Almost all of this volume ends up on a doorstep, and two things decide whether that works. The first is the weather. Between June and September the ridges trap the warm air in this valley until well past dinner, and cut flowers left in direct sun for an afternoon are not worth the delivery fee — so name a spot in the notes and the driver will use it. A carport, the shaded half of a wraparound, a screened porch, the back step, the neighbour at number 14 who is always in. The second is getting through a door at all. Controlled entry is now normal on the Southside and downtown: 37408 and 37402 are full of converted warehouses and newer buildings with fobs, callboxes and leasing offices that shut at five, and the rented flats behind Frazier Avenue work the same way. One line — a gate code, a buzzer label, an office that will sign — resolves it. Older housing brings its own quirks instead: entries on Missionary Ridge, up the Lookout roads and on Signal are stepped and sometimes round the side, so mention stairs and mention which door people actually use. And if the house will be empty all day, tell us that too. Holding an order to the following morning is free; a bouquet standing in six hours of sun is a wasted gift.
Unlike every other occasion on this site, just-because volume is spread flat across the map rather than pooling downtown, so it is worth knowing which pocket you are in. 37405 on the north bank — Frazier, Tremont, Hill City, the lanes climbing Stringer's Ridge — is the densest stretch of walk-up buildings in the city and the fastest delivery on the grid. 37404 around Highland Park and Ridgedale is older housing laid out on a proper street grid, which drivers like. 37408 is warehouse-conversion and townhouse infill on the Southside, where the Sunday market fills the pavilion and half the neighbourhood is out of the house by eleven. 37409 is St. Elmo, tucked under the rock face. Suburban Chattanooga is 37411 and 37421 — Brainerd, then East Brainerd and the streets behind Hamilton Place, all off Brainerd Road, Shallowford and Gunbarrel — plus East Ridge strung along Ringgold Road. Across the water it is 37343 and 37415 for Hixson and Red Bank, with the 37377 houses above them reached by a switchback road that gets slick a good while before anything down here does. East again: Ooltewah, and Collegedale, where a large Seventh-day Adventist community observes a Sabbath that begins at sundown on Friday — deliver in the working part of Friday, not on Saturday. And below the line, Ringgold, Fort Oglethorpe, Rossville and Chickamauga all belong to the two southern benches rather than to anyone downtown.