People in the Chattanooga region recall the heavy industrial smog that once hung over the city, the stark effects of mining in the Copper Basin and the pollution of the Tennessee River.
But a new survey also shows they see spurring the area’s economy as paramount to their future.
The polling of about 1,100 people in the 16-county, three-state area reveals they want the best of both worlds — a regional economy humming with new jobs but not at the expense of harming the environment.
Thrive 2055, the region’s 40-year planning effort that conducted the survey, reached out to people in Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama over the past several months to gauge their feelings on key growth scenarios.
Later next year, after 36 months of work, Thrive planners will issue strategic blueprints to help push the region ahead through 2055.