Its hard for me to care too much about local politics since i reside in GA. But since I work, play, and worship in TN I have to sort of stay keyed into the Chattanooga politics. I wasn't a big fan of Ron Littlefield when he ran for govenor. I wasn't gung ho about his competitors either. Ann Coulter was the only candidate that seemed to carry the Corker vibe and thus i was in favor of her but she got the city vote but not the surrounding areas. And since I couldn't vote anyway it was sort of a non issue for me to care.
But what has really ticked me off about Littlefield is the pretty much halting of improvements down town. He sort of spun his whole election of improving other areas besides down town which could be a valid argument. However one only needs to look at the big old pile of dirt off of frasier to see that it looks like some projects have stalled completely. The Coolidge wetlands area seems to have not changed in the past 6 months. They created a really cool pile of dirt and left it alone.
I"m not keyed into the whole political scene, nor do a i care. But much like the EPB building i fear this project may never be completed.
Also my other city complaint: The chicken plant needs to be moved. I realize it probably generates a lot of money via taxes for the city so they would like to keep it in city limits. But if south side wants to develop then they're going to have to move the chicken processing plant. Now i realize this only affects a few people but as i have to park at finley for work it affects me and so thus you should care.
I grew up in St. Louey and that city has a problem with a larger company that makes odor. Anheuser-Busch in the south side of town produces a foul odor of hops and what not. You sort of get used to the smell and its nothing compared to rotting chicken corpses. I think if the city wants to continue to grow and progress southward then the chicken plan will have to go. I always want to stop by Tbones bar on my way home from work but i'm afraid that after a few beers i'll walk out of there and catch a good wiff and lose all my partially digested beer.
Posted by holtonian at March 17, 2006 03:45 PM | TrackBackDid Ron Littlefield run for governor?
Posted by: RobU at March 17, 2006 06:52 PM"Foul odor of hops"? Bite your tongue. When I lived several blocks from AB I used to love it when the wind shifted sending the aroma our way. Its a sweet malty smell thats delicious.
Posted by: concerned at March 17, 2006 07:13 PMYou work at CIGNA?
Posted by: Beth at March 18, 2006 12:33 AMAre you talking about Renaissance Park, which is next to Coolidge? It's slated to open in May '06 the last I heard. Or is it the construction mess from the Market St. Bridge project that is the big "dirt pile" that you are referencing? Construction work is not pretty and sometimes appears to be going nowhere (when in actuality something important is going on), but in the end it'll be nice. Just look at what they did on the other side of the river.
I'm kind of on the fence about moving the chicken plant, because while it is an annoyance it also employs lots of people, contributes to the tax base and there's this thing called property rights. Of course, there is also Emminent Domain and we know what the S.C. said about that. But I agree, on a hot day it can be nasty. Rather than move it can they not do something to better dispose of the waste? That's the smell, I think...chicken parts sitting outside in bins.
As for the focus outside of downtown, I would like to know where the money is going. I noticed that they were redoing sidewalks in St. Elmo, but yet only a small percentage at that...and even then they really need to replace all the curbing (it has almost disappeared). Yet they spend millions on each intersection downtown to give it a faux brick look (stamped and colored concrete).
Posted by: Scott at March 18, 2006 02:10 AM