At Chattanooga Property Shop, "local" means something a little different to each of us.

Some of us were born and raised right here, with memories tied to places and neighborhoods that have changed dramatically over the years.

Some of us are transplants who came to Chattanooga years ago and have been here long enough that we think we've earned the right to call ourselves locals.

And one of us made a very intentional decision just a few years ago that Chattanooga was where she wanted to build her life and call home.

We came here in different ways and at different times, but we all have something in common:

We genuinely love where we live.

And when we sat down as a team and started talking about why, we realized how much our answers say about this place we get to call home.

It's the Chattanooga We Know—and the Chattanooga We're Still Discovering

Living here for decades doesn't mean you've seen everything.

That's part of the fun.

Someone on our team may know the backroads, neighborhoods and longtime local restaurants because they've been going there since childhood. Someone else may have discovered the same place after moving here and immediately wondered why no one had told them about it sooner.

Our different histories give us different perspectives on Chattanooga—and they're all part of our team's local knowledge.

Ask us where to eat and you'll hear Alleia, Easy Bistro, Main Street Meats, Calliope, Spice Trail, Tremont Tavern, Taco Mamacita, FEED and plenty more.

Ask about pizza and you'll start a Pizza Bros versus Lupi's conversation.

Dessert?

Let's just say Clumpies received a lot of votes.

And when friends or clients ask where they should go for brunch, we're sending them to places like Bluegrass Grill, Kenny's, STIR, Milk & Honey and Hello Monty.

These aren't recommendations pulled from a "Best of Chattanooga" list. They're places where we've celebrated birthdays, met friends after work, taken out-of-town guests and spent countless Saturday mornings.

They're part of our lives here,

For Us, Loving Chattanooga Means Getting Outside

One thing became very clear when we compared our answers: this team loves being outside.

And really, how could we not?

One of the things that makes Chattanooga so special is how easily everyday life connects with nature.

You can leave work and be on a trail before dinner. Spend Saturday morning biking to brunch. Walk across Walnut Street Bridge, paddle the Tennessee River, hike to an overlook or disappear into the woods for a few hours—and still be back downtown in time for dinner.

Our team favorites include Signal Point, Glen Falls, Guild Trail, Big Soddy Gulf, Edwards Point, Rainbow Lake, Fiery Gizzard, Greenway Farms, Coolidge Park, Renaissance Park and, of course, the Riverwalk.

Then there are the adventures we think everyone should experience at least once: whitewater rafting the Ocoee, paddleboarding around Maclellan Island, cruising the Tennessee River or simply finding a great overlook and remembering how lucky we are to live here.

And "Local" Doesn't Stop at the Tennessee State Line

That's especially true for our team.

Chattanooga and North Georgia are deeply connected, and we work, live and play on both sides of the state line.

A free day might take us to Cloudland Canyon, Chickamauga National Military Park, Rising Fawn, Blue Ridge, Toccoa Falls or even Howard Finster's wonderfully unusual Paradise Garden.

That's one of the things we love most about living here.

You don't have to choose between city life and the outdoors. Or Tennessee and Georgia. Or restaurants and hiking. Or arts and adventure.

You can have a little bit of all of it.

Food, Music, Art and the People Who Make Chattanooga Interesting

Nature may be one of Chattanooga's biggest attractions, but it isn't the only reason we've put down roots here.

We love that Chattanooga feels creative.

There's live music. Local theater. Galleries. Makers. Restaurants where you know the people behind the food. Independent shops where someone has carefully chosen every item on the shelf.

We love finding gifts at places like Sophie's, Alice Blue, Chattanooga Shoe Co., Blue Fox Cheese Shop, Good Kinsmen, Dirty Jane's, The Refindery, Plum Nelly and Studio Ours.

We love evenings on patios, outdoor music, festivals, neighborhood events and stumbling across a business we somehow hadn't discovered yet.

And we love supporting the local people who have taken a chance on an idea and helped make this community more interesting because of it.

We Love Our Neighborhoods, Too

Maybe it's the real estate in us, but we can talk about Chattanooga neighborhoods for a very long time.

Southside came up repeatedly when we talked about places we love to walk, eat and explore.

But so did St. Elmo, Highland Park, Riverview, Fort Wood, Ferger Place, Black Creek and many others.

Then there are the places we're watching. Red Bank. Big Ridge. East Lake. Belvoir. MLK. South Broad. Ridgedale. Rossville. Cleveland.

Part of being local for a long time is remembering what an area used to look like.

Part of being a transplant is sometimes seeing possibilities that longtime residents overlook.

And part of being in real estate is having a front-row seat as neighborhoods evolve.

We get to experience all three perspectives on our team.

Home Is Bigger Than a House

We spend a lot of time talking about homes.

Bedrooms. Bathrooms. Acreage. Walkability. Commutes. Schools. Views. Kitchens. Backyards.

Those things matter.

But after helping people buy and sell homes throughout Chattanooga and North Georgia for years, we've learned that loving where you live is about much more than the house you choose.

It's the coffee shop where they know your order. It's your favorite table at a restaurant. It's knowing exactly where to take an out-of-town guest when you want them to understand why you love Chattanooga. It's a Saturday morning hike followed by brunch. It's live music on a warm evening. It's watching the Tennessee River from an overlook you've visited dozens of times and still stopping to appreciate the view. It's discovering a new restaurant in a neighborhood you thought you knew. It's crossing the state line into North Georgia without giving it a second thought.

It's knowing your community—and continuing to be curious about it.

That's What "Love Where You Live" Means to Us

We didn't all start here. Some of us did. Some of us arrived years ago and stayed. And some of us looked at all the places we could build a life and chose Chattanooga intentionally. Maybe that's why this month's theme feels so personal to our team.

We don't just sell real estate here. We live here. We explore here. We eat here. We hike here. We support local businesses here. We raise families, make friends and build our lives here.

And we're still discovering reasons to love it.

So now we want to hear from the people who have helped make Chattanooga Property Shop what it is—our friends, clients, past clients and neighbors.

What makes you love where you live?

Is it a restaurant we need to try? A trail we missed? A North Georgia day trip? A neighborhood that's completely underrated? A local musician or venue? A shop everyone should know about?

Send us your favorite.

Because after putting together our team's list, we're pretty sure there's another Chattanooga favorite waiting for us to discover. Save our list for future date nights, playdates or local adventures! 

Chattanooga Property Shop

Local expertise. Data-driven. And very happy to call Chattanooga + North Georgia home.