A Vision of a Better Chattanooga

1. Education - 34 votes / 13 ideas 

• Thriving public education / Public ed as a priority / National role model for public ed / top-rated public school systems (19)

• Access to Free Early Education (4)

• Arts education in all schools K-12 (4)

• Established lifetime learning programs and facilities (3)

• Training for low income / low skills to build businesses in low income neighborhoods (2)

• Personal financial literacy in all K-12 schools (1)

• Being able to afford private schools without having to relocate (1)

• Better public education facilities 

• Better pay for public school teachers = better quality teachers 

• Higher ACT score in public schools 13->22 (measurable goal!) 

• Community college focused on the humanities

• Reading proficiency for all African-American males (sound alarm early) 

2. Walkability - 15 votes / 5 ideas

• Places dedicated to people without cars and ADA accessible (4)

• Mixed Super Blocks for pedestrians - plazas & promenade, eg. Barcelona (4)

• Inner-city loop of river walk, pedestrian-oriented transit (3)

• Improved connectivity & wayfinding to public spaces (2)

• Rails 2 Trails Greenway from river thru North Chatt (2)

 3. Urban Design / Roads - 14 votes / 6 ideas

• Better landscaping in all commercial areas & trees on every street (5)

• Re-design downtown interstate (bypass?) (2)

• Reduce traffic, especially the interstate (1)

• Complete streets 

• Flood-smart city w/resilient infrastructure & ecosystems (1)

• Improved waste management (sewer & trash) (5)3. 

4. Public Transportation - 12 votes / 6 ideas

• Trolleys! (bring them back!) (6)

• Improved transportation & connectivity options (3)

• Fast expansive mass public transit (2)

• Transportation hub, inter-modal originating in Southside (1)

• Safe, fun, sustainable transport 

• Transportation hub in the county to the city (maybe at the airport)

5. Governing Structures - 8 votes / 1 idea

• Metro government (8)

6. Natural Environment - 8 votes / 5 ideas

• Chattanooga Botanical Garden (5)

• Environmental protection: places off the table for development (2)

• Greenspace Investments (1)

• Reserve at Enterprise South Nature Park as intended 

• Clean water: Room for the River, eg. The Netherlands 

7. Housing - 7 votes / 4 ideas

• Everyone has a place to live. Real affordable housing (6)

• A review committee to stem the tide of cheap, ugly housing mushrooms all over town (1)

• An established community land trust. Goal > 1000 homes 

• Zero homelessness. City has low-barrier shelter w/capacity for all amenities. 

8. Jobs - 7 votes / 7 ideas

• Economic Opportunities for all Chattanoogans (3)

• Infrastructure to support single mothers (1)

• Narrowed the wealth gap - good jobs for all, higher minimum wage (1)

• Businesses recruited that care about people, planet, home. Benefit corporations, certified B Corps (1)

• Competitive salaries / higher minimum wage (1)

• Small Scale Loans

• Re-use Innovation Center: reclaimed materials

9. Health - 7 votes / 2 ideas

• Access to healthcare (4)

• Chattanooga as a National Center of Excellence in Healthcare (3)

10. Community Life / Neighborhoods - 5 votes / 5 ideas

• Increased usage of public spaces (1)

• More opportunities for creating & collaborating across cultures (through work, school, arts-events, neighborhood events, civic engagement, etc.) (1)

• Rossville Blvd Revitalized: grocery stores, ice cream, apartments (2)

• Local: neighborhood economic development

• An endowment for community projects (1)

11. Food - 4 votes / 2 ideas

• No food deserts: strengthened food/ag systems. Farm to Nooga. (2)

• Strong local food networks (2)

12. Citizen Involvement - 2 votes / 3 ideas

• Support and/or streamlined access/inclusion programs for New Chattanoogans (1)

• Younger citizens engaged & sharing their ideas. (1)

• High school and college students involved in venturing

13. Means/How we do it… - 1 vote / 2 ideas

• Kindness (1)

• Consolidated Efforts (consortium grants?) to address the problem of too many orgs going it alone

15. Tech & Community Engagement - 2 votes / 2 ideas

• Community Platform for citizen voice (2)

• One cohesive clearinghouse for plans & visioning. Community-wide plans tied together 

16. Attractions - 2 votes / 2 ideas

• Convention/Destination Center (2)

• New public attractions 

Community Assets

• Development Resource Center

• Rails 2 Trails

• City/County council/commission meetings

• Form-based code committee

• Time Free Press

• Chattanooga Area Food Bank

• National Park City

• CARTA

• CNE

• Trust for Public Lands

• TDOT

• Uber/Lyft/Waymo

• Railroads

• Aldi

• Waterways (City of Chatt Program)

• Lookout Mountain Conservancy 

• Glass Street

• Businesses: local laundries, music shop, alterations, daycares, repair shops, shoe repair

• Ag-Businesses: local food, fresh markets, hemp, etc

• McNabb Center

• Tech Goes Home

• Government at all levels

• Neighborhoods

• Chamber of Commerce

• Small business incubator (needs investment)

• CALEB

• Kiindhearts

• A Step Ahead

• Life Spring

• Chattanooga 2.0

• Better Education Facilities

• Siskin Children’s Institute

• Level 1 Trauma Center at Erlanger

• ArtsBuild

• City office of Arts and Culture

• Crabtree Farms

• YMCA - mobile market

• Heart Institute

• ClearStory Arts

• CEMPA community care

• Chattanooga Free Store

• Chattanooga Area Food Bank

• The kindness of people in Chattanooga