As a southern person, I do not think of Chattanooga as the stereotypical southern area. In fact, most of TN is beautiful and avoids the pitfalls of 'true southern' towns such as: retirement cities, college towns, mix of prior two, devastation by constant natural disasters, no innovation, casinos and lottery leading to starvation, rampant drug problems hitting whole cities, etc.

Visited Hattiesburg MS, Jackson MS, Monroe LA, Shreveport LA, and a few others just this weekend. That's true south.

There are 0 whole foods in Mississippi, and why would you build one when there is a 2% chance it will be destroyed by a hurricane within 5 years.

TN is absolutely beautiful. I cannot say much about the people due to lack of experience, but the area is breathtaking. I'll never forget the water down the mountains turning into icicles.

I've learned to visit a city's craigslist prior to visiting the area. You can typically gauge the population by the amount of people using it, items for sale, and types of pets (odd, I know).

I agree. I recently drove through Chattanooga and was pleasantly surprised (wasn't it one of the dirtiest cities in the country a few decades back??). I've added it to the list of places I'd rather be than the tundra that is the upper Midwest. If only it had Kentucky's taxes... at least it doesn't have California's.

Also: Chattanooga has a Trader Joe's, the true metric of civilization.

    Chattanooga has a Trader Joe's, the true metric of civilization.

Ha! I work from home, and every time I look for a new city to move to, I visit http://www.traderjoes.com/stores/.

You are not alone.

no income tax tho :]

Yes, but they still tax dividends & interest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax#States_with_no...