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This pedestrian path connects the Riverwalk with the Bluff View Arts District.
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In cool spring nights and warm sunny days, the banks of the Tennessee River hum with the vitality of a city that loves where it is and what it has become. Now a community in the truest and best sense of the word, Chattanooga is beloved by all.
As with most of the South's urban centers, Chattanooga claims plenty of hip nightspots. It's in the noontime sun, however, that you sense its real character. Droves of giggling children play outside the Tennessee Aquarium or clamor for a carousel ride at Coolidge Park. Couples take romantic strolls along the Riverwalk (the scene of many a marriage proposal).
On the Walnut Street Bridge--the longest pedestrian bridge in the world--a cross section of the city walks, jogs, or pushes baby strollers. The structure spans the river, from the Bluff View Arts District on the south shore to Coolidge Park and Frazier Avenue's shops and eateries on the north.
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above, left: The Bluff View Arts District offers restaurants, cafes, and galleries.; above, right: Walnut Street Bridge is open for pedestrian traffic only.
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Of course, some folks just want to experience the river up close. You'll find Jim Fortune, manager of Rock Creek Down Under on River Street, on the water when he's not helping customers gear up for paddling adventures of their own.
After weathering a layoff, the former engineer decided that he wanted his next career to be something he absolutely loved--paddling the river. He has been with Rock Creek since the store opened its downtown location near what is now Coolidge Park in 1995. "When we first moved in, the park wasn't even here," he says. "This was a wasteland. It's been fun to watch the transformation of the city."
That transformation has been nothing short of phenomenal. From the late 1960s into the early 1980s, the city's center, cut off from the river, was withering under the weight of economic troubles and industrial pollution. Rather than give up, however, Chattanoogans got busy. With leadership from the Lyndhurst Foundation and financial support from Lyndhurst and other philanthropic groups, the city reclaimed its riverfront.
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Whimsical art, such as this brick sofa and fish fountain, is sure to bring smiles.
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Where great old buildings are concerned, Chattanooga decided early in the game to make demolition a last resort, opting instead for preservation and transformation. Local developer Buck Schimpf, for example, turned the old Loveman's department store into beautiful downtown condos.
Most important of all, everyone involved agreed that development plans should focus on the people who actually live here. "It's about building a place for Chattanoogans that visitors find interesting," explains Chris Crimmins, vice president of the Chattanooga Land Company.
On the horizon looms a $120 million 21st Century Waterfront Plan, already fully funded and scheduled for completion in 2005. It includes expanding the Tennessee Aquarium, the Hunter Museum of American Art, and Coolidge Park. In addition, there will be a renovation of the Creative Discovery Museum along with a redevelopment of what will be known as "Chattanooga's Front Porch," Ross's Landing Park and Plaza. This area wraps around the aquarium and connects with the south shore of the river.
Such a plan is clearly a challenge, but the people of this great "little city that could" don't just think they can do it--they know they can. They've done it before.
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For additional information, visit an Insiders' Guide to the Urban South for each city.
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