Chattanooga IS a nice town but there are getting to be too many gangs. It’s mostly Mexicans and blacks from what my husband read today.
I don’t venture into the bad areas of Chattanooga, but there are some. Unfortunately, I do have to go downtown once in a while for work (which despise, as parking is not free), but for the most part, I stay in the nicer areas or completely out of the city.
Don’t get me wrong - Downtown is pretty nice, at least during the day, but things do happen even there from time to time. When I was getting PT for my back issues last year, the therapist’s office was in a marginal neighborhood, but very close to one of the hospitals.