Seriously considering moving to Chattanooga - input please! (Knoxville, Red Bank: sale, real estate)
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Hello, my husband and I are in our late fifties. He's self employed (oil and gas, used to traveling to job locations) but will be retiring soon. I don't work any longer. We are pretty outgoing and enjoy doing a lot of vacationing and traveling for three to five days at a time, for pleasure. My husband is more conservative than I am - I'm more of an independent politically, but on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being ultra conservative, I'd say he's about an 8 and I'm about a 6.
We have an ethnically diverse family. I am a military brat and from all over, and he's a native Texan. We both prefer the southern US over other regions. We like four seasons, don't mind heat and humidity in the summer, but we don't want five or six months of summer. We like the mountains and the beach. Right now we are many many hours from both.
We are both Methodist and while we're not adamant about denomination, we do like the Methodist church in general. We attend church about every other week or so. We're pretty active in our community - I do a lot of volunteer work with womens' groups (abused women, job skills for underprivileged women, etc). We're the sort who go to town hall meetings, city council stuff, we vote, etc.
He's lived in Texas all his life and I've lived here for 25 years. We love Texas but frankly, we're tired of a few things - the LONG HOT DRY SUMMERS and plus, we've done all the day trips and little short trips around here over and over again. We're ready for a new adventure.
I was raised in the southeast and went to high school and college in northwest GA so I'm familiar with southeast TN. My husband worked for many years in the Pittsburgh area and in WV so he's driven through TN over and over again. We like what we know of the area and the last time we drove through Chattanooga we were very favorably impressed.
We have grown kids scattered all over the place and his parents are deceased. My dad is also deceased and if my mother, who has dementia, is still alive when he retires, we'll move her to a facility wherever we live.
I have been comparing lots of things between the Tyler, TX area (where we currently live) and Chattanooga, and the biggest differences I see so far are these (not in any particular order):
1. Higher percentage of African Americans in Chattanooga, and lower percentage of Hispanics. (Oh my, I'm really spoiled to great Mexican food here).
2. Significantly higher violent crime rate in Chattanooga - wow, is it as bad as it seems on paper? Or is it like many other areas, where there are safe neighborhoods and unsafe neighborhoods?
Overall cost of living and unemployment rates seem very similar, though housing costs in Chattanooga seem lower (yay, us!).
If we moved today, which we won't, but I'd expect things to be similar in a couple of years, our housing budget will be around $350,000 but if we can spend less, we will. We want a large yard or maybe even a couple of acres, nice safe neighborhood, close to amenities. We would probably drive to Nashville, Atlanta,etc once or twice a month (we are about two hours from Dallas now and make that drive a couple of times a month). We don't want a fixer upper but we don't mind making some cosmetic changes. We do really love historic homes though and also Craftsman homes - any home with big porches. We much prefer one story over two.
We enjoy going to movies, eating out, short vacations, massages, natural food options, good wines/wineries, walking and biking trails, good shopping options for quality clothing, furniture, fixtures, etc. We are not wealthy but we're not really into pinching pennies, if that makes sense. We're sort of foodies, and we like being active but we're not fitness gurus, we just like being members of a good gym, I do water aerobics but don't want just a bunch of old ladies in the class, etc.
Sorry for the diatribe, but hopefully you get the picture!
We are planning a trip to Chattanooga in August and again in January - we intentionally chose what are the two "worst weather" months in northeast Texas to visit Chattanooga. What areas should we focus on? We currently live in a bedroom community outside of Tyler with a drive of about 15 minutes "into town," and we're fine with that, especially if there's a nearby grocery store, hardware store, etc.
If you know of a good buyer's agent realtor, one who doesn't mind sending us automatic MLS updates knowing that for a year or two we will be just monitoring and getting to know the area before we decide whether or not to move there, please send me a PM.
Welcome K, You sure typed a lot of stuff. I see many posts & reputation from the forum...We have retired here 10 yrs ago from out of state , so will give you a few brief , but good answers for your search..
Entire Hamilton county is really called Chattanooga, even thou there are a few towns in the county...
The more NORTH a buyer looks the more LAND & lower $$ will be noticed... We are in a very big SELLERS market so many offers are noticed for re-sales, anything over one acre will be up here in SALE CREEK area FOR EXAMPLE.., A target of $ 250 K right now could make your list...... Into RHEA county or city of DAYTON, taxes would be lower & housing as you have 1 1/2/ to 2 yrs out... I doubt any real estate agent will give you time for your future move...... One can read same listing on the WEB any day at Realtor dot com .
Our zip of 37379 is for SODDY area... Some waterfront homes can go over $ one million... West of city is Jasper Highland a big marketing community.. Some of the statistics are saying people from over 45 states are moving to their community...
Crime is on the east side of city with rival gangs.... Other $ one million condos are being built in the city as fast as workers complete... VW factory is here , Amazon is here years ago,,, the secret was discovered about five years ago... The river / lake has just been rated # Two in nation for Bass fishing quality , many , many pro tournaments here during the year. As with pros' re-location here ...
I'm working age, and Chattanooga was on my radar a year or so ago after a cousin of mine moved down there. I didn't give it much more thought. Here were some notes.
1) A lot of the newer, nicer developments and rehabs are near the downtown area. Aside from the downtown and its immediate surroundings, I didn't find the city that appealing. A lot of the neighborhoods I saw were not very nice. Aside from Signal Mountain, the suburbs were bland.
2) If you're looking for a "country house" with a wrap-around or very large front porch and on small acreage for $350k, that's going to be a stretch. Porches like that are not common in east TN. I have seen some, but they are few and far between.
$350k may require some updates for a large home in the country. Keep in mind that many "country homes" in east TN may not be on municipal water, may not have broadband, or cellular service, even with Verizon.
3) Your impression of crime is spot-on. While I'm not that familiar with Chattanooga proper, keep in mind TN reports each charge individually. Let's say someone burglarizes a house. Numerous charges, each reported as a "crime, can arise from one "common sense incident," and can elevate crime rates. I would say urban Chattanooga is worse than its surrounding suburban counties.
Here in east TN, many rural/country areas are absolutely awash in drugs, domestic abuse, and property crime, largely crime related to people on drugs or looking for drugs.
I am concerned about the levels of opiate and drug use. From what I understand, crime in general is increased due to increased drug use. I have seen many communities in WV and OH absolutely devastated by opiates. I have to admit that this gives me some pause regarding Chattanooga and TN in general. My daughter and brother live in Dayton OH and my husband worked in WV for many years - the devastation due to opiates is really sad and almost unbelievable.
I am concerned about the levels of opiate and drug use. From what I understand, crime in general is increased due to increased drug use. I have seen many communities in WV and OH absolutely devastated by opiates. I have to admit that this gives me some pause regarding Chattanooga and TN in general. My daughter and brother live in Dayton OH and my husband worked in WV for many years - the devastation due to opiates is really sad and almost unbelievable.
I can't speak for Chattanooga specifically, but at least around Knoxville and the Tri-Cities, it is very bad. I doubt Chattanooga is substantially different. The local news in my neck of the woods has run articles recently about manufacturers and other blue collar employers needing staff, but are having a difficult time finding people who can pass a drug test and show up. These are entry level positions in the $12-$15/hr range.
I grew up in a quiet suburban area in northeast TN, and a CVS located in the neighborhood about twenty years ago. Until maybe five years ago, I hadn't heard of any trouble there. Over the last few years, that pharmacy has been robbed repeatedly. There are a lot of spots, particularly in the cities near where social services are offered or in rural areas, where I wouldn't leave anything of value outside because it just would be stolen. The level of property crime today was basically unheard of twenty years ago.
There are nice places in east TN, but it's not the quaint, country image a lot of people think of from Pigeon Forge brochures or the like. The fact that the truly rural areas have more crime is a shock to a lot of out of area prospects.
Here are some good things about Chattanooga.
1) It's a very outdoors focused city - hiking, mountain climbing, and even hang-gliding and rock climbing are popular. You don't really have to leave the city to find outdoor pursuits.
2) The city has a substantial tech presence for a small metro. A lot of that is centered in the downtown area. This attracts a young crowd. I was surprised at how young and vibrant that area is.
3) Chattanooga was the first city in the country to have gigabit internet. Around a decade ago, the power company modernized the grid, and additional work was done to allow for the enhanced speed. I think every property in the city is gigabit ready. Since the internet is run through the public utility, it's of a much higher quality and more reliable than cable companies like Charter or Comcast.
An acquaintance of mine from high school moved his business from Knoxville to Chattanooga largely for the better internet. The internet has been critical to the city finding a new identity.
4) You will likely save a small fortunate annually on property taxes.
I can't speak for Chattanooga specifically, but at least around Knoxville and the Tri-Cities, it is very bad. I doubt Chattanooga is substantially different. The local news in my neck of the woods has run articles recently about manufacturers and other blue collar employers needing staff, but are having a difficult time finding people who can pass a drug test and show up. These are entry level positions in the $12-$15/hr range.
I grew up in a quiet suburban area in northeast TN, and a CVS located in the neighborhood about twenty years ago. Until maybe five years ago, I hadn't heard of any trouble there. Over the last few years, that pharmacy has been robbed repeatedly. There are a lot of spots, particularly in the cities near where social services are offered or in rural areas, where I wouldn't leave anything of value outside because it just would be stolen. The level of property crime today was basically unheard of twenty years ago.
There are nice places in east TN, but it's not the quaint, country image a lot of people think of from Pigeon Forge brochures or the like. The fact that the truly rural areas have more crime is a shock to a lot of out of area prospects.
Here are some good things about Chattanooga.
1) It's a very outdoors focused city - hiking, mountain climbing, and even hang-gliding and rock climbing are popular. You don't really have to leave the city to find outdoor pursuits.
2) The city has a substantial tech presence for a small metro. A lot of that is centered in the downtown area. This attracts a young crowd. I was surprised at how young and vibrant that area is.
3) Chattanooga was the first city in the country to have gigabit internet. Around a decade ago, the power company modernized the grid, and additional work was done to allow for the enhanced speed. I think every property in the city is gigabit ready. Since the internet is run through the public utility, it's of a much higher quality and more reliable than cable companies like Charter or Comcast.
An acquaintance of mine from high school moved his business from Knoxville to Chattanooga largely for the better internet. The internet has been critical to the city finding a new identity.
4) You will likely save a small fortunate annually on property taxes.
Thanks - great information!
I don't have any quaint ideas about TN - or any state in the Appalachian region. My husband and I have driven through that region too often over the past five years or so to be unfamiliar with it (and like I said, he's worked a lot in WV). We've visited the area often, along with NC and VA (I like all those states - my favorite states, in order, are probably VA, TX, NC, TN and GA). My daughter and brother live in Ohio, and it's another state with a huge opiate problem. Sigh. It's such a shame because it really contributes to the overall crime rate. And believe it or not, Ohio has some really beautiful areas and metros but wow, the opiate issue, the crime... it's terrible. I hate to say it but I'm thinking the problem might be just as bad in TN.
Such a beautiful region of our country, with such a huge problem.
I like the youth of Chattanooga - the energy is pretty palpable. Coming from a very "young" state (Texas has a very youthful population) I'm very attune to that vibe and I don't generally like "older" areas.
Housing costs and property taxes are definitely lower in the Chattanooga area, and I also really like that TN doesn't apparently have a state income tax, right? Neither does Texas and that's great.
Internet speed and quality is very important to me and I really had no idea that so many metro areas of TN have issues with it. Wow.
I don't have any quaint ideas about TN - or any state in the Appalachian region. My husband and I have driven through that region too often over the past five years or so to be unfamiliar with it (and like I said, he's worked a lot in WV). We've visited the area often, along with NC and VA (I like all those states - my favorite states, in order, are probably VA, TX, NC, TN and GA). My daughter and brother live in Ohio, and it's another state with a huge opiate problem. Sigh. It's such a shame because it really contributes to the overall crime rate. And believe it or not, Ohio has some really beautiful areas and metros but wow, the opiate issue, the crime... it's terrible. I hate to say it but I'm thinking the problem might be just as bad in TN.
Such a beautiful region of our country, with such a huge problem.
I like the youth of Chattanooga - the energy is pretty palpable. Coming from a very "young" state (Texas has a very youthful population) I'm very attune to that vibe and I don't generally like "older" areas.
Housing costs and property taxes are definitely lower in the Chattanooga area, and I also really like that TN doesn't apparently have a state income tax, right? Neither does Texas and that's great.
Internet speed and quality is very important to me and I really had no idea that so many metro areas of TN have issues with it. Wow.
Chattanooga also has a university - UT-Chattanooga. Obviously that is not as large or significant as UT-Knoxville, but it keeps a certain amount of young people passing through. That, along with the tech boom and outdoors scene, has made it popular with young people. My cousin is 23 and really likes it there.
The guy I mentioned is a tech entrepreneur with extremely sophisticated needs. Keep in mind that internet in Knoxville and the Tri-Cities is perfectly adequate for typical residential use. I have a 100 mbps connection through Comcast. My parents have 400 mbps with Charter. In smaller towns and rural areas, you need to verify that an individual street address is serviced. Not the town or the street - the address. Properties that are very close to a major highway in a rural area may have internet access, but a few hundred yards down the street might not.
Crime is what it is. Most areas in east TN are what they appear to be. If you see a bunch of rundown singlewide trailers, cars on blocks, poorly kept property, move on. The vast, vast majority of the crime is drug or domestic, and contained among people who know each other. Random violent crime is pretty low.
Hey there! I recognize you from the Texas forums and have read many of your posts. We are also seriously considering Chattanooga, though we wont get there for about 2 more years if the job works out.
We visited earlier in July and LOVED it. Spent 2 days driving all over and were seriously bummed when we drove back into Texas.
Since we have young kids and need good schools, we pretty much figured out that Signal Mountain is our best bet. Honestly, you would probably love it up there, but you'd definitely be paying for the schools and that probably doesn't make sense. I wonder if you might like the Red Bank area--we stayed in a (very affordable) lovely AirBnB there and found that area very nice, too! My takeaway from that area is there is so much beauty and space even right next to downtown that you probably don't have to go very far out to find something you would like.
I'd also hit the Chattanooga Reddit--it skews younger, but is very active and has been helpful to us.
Hey there! I recognize you from the Texas forums and have read many of your posts. We are also seriously considering Chattanooga, though we wont get there for about 2 more years if the job works out.
We visited earlier in July and LOVED it. Spent 2 days driving all over and were seriously bummed when we drove back into Texas.
Since we have young kids and need good schools, we pretty much figured out that Signal Mountain is our best bet. Honestly, you would probably love it up there, but you'd definitely be paying for the schools and that probably doesn't make sense. I wonder if you might like the Red Bank area--we stayed in a (very affordable) lovely AirBnB there and found that area very nice, too! My takeaway from that area is there is so much beauty and space even right next to downtown that you probably don't have to go very far out to find something you would like.
I'd also hit the Chattanooga Reddit--it skews younger, but is very active and has been helpful to us.
Feel free to PM me!
That's cool! I was looking at real estate in Signal Mountain and while it's higher in price than many other areas, I did really like what I saw.
I think that area is so beautiful. I hope I'm not reading more than I should into the opiate issue, but I have seen what opiates have done to WV, OH, and KY.
We really need to get a grip on this crisis in the US. It's ruining so many beautiful regions of our country - not to mention the LIVES OF PEOPLE.
Hoping you make it to this area - would like to have you as a neighbor (well, an hour and a half away neighbor)…
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$ 250 K ,North County target.
