Betsy Bramlett and Mark Rudisill completed a six-month remodeling project to enhance their Missionary Ridge home.WHERE TO FIND THEM• St. Elmo• Fort Wood• Ferger Place• Highland Park• North Chattanooga• Glenwood• Missionary Ridge
OLDIES BUT GOODIESIn Hamilton County, 29.7 percent of the houses are at least 50 years old, including just over 10 percent that are at least 75 years old, according to the 2010 census.
Judith Schorr has seen lots of change since moving to the historic Highland Park neighborhood in 1975.
Decades ago, Schorr was attracted to the family-oriented community surrounded by architecture dating back as far as the late 1800s, but then crime slowly crept in. The 1980s and 1990s brought drugs and prostitution to Highland Park, but Schorr wasn’t content to sit back and watch the neighborhood she loved fall apart.
She was a founder of her neighborhood association, helping push back against rising crime numbers. Today, the neighborhood’s crime is down, residents are remodeling their homes and the community is upgrading the neighborhood. At the end of 2011, the community finished building Highland Park Commons, which quickly has become a popular spot for kids and families.