Hello friends -- I've been working remote since March due to COVID and my boss is giving me the freedom to work remotely for the foreseeable future and I've expressed my interest in relocating.
The city that keeps drawing me in is Chattanooga. I'm 31 and it looks like it has a great mix of downtown life and outdoor activities. My question is has anyone lived there or visited recently? Would love some pros and cons that anyone may have. I read an old article on here from a few years ago and I can imagine it's only got better since. Any advice would be much appreciated!
I have considered and am still considering Chattanooga as a relocation option. Downtown riverfront has been revitalized and was an active destination. Attended a large multiple artist (Riverbend) concert on the riverfront that was a blast. University is in the city center. Very scenic and historic...
Nice downtown, not much else on a grand scale. Basically, a Macon or Mobile with a vibrant central business district and great urban riverfront or a poor man's Savannah. Good scenery and outdoors activities in the surrounding region. However, take my words with a grain of salt, I'm someone that prefers coastal or great lake metropolitan areas of 1 million or more. At this point, I think Jax is the smallest metropolitan area I could live full time in. I love Savannah and Charleston, for example, but would not want to live in either permanently. So much of it will depend on your personal preferences on what you consider to be the most important for your quality of living.
I think Lake nailed it... I however can/may/would downsize my city... :)
Quote from: Downtown Osprey on August 12, 2020, 10:43:32 PM
Hello friends -- I've been working remote since March due to COVID and my boss is giving me the freedom to work remotely for the foreseeable future and I've expressed my interest in relocating.
The city that keeps drawing me in is Chattanooga. I'm 31 and it looks like it has a great mix of downtown life and outdoor activities. My question is has anyone lived there or visited recently? Would love some pros and cons that anyone may have. I read an old article on here from a few years ago and I can imagine it's only got better since. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Congrats!
Yeah I think it's a nice city. My visit was back in 2018 and I was impressed. I'd agree very much with what Lake said. Except for Jax being the smallest MSA...my smallest that I'm willing to live in is probably much larger now, however Jax is grandfathered in as a special carve-out lol.
Thanks, Lake! Charleston and Savannah are both cities I love, however as I'm still renting, the cost of living is a little out of my price range. However, from what I've searched it is quite affordable in Chattanooga. I'm also a huge outdoor enthusiast, so I don't really mind it having a smaller metro area (which seems very vibrant which is a plus) i'm a beach kid looking to switch to the mountains ;D
That being said, if you (or anyone) has other similar cities worth checking out aside from the one's listed above, I am all ears!
^ Looking at the map, if you want proximity to the mountains, it seems like you would consider comparing Chattanooga to Greenville/Spartanburg, Asheville and Knoxville. If you want to expand out to capture larger cities, Nashville and Charlotte might be added to your list. Have heard and/or witnessed much better things about their urban areas than ours, for sure.
Caution: Visiting a place isn't the same as living there. I would be sure to talk with or tune into long time locals to get best insights.
That's great advice, Jaxlongtimer. It's nice to visit, but the politics of the city may be another story. You may want to join Chattanooga's subreddit to see how the locals feel about their town and get their perspective.
Also take into consideration how their local economy is doing...Nashville, for example - people in their biggest industry aren't working much right now. Would hate for you to move somewhere expecting a vibrant scene, etc., only to end up really alone and miserable in a strange city and no real chance to get out and make friends. That's probably everywhere, though, right now. And why, for the love of all that is holy and good, would you ever want to give up (to paraphrase Jimmy Buffett) "Mother, Mother Ocean" for the cold, impersonal mountains? Good luck to you, whatever you decide. But you'll never get the "sand out of your shoes"...see what I did there? If you're not in a rush, maybe just let things settle in place a little more and you won't make a hasty decision. Hope this helps in some small way. Take care.
The question isn't Chattanooga. The question is where exactly do you want to live-live? Living and working in the same place would mean - IMHO - by far the most important thing will be the neighborhood you live in. What are the qualities of those and go from there.
Chattanooga may be the sort of place you'll want to be able to visit on the weekend. But it's got some nasty neighborhoods. You may end up just living in suburbia. That's fine but maybe not what you're looking for?
Maybe what you're really looking for is something you'll find in Athens, TN or Cleveland, TN? Maybe even a place like McMinnville?
My sister moved to Nashville from Jax a few years ago and raves about Chattanooga and wishes she lived there instead.
One interesting observation is that both Greenville and Chattanooga seem to be two of (if not the) the hottest mid-sized cities in the south. Each is almost halfway between Atlanta and two of the hottest big cities in the south.
Greenville is 1.5 hours to Charlotte and 2 hours to Atlanta
Chattanooga is 2 hours to Nashville and 1.5 to Atlanta
Obviously both Greenville and Chattanooga have done a lot of things well, but being halfway between such massive metro's (with nothing else around) is a nice advantage to have for a variety of reasons. Like Lake, I'm not sure I could ever live outside of a major metro, but if I did, it would at least be nice to know that you are a short drive away from a couple big cities.
A city I truly like for it's beauty and outdoors is Johnson City, TN. Very close to the mountains, beautiful area, and easy to live in.
I visited Chattanooga around 2000 or so. It was getting so much buzz about their revitalization success. Sure enough it matched the press it was getting. Since that time many other cities have followed their playbook with success. I visited Chattanooga again just a few months ago. The revitalization has definitely continued. The success gap or advantage it had over other cities seems largely gone though.
I would suggest spending a few days in Knoxville, Asheville and Greenville before making a change though. In terms of outdoors, Asheville is the epicenter for a massive world of that. Chattanooga would probably be at least slightly cheaper to live in than Asheville and probably Greenville too.
Some other mountain (or close too) cities in the south worth checking out include Charlottesville, Birmingham, Charleston, WV, Lexington, KY, and Roanoke, VA.
My only experience with Chattanooga as an adult dates back to 1999 when I was evacuated there for work during hurricane Floyd. I was working super-long shifts at the time and didn't get to see too much of the city. The only thing I did notice was that it seemed much more 'bible belt' than Jacksonville. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, necessarily, but it's not my thing.
Maybe this link to the Chattanooga Times newspaper will be of some help; you can check out the local goings-on for a while and see how it really functions - ditto the other cities you might be considering. https://www.timesfreepress.com/
Quote from: Snaketoz on August 15, 2020, 06:13:08 AM
A city I truly like for it's beauty and outdoors is Johnson City, TN. Very close to the mountains, beautiful area, and easy to live in.
Bonus, they have white duck taco & Yee Haw!