70+ conversations you want to have this year in Chattanooga

Our readers drive us here at NOOGAtoday. So, back in November of last year and at the beginning of January, we asked you what you want to talk about this year. We’ll be using your questions + conversation topics to create our content in 2019, helping you be more entertained, informed + engaged.

We were blown away when we heard from over 70 of you. Without further ado, here’s what you asked (verbatim, without editing for spelling + punctuation).

Here are 5️⃣ of our favorites

• List of James Beard chefs in the area (or other national award-winning)
• How to recruit certain businesses to the Chattanooga area? For example, Trader Joe’s, Nordstrom Rack, Zoe’s Kitchen, etc.
• I’d like to learn more about the 27 construction project.
• Abandoned Chattanooga: the top abandoned places, what their past and future holds.
• Since Chattanooga isn’t the best place for singles maybe winter date ideas.

What do you want us to talk about this year?

• Would you at some point do an article of a macro nature, in other words, about Chattanooga’s cultural influence on the region? I am curious about how many people have taken notice of our city Nationwide or even just in the south.
• Road and sidewalk infrastructure
• Riverbend
• Infrastructure, Chattanooga seems to lag behind other cities in roads, sewers.
• School Support? Everyone can’t get into Normal Park and private schools are self-limiting due to the expense involved. Are there roles in mentoring? Do kids need food? (the info on the unpaid school lunch fees has in the past, been very disturbing) Are there needs for painting? clean-up? what are the kids/education staff/school district doing, needing, wishing for that perhaps we could support?
• ✅ Tiny House Movement: Nationwide, there are a lot of progressive cities that are passing tiny house friendly ordinances and solving housing problems and housing access issues in their cities. What is Chattanooga doing? Where is Chattanooga on the spectrum? Might be too challenging to take a deep dive into current zoning/permitting/ordinances but something simple like an interview of a city official or someone from the zoning council might do the trick to keep the conversation going and be a catalyst for change. I would think NOOGA readers are interested in the tiny house movement. Answer here.
• How the cost of rent is going up.
• Gentrification -good, bad and ugly
• ✅ You should most definitely cover hiking trails! (Answer: 10 must-hike trails in Chattanooga)
• I’d love to see periodic pieces on good high school students who study and work hard. Personal interest pieces with the same level of glory repeatedly given to jocks and other “popular” kids.
• Green spaces/wildlife -a la Lula Lake ( still amazed that all the death and destruction tolls out of Cali fires never include loss of wildlife, forests or specific habitat/animals. We are so divorced from anything but buildings and roads, etc.)
• List of restaurants with certified wine sommeliers
• Ranking of the best authentic sushi restaurants (please NOT the one in Coolidge Park – it’s awful)
• An idea for the city to close Riverfront Parkway (from Aquarium Way to Erwin Marine) permanently and make it open green space – maybe concert shell
• An idea for the city to focus on revitalizing downtown between the river and 4th Street – make it more pedestrian friendly and attract businesses to locate there
• ✅ The best places to see Christmas lights. Answer here.
• Local History - I like learning about history via bios of people and not just rich folk who made endowments or supported entrepreneurial things.
• Local Musicians & Buskers - as a member of SoundCorps I can tell you that is one diverse and interesting group of people to get to know and link to if they have some music online. Stratton does a good job, but I think most people haven’t a clue how much time and effort people put into performing all over town for the public in the heat all summer.
• Tell people what happens in the building on the corner of Cherokee and Manufacturers (Incubator). We are constantly running into people who simply do not know. And it’s the third largest in the nation.
• Story on manufacturing growth and average wages … there are many ‘white-collar’ jobs in manufacturing and your average job-hunter fresh out of college still may not know about them.
• ✅ I live on north shore and there are times I am still out of the loop with what is going on downtown. I have yet to find a complete event calendar that I can subscribe to. I am not sure if this is what you are asking, but if you can create either a calendar or newsletter that has ALL events going on downtown that would be amazing! (Answer: we publish a monthly Plan Ahead document with all the best events in a single article.)
• Whatever happened with the bike lanes? Do people use them, do businesses like them?
• How many Ironmen athletes have moved to Chattanooga? What drew them here?
• Diversity, equity and inclusion in management and upper leadership roles – including participation on boards of directors – have proven to positively impact the bottom line of the company’s profits. How many Chattanooga businesses embrace this – especially at the board of directors level? How do we measure up compared with other states? Are there programs in place to improve the rate of participation? Who is doing this well and can share best practices?
• What new programs are being developed to advance our area talent recruitment and retention?
• We made it to Rise of the Rest, what’s next for entrepreneurs in Chattanooga? Are we to become a hub of logistics start-ups? What would that mean for future jobs?

What can we help find out for you?

• Is there an app that can tell you the gas prices, in real time, of stations near you/on a map?
• When will I-24 west of Chattanooga be widened?
• All the new jobs and businesses coming to the area
• Affordable living for people just out of college
• Why do people litter? I’m shocked by the amt of littering where I live in N Chatt. I pick up litter in front of my house and contact 311 about once a month to p/u litter along Dallas/Fernway/Hixson Pike.311 personnel do a great job, but it’s sad that they have to work so hard picking up after people.
• Would love a map and story of what’s being built where, who’s developing it, what’s the developer’s vision, etc. Can’t keep up with it all.
• Structural racism/segregation and efforts to improve both, and I don’t mean installing more crime cameras.
• Faith - I read a long piece by a guy who attended every church in town and reported on his visits. So maybe that is too exhaustive, but churches and other places of worship serve the community in some pretty vibrant and helpful ways. Some don’t and are insular. But the ones that do can be pretty interesting, albeit not perfect. Plus they are a huge part of this community. I’m meet people all the time who don’t know Camphouse or its sister coffee house in Red Bank is a church. Or that Charles & Myrtles exists, and, is a place of worship.
• One thing I would love to see (or more of), are volunteer opportunities around town. I know there are lots of things to help with during the holidays, but even off-season could be beneficial. I know many people would greatly appreciate having an up-to-date volunteer board to have when they have some time to give!
• Skills I could have learned before I turned 21. Are there classes for adults on how to ride a bike? What about swimming lessons for adults? Why doesn’t Chattanooga have any saltwater swimming pools? If I want to train for an event that includes swimming, where can I swim? Do we have fewer public indoor pools than other communities are size? Why or why not? How does that impact our overall fitness?
• Who is focusing on public health in Hamilton County and what new problems are they solving?
• What will happen when autonomous vehicles are approved and actively used in our region?
• What area companies are using Artificial Intelligence to solve problems for consumers?

Want to know how something works?

• Zoning for residential & businesses; how does it work, profiles of members of the zoning commission, reports on meetings.
• Enforcement of City Code decibel level for vehicles. I’ve read the code and don’t think it’s being enforced, as I hear cars, trucks, motorcycles violating it around the clock( including during the code’s stated nighttime hours).
• How do I get more sidewalks?
• The Waste Treatment facility and sewer system in Chattanooga is fascinating. I’d love to see more about that.

What can we help you understand?

• How we can collaborate together when it comes to solving societal problems
• Why aren’t the sirens around Sequoyah also used in imminent weather emergencies (tornado warnings)
• Why this town is so DAMN dirty! The ‘Gateways’ are gross. The interstate running through town is chockfull of trash, litter, tires, and (pardon the language) shit. It’s embarrassing. Many thousands of people run through that conduit every single day. For some, it’s their only exposure to Chattanooga. THIS is the impression they get of the “Scenic City” and it is NOT ok. It isn’t only the interstate; most roads, both major and minor, are litter strewn and visually disturbing. Do most people just not see it? What can we DO about that?
• Rehab our sidewalks? It seems the city spends a lot of money on certain projects (i.e. millions of dollars to redo Miller Park) but let the basics slip. For example, the condition of the sidewalks throughout much of the city. We have a very pedestrian friendly city yet I’ve seen dads pushing strollers on the Northshore have to drag their child into the road as entire chunks of concrete are missing or completely unusable. It also seems that many spots are an uneven fall hazard, especially for the elderly.
• Diversity/Lack of Diversity. Where is diversity being embraced...including, race, the disabled, LGBTQ, cross-generational? Who’s modeling it best and why, results?
• Who really benefits the most from Miller park redo? Is it the contractors or the bums who hang out there? It surely isn’t the 90% of the city residents who will probably never visit Miller Park.
• How do the various community/business development initiatives and agencies (e.g., River City Co.; Chattanooga Smart Community Collaborative; UTC Center for Urban Informatics and Progress; Chattanooga Office of Economic & Community Development, etc.) interact with each other? Is there duplication of effort? Do we need all these different agencies? Do they coordinate with each other? Would they be more effective if they coordinated with each other? I’m not implying that they should – I just don’t know what they’re all doing and why there are so many of them, and how efficient they are. Which of them are great ideas? Which of them are actually making a difference? Again, not intending to ask a negative question, but I ask because I don’t understand how it all works.
• Owning a boat can be expensive. What types of ‘rent as you go’ programs do our area lakes, rivers offer? Can I rent a canoe or kayak? What about lessons? Who offers that?
• Will the new Amazon center in Nashville impact our ability to attract talent? Why or why not?

What do you want to know about upcoming developments or construction you’ve seen around town?

• Will we ever get an off and on-ramp at the park ridge hospital area Springfield rd east ridge Tn
• What is the status of the connector from Volkswagen Drive to Highway 58, why has it been delayed with no announcement?
• Yes, please; continue reporting on new bldg and renovations. I love the renaissance of CHA, but we do need to ensure that truly affordable housing is part of the new CHA.
• What is going to happen at Northgate with 2 of 3 anchors closed/closing?
• Will UTC get their own track?
• Is anything happening with the monstrosity that is the foundry site that smacks you in the face around Moccasin Bend?

What don’t you know that you’d like us to investigate?

• The story about the pollution in Chattanooga Creek was disturbing and then it seemed to go away. What happened? Was it cleaned up or just had it’s moment in the news and went away? Is there an opportunity to help and support the clean-up?
• Does the Westin downtown offer the Well program (that has various fitness, health, lifestyle, etc services for guests)?
• The history of the iconic tiki playboy mansion that was tore down earlier this year.
• Abandoned Chattanooga: the top abandoned places, what their past and future holds.
• The metal sculptures at the building on Amnicola. I think it is between Binswanger Glass and Arcade, sort of across from the Pepsi plant. There is a single moose that someone put a red nose on one Christmas, but the menagerie and people, cycles, insects, trees change frequently. My own personal favorite, the red ant pyramid, just recently got shipped out (I would have loved that one for my yard ). The only identification is the sign Habitat! No phone number, etc. I think there is a sign that directs you to the side entrance inside the fence rather than the front.
• What’s going on with Patten Towers? Are the new owners actually going to do what’s in this article? Have they started work?
• Local/Regional Planning & Public Transportation or lack thereof - how does Chatt absorb 10 or 20 k more cars/people in the next 2 years? What is the impact on ancient infrastructure, roads, movement around town? Who is in charge of planning and what do they have in mind? Really wonder about this one.
• Report on trying a new daily routine for 1 week. Take someone’s daily routine/lifestyle and break it for a week and report on how hard it was/wasn’t and lasting effects.
• For this year, investigate how many people overlook the school bus stop signs on major busy roads.
• How are companies that have gone through TechStars faring? We learned there is a new one coming and we believe Collider, which operates from the Chattanooga Chamber managed INCubator inside the Hamilton County Business Development Center, went through this as well. And/or which local companies have gone through other national accelerator models (i.e. Y-combinator, Coca Cola innovation program in Atlanta, etc).
• ✅ I am curious about all the hotels that have opened (or are planned in) Chattanooga. Can the city sustain them? Have our tourist numbers grown that much? Answer here.