much any restaurant you desire, but if you list what you're interested in maybe we can be more specific.
We are a touristy town, with visitors either visiting Chattanooga directly (Civil war history, museums, aquarium, natural attractions, music festivals) or using it as a base camp to do things on day trips (rafting, hiking, etc.). If you expand your search to include things with in 1-1.5 hours of Chattanooga you can do everything from sky dive to hang glide to hike to snow ski to rafting/kayaking to rock climbing to golf.
Rent will be between 600-1000 for a one-bedroom depending on where you live.
I'm not familiar with the local "gay community", other than I know there is one. For the most part unless you're a flaming queen you won't have any problems. And even if you are it's not like you'll have to fear for your life just walking down the street.
Chattanooga actually has a surprisingly high crime rate per capita, but if you pay attention locations you quickly figure out that 90% of the crime happens in a few areas. Stay away from those areas and you'll be good.
Mice and bugs similar to the midwest, maybe more bugs because of the shorter winter. Roaches live everywhere; I'm sure that at least one pair stowed away on the Apollo missions and is happily colonizing the moon. Beetles? Ummm.... average, I guess?
The only venomous snakes around Chattanooga are the Pigmy, Diamondback, and Timber Rattlesnakes (all fairly rare) and the Copperhead (relatively common, but not very deadly). If you go a ways south into Georgia and Alabama you'll also find Water Moccasins (aka Cottonmouths), which can be very dangerous. Scorpions are rare and tiny, but they do exist in the rural areas. You didn't mentions spiders, but we have Black Widows and Brown Recluse. There is also the occasional coyote. My wife spotted one in our back yard a few months back, but I have never heard of a coyote attack in the area.
You or your dog should not be in much danger walking at night.
Pretty much any vegetable if you adjust the seasons (shorter "cool" growing season for things like lettuce). If you're talking fruit trees, then any mid-range tree. Apples and peaches are plentiful, but we're too far north for citrus or bananas. Lots of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc.
What areas are dangerous?
Ok so none of the cockroaches look like American cockroaches? Like half the size of a pale verde bug?
Beetles aren't the same size as a pale a verde bug I'll leave a link so you got an idea of what I'm saying.
I don't have any problem with spiders.
Coyotes are a bigger issue being that I have two small dogs but I have bear spray so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
Ok the vegetable like carrots or cucumbers? My mom can't have store bought food and she'd be coming with that's why I asked.
I'm getting that you want to OPEN your own restaurant? Any particular type? We have lots of restaurants that both do and don't serve alcohol, although this is an alcohol-friendly town.
Pretty much any city in the southeast will have a smallish "gay community" as with respect to those in similar sized cities in the northeast or on the Pacific coast. Assuming you're talking about the kind of in-your-face gay activities common in places like San Francisco (I've seen them personally on work trips there), there is nothing like that in Chattanooga. Other than occasionally seeing same-sex couples holding hands and the annual Pride Festival that I found myself in the middle of one year (I was working downtown on Sunday, noticed an unknown festival, so I stopped by for lunch), it's low key.
We have both German cockroaches (the little reddish ones) and American cockroaches (the large mahogany ones up to 2" long). Germans are more common, but the American ones aren't far behind. I had to look up a Palo Verde bug... nothing like that around here, although harmless wood-boring beetles (live in rotting trees) can get kinda large.
Coyotes in the urban area are very rare, but slightly more common farther out. I live in the suburbs surrounded by wooded land, and in 9 years I've seen exactly one. Nothing like out west.
If you plant cucumbers or other squash-like vegetables in a good area and care for them properly you'll be overrun with food. Carrots, potatoes, beans, etc. all do good. There are also multiple farmer's markets in the area open on various days.
I forgot public transportation in my first post. It's moderate in and near downtown, but it gets worse the farther out you go. Here is the website with routes and such. There is a free electric shuttle that goes between the touristy areas downtown (Chattanooga Choo Choo to the Aquarium), a water taxi for crossing the river, a system of buses, and a system of public rental bikes downtown.
Crime: Looking at the area inside the main highway loop (I-24, I-75, Hwy 153, and Hwy 27), there is a main-line railroad with a huge switch yard north-east of downtown (locate the switch yards on Google maps and trace the main line from there). In general, the "bad" areas inside the loop are east and south of the main line. Also south of I-24 south of downtown (Alton Park, Dodd's Avenue) between Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mt, and the state line. That is painting with a huge brush. There are pockets of "bad" areas outside this zone, along with good areas inside the zone. Riverside is very nice, along with other high-end areas on Missionary Ridge. St. Elmo and Highland Park are areas that are perpetually being "restored" with people buying run-down homes and fixing them up, but those areas suffered greatly during the housing bubble and still haven't recovered.
Last edited by An Einnseanair; 05-21-2014 at 08:02 AM..
Ok I'm originally from grand rapids Michigan. But I want to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'm a college student and plan to transfer from seattle. I'm taking online classes presently. For the past 5 years I've lived in reno and then las vegas nv. I've been in las vegas all my adulthood basically. I'm 20. I'm used to average to medium sized cities. And in part that's why I feel that Chattanooga is a good size maybe a tad smaller than like reno or grand rapids but not much different and seems to have good employment rate.
I was curious about one the natural environment. The climate? The native animals and critters? How sunny is it there? What types of restaurants are there? What type of tourists? How much is rent on average? Is the cost of living expensive or not? What do you think the pros and cons personally for you to live there? Also how open minded are the people there? What's the gay community like there in comparison to like las vegas nv? What are most of the inhabitants like in the region? Also how safe is the environment?
In the Midwest I dealt with a lot of mice like a mouse a year in decent places. Do you have cockroaches like in vegas. When I say roaches I mean huge cockroaches that can fly the American cockroach to be exact. What about beetles? How big? Are they like pale verde big? Or average? What about garden bugs? What types of venomous snakes or scorpions are they prevalent in the city or just in the outside of the city? Like would my dog likely be in danger if I walked him at night? What kinds of fruits and vegetables do you grow in this area? How is the transportation there? I know you have public transportation but like how extensive is it? Also how dangerous is it there crime rate. I know it's less safe than any place I've been but compared to the rest of the state the only city worth going to would be Nashville which I am more interested in moving to Chattanooga in the fall than Nashville or seattle.
Basically, it is very humid here compared to anywhere else in the north or west. I am a native of the area but still can't get used to the humidity. Summertime is especially intense from about mid-June through late August or early September. If you plan to do outdoor activities during that time, plan to sweat a LOT and not feel like doing a lot. In winter, we have a lot of cold, rainy days. Pretty much the best seasons are Spring from April-Early June and Fall from mid September-early November. Other than that, in years that we experience average rainfall, it can be on the dreary side a lot of the time IMO.
Bugs are pretty bad with mosquitoes and ticks being the worst. But they aren't nearly as bad in town as in the more rural areas around the Chattanooga area. You won't have to worry much about wildlife in town or too many ticks or poisonous snakes. There are several good off-leash dog parks in and around the city if your dogs like that sort of thing.
It is fairly easy to grow things here. We get plenty of rain! But, that can work against you too. I own and operate a farm locally and we have a lot of trouble with disease on our crops with fungi and blights, and mildews being our worst nightmare. In early spring, it is relatively simple to grow an array of early crops due to our mild climate but a late frost can hit you sometimes. Early crops generally don't have the problems with disease that later crops have. Once the humidity hits in mid-June, our crops start having trouble. We use fungicides on most all of our crops to even be able to produce anything.
Other than the disease issues and a large garden pest population around the region, most vegetables will grow here. It is fairly easy to have gardens all winter if you can develop protection for the plants during the coldest weeks of winter. A lot of people do 4 season gardening around here.
For me, I don't really like this area due to the humidity, rain and less than optimal weather for a large portion of the year. I prefer a cooler climate with less humidity. But those are just personal preferences. It is a beautiful area that is very lush and green! If you are into locally grown food, it is a big deal in Chattanooga with the Chattanooga Market being one of the biggest producer-only markets in the region. There are a lot of farm-to-table restaurants as and if one wants, it would be fairly easy to buy locally grown food year-around from the wide array of area farmers markets.
People in this area tend to be fairly religious and conservative. It is not like your big cities out west. There are LOTS of churches everywhere and religion is a big part of many people's lives.
Other than to assume that there must be a gay community around here somewhere, you generally don't meet folks from it or see same sex couples walking around together very often. I have been noticing it a bit more in the past few months but there's not a big presence around. That possibly could be due to the conservative nature of the area and the closely held traditions and beliefs of natives in the area. This is the Bible Belt and once you come here, you will see what we mean by that. There seems to be a church on almost every corner.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
