Recent Chanattanooga Transplant - My Take On Housing (Chattanooga, East Ridge: rentals, houses)

[dasmarian]

My wife and I are from Indianapolis and I took a job in Dalton, which is roughly a 1/2 hour commute from Chattanooga. We rented for 9 months in N Chatt and investigated places to buy in that time. I am hoping to give some info here on our impression / opinion of the different areas and the city in general, and how we arrived at our decision.

This is only an opinion . . . and just like bellybuttons, everyone has one . . . just trying to help those with so many questions about the different areas. Our ideal home was older, well maintained, close to downtown, in a safe area and resonably priced. This was not going to be our first house, and our price range was up to just under $400k. We don't have kids, so schools were not a concern.

The house we rented was in N Chatt, very close to the high school & middle school off Dallas Rd. The area has a close proximity to the downtown / waterfront area, and this does provide a lot of appeal. The area has a liberal/artsy feel with a mix of redone bungalows, homes still in need of redoing, and rentals. The area, predominantly older homes, is also appealing because of the architectural charm. However we felt after looking that the houses were overpriced, in many cases approaching $200/sq ft for homes that would be $70/sq ft in a less desirable area. We didn't feel comfortable paying $350k+ for a bungalow, so we kept looking.

Our next stop was Hixson. For closer to $110/sq ft, you can find lots of 80's suburban type homes in neighborhoods with names like 'Breakwater' and what have you, many made of brick with good construction. For the same $350k, we were looking at 3500 sq ft, nearly double that of many homes in N Chatt. The homes in the area are close to shopping and there is a definite conservative feel with manicured lawns and larger lot sizes. We considered Hixson briefly, but it would have increased my commute time, and while the houses were somewhat appealing from a size/amenity perspective, there was little architectural charm. The area was also not that close to downtown, which we had come to enjoy. It definitely feels like a separate suburb.

We checked out St Elmo and Highland Park, both billed for their redone larger homes for a lower price per sq ft, but we felt these areas still had a ways to go before we would feel comfortable taking a walk after dark. For every house redone and beautiful, there are 4 that weren't, with window bars and security doors. The redone houses in these are definitely beautiful and kudos to those that have put the work into them. Our impression was that if the city was going to continue a rapid expansion you might gamble and have a skyrocketing value, but especially now with housing collapsing the flippers are stuck with a lot of homes they can't sell. There is no way we would personally consider either of these areas, but we understand where bargain hunters might.

So next we checked out East Brainerd, on the East side of 75. This is the most rapid area of new construction growth and will continue to be as the new VW plant is going in near there. There are lots of little subdivisions here and there, with some having exceptional homes, but not really for us. Little architectural charm, $550k home additions next to $150k home additions, and an expanding traffic problem. It is very far from downtown, and not really for us.

So we also checked out the mountains, Lookout and Signal. These are both very nice, but unfortunately driving down them every day to go to work was just too much trouble.

So where did we end up? We had checked out Missionary Ridge toward the beginning of the search, and found homes there that we liked but there was not really a neighborhood feel. The price was right and the areas seemed safe, but we really wanted neighbors.

Finally, because of a listing we were trying to find, we found our perfect neighborhood. There is an area on Missionary Ridge that was never annexed by the city. It is called Shepard Hills (or Ridgeside), and is off Shallowford near Crest. Many people, even from Chattanooga, have never heard of it. It is 200 reasonably priced family homes built from 1930-1960, with lower taxes than Chattanooga. We have our own mayor. If you watch Desperate Housewives, the neighborhood feels and looks just like what you see on Wisteria Lane. It is 10 minutes from downtown, 6 minutes to 75. The neighborhood is safe with lots of kids, a community pool, and unbelievably friendly people. Our home is a beautiful English Tudor, 3900 sq ft, 1/2 acre of property, and cost under our budget. So for us, perfection.

Ridgeside, Tenn. Community Network

Hope this helps!

[Jon F Moss]

thanks for sharing! Looks like you really did your homework, and you're very correct in point out the benefits of Shepard Hills. We have friends that live there. Not that it's a secret, but a lot of people aren't aware of the benefits of that area.

You certainly let the cat out of the bag! Welcome to the 'Noog

[jkmewright]

Dasmarian, thank you SO much for your input. Your neighborhood views are spot on.

A coworker was speaking of Ridgeside just yesterday and I had NO clue! I knew I loved the area but didn't know it had it's own mayor and was a TOWN lol Great news and we're glad to hear you found what you were looking for.

[Katsmeeyow]

Great post!

[Grizzlybear34]

Very insightful post and helpful to everyone in and out of the area. Everyone has a wish list of what they are looking for, and it looks like you knocked your's out of the park!

Congrats!!

[etta]

Thanks for such helpful information!

[drfranklin]

We lived on Missionary Ridge (North Crest - before we moved to SC) and vaguely remember that area (do recall that the homes were quite nice/historic).

Very insightful post!

[rxlynn]

Thanks for all this info - I have to admit that I am a Chattanooga native, and I couldn't at first place where this was at all. Ridgeside did not ring a bell with me - Shepherd Hills did sound vaguely familiar.

Two quick questions - is this zoned for East Ridge schools? Do majority of residents private school their kids?

[dasmarian]

Since we don't have kids I can't tell you specifically which schools the area is zoned for, but after talking to neighbors, we were led to believe that pretty much 100% of the kids in the neighborhood go to private schools. Many go to McCallie which is very close, and some go to Notre Dame, which I suppose is also very close.

I do know that East Ridge is contracted to provide some services such as police patrols, but I don't if that would have any bearing on the school zoning.

There is also a census type data on wikipedia which might be helpful. It's probably available here on citydata too, I'm not sure. . . . Ridgeside, Tennessee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[lefty514]

OK..Quick question..Any reasonable rentals in that area? I just accepted a job in Chattanooga and am looking for a decent rental area without having to resort to apt complexes.