Ooltewah

Like the Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pies made here, Collegedale offers a taste of sweetness and childhood nostalgia. From the weekly farmer’s market at The Commons in Collegedale to the whimsical playground at Little Debbie Park, the comforts of this small Tennessee town create a carefree, welcoming vibe. “It’s a great little community to raise a family,” says Ryan May, a Realtor with Real Estate Partners Chattanooga for more than ten years. “Collegedale offers a slower-paced lifestyle, but it’s also going through a period of growth. There’s new homes going up all over the community.” Located 20 miles west of Chattanooga, homebuyers will find newly built New Traditional homes with two-car garages and larger executive-style homes from which to choose. It’s not that there aren’t older homes in the community; it’s just that they’re not frequently for sale. “There’s not a ton of turnover in Collegedale,” May says. “People don’t want to leave.” At the end of March 2024, there were about 45 homes for sale in Collegedale, and about 12 of them were new homes. Split-level homes from the mid-20th century have recently sold for about $250,000 to $285,000, while new townhouses and condominiums have recently sold for about $293,000 to $350,000. Executive-style New Traditional homes have recently sold for about $500,000 to about $1,100,000. Collegedale was founded in 1916 as the site of Southern Adventist University. The university, which today enrolls about 3,000 students on about 1,000 acres, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees with an enrollment of roughly 3,000 students. “People here take great pride in their hometown University,” May says. Students can attend Hamilton County public schools with a B grade from Niche. Wolftever Creek Elementary has a B-grade from Niche and offers pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Ooltewah Middle School and Ooltewah High School earn grades of B-, from Niche. In addition to their award-winning Cheerleading Team, Ooltewah High offers World Languages, Leadership, and Future Ready Engineering. White Oak Mountain Trails is a popular spot for hikers and mountain bikers. They will discover nearly 25 miles of trails, with varying degrees of difficulty, that wind through the woods and creeks. Standifer Gap Park has a .6-mile track, tennis and volleyball courts. Kids love to visit the 10-acre Little Debbie Park, where they can see the bronze statue of Little Debbie -- actually Debbie McKee, the granddaughter of the snack-cake company founder -- presenting a plate of Swiss Rolls. Furthering the individually wrapped playground theme, children can climb on the huge Christmas Tree Cake sculptures. The park also features a zipline, a rock-climbing structure and a steep hill popular for cardboard sledding. College Plaza Shopping Center is right across the street from Southern Adventist University and offers a U.S. Post Office and Village Market, known for its wide selection of vegetarian items and locally grown food. Walmart Supercenter is less than five miles away in Ooltewah. 4 Corners Café is a favorite spot for grilled panini sandwiches and bubble tea for a healthy lunch or dinner. The restaurant doubles as a little free library, with an array of books on its back wall. When locals crave Mexican, they head to Los Potros for authentic favorites, including tamales, flan and horchata. In addition to hosting weekly farmers markets and being a popular destination for weddings and corporate events, The Commons hosts popular year-round events, including a Mother’s Day Gala each May and the well-loved Christkindlmarkt during the holiday season. Musical performances are held monthly and feature folk, bluegrass, classical and jazz artists. Nearby Chattanooga hosts year-round events in The Arts District and Bluff View District at Ross’s Landing, also known as the city’s front porch. The Riverbend Festival, held each June for 38 years, entertains Chattanoogaans. Interstate 75 travels north-south along with U.S. Route 41, connecting Knoxville to the northeast, through Collegedale, and southeast to Atlanta. When traveling to Chattanooga, residents of Collegedale take Interstate 75 and then Interstate 24 to the city’s downtown. The Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) bus system provides service from Collegedale to Chattanooga and around Hamilton County. Chattanooga Airport is about twenty miles west of Collegedale and offers daily non-stop flights to Chicago, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Charlotte. Collegedale has an overall CAP Index Crime Score of three, which is lower than the national average of four. The index measures a neighborhood’s crime risk on an ascending scale of one to ten. Collegedale ranks either a three or a two in all measurable categories.