{"id":134,"date":"2026-01-06T20:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/freshtaketn\/?p=134"},"modified":"2026-01-06T21:27:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:27:51","slug":"chattanoogas-green-future-as-a-national-park-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/freshtaketn\/2026\/01\/06\/chattanoogas-green-future-as-a-national-park-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Chattanooga\u2019s green future as a National Park City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
The bioretention basin at John A. Patten Recreation Center helps capture and treat stormwater runoff using vegetation. Conservation efforts such as these are a key part of the city\u2019s work as the nation\u2019s first National Park City. Photo courtesy of Chattanooga.gov.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Once known for its tuberculosis death rate at three times the national average, its air choked with pollution, and holding the gloom-ridden title of \u201cAmerica’s Dirtiest City,\u201d Chattanooga is now earning national attention for its efforts to rebuild itself around sustainability and a community-centered green designation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the city is no longer bleak but empowering and triumphant. Once defined by smog and environmental crisis, Chattanooga moves forward with green initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2025, the city officially received the title “National Park City” becoming the first city in North America to join the international National Park City movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Chattanooga began this journey. Local leaders felt the timing was right. Decades of environmental improvement had set a foundation the city was finally ready to show off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A city designated as a National Park City reflects everyday access to nature, sustainable urban design, and collective responsibility for environmental well being. \u201cA National Park City is a place, a vision and a city-wide community that is acting together to make life better for people, places and nature,” according to the National Park City Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Here in Chattanooga, we\u2019ve used the National Park City movement to encourage folks to think
about Chattanooga as a city in a park, rather than a city with some parks in it,” said Chattanooga
Mayor Tim Kelly in a City of Chattanooga YouTube video. \u201cWe\u2019ve always known how special
Chattanooga\u2019s connection to the outdoors is, and now it\u2019ll be recognized around the world. I
could not be prouder that Chattanooga is North America’s first National Park City.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1969, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) named Chattanooga the
\u201cworst city in the nation for particulate air pollution,\u201d according to the City of Chattanooga
website. Chattanooga was a hot spot for industries, iron and steel products, glass manufacturing, and was most widely known for its railroad system. All contributed to the extreme amounts
of pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public pressure eventually pushed city leaders to act, and by 1968, the city met all federal air
quality standards. Between 2008 and 2018, Chattanooga reduced carbon emissions by 25
percent. Milestones like this set the groundwork for the city\u2019s current sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly added in a recent interview the National Park City designation gives the Chattanooga a unified direction. \u201cWe all talk about economic growth as the north star,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we didn\u2019t really have an organizing principle for our sustainability strategies. The National Park City provides us with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chattanooga\u2019s sustainability work now centers on green infrastructure using natural processes to
manage storm water, reduce flooding, cool the city, and improve overall ecological health.
Morgan McCormick, director of Parks Stewardship and Maintenance, said financial limitations
remain the biggest challenge in scaling these projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything takes money and time. Training the workforce, expanding programs, developing and
implementing new ones,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city’s progress still continues in measurable ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have seen reductions in electricity costs annually since we started converting to LEDs and
motion sensors,\u201d McCormick said. Her team also uses the Trust for Public Land\u2019s 10-minute
walk metric to determine where new parks and accessible green spaces are needed most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the city\u2019s most impactful recent projects is Lynnbrook Park, completed in July 2024.
McCormick chose it as a standout example of what green infrastructure can accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat started as an asphalt parking lot in a neighborhood prone to flooding is now a 1.4 acre
park with a stream bed for stormwater control,” she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The park\u2019s walking paths were built with a honeycomb grid filled with crushed stone, a design that \u201callows stormwater infiltrate, rather than the runoff created by asphalt,\u201d McCormick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits also stretch further than just stormwater management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summer 2025, McCormick said Chattanooga city staff observed monarch butterflies, an endangered species, along with monarch caterpillars feeding on swamp milkweed planted in the stream buffer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s proof that even small neighborhood parks can become habitat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large project that took place in Chattanooga was the Cherokee Boulevard from North Market
Street to the Stringers Ridge Tunnel. This project was designed to manage stormwater runoff. The total cost of the project was $719,800, and stormwater runoff declined 8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lynbrook Park and the tunnel project on Cherokee Boulevard are part of a broader city-wide push to build infrastructure that benefits people and nature at the same time. Many municipal buildings
now incorporate permeable surfaces, green roofs, or native plantings. Meanwhile, the
Chattanooga Tree Project, funded by a five year $6 million federal grant, is expanding the city\u2019s
shade canopy and stormwater resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCormick believes this long-term effort will ultimately become the city\u2019s most transformative
sustainability project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMature trees are our first line of defence against stormwater issues and the urban heat island
effect,\u201d she said. \u201cAs thousands of baby trees are planted and mature, I believe this project will
become the most impactful green infrastructure project the city will implement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Tim Kelly said the work ahead is about balance and continued commitment. \u201cWe have to continue to grow, to better the lives of everybody here,\u201d he said. \u201cEconomic mobility is a big priority; so is sustainability. They’re not irreconcilable.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: This story was produced in Fall 2025 for Prof. Jim Tanner\u2019s Solutions Journalism reporting class which allowed students to investigate and report on environmental issues being addressed in the Chattanooga area. Solutions Journalism<\/a> is a journalism framework developed in 2013 to investigate and explain, in a critical and clear-eyed way, how people try to solve widely shared problems in their communities. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once known for its tuberculosis death rate at three times the national average, its air choked with pollution, and holding the gloom-ridden title of \u201cAmerica’s Dirtiest City,\u201d Chattanooga is now earning national attention for its efforts to rebuild itself around sustainability and a community-centered green designation. Today, the city is no longer bleak but empowering… <\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2063,"featured_media":136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[29,49,47,45,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news","8":"tag-chattanooga","9":"tag-green-space","10":"tag-national-city-park","11":"tag-parks","12":"tag-tim-kelly","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nChattanooga\u2019s green future as a National Park City - Fresh Take Tennessee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/freshtaketn\/2026\/01\/06\/chattanoogas-green-future-as-a-national-park-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chattanooga\u2019s green future as a National Park City - Fresh Take Tennessee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Once known for its tuberculosis death rate at three times the national average, its air choked with pollution, and holding the gloom-ridden title of \u201cAmerica’s Dirtiest City,\u201d Chattanooga is now earning national attention for its efforts to rebuild itself around sustainability and a community-centered green designation. 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