Anyone know much about Chattanooga?

I'm in a line of work that has been remote for a while and my boss doesn't care where I live other than to be able to fly out of there easily. Currently, I am in Omaha, NE for some family obligations that are starting to wrap up. I don't see this as a home for me. I left after HS for a reason and coming back hasn't changed much. I work a lot with Europe so eastern time zone is a nice bonus. 

One of the cities that is catching my eye is Chattanooga, TN. It's got the outdoors stuff I enjoy right there. The 4 hour driving circle has a ton in it. I'd save a bunch in taxes over Nebraska. Rough math has that over $13K a year in tax savings. 

Does anyone have anything to add about the city? I know there was a large internet infrastructure investment a few years ago so it has a good backbone for remote work. 

I'm spending a week there in November to check it out. 

For years we dreamed of moving to Chattanooga. Hell, Corky Coker himself offered me job up there once. But it just never lined up. For a while housing was as expensive as where I am in Atlanta. When we were looking it was actually slightly more expensive to live in Chattanooga than Atlanta based on costs of everything. Since you like outdoors stuff you should be good. The biggest thing holding me back was the job market. Sure I could work at Coker, but if that ever fell through I'd be stuck. There just aren't that many employers for what I do. Since you are bringing a job with you, you should be set.

I still love the area, but we renovated our house in Atlanta two years ago and no way I'm moving until the kids are out.

I know a youth group pastor that lives there that you could talk to.  He's super outgoing and would easily talk to you if you wanted.   

I hear the Choo Choo is nice. 

Grew up there and now my brother and sister in law live there. Great town that has blown up over the last several years. They even have an Ironman now! I'm happy to answer questions. 

Tm and I were just there for the Motorcar Festival and after spending a long weekend staying downtown and also driving the surrounding areas, came away both saying, "Yeah, I could totally live there."

Margie

Nice. I saw the motorcar festival. That looked like a great event. 

I really loved my time in Asheville a month ago. I spent the entire time hiking. It was my first time in that part of the country in a while. I've spent a lot of time on the I65 corridor but never that way. 

Grover, I will take you up on that probably after the visit. I head down there in 2 weeks. Working from there for a week to check it out at night. 

How are the flights out of Chatt?  Do the flights just get overshadowed by the need to just drive to Atlanta for a flight?  But, a 2-3 hour drive to Atlanta might get you a direct flight that saves you a 3 hour lay-over.  

Also, a 2 hr drive to Nashville.  Might get a good flight from there.  

If you're on facebook, I recommend joining a couple of local groups for the area. Most have one called something like "[city name] News and Comments". 

I'm in three of them, for places that I currently live or used to live. Despite the three areas being significantly different from each other, they all give a generally accurate idea of the general citizen. With that, you need remember that you're seeing the loudest extremes and that internet personas are going to be more polarizing than their real life counterparts... But it is still going to be indicative of the general "feel" of an area. 

John, 

It's actually no worse than Omaha for flights. I'll have the option for either. Omaha doesn't even give me the drive to a different airport option. It's the biggest in 5 hours. 

I have a ton of family down there and plan on retiring there-ish in less than a decade. I love the city and the area. Been spending at least one week there for the past 4 years.

My wifes family is all there. Our plan was to move there until job opportunities kept me in Atlanta. 

Housing boom is there like everywhere else. house prices are 20-30% higher than what Im used to in Atlanta. Traffic is no better than atlanta. The commutes are probably shorter, but the highways suck equally. Same with the populated areas. All of her family is around East Brainerd, and that place can be a mess. In the day, my favorite spot is the walking bridge and coolidge park area. At night, its not really a place you want to be. 

Oh, No commute for me other than getting to where I'm going to exercise that day. I'll be definitely trying that out when I'm there. 

I did notice on the facebook page I found a lot of transplants so we will see. I'm also looking at a snowbird plan in Costa Rica and a few other places in the SE. 

Chatty, Asheville, Burlington, Portland, Fayetteville, Penn State are some of the few places in the East I could probably stand living again. 

Chattanooga is easily one of the warmest of those options. 

In reply to pheller :

I've lived in 3 of those along with the connection to Chattanooga. Burlington, Portland, State College (Penn State). All decent places, but cold.

Been to State College a lot. Huge Penn State fan and if we didn't move out of PA, I would have gone to school there. Won 2 state titles there as a kid so it does have a special place in my heart. I'd need a snow bird option if I lived there for sure. The flight options from there are a killer. 

Asheville would be more of an option. I do really like it there but flight options from there suck. 

Your a self proclaimed outdoorsy person, why aren't you looking at the west? 

New Mexico is cheap(er). ABQ has a decent airport. Drive to Colorado in the summer for big mountains, drive to Arizona during the winter for warm temps and sunshine, although ABQ is pretty mild all year round. 

Reno would be another pick on my list. Only 2 hours to Sacramento. Getting expensive though. 

My problem with the East is that the climate and geography is relatively consistent across hundreds of miles. I spent a good long while trying to find "pockets" of lower humidity and precipitation in the Appalachian East, with lackluster results. It's all humid. Go north where the summer are bareable, and it's all cold in every directions for hours. 

I love the west for the fact that you can live someplace without snow, and drive to cooler temps when you need a break from the heat in the summer, or go skiing if thats your thing. 

Oh, and with such little private land, you never have to worry about "oops your trespassing" like you do in the east. 

Biggest reason is time zone. If I move back west, was in Colorado springs for the last 3 years, then my work day starts at 6:00 AM. 60% of my revenue comes from Europe so I have to spend a decent amount of time with them. I do it when I head back to see friends but it gets old quick. 

This was the trail behind my house I went up often. 

That and my body just doesn't do altitude as well anymore.  I've thought about Colorado a lot but just the time zones are a killer. 

In reply to bmw88rider :

I have a coworker in the Chattanooga area who's also 100% telework. He's a car guy, but even more of a fisherman & totally loves it there. 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

Caught 2  good sized catfish there in August. 19 and 25 lbs right downtown.

I work in Chatt and live just outside the city limits. All in all it's a good place, but in some ways it's trying too hard to be the next Portland, Austin or Asheville.

The airport offers some useful direct flights. Most of the time when I fly, it's to LA, and for me it's generally more convenient to fly direct out of Nashville than a 1-stop out of Chatt.

Good places to eat, stuff to do, good car scene. I was active in the local SCCA chapter for 10 years or so but I've been on something of a hiatus the last couple years.

Chattanooga is in Hamilton County. It's the only county in Eastern TN with emissions testing, but that's going away in Jan 2022. Hamilton County also has higher property taxes than the surrounding areas.

There's an area of hellacious traffic known as the Ridge Cut where I-24 runs through the city and connects to I-75. If it's part of your commute you'll hate life. LA and ATL have nothing on the Ridge Cut.

If you have other specific questions, let me know.

Chattanooga traffic is up there with the worst in the country. Its mind boggling to me that this has not changed in the last 20 years and has only gotten worse. 

So spent the last few days here. 

1. The rush hour traffic is a b but I wouldn't be traveling much during traditional rush hour so not too bad. 

2. The driving roads are a lot of fun here. Much better than Nebraska for sure. 

3. The grocery prices were stupid. I don't know if it was just publix or what but it was a good 10-15% higher on stuff I normally buy. 

4. Loved the trails and surrounding outdoors scene. 

5. It's pretty small overall but it is good that it's only about 2 hours from ATL and nashville. 

Overall I liked it. Not sure if I want to be in this small of a town. It's staying on the list for sure.