News released Wednesday that Hamilton County is likely to lose its status as the fourth most populous county in Tennessee probably gave some area officials heartburn.
Oh, the humanity. Not when we were the third most populous county as late as the 1940 census, a status we had held for 30 years. Not when Chattanooga was catching up to Knoxville again in the race for the third most populous city.
Rutherford County, home of Murfreesboro and a number of bedroom communities for trendy, fast-growing Nashville, is expected to become the Volunteer State's fourth largest county by 2026, according to the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee.
Instead of Hamilton County worrying about its status, we say let Rutherford have it. We should want Hamilton County to grow and thrive and prosper, but it's never going to be Davidson County, home of the state capital of Nashville. It's never going to be Music City, capital of country music.
Nashville is going to be, well, more like Atlanta, where people daily tell us they are thankful they don't live. Nothing against Nashville or Atlanta, but who needs the better part of an hour to commute 10 miles or so? Who needs constant road construction, battles over public transportation and days when you have to plan when and where you can be on the roads? (OK, OK, we have some of that but not to the extent these megalopolises do.)
We prefer Chattanooga to be on "the peaceful side of Tennessee," to borrow Townsend, Tennessee's slogan, "the peaceful side of the Smokies."
And it's not like our Scenic City doesn't have a lot going for it. If it didn't, it would have wound up on so many "Best of" lists in the past decade or so.
The headlines, just in the past week, too, suggest Chattanooga is hardly sitting still.
Consider:
* Chattanooga has the best hiring outlook of any major metropolitan area in the country heading into 2020, according to a new employer survey from Manpower Group.
In other words, we've got jobs, yes we do. It means many area businesses are doing so well they are able to expand and hire more people. It means many of the jobs are good, family-wage jobs for which people move to the area to obtain.
* Chattanooga is the top major U.S. city when measuring the growth rate of its foreign-born population, according to a new analysis of census data by Point2Homes, an online real estate marketing firm.
Yes, some of that is illegal immigration, but officials say it's more a result of Tennessee leading the nation in direct foreign investment, of recruiting business from around the word, and of foreign workers coming here legally to seek the good jobs available in the area.
* A "Health and Wellness District" along Third and Fourth streets has been proposed to be a new center of innovation, economic growth, and opportunity for the city, county and state.
The collaborative improvement of such a district has the potential to alleviate parking problems, add affordable housing, expand educational opportunities, and improve access to better food and transportation options, among other things, officials say.
* A massive development proposed for the former Alstom manufacturing site was given initial approval by the Chattanooga City Council this week.
The project, unveiled last March, would be a unique, planned neighborhood along the Tennessee River, combining high-end manufacturing, various types of housing, office space, retail entities, parks and a music venue.
* A planning effort financed by River City Co. and the Lyndhurst and Benwood foundations to re-energize Chattanooga's downtown riverfront area and spur more activity has began and is expected to be completed in early July.
The "One Riverfront Chattanooga" effort surrounding what is often called "the tourist district" will examine the site of AT&T Field, home of the Chattanooga Lookouts, the future of Riverfront Parkway, the development of parking lots near the Tennessee Aquarium, and ways to make Fourth, Broad and Market streets more people and business friendly. The public will have the opportunity to be involved in community meetings involving the plan beginning in January.
* A new facilities master plan for Hamilton County Schools, though only a preliminary outline, has the ability to make the school district more efficient, reduce transportation problems and expand educational opportunities.
The public hasn't fully weighed in on the plan, but the 10-year blueprint offers the promise of reduced maintenance costs, the end of dilapidated buildings and the better capacity utilization of the remaining schools.
Hamilton County is not perfect. No county is. Improvements in its school district have lagged behind other upgrades in the county and in Chattanooga, but its direction appears solidly on the rise. And Chattanooga recently was listed in the bottom 15% of 182 ranked cities in a WalletHub measure of the safest U.S. cities.
But the county, city and their attributes are unique, desired and constantly being enhanced. If Hamilton falls to the fourth most populous county in the state, we should be glad we are who we are here, still on the peaceful side of Tennessee.