Originally Posted by
jeffjohnvol
Chattanooga, TN. Rated the #1 city for outdoor activities by Outdoor magazine (hiking, biking, hang gliding, boating, canoeing, mountains, fresh air). ZERO percent income taxes on state and city, The fastest internet in the country (1 Gigabit to every house).
Excellent schools.
Property is inexpensive and the people are friendly. They are also very pro business and pro growth.
The negative is that sales tax is 9.75% for the whole state, but the no income tax balances this out.
I like it for flights because I can get to Diamond on DL by doing 4 connections a week with 2 each week being very short 30 minute hops (CHA to ATL). The airport is small but modern with easy access. My friends in Atlanta that do short connections like myself (all east coast) are lucky to get Platinum if they fly 50 weeks! If you fly long haul this advantage is moot of course, you can get to DM via miles.
Oh, forgot to mention. They do have very good public schools, but there are lots of acclaimed private schools as well with Baylor, McCauley, Notre Dame and some STEM schools as well. Plus, in TN, they use their lottery money to give scholarships to the state schools, (Univ of TN, UTC etc). I think you get 3K per semester if your child has a B average when they graduate.
It sounds like a small town but there are some pretty exclusive areas there as well (look at Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, etc.). And of course the lake properties go from anywhere between 500K to 14 million. Peyton Manning has a farm in Ooltewah (right next to Chattanooga).
Winters are mild, but you still have a change of season.
If you make a visit, stay at the Chanticleer Inn. It's a B&B on Lookout Mountain and is right next to Rock City, a tourist attraction the kids would love. A weekend there at the Inn will run you about 500.