Things to convince an outsider to move to Chatanooga - Chattanooga - Tennessee (TN) - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

An Einnseanair · 09-30-2016, 02:24 PM

That's the first weekend of Hamilton County School's Fall Break, and it coincides with a teacher-development day the Friday before. Lots of people travel that week, and will leave Thursday or Friday thanks to the extra day off.

It is also the final weekend of the main RiverRocks festival as mentioned and linked earlier. The Owl Prowl/Frog Walk on Friday night is entertaining, plus several races in or near downtown on Saturday. The Climb/Paddle/Run triathlon is interesting. If you want to compete maybe try the Urban Nature 10k on Sunday before heading home.

dollardog · 10-03-2016, 08:08 PM

Where is a nice clean hotel that is not $200 a night. Does not have to be city cente. I am breaking the wife in on a air bnb in Nashville on the way down and don't want to push my luck in chat.

SPLIT · 10-04-2016, 03:48 PM

D.D. , Noticed your latest post. It was tough to grab the link for a few motels / hotels in the HIXSON Rt # 153 area, this is just north of the city center. Hampton $ 100 ? or a Quality Inn $ 86 ? also just North East of city center is the I-75 interstate enclosed mall complex and quite a few motels along each exit known as Ootlewah area.

PS I went to view the IRONMAN weekend and was very impressed. Sunday race day was record heat day at 97 degrees which lead to some medical issues..Mackee foods is the major sponsor, and yes Little Debbie line, BUT also SUNBELT BAKERY energy bars,, There were many supplier vendors and their expensive vitamin mixes.

dollardog · 10-12-2016, 09:34 AM

This is a longish review but I figure visitors will be reading this post looking for info so here goes.
We headed down on Fri and were downtown Nash by 12:30. Checked into our Airbnb near music row at 2pm, and the place was above our expectations so that was good (if you want the address please msg me). Since our goals of this trip was to research places to relocate we drove around checking out some neighborhoods, after that we had dinner at the Mellow Mushroom (decent- longish wait for pizza), then had couple brews at Taco Mamacita while we took in the Cubs game (bartender was nice guy and helpful). Pancakes at Pancake Pantry Sat morn, whoah those were good, not cheap, but they were good. Line was forming by 7:30 as we ate, so get there early. Hit road around 9 for Chat (expect delays if there's so much as a dead squirrel on the highway) We had a 45 minute delay due to a tree trimming crew that had cones out on the road. Chatanooga was overwhelming, we had no idea it was that big. Found a realtor that was open who gave us some direction. While driving around we ended up at lookout mountain so decided to take a drive up. Okay this is where I get a bit negative, and I'm sorry to you locals, but this little side trip was totally depressing, and a waste of time. If your into touristy things go for it. If you enjoy and appreciate nature STAY AWAY. It seems like the City of Chatanooga monopolized what at one time was a beautiful place to overlook the city, and turned it into never never land, and homes for the wealthy. When we reached near the summit (only about 2500' elev) there was this weird place called Rock city which I still don't quite understand what it was other than a way to charge an entrance fee ($20-$30 I think) to enjoy the view I suspect. They actually stuck a full Starbucks here as well WTF! We kept driving and ended up at the next stop called the incline (a tram that goes up the side of the mountain ending in a gift shop of course) loaded to the gills with tourists. This unfortunately was the only place we could find to take a picture, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Okay I'm done ranting. Back on down the mountain then we drove around some more trying to get a lay of the land. As with most cities Chat is pretty diverse and we ended wandering around without direction. I suggest talking with a realtor before heading here if relocation is your interest. Sunday morning we hit downtown and saw some awesome looking climbing walls built along what I think was a parking garage. During coffee at Panera we decided to head back to Murfreesboro and spend Sunday night there to shorten our drive home for Monday. Murfreesboro turned out to be more of what we were looking for- medium sized city within 25 minute drive to Nashville. Lots of new medical and shopping. If you visit here talk to a local about where to drive around, there's a lot more to it than the city center square.

Recap- Overall, I would like to be near that east side of TN where all the highly ranked mountain biking is but would never make my family move somewhere just for that. Murfreesboro makes more sense four us, and having the Appalachians within 3hr drive time is totally cool with me. The hwy going into chat worries me with the traffic. Chat seemed cool, just a bit big for us. Thanks for everyone's help!
Chris

An Einnseanair · 10-12-2016, 10:00 AM

Thanks for coming back and posting a review! Chattanooga is a city of a quarter-million with a half-million metro. It is nowhere near the size of Atlanta or Nashville, but it is a long way from a "small town".

Rock City: Any local could have told you that is a tourist trap. Its "claim to fame" are the views, rocks, fairytale cavern, flora, and the fact that it is all accessible down a relatively short and easy-to-walk paved trail a short drive from Chattanooga. If you are into local flora, the park originated as a rich woman's back yard and she spent her life planting specimens of local and regional endangered plants. The fairytale cavern is neat for kids. But the rocks and views aren't anything special considering there are lots of better (and cheaper/free) views and rocks available. There is nothing "natural" about it.

The roof of the Incline (free, when it's open) is the highest publically accessible "view". Point Park, especially if you go all the way north to the Och's Museum, has much more magnificent views for a nominal NPS entry fee. The Incline used to be a form of public transportation for the mountain folk, but it has long transitioned to full tourist mode. Still a cool trip, though. I recommend parking at the bottom, riding up, walking to and touring Point Park, then riding back down.

If you have time, Rock Town on Pigeon Mt. down in Georgia has amazing natural rock formations and is a destination bouldering location (and it's free!).

The climbing wall is Highpoint, and yes the exterior walls are attached to the side of a parking garage. They also have extensive short to multi-story top-rope interior walls, and a large heavily-padded bouldering area.

One thing about Murfreesboro: it is a very rapidly growing bedroom community of Nashville, and will be experiencing growing pains for the foreseeable future in the form of overloaded infrastructure.

All that said, if Murfreesboro meets your needs, then welcome to Tennessee!

funtraveler1 · 10-13-2016, 04:00 PM

I feel like Chattanooga is gonna be one of those next boomtowns, like how Nashville, Austin, Denver, Charlotte, and Seattle are booming right now.

Also about Nashville and mountains, Nashville has alot of outdoor stuff to do, so don't worry about being far from the mountains. The city is extremely hilly and full of rivers and lakes.