Lots of choices there. I am an hour north of Chattanooga and really like that I am that close to a metro area and still able to live in a rural area. Chattanooga has really come a long way since I worked there in the early 70s. It used to be one of the most polluted cities in the country and now it is one of the cleanest. There are lots of opportunities for outdoor activities with the Tennessee River and the Smoky Mts. nearby.
Lots of folks live in surrounding counties for lower taxes and still commute to work in Chattanooga. When highway 111 was finished across Walden's Ridge, people started a land boom on the Ridge as they got away from the high taxes, but were still close to work. The downtown area has completely transformed itself. Now there are condos in areas that used to be abandoned business buildings. Many small businesses have cropped up in the downtown area neat the Aquarium and the Lookouts ball park. There summer concerts in the downtown area almost every weekend during the summer.
