CHATTANOOGA ST'ers, WHAT'S THE CATCH?

Triathlon Forum
1

So, we went there for the race and now the whole family wants to move there asap.

  1. What’s the catch? Is the place really as great as it seemed?

  2. I did not see any bike lanes except in town. Where does everyone do their long rides?

  3. Where do folks live? North Shore, Downtown, out by the golf course area?

The town seemed kinda perfect. There has to be a catch, right?

2

ok, I’ll bite do you really want to live in TN?

3

Interesting point. It was more “a really cool place so close to Atlanta and NC”. But your point is both abrupt and interesting.

4

ok, I’ll bite do you really want to live in TN?

Well, there’s no state income tax…so there’s that
.

5

Well, I live in FL so that’s a wash.

It was more about the overall vibe, and the mountains.

6

I feel the same way. I usually go up once a year for the waterfront tri and every year I leave seeing myself living there one day. I went up this past year 3 times for waterfront, training, & IMchoo and felt the same way everytime I left.

7

No catch. I’m in Nashville but I have family in Chattanooga. You would find it to be a nice place to live. As you said, close to Atlanta, 2ish hours from Nashville, 90 minutes to Knoxville, close to the mountains, 4 seasons, etc… Typical winters are fairly mild but there will be some instances of snow/ice you’ll have to deal with.

8

I moved here to produce the race from Greenville, SC. I was in Madison, WI before that. I love it here. Awesome outdoor community with great road and mountain biking. The city is a little behind with cycling lanes but has a master plan in the works. Great city to live! Brian

9

Not a resident but I do spend quite a bit of time there. And I did recently meet with a realtor.

  1. Yes and no. It is a cool city. Not really big so it is missing a bunch of stuff. But small enough that getting around is pretty easy. And the location is awesome.
  2. Tons of great riding. South of town 3 miles is rural Georgia so you have your pick of just about anything. On the north side, tons of people ride Signal/Raccoon mountain areas and I think Moccasin Bend. Again, a few miles and you are in the middle of nowhere. Just a few examples. And the mtn biking/trail running system there is pretty good
  3. Depends on what you value. If you want a stable community, good schools then you want the north shore. Maybe even Lookout Mtn. Looking for a trendier/transformational neighborhood, east Chattanooga or St. Elmo. Or you can look at the ‘burbs’ a few miles out of town.
10

can you compare chattanooga to greenville, sc? seems the cycling community may be stronger in gville, but the overall outdoor experience might lean towards chattanooga. thoughts?

11

Funny you post this my wife was on Zillow while I was racing looking for homes and also looking for new jobs for both of us.

12

Chattanooga is even better than what you saw. I am a native Noogan & have lived elsewhere, but this is home for a reason. The music scene is getting groovier, the triathlon scene is heating up (thanks to WTC), the cycling scene is epic both on & off road (check out Scenic City Velo’s teams). Our climate allows us to train year round outdoors, with a few layers. It’s never too hot or too cold, but we do get season changes. There’s something for everyone. I do not live downtown, more rural & I can ride my bike out my back door all day & see maybe 2-3 cars, it’s beautiful (low traffic, low pollution). I could go on… River Rocks Outdoor festival is coming up…, http://www.riverrockschattanooga.com/events/page_2
There is always something going on, not to mention we are only a few hours from NC, ATL & it’s a quick 6 hour drive to the beach :wink:
I don’t normally post here, but I’m still pumped from IMCHOO & you did ask about my home town that I am pretty passionate about…

13

Brian, I thought what you made was great. I hope enough folks took the time to tell you that. One interesting point about traveling to race: some percentage are just there to kick ass and move on, many more are there for their own reasons, and of those, the majority will make lasting family memories out of it. You and yours set the stage for that- for that for thousands of people. I hope you find time to reflect on that at some point. Now, this all said, I, for one, saw through the added touch of the frisbee dog jumping championship. I mean, that’s not real, is it? You guys staged that kinda like that Chevy Chase movie where he’s trying to sell that house, right? The kids are nagging me for a frisbee jumping dog now…

14

I felt the same way when my girlfriend (now wife) and I went to do the Knoxville Marathon a few years ago. We have thought about moving over that way (from Raleigh) in the future.

15

Thanks for your thoughts. Very good info.

16

A lot of Banjoing ?

17

was totally messing around about the earlier TN comment - it is a great city, havent spent a ton of time there (I live in Atlanta) but enough to have a very favorable opinion of it. Also not far from Nashville either which is a great city. Both Nashville and Chattanooga are developing into very nice technology cities as well. Many tech startups are calling these two cities home and it is starting to bring in more and more investors.

If you love it, give it a go, we only get one shot at this might as well take some risks and have some fun. I moved to Atlanta 7.5 years ago after spending the first 27 years of my life in NJ, by far the best decision i have ever made.

Good luck. Where do you currently live?

18

I have basically stopped by on the way to Nashville and found it appealing. But my question is why would one pick Chattanooga over Asheville NC. I like the bigger mountains, higher elevation and cooler temps in Western N.C.

19

  1. Nothing really. It’s just a great place. Find a public school district that suits you, and if not, there are magnet schools and private schools.

  2. North of the city (Soddy Daisy, Dayton), south of the city (north Georgia), east of the city (Apison, Ooltewah), west of the city (“the valley” aka Whitwell)

  3. Families tend to live North Chattanooga, East Brainerd, Hixson, Red Bank, Ooltewah. I’m a single dude, so I’m right in the middle of downtown and don’t want to leave any time soon.

It’s just a great place with a variety of career options, proximity to bigger cities, good (“foodie”) restaurants, excellent sports and recreation, a pretty good university, and interesting topography. What else do you need?

20

You know what? I gotta say that, to me, Asheville is kinda full of $#!+ to me in a way. Asheville seems to wanna wear their outdoorsy, hippy, bullshit on their sleeve. Very adolescent in their approach it seems to me in that regard. Chatta seemed to be an Asheville that had grown up and moved on in a way??? I’m born and raised in NC and my wife is from the mountains of NC, and I have a lot of family in Asheville still. Chattanooga is solve evolved compared to Asheville, IMHO.