Crazy to consider trading Ann Arbor for Chattanooga? (Knoxville, East Brainerd: fit in, transplants)

[lauramcr]

Ann Arbor's a great little city. Low crime. Great schools. Pretty trees. Liberal and reasonably open-minded. And....I've lived here for almost 30 years, and I'm feeling stale, stuck, and ready for a change.

After looking at Louisville (downtown seemed like a ghost town, just didn't appeal to me at all), Atlanta (loved it, but oh the traffic--and I would SO miss rivers/lakes etc--the pond in the park didn't cut it), my native Chicago (love it love it but can't afford to live in the city and send my son to $25k private school), Nashville (pretty cool--but so spread out, no strong sense of walkability and urban density), I've decided to take a look at Chattanooga.

I spent a day there last spring, and was just blown away by the natural beauty of the setting. The downtown seemed ALIVE and actually in use. It isn't quite as large a city as I would ideally like, but it feels manageable, doable, maybe really where I would fit in.

But I've got qualms, and you've heard a lot of them on these boards before. So here we go, from an Ann Arborites' perspective:

1. Progressive politics, open-minded diversity, gay-friendly, etc. I am not gay, but some of my best friends, etc. Have other "yankees" from liberal towns found Chattanooga oppressively conversative?

2. The heat--not a big fan of heat and humidity---but I gotta tell you, summer in the midwest (I grew up in central Illinois) can be pretty damn swampy. Other transplants from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio--how bad do you find it?

3. The schools. Yeah, I can save my bucks for Baylor, but in the meantime, my 9-year-old's gotta go somewhere until my private practice is more robust. North shore only option? I don't want to live in the burbs or outside Chattanooga.

4. What? No Trader Joe's/Whole Foods/food coop/organic grocery/specialty gourmet shops? And what about the restaurant scene? This former restaurant critic doesn't have super-sophisticated tastes (I can be as happy with a great burger as I can with a great ahi tuna steak), but will I feel like I've reached the land of T.G.I.F. etc?

5. Crime. Okay, this is a thing for me. Ann Arbor's pretty darn safe--except for sexual assault activity on some parts of campus. How freaked out do I need to feel about my kid being exposed to gang activity and handguns?

6. Speaking of which, coming for a visit in November, I think, and staying in the Southside Arts District. Okay, or spooky/scary? No walking at night?

Thanks for any input anyone has time to throw my way. My gut says my sensibilities would be happier with the climate and the culture of Asheville--but that place sounds just wayyyyy too small for me. I thought Ann Arbor was oppressively tiny when I moved here from Chicago--and it's got 100,000 people. Also not crazy about what feels like it's relative geographic isolation. I love that Chattanooga is a shortish drive to Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville.

Thanks all!

[u4icmusic]

1. It is definately not progressive here. This is the bible belt. However, we all pick and choose our friends and whom we hang around with. I hang around with liberals and we get along fine. Our numbers are growing as people move here from other areas. I used to party at the Nectarine Ballroom in Ann Arbor, so I know what you are talking about. Most people here have a live and let live attitude and don't force their religion or beliefs on others. I grew up in Livonia, Michigan.
2. The heat here doesn't bother me at all. It's only for a short period of time and this year wasn't bad at all. Our winters are also mild. The weather here is perfect. 4 seasons, but no extremes.
3. There are some good public schools here. This is where it is important to choose your home very carefully.
4. We have an organic food store right across the street from the mall and a new one is under construction right next door to Target on Gunbarrel Road in East Brainerd. It is scheduled to open in early 2010. There are many very good independent, non-chain restaurants here.
5. Crime is an issue in some inner city areas with gangs and drug problems, like most medium sized cities. Personally, I've never had a problem here and I spend a lot of time all over town, including downtown, the north shore and in the suburbs.
6. I'm not sure where the southside arts district is. I'll have to check into that and get back to you. Do you have an address so I can give you better details?

I grew up in Michigan, spent 15 years in Florida and now I've settled here and really like it here a lot.

[lauramcr]

The Southside Arts District is just a couple blocks south of the Choo Choo. In particular, I'd be staying a block or two off Main on Mitchell.

I know Livonia quite well. Now THAT'S a place I kinda find oppressive, lol!

[blindsolitude]

I'm assuming that the Southside Arts District is where they had the "revitalization" stuff going on recently. I think back in 2008, they had a whole "grand opening" type weekend to show off all the effort.

I don't know if I'd walk around the area at night only because of what the area used to be before all the revamping took place, but during the day- you should not have a problem.

[etta]

I've lived in a combo of Asheville & Alabama. I've lived in Chattanooga for less than a year. Here is what I think...

1. Not progressive enough! But at least more progressive folks seem to be moving here often. Many conservatives I meet here seem suspiciously progressive. This is the first place I've lived where I repeatedly meet kids that claim they are anarchist punk christians... what?! I don't think it's gay friendly enough yet but I do see plenty of gay couples holding hands in the downtown/river area.

2. It's really hot & humid for at least 2 months. Coming from Alabama, it's nothing really. Coming from Asheville, it's tragically hot! But the longer growing season has been super for gardening sake.

3. I don't know much about the schools but I met some kids that go to an art magnet school & it sounded excellent. I've generally heard bad things about most public schools. I'd research this a bunch before moving.

4. Greenlife grocery on the North Shore is very similar to whole foods if not better. I've also been told by Greenlife employees that an Earth Fare will be opening on East Brainerd Rd. Earth Fare is a chain that originated in Asheville. It's ussually about the size of a whole foods as well. Trader Joe's can be & is visited often by Chattanoogans in ATL & Nashville. Last time I was at Trader Joe's in ATL I asked the manager if they would ever open one in Chattanooga TN. He said, for sure yes!!! But he also said it would be a while (frowns). Also, word on the street has it that a co-op is in the works in the southside arts district (not sure if it's true, but would be awesome). You won't be stuck eating at t.g.i.f. but I still do miss the food in Asheville. Try Bluegrass, Alleia, Public House, Yellow Deli, Good Dog & Lupi's to name just a very few.

5. Move to the North Shore. It's very safe. I think you would like it there best. Maybe Fort Wood near UTC or the Southside near the Choo Choo Maybe but... for super safety minus the burbs; N. Chatt is the spot.

6. I have many friends that live in the southside & walk to the Terminal Brewhouse at night. Terminal closes at 12am. Alleia is open until 10/11pm. They are both quite busy places. I'd walk around while they are still open to avoid spookyness. Just don't stay in the Day Inn on East 20th street (looks lame). Southside is a great location for utilizing the free electric buses.

p.s.-Asheville is waaaayy to small & isolated. I love living 2 hours from Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville & Birmingham. Plenty of easy day trips!

[lauramcr]

Thanks for the input, all. Ann Arbor is one of those towns people tell you you'd be crazy to leave. And yet.....I am no longer feeling like I am living my "right" life here. I want closer proximity to a cooler city (we're 45 minutes from Detroit....but, well... it's Detroit). I want rolling terrain, instead of the Midwest flatness with which I've lived my whole life. I want an adventure, a challenge, a new environment in which to reinvent myself.

AND. I also don't want to throw a monkey wrench into my son's life. Ann Arbor has superlative public schools. It's super safe. It's very progressive.

So if I were to concentrate on the north shore/Normal Park Magnet School and/or Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences; hang out at Greenlife and the North Shore shops and restaurants, give my kid the Aquarium/Coolidge Park/Riverwalk experience plus a shortish drive to Atlanta for bigger adventures, am I giving my son a good life even if I never do manage to scrape up the bucks for private school?

Parents, I'd especially appreciate it if you'd weigh in here. Thank you SO much for the feedback!

Laura

[slowes]

Laura that sounds very much of what I would like also. When I was a kid, also a midwesterner, you could go to the corner grocery store, hang out at your fav cafe, or even now bookstore/coffeeshops, take a walk to the park, or river w/o driving in horrible traffic or driving 20 or 25 miles away to a major road to get things, because everything is on the outskirts.
I am thinking those times are gone ha? .
I wish you the best of luck, and if you find it please let me know........LOL.

[piedmont]

OP:

Just so you know, Chattanooga does not (at this point in history) match this description: "Ann Arbor has superlative public schools. It's super safe. It's very progressive."

Maybe one day...(we hope, we dream!). I agree that Chattanooga is a beautifully sited city with much potential. If you enjoy Atlanta as your "big city" within a few hours that might be sufficient draw in itself.

[Jon F Moss]

I submit to you that Chattanooga is not striving to be like Ann Arbor, but rather like Portland, Oregon

[lauramcr]

I do hear you guys. From all the research I've done, I'm not expecting Chattanooga to be "super safe, progressive, and have superlative schools." In fact, I don't think I've found a single city of over 100,000 people that I could make that claim about. For that matter, there are probably those here in Ann Arbor who might disagree with me. Ann Arbor isn't as progressive as it likes to think it is, and one can surely find pockets of criminal activity and indifferent schools if one tries.

But I am kinda sorta hoping for progressive pockets of liberal thinking and open-mindedness, a safe neighborhood or two in which to raise my son, and a public school that doesn't make me cringe and fear for his educational future.

Portland is a great model, and if Chattanooga aspires to it, that's encouraging--even if it's not there yet.

I'd probably love Portland if it didn't rain all the damn time and it weren't so very far away from friends/family in the midwest.