Is the Chattanooga area growing too fast?
More than one-third of Hamilton County voters think so, according to a survey of Hamilton County voters participating in the Nov. 8 election.
Among 311 voters sampled at the polls across the county during early voting and on Election Day, nearly 52% said Chattanooga and Hamilton County are growing at the right pace, and nearly 36% of respondents said local growth was too fast. Fewer than 7% of those sampled said they thought Hamilton County was growing too slow.
Voters in the faster-growing suburban areas of the county were generally more likely to think the county is growing too fast, the poll showed.
“There’s no doubt we’re excited about the growth of our community, but we are choking,” said state Rep. Greg Vital, a Republican who represents many of the fastest-growing areas in Hamilton County around Ooltewah and Collegedale. “Our infrastructure and our roads, utilities and broadband can’t keep up with the rate we are expanding.”