Living in Tennessee vs Georgia

[Mudpuddle]

I've lived in Georgia for basically my entire life and spent a few years commuting around the Atlanta area. It's a total nightmare if you're from a one horse town like me. But plenty of people seem to enjoy living there and don't let the traffic bother them.

The hunting between Atlanta and Chattanooga isn't great, but there are a few WMAs with decent deer populations and plenty of black bear in the mountains. Northwest GA has the best turkey population in the state. The bigger problem is that if you're close to Atlanta, you are also close to many other hunters.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Currently outside Tampa. Don’t really care for it.

Hunting here isn’t great, closest public land is a little over an hour away with a 1 deer per 1000 man days harvest rate. Folks do get on ducks here, but truthfully on the wrong side of the state for that, east coast holds them much better.

Good Lord, I lived down there (Lakeland) for 16 years.
Get outta that place man!!!

 

[Shadow14]

I live in the north metro Atlanta area and have been here most of my life. I would take Chattanooga all day especially since i have a lifetime GA license and could get a resident TN license and still hunt GA for nothing. Atlanta is growing way too much for my liking and Chattanooga is cheaper. TN is also considerably more red than GA is these days too. Chat has the amenities of a big city with a small town feel. Traffic comparison between the two is night and day. Beware though that the whole 75 corridor is blowing up and is expected to have major growth in the next 10 - 15 years. Id get as far out as you can and buy some land.

 

[rtaylor]

I live outside of Chattanooga and my brother and sister live outside Atlanta. There are no advantages that Atlanta has to Chattanooga. Taxes and cost of living are substanially higher in Georgia. There is decent hunting in E Tennessee.

 

[vectordawg]

Georgia football is superior.

HBTFD!

 

[Kurts86]

I currently live in Tennessee and the hunting is a C+/B- IMO. Lots of opportunities but nothing really to get excited about. The fishing variety and season lengths are probably the greatest outdoor strength of the state.

There is better hunting in middle/west TN but with less access and more pressure. East TN as mentioned has tons of access but low densities of deer/turkeys/bears. Duck hunting is currently an epic mess but is almost entirely limited to the western 1/3rd of the state. There are some sandhill crane hunts in East TN but they take 2 years or so to draw a tag for.

Tennessee has about as low of a tax burden as possible but the schools/social services to match in most of the state. If you have school aged kids you either move to a good school district or pay for private school. Tennessee is also really short on pre-K daycare capacity due to an expanding population and tighter childcare regulations.

Chattanooga is going to lag behind Atlanta on career development opportunities and the available direct flights from the airport. Otherwise Chattanooga is a nicer outdoorsy small city.

 

[sneaky]

I grew up about 40min east of Chattanooga in Ocoee. Tennessee doesn't have an estate tax either, so that's something that can save you a ton of money in the future. Nickajack, Chickamauga are world renowned bass lakes, some great fish coming out of there every year. Watts Bar isn't too far either. Heck, short drive you can be on Guntersville, Dale Hollow etc from Chattanooga area. Population has exploded in the area since the wu flu started. Land in Ooltewah/Apison area is getting pricey and snapped up as fast as it comes available. I have a cousin who is a builder just above Chattanooga in Cleveland. Still selling houses as fast as they build them.

 

[Poser]

Note that TN sales tax is 7% and pushes close to 10% with local taxes on many areas. Groceries are not Excluded either.

 

[Pickettpuncher]

Note that TN sales tax is 7% and pushes close to 10% with local taxes on many areas. Groceries are not Excluded either.

9.75% tax. Grocery tax is 6% I think. I don’t grocery shop. Vehicle tax is 6 or 7%

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

I'd take Chattanooga hands down. Grandparents lived in Flintstone, Georgia right outside. Loved visiting them all the time. Town is much better since that time period and down town has gotten to be a cool place.

If you need a good vet, see my buddy at Main Street Pet Wellness Center. Tell them Mooseknuckles sent ya. He'll know....

 

[GotDraw?]

One piece of hard-learned advice, determine the location where you are most likely to be working most of the time and live near it. If truly 50/50, then pick one.

At one point in my life, I tried living between Shreveport and Baton Rouge for 18 mos in order to be equidistant to key clients. Thought I was being very smart, but NONE of my key clients were in that middle zone.

HUGE mistake.

Every day I had a minimum of a 2-3 hr long drive somewhere (and then back) in order to be at a client's. Pick a livable spot that is a much closer commute to your primary work location so that those days are easy. Deal with the other commute when needed.

JL

 

[stanginthe11s]

I agree with gotdraw?, commuting sucks and any money you save in one place gets wasted in gas and time traveling. pick what's closest to your job. you do not have to be stuck in a city, just going 15 min outside can change a lot. both states have good hunting and fishing, just depends on what you're after. that being said, I personally stay clear of Atlanta. my niece is a lawyer there and when I asked her why not go to NYC she replied simply "more opportunity here". when a criminal lawyer says that it usually means it isn't a good area lol.

 

[Ringtail]

I live in western NC close to TN line. I work in TN and I honestly should move there due to the cost of living being so cheap. You couldn’t pay me enough to live in Atlanta. If you are into bass fishing at all I would move to Chattanooga. Chickamauga lake has some world class largemouth bass along with plenty of crappie and other species. I personally wouldn’t move into the heart of Chattanooga but I come from small town living so I’m used to not having all the big town convenience.

 

[lungpuncher1]

Georgia football is superior.

For now. Ebb and flo

Georgia is a shit hole

 

[bigbassin]

Well circling back on this, looks like I need to be in Atlanta 2-3 days a week and then anywhere in Georgia or Tennessee the other 2-3 days. Pretty much means closer to Atlanta will be the route I go.

Currently looking around Cartersville, any opinions from anyone that’s lived in the area?

Looks to be decent. Close to 75 for traveling.

Altoona and Etowah right there for fishing. Lanier, Carter’s, Weiss, and the Coosa within an hour, figure 1.5-2 hours for trout.

Looks like a handful of WMAs within 45 minutes, albeit I figure they get hit hard.

 

[MallardSX2]

I live in northeast Georgia. Feel free to pm me.

 

[Carpet Capital Shyster]

Well circling back on this, looks like I need to be in Atlanta 2-3 days a week and then anywhere in Georgia or Tennessee the other 2-3 days. Pretty much means closer to Atlanta will be the route I go.

Currently looking around Cartersville, any opinions from anyone that’s lived in the area?

Looks to be decent. Close to 75 for traveling.

Altoona and Etowah right there for fishing. Lanier, Carter’s, Weiss, and the Coosa within an hour, figure 1.5-2 hours for trout.

Looks like a handful of WMAs within 45 minutes, albeit I figure they get hit hard.

I live in Rome, (not crazy about it, but it’s better than the metro area) and I work in Cartersville. Cartersville is great. We almost moved there right before covid hit but our kids are happy at their school here and we didn’t want to rock the boat. Public schools in the city of Cartersville are really good. Most of my coworkers are very happy in the school system. You have to make sure you live in the city though, as slots for out of district kids are in high demand and there is a lottery to get in. Location of the town is fantastic as you can shoot into Atlanta in 30-40 minutes if no traffic and you still get a southern small town feeling. You can definitely feel a sense of community there. The downtown public square has many good restaurants and there’s a first rate brewery. We find ourselves driving from Rome to eat in Cartersville often in the weekends. If I were planning to stay in the area long term, Cartersville is definitely where I would look to move. Unfortunately, a lot of other people have figured out how charming it is and Bartow County is growing fast and property values are skyrocketing accordingly.

 

[fwafwow]

Well circling back on this, looks like I need to be in Atlanta 2-3 days a week and then anywhere in Georgia or Tennessee the other 2-3 days. Pretty much means closer to Atlanta will be the route I go.

Currently looking around Cartersville, any opinions from anyone that’s lived in the area?

Looks to be decent. Close to 75 for traveling.

Altoona and Etowah right there for fishing. Lanier, Carter’s, Weiss, and the Coosa within an hour, figure 1.5-2 hours for trout.

Looks like a handful of WMAs within 45 minutes, albeit I figure they get hit hard.

I’ve lived in metro Atlanta for 30+ years, including the last 20 in “north Atlanta.” Hard to weigh in without more info on what you value. If just outdoors stuff, you are probably on the right track.

 

[bigbassin]

I’ve lived in metro Atlanta for 30+ years, including the last 20 in “north Atlanta.” Hard to weigh in without more info on what you value. If just outdoors stuff, you are probably on the right track.

Outdoors is for sure my top priority. Think I spent about 75 days hunting or fishing in 2022, another 10 camping. Pretty much everyday I didn’t work I spent at least half a day outdoors.

Hit the the weights pretty hard, need to have a gym.

Still in my 20s I like the idea of being able to do more social activities (bar, watch UFC fights, concerts, etc.), but that’s maybe a once a month deal, weathers bad, or family/friends in town. Not a problem if the night life scene is small where I’m at.

Not a foodie, just need the town to have a Dairy Queen and I’ll be set.

No clue what state I’ll be in next week let alone next year, so it’ll be a rental place.

On the road frequently so proximity to the highway matters.

Anywhere up here is a 7 hour drive from family/friends so that’s pretty much a non-factor at this point.

 

[Carpet Capital Shyster]

Outdoors is for sure my top priority. Think I spent about 75 days hunting or fishing in 2022, another 10 camping. Pretty much everyday I didn’t work I spent at least half a day outdoors.

Hit the the weights pretty hard, need to have a gym.

Still in my 20s I like the idea of being able to do more social activities (bar, watch UFC fights, concerts, etc.), but that’s maybe a once a month deal, weathers bad, or family/friends in town. Not a problem if the night life scene is small where I’m at.

Not a foodie, just need the town to have a Dairy Queen and I’ll be set.

No clue what state I’ll be in next week let alone next year, so it’ll be a rental place.

On the road frequently so proximity to the highway matters.

Anywhere up here is a 7 hour drive from family/friends so that’s pretty much a non-factor at this point.

Forgot to lay out the sporting opportunities around Cartersville. Decent trout fishing (for the south) can be had in north Georgia, East TN, and western North Carolina but you’ll be driving 1.5-2 hours at a minimum. Hell, I do those drives all the time to fish for trout. Good warmwater fishing on the etowah and coosa systems can be had for a myriad of species. Would be helpful to have some type of boat like a fishing kayak for this. Lots of public land to hunt up north in the mountains but the deer density drops when you get to the mountains. You can get into turkeys, hogs, and bear up there as well. I highly recommend spending some time up in places like the Cohutta Wilderness. I mostly hunt at my wife’s farm in South Georgia so I haven’t hunted up here nearly as much as I should have and don’t have a lot of info to offer. You can easily find some leases with openings in central Georgia for better deer hunting at a reasonable drive. Another option would be to get on a lease just over the line in Alabama. A lot of people around here do that and the season goes later. I think the rut is also happening over there right now (but I could be wrong about that). If you end up moving to the Cartersville area send me a private message and I’ll point you to some of my favorite streams within a few hours’ drive.