We will work to make our growth sustainable, ensuring equitable access to our natural treasures.
“Our rural communities are gateways to some of the most exceptional scenery and biodiverse landscapes in America, however, through economic disinvestment and lower population, many of them lack the capacity to plan in such a way that celebrates their natural assets and leverages them for economic and community vibrancy,” said Rhett Bentley with Thrive Regional Partnership. “That's where Thrive is able to help.”
In 2012, Thrive Regional Partnership, or Thrive, was created as a regional partnership serving 16 counties and 76 municipalities across the Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama region. Its work supports “community leaders across the whole tri-state region to make responsible growth choices: from environmental sustainability to transportation, to community development.
“Thrive Regional Partnership inspires responsible growth through conversation, connection, and collaboration in the tri-state Chattanooga region,” it declares.
“We convene stakeholders across the region to ensure that as we grow in industry, prosperity, and population, we also preserve community and natural character for generations to come.”
Working with conservation and outdoor industry leaders, Thrive created a Cradle of Southern Appalachia conservation blueprint to protect high-priority landscapes.
Its Resilient Communities program engages residents in “building nature-based solutions that address environmental challenges and enhance quality of life, especially in underserved areas,” Bentley said.
Thrive publishes a 50-site adventure map bucket list “so that the places we love won’t be loved to death” while helping build the beautiful River to Clouds Route, a 34-mile connector trail crossing land trusts, state and national parks in two states and three counties.
How can this region grow in ecologically and economically responsible ways? More people are moving to Chattanooga than any other city in Tennessee; we’re the sixth-rated city in the US for relocation, one study said. A few months ago, we were named the top city in the state.
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This is our most fragile and insecure work. The odds are against us. Until more people share a common experience of the land as precious and valuable, it remains at risk. Farmland frequently turns to subdivisions, but rarely, if ever, do subdivisions turn to forests and wetlands.
From 2001 to 2022, Hamilton County has lost 65% of cropland, according to the Land Trust for Tennessee. Our greatest challenge and threat to National Park City:
Our most precious is also our most vulnerable. If current trends continue, we have only nine years of county cropland remaining.
Bigger isn’t better. Better is better.
We have designers and nonprofits whose work is solely devoted to sustainability and responsible growth. Arguably, we are more environmentally conscious than ever in modern Chattanooga’s history. Multiple companies and corporations are pledging to reach carbon neutrality in the coming years. Is it enough?
The Chattanooga Design Studio, created in 1981, “seeks to elevate the quality of life for all citizens through guidance, collaboration, innovation, and education that promotes livable, accessible, walkable, and humane urban design.” Led by Eric Myers, the Studio continues the original vision by the great designers Stroud Watson and Christian Rushing.
Downtown is for everyone.
An inclusive approach to design and planning is essential. Downtown and urban neighborhoods are vitally important. Quality at all levels of design, planning and construction is crucial. The character of the public realm is an expression of community values. Good urban design requires conscious, collaborative and cooperative action.
Urban design can improve quality of life for all Chattanoogans.
We have champions across the city: nonprofits, families, public and private leaders, gutsy, DIY individuals who start working, come hell or high water.
Thrive is an unprecedented, collaborative organization that unites people across the growing tri-state region to preserve community and natural character for generations to come.
