"People discovered you can get more home for your money and the schools are a great draw for many homebuyers," said Mr. [David Turner], a 51-year-old ReMax real estate agent and a graduate of Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School. "A lot of couples also like the fact that we're midway between Dalton and Chattanooga if spouses work in different cities."

"Some of the first-tier suburbs that had most of their growth decades ago (such as East Ridge, Red Bank, Rossville and Lookout Mountain) are getting older and are not growing, or even declining, in many instances," said David Eichenthal, president of the Ochs Center for Urban Studies, which studies population changes in the Chattanooga region. "The growth of North Georgia reflects the movement into newer suburbs."

"Residential growth probably costs us as a city $1.60 in additional costs for every additional dollar we get in tax collections," he said. "But fortunately, we've also had a lot of commercial growth along (Highway) 2A."

"I think in the future we will continue to grow with the plans for a Georgia Northwestern Tech campus and a more aggressive economic development plan for industrial and business growth," she said. "One challenge we will have is to maintain the quality of life in our community while enjoying the benefits of continued growth."