Help-where should we relocate--chattanooga or asheville or ??? (Knoxville, East Ridge: sales, house)

[HillaryH]

Hi
We're a small family of 4, 2 young boys, and are looking to relocate from nyc to somewhere warmer, small city feel, reasonably liberal, and within 2-3 hours of the atlanta airport (my husband travels to europe about once a month). We had initally been leaning towards asheville, but realize that it's farther than we thought from the atlanta airport. So we started poking around on Google maps, and found that chattanooga was quite close, in addition to being listed in the top 10 of places to move to.

jobs are not an issue, as my husband will bring his work with him. We need somewhere with lots of outdoor activities, mountains if possible, water sports, good homeschooling community, not crazy right wing (I don't know how likely this is?), good bookstores, restaurants, etc but still retaining a reasonably small city feel.

We can afford about 500,000 in a home, maybe a bit more.

thanks for any insight!

[pioti]

We moved here within the last year and like it. 2 hrs from Atlanta Airport (dependant on Atlanta traffic). There are some negatives like everywhere but the pluses outweigh the minuses. I classify Chattanooga as a big small city or small big city. The traffic is not a problem if you come from a big city but the locals think it is really bad (perspective), housing is very affordable, public schools are underfunded and a lot of people send their kids to private schools, we do not and found acceptable public schools and we do other things to expand eduacation. No state income tax although sales tax is 9.25%. Good Aquarium (better than Atlanta), redeveloped downtown, river and lake for water activities, close to mountains. Worth researching. Good Luck

[toddle]

Anywhere in the south will like tilt to the Right, but Chattanooga is very diverse. Democrats seem to do well in local elections here. You should be able to choose any area with your budget

[u4icmusic]

I looked at both Asheville and Chattanooga. Asheville is much more expensive for comparable housing, however, the area is not run-down like many parts of Chattanooga proper. Asheville is much more liberal than Chattanooga, but the weather is better in Chattanooga, so you should really visit both places to make an informed decision. Personally, for me, I picked Chattanooga for a couple of reasons. First, the people that live here are the most friendly people in the country, and second, the housing here is close to half the price of Asheville. I also think Chattanooga is getting more diverse and liberal as more out-of-towners like myself move here. I am moving here from Fort Lauderdale, which is totally liberal. I start my job in August, but am putting an offer on a house tomorrow that I totally fell in love with. There is still work to be done in Chattanooga, but they are working on it, and when the economy picks up I expect more positive changes to happen here. I just happened to come here on vacation a year ago for a week. Well, I didn't want to leave, and I finally got a job transfer here after a year of wrangling with my employer. So, in a nutshell, it really depends on what you are looking for in housing, entertainment and the arts and what you will do in your free time. There's plenty to do here outdoors throughout the entire year, and we are close to Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville and Pigeon Forge. East Ridge, which is next to Chattanooga is getting a brand new water park, called Splash Valley, and Six Flags near Atlanta in a short drive away too.