Daniel Ryan: Where I Stand

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Where I Stand is a new series inspired by the Chattanooga Stand survey. Today's guest author is Daniel Ryan, an independent web developer who resides in Hixson and moved to the Chattanooga region in 2000.

I moved to the region 9 years ago to attend Lee University in Cleveland, TN. Prior to my five years there, I grew up in a small, Central Florida town. In Haines City, I saw the results of rampant growth with no vision: a landscape devoid of natural beauty, littered with the urban sprawl of megamarts, strip malls, and vast subdivisions—many of which now sit empty.

I am not a Chattanoogan by birth or default. I was an outsider who chose to spend his weekends here, a visitor, and now, a member of the community. I chose to live in Chattanooga because I felt it had a lot to offer. I saw what it could grow into and how I could be a part of that future.

After attending the first public meeting of Chattanooga Stand, I was impressed by the breadth of their outreach plans, and I hope to help them achieve their goals. With this in mind, I want to answer Stand's survey questions publicly.

First impression

What drew me to the area initially was the city's natural beauty. My first Fall in Chattanooga had me sold. After a recent visit to the modernized riverfront, I realized that I like both Coolidge and Renaissance Parks for different reasons. Renaissance is serene with minimal changes to the landscape. Coolidge is every bit a man-tames-nature area. Moving forward, I think we should lean towards projects like Renaissance that make our surroundings more accessible.

I grew to know and love the thriving arts culture of the city, too. Except for Chicago, I've never seen so much public art. There is music for all tastes in a variety of venues, and Nightfall is free for anyone to attend. City leaders are trying to make art accessible to people.  And even though I often hear people complain that 'there is nothing to do here,' I turn down invitations to events—many free to the public—every day because I don't have the time to enjoy everything Chattanooga has to offer.

The people who live in Chattanooga make this a great place to live. I've met genuine, generous people of every age and background with one thing in common: they love living here.

Green & tech in a regional economy

Chattanooga is poised to become a leading center of development in two areas: tech and green.

Our low cost of living and operating a business make us an ideal candidate to host tech startups. The city should provide tax breaks to tech companies willing to relocate or expand their operations here. The Chattanooga Technology Council is tasked with attracting new tech companies. Existing businesses should join this effort if they have not. Also, we need a business development center in the spirit of Y Combinator—a venture capital arm of Yahoo—designed to fund and mentor emerging technology companies.

On the green front, there us an organic movement already underway. We should foster this beginning with a Chattanooga Green Council, made up of companies and individuals to promote further green industry. We should become a blueprint of how to embrace the green movement and turn it into an economic engine. The city should also provide incentives for green building projects. If a new building has less impact on the environment, it will require less work in the long run, so why not give the owner a break on taxes?

Our proximity to Nashville, Atlanta, Birmingham, etc. should be leveraged. We should develop industry here that supports industry there. We have a lot of infrastructure to easily move goods to these other centers. And just as a good investor diversifies his/her portfolio across divergent sectors of the market, we need to spread out our economic base across many areas of industry and geography.

Diversity, more cooperation

The biggest challenge we face is how we treat people. We cannot eradicate homelessness, but we can do better. Organizations like the Chattanooga Homeless Coalition make a real difference, but they need more help. Our efforts should become less fractured and more cooperative. Not necessarily consolidated, but collaborative.

We also need serious work in race relations. Our government and civic organizations, including Chattanooga Stand, need broader ethnic diversity. Our true ethnic mix isn't fully represented in leadership.

Local elections have atrocious turnout, and it is hard for any elected official to truly claim to be a voice of the people when so few residents are making their voices heard at the ballot box. Moving local elections closer to national elections will increase turnout and help save money.

Economically, I worry that we will rest all our hopes on Volkswagen. We need to learn the lessons of other factory cities like Braddock, PA, where the entire economy revolved around steel—until the business dried up. A third of that town now lives below the poverty line. The advent of Volkswagen to our city is a welcomed one on many levels: not only for the jobs created, but also for starting conversations like these.

This region cannot succeed without serious investment in education. And I don't just mean funding the Hamilton County Department of Education.

Parents, community leader and groups, religious organizations, and businesses need to emphasize education across the board. Those of us who have the benefit of a good education should be mentoring up-and-comers in our fields. Companies should offer more and better internships. Our economic future rests on a skilled, diverse employee base.

Where I stand

It's easy to see that the people behind Vision 2000 have gone on to be many of the movers and shakers in Chattanooga. Aaron Sorkin said, "Decisions are made by those who show up."

It is my hope that many in this city choose to show up and take part so that the future is shaped not by a few, but by the consensus of the many. It is only then that Chattanooga can move forward in any real way. If the citizens of Chattanooga do not engage in the planning of our future, we may not like what we get. Let's take this opportunity to debate, discuss, and determine where we go from here, together.