Recent community engaged planning/visioning efforts
I have recently learned (or been reminded) about a couple of community engaged planning/visioning efforts. The Chamber of Commerce worked with community groups and businesses to create a plan for the future in 2019/2020, called Velocity 2040 <https://chattanoogachamber.com/velocity2040/>, to make Chattanooga-Hamilton County "a place where we all succeed together.” River City Company developed the ONE Riverfront District Plan <https://www.rivercitycompany.com/one-riverfront> in 2022 to "create a place for all Chattanoogans to enjoy” including the "civic responsibility to improve social and economic equity.” This was followed by more focused plans for the Riverfront parks (Ross’s Landing, etc.) and Hawk’s Hill (currently site of AT&T field). These are in addition to the City’s One Chattanooga plan <https://chattanooga.gov/stay-informed/one-chattanooga> of 2022 for “a community where all Chattanoogans can thrive and prosper” and Plan Hamilton <https://planhamilton.org/> for "sustainable and responsible growth that preserves the unique and cultural aspects of the county” that was adopted in 2025. Are you aware of these? How might we build on these? Should we study them? Should we use them as a jumping off point for our efforts? My sense from the group is that our goal is not to plan or strategize for a particular purpose (or revist previous planning). Our goals are just to listen, connect, and build infrastructure for engagement. Is that right? — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg@eduity.net 706-271-5521
I have been concerned that we haven't had much articulation with River City, the chamber and not as much as we should with the mayor and city council and the National Park City movement. I think we should reach out to them for some sort of meeting in order to really build our infrastructure. On Sun, Apr 26, 2026 at 5:55 PM Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. <greg@eduity.net> wrote:
I have recently learned (or been reminded) about a couple of community engaged planning/visioning efforts.
The Chamber of Commerce worked with community groups and businesses to create a plan for the future in 2019/2020, called Velocity 2040 <https://chattanoogachamber.com/velocity2040/>, to make Chattanooga-Hamilton County "a place where we all succeed together.”
River City Company developed the ONE Riverfront District Plan <https://www.rivercitycompany.com/one-riverfront> in 2022 to "create a place for all Chattanoogans to enjoy” including the "civic responsibility to improve social and economic equity.” This was followed by more focused plans for the Riverfront parks (Ross’s Landing, etc.) and Hawk’s Hill (currently site of AT&T field).
These are in addition to the City’s One Chattanooga plan <https://chattanooga.gov/stay-informed/one-chattanooga> of 2022 for “a community where all Chattanoogans can thrive and prosper” and Plan Hamilton <https://planhamilton.org/> for "sustainable and responsible growth that preserves the unique and cultural aspects of the county” that was adopted in 2025.
Are you aware of these? How might we build on these? Should we study them? Should we use them as a jumping off point for our efforts?
My sense from the group is that our goal is not to plan or strategize for a particular purpose (or revist previous planning). Our goals are just to listen, connect, and build infrastructure for engagement. Is that right?
— Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg@eduity.net 706-271-5521
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On Apr 26, 2026, at 5:59 PM, Jack Zibluk <jackzibluk@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been concerned that we haven't had much articulation with River City, the chamber and not as much as we should with the mayor and city council and the National Park City movement. I think we should reach out to them for some sort of meeting in order to really build our infrastructure.
River City Company reps, including president & CEO, Emily Mack, have participated in the group. They will anchor our next dialogue, which will be on June 1st. The Chamber president & CEO has attended most of our sessions. My sense from both of these stakeholder organizations is that they are seeking input on general questions but have their agendas set for the next year or so. NPC reps have attended most sessions and have come to regular meetings. They are very focused on their efforts to “plant seeds.” City reps have showed up occasionally. I’m frankly not sure what the City’s interests are. An interesting general question is “how might we get articulation from these stakeholders and what needs to be articulated?” If we are focusing on connecting causes and closing gaps, particularly to increase incomes and prosperity, maybe that’s what we want to articulate: their role(s) in enabling people to do better and make more? The other issue is how do we do this in a manner that makes inputs accessible/visible to group members? How do we get consistent, actionable insights? I think the former is the infrastructure and the latter is the practice(s). — GL
participants (2)
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Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. -
Jack Zibluk