Those two city personas are not mutually exclusive and Chattanooga is living proof why. With its reasonable cost of living and southern staples like the annual Tennessee Whiskey Festival, Chattanooga might seem like many other small southern cities. But with more and more startups and tech companies moving in every month, this feels less like the Tennessee/Georgia border and more like Silicon Valley. Chattanooga was even the first city in the country to roll out a citywide gigabyte network for residents. You truly get the best of both worlds here.


Small Southern Town Meets Modern Tech Hub

The Best Thing About Chattanooga?

Chattanooga was already on the rise prior to Covid but since March of 2020 things have gotten really crazy. Particularly for locals, the explosion is causing some cultural, and structural challenges. Chattanooga is the perfect storm for contemporary and pandemic growth: it’s in the south in a state with low taxes, it’s a college town, it’s a smaller city that helps big city folks feel like they can spread out more, and then for the newly minted work-from-homers it has that gigabit network. Holy moly all these things add up to a storm of northeasterners and northwesterners to flock down here. 


Grumpy local on the growth: *Honestly, without trying to offend anyone, I hate the out of state transplants and traffic that comes with it. This is pretty much Tennessee in general, however. Growing up in Chattanooga, I never felt the traffic was bad. Now it's almost unreckognizable due to the growth. The traffic sucks and I never recall it being that bad.*

Growth

The Worst Thing About Chattanooga?

There’s a lot to do in Chattanooga for a relatively small city with a nice mix of cool city options and amazing outdoor lifestyle options. The downtown area is filled with local boutiques for groovy shopping and foodies get a food scene thriving as much as its tech scene, with way more than just the southern classics. Chattanooga also has great access to outdoor recreation opportunities, with rivers and parks in town for daily play, and tons of forest trails, river rapids, rock formations, and waterfalls close by for more intense excursions. 


Lifestyle of Chattanooga

Tech and healthcare are two of the hottest industries in Chattanooga’s growing economy. In an emerging Covid world, many tech companies and startups view it as a cheaper but still solid alternative to SF and NYC, and remote workers have viewed the city in the same light. Healthcare has always been big in the area with some of the best hospitals in Tennessee, but the overall work climate is on the rise as well. 


Workstyle of Chattanooga

The same reason that many already are. It’s a low tax destination to find a great tech job or work remotely in an environment where you can enjoy the perks of escaping hyper-dense cities in a cool, growing place. 


Escape the Madness

Why You Should Move Here Now?

Northshore is one of the hottest neighborhoods in Chattanooga, with amazing shopping boutiques, restaurants and gastropubs. It’s filled with a mix of young professionals and young families and the housing options support apartment/condos and smaller home living all with great walkscores to the social options. It also has great outdoor options with two great parks that offer climbing walls, carousel, biking and amazing views of the city. 
- Northshore
- Downtown
- Southside


Young Professionals

Northshore

Southside is a booming neighborhood known for sustainability and a thriving entertainment, culture and arts scene. Big investment in redevelopment turned this once center of industry into a mecca for those looking for a more eclectic lifestyle than the one offered in Downtown Chattanooga. Expect to find a more diverse population of artists, musicians and young families who appreciate the broad range of experiences and housing options. Southside also attracts many in the LGBTQ community that are drawn to the cool housing, arts scene, and owned and supportive community businesses. 
- Southside
 -North Chattanooga


DINKs/SINKs/LGBTQ+

Southside

For the price-conscious check out Avondale first. It has a great mix of affordable homes, very safe streets and convenient access to pretty much everything else in the city. It also has a wonderful Youth and Family Development center with a great gym, computer lab, basketball courts, game room and a public library. Perfect for the growing brains and bodies of the local kiddos. Northshore is another great option, albeit a heck more expensive than Avondale. The outdoor options for the kids and the parents make it ideal when combined with the homes and schools available here.
- Avondale
- Northshore
- St Elmo


Families

Avondale

Southern cities with low taxes always do well with retirees and Chattanooga is no exception. St Elmo is one of the more popular neighborhoods for retirees and empty nesters who appreciate the easy access to outdoor living and more affordable prices for homes. Belvoir is another good option, due to its historic, charming and affordable homes. A wonderful community vibe with tons of dog walking, walking and hiking create a welcoming space for newcomers. 
- St Elmo
- Belvoir


Retirees/Empty Nesters

St Elmo

Chattanooga

**Moving to Chattanooga from the northeast in two weeks. Anything I should know?**


Ok so a lot of people are trolling you and I get it, but your post history indicates that you’re serious so I’ll give you some honesty. My husband and I moved here from Boston 6 months ago, and we’re both working remotely. However, the other big thing for us is that he grew up here, so he knows the area very well (and we had visited together many times before we made the leap.) Sure, the COL made the move a little more attractive, but we are here primarily because of family.

It’s very hard to put together a social life in a completely new place, especially when you’re working from home (and the pandemic doesn’t help.) When you move to a new place for school, or for a job that exists in-person, you have a built-in mechanism for meeting new people. If you’re working from home, that’s gone and you have to create a network from scratch. I’m very happy to be here, generally, but if we didn’t have the pull of family it would be a lot harder to swallow the loneliness. I don’t feel like a part of the community at all yet. I had lots of friends back in Boston and I miss them like crazy, and realistically, they’re probably not going to make the thousand-mile trip to visit all that often.

Maybe there’s not a lot keeping you in Boston besides your job that’s now remote - the fact that you’re willing to move somewhere sight unseen indicates that you’re looking for something new in your life. I won’t harp about the conservative politics or church stuff that’s common around here because maybe that’s not something that bothers you (despite assumptions people make about people from Boston) and I’m sure you’re aware of it all anyway. But whatever it is you like to do in your spare time, whatever kinds of people you like to befriend, think about how you will find them after the move.

Also the COL here is low because wages for most local jobs are pretty low, and housing prices are going up in part because of yuppies like us. Try to be respectful of that and you’ll have an easier time with social stuff.

**Moving to Chattanooga from the northeast in two weeks. Anything I should know?**


I can’t give much in the way of advice that other people haven’t said, so I’ll just say this:

I moved to Chattanooga a few years ago and I’ve loved every day of living here. Granted, I only moved from Memphis, so it wasn’t as big a move, but I firmly believe that Chattanooga is a great place to live.

One thing I noticed is that MOST people here actually use turn signals. People also actually let you change lanes. There are some who don’t, but it’s still so much better than in Memphis. These sound like stupid things to be excited about, but it was like a revelation to me. 😅

Don’t let people scare you off. Honestly, compared to larger cities like Boston or Memphis, Chattanooga’s nothing. You’ll be fine.

Welcome to Chattanooga! ❤️

**Moving to Chattanooga from the northeast in two weeks. Anything I should know?**

As long as you have money things run smoothly. Everything is cheap. State and city government are a bit of a joke(possibly related to the low taxes) People are very religious. Don’t be surprised if someone you dont know asks where you go to church.There are some weird laws about liquor, when and where you can buy. Chattanooga is still a city, we have a growing homeless population(probably nothing compared to boston, but be aware its not mayberry here). If youre single and over 28 and not religious the dating scene is....not much. People pretend its more progressive in chatt than it is and our state politics are blood red(pro or con depending on your leanings). When people ask where you went to school,50/50 odds they mean high school. There are two prominent private schools. Outdoor stuff is great here.

All of the above can be a pro or con depending on you and your views.

Tornados happen. How often varies. Allergies are rough for most people here.

But one thing that absolutely cannot be avoided... is a violent ball slapping heat/humidity combo that gives you swamp taint 3.5 months of the year.

Also: there is fuck all going on weeknights for the most part. Unless you love seeing the same 6 people at open mic comedy or music.

**Moving to Chattanooga from the northeast in two weeks. Anything I should know?**

We’ve been here for a year now and it’s amazing. Love all the people trying to scare you away. The heat is not that bad, it’s not that cold, it does get humid, it rains a lot, but more like alittle every day than giant storms, the housing is relatively cheap but getting more expensive all the time just like it is everywhere in the country. The internet is amazing, the traffic is nothing compared to large urban areas (sorry all you natives to the area but that’s the truth). It’s not a huge city, so you can get from one side to the pretty quickly, but there are also some limitations on stores and flights available. The outdoors scene is amazing. The pace is slower and it is VERY southern. The culture will be completely different from what you are used to in Boston.

It’s impossible to know if you will like it here but we are very happy. Many of our new neighbors are from the NE or CA and seem to enjoy it.

**Pros & Cons of Living in Chattanooga, Tennessee - 2022**
Before you make the move to Chattanooga, TN, there are a few key things you should know.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Gig City

Looklyloo Score: 80

We're on it!