Leadership in Chattanooga Points Other Small Cities in the Right Direction

Earlier this month, I participated in a tour of Chattanooga, TN, exploring the physical and economic transformation of this once heavily industrial city on the Tennessee River and at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. And this transformation is impressive, especially for a midsize city of 150,000 residents that experienced an economic crisis in the 1980s that threatened to paralyze the city for decades. Much of the urban core was left vacant and the city’s industrial legacy left brownfields, poor air quality, and a lack of green space. Its “turnaround story” can be told through the lens of strong civic leadership, led particularly through the added cohesion of a robust philanthropic sector.

Read the full story over at GMFUS.org.