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Chattanooga wins Outside magazine's Best Town title
We are America's Best Outdoor Town Ever.
Aren't we?
"You can't look through rose-colored glasses," said Dawson Wheeler. "If we're taking the ranking, we should be working at higher standards. We should put ourselves under great scrutiny."
David CookA few days after Chattanooga was named Outside magazine's Best Town Ever, I sat down with Wheeler and former River City Co. head Paul Brock in the upstairs offices at Rock/Creek, the outdoor outfitter Wheeler started.
Both men were proud of Chattanooga's distinction.
Yet both men were clear: We are missing a tremendous number of opportunities, right here, right now. With this Best Town title comes great responsibility.
"I'm not sure, quite frankly, that our leadership in the city and county has spent enough time understanding the value and impact this can have," Brock said.
Here in the Best Town Ever, we don't even have a Parks and Recreation Department.
When Mayor Andy Berke took office in 2013, he reorganized City Hall, splintering Parks and Rec from its own department into separate pieces. It seemed backward, akin to City Hall in Gig City switching to dial-up.
It diminished the power of our city's parks and open spaces, leaving us empty of any figurehead, ambassador or lead agency in charge of thinking about our outdoor and public spaces in progressive and proactive ways.
"You don't have somebody waking up every day with fire in the belly fighting for it," Wheeler said.
"A champion," added Brock.
Look at Nashville, which released NashVitality, a campaign to promote healthy lifestyles. It includes a mayor's wellness initiative and an app that acts as a mobile trail map for all things outdoor: trail maps, access points for hiking, running, biking and water sports, a list of upcoming races, road closures and alternative routes.
We are both Gig City and Outdoor City, yet we haven't done this?
Look closer. We could post attractive signs in key locations around town with mini-arrows pointing out various outdoor landmarks. "Two miles to Stringer's Ridge. 300 feet to stand-up paddleboard rentals. Half-mile to the Riverwalk."
Here in Outdoor City, we should have a dozen well-lit, well-mapped, thoughtfully designed riverfront launches for kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards.
What do we have now?
"Riprap. Rebar. There is no safe launch point for nonmotorized boats," said Wheeler. "But yet we want to promote canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding?"
Let's think bigger, more holistically. Our outdoor industry brings in adventurers and tourists, but could also serve a higher purpose: bridging the dire divide between our active and inactive populations.
We have too many citizens who are overweight, unhealthy and inactive. Here in Outdoor City, we ought to offer a thousand different programs that help folks, especially kids, experience the outdoors: kayaking, mountain biking, climbing, trail running, outdoor volunteerism.
But this takes intention.
And money.
And leadership.
Which brings us to the greatest missed opportunity of all.
"Outdoor Chattanooga," said Brock.
Outdoor Chattanooga is more than a decade old, and remains instrumental in the formation and promotion of outdoor industry.
Yet it could be so, so much more.
Brock and Wheeler see Outdoor Chattanooga as a cornerstone, the sun around which our outdoor city revolves. Quadruple its staff. Keep its doors open seven days a week. Make it a stand-alone department in city government.
With pride, transform its Coolidge Park headquarters into a one-stop-shop for any and all tourists and locals to find info for their outdoor adventure, from here to the Ocoee River. Make it part museum, celebrating the accomplishments of our outdoor heroes: Joe Jacobi, Karah Nazor, Scott Graham, Ben Friberg and so many others.
"If you're a tourist, can you even find Outdoor Chattanooga?" Brock asked.
Wheeler and Brock believe Outdoor Chattanooga needs a $1 million budget. In his new budget, Berke increased funding Outdoor Chattanooga from $382,000 to $498,000. (The county doesn't give a dime.)
It's not nearly enough.
"An opportunity missed," said Brock.
All these ideas? They're not new. Last year, Wheeler and Brock co-chaired a committee charged by City Hall with envisioning the future of our outdoor city. Along with two dozen other outdoor leaders, Brock and Wheeler came up with 29 pages of ideas and recommendations - found online with this column - and gave them to Berke.
They have yet to hear back.
"No," said Wheeler. "None."
City Hall said it's reviewed the recommendations, and has begun planning or implementing several. Staffers expressed support for Outdoor Chattanooga and said the mayor will announce a wellness initiative next month, but spoke only in vague terms.
"There is a need for both city and county to grab this mantle and move it forward," said Brock. "If we don't keep pushing forward, we will slide back."
Contact David Cook at dcook@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6329. Follow him on Facebook at DavidCookTFP.