  
|
City To City - Chattanooga: A Cinderella Story By Patricia Dumas Chattanooga, Tennessee has become a model for cities looking to change their image through citizen commitment. Located in the hills of east Tennessee, the small industrial city with a population of 150,000 was once known as "the most polluted city in America." The label stemmed from a 1970 study by the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Now, Chattanooga is considered a world leader in the "sustainable cities" movement. Sustainable cities aim at providing an economic base and high quality of life for present and future inhabitants without wasting resources or poisoning the environment. Chattanooga's pollution came mainly from its smokestack industries but the city also was marred by rising crime rates, declining school quality, and racial conflicts. Residents were steadily moving out to the suburbs. In 1984, a group of citizens and public officials began the groundwork that has changed the city. By 1990, Chattanooga not only was in compliance with national air quality standards but had undergone a transformation based on valuing human and natural resources. Chattanooga Venture, a privately supported civic- involvement program is working on goals to be accomplished by the year 2,000. Many of the goals have already been met...the city's river- front now houses a gleaming freshwater aquarium, bikeways and pedestrian paths have been built, an old theater has been revitalized, chic restaurants are opening next to dilapidated warehouses. One major effort is the Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, a private, non-profit group aimed at eliminating substandard housing. The group has won national attention for its success in financing, renovating, and managing affordable housing for low-to-moderate income citizens. Newspaper editorials have pointed out that Chattanooga's progress is due in large part to "a simple matter of citizens, both longtime and new arrivals, loving their city and wanting to make it better." In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation 
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
