Five or Fewer: the past 24 hours at 55 E Main
-chattanooga: a border land
-part of and proud of
-an identity up for grabs
-a growing sense of possibility
-time to move forward ... again
-stepped back, turned around, exhaled ...
-a growing sense of urgency
-and still exhaling ...
-creative individuals are economic drivers
- ... until we turn purple ...
-there's work left to do
Rick- I wholeheartedly agree with you that the story of this wonderful place deserves to be told. The past three decades have seen a remarkable turnaround... We need to embrace our past, rejoice in the progress that was made, and seriously consider what we want our future to be. One of CreateHere's core beliefs is that the expectations for our city can be reset to achieve greatness. We are a city that has turned around, thanks to a lot of hard work from many, many people, and we're still enjoying the fruit of those labors. I believe it's time to take a deep breath, really consider what our future will be and work hard to bring those hopes into reality. For me, having an identity up for grabs is an incredibly exciting prospect....
—Sarah Lester on Thursday 31 January"-an identity up for grabs"
Interesting - I hope this isn't Chattanooga that's being referenced here. Where I came from, the city didn't know who it was, it ignored it's history and did not build on it. One reason we were attracted to Chattanooga was that they _did_ seem to know who they were, and were building on their history, not trying to escape it or ignore it. Where we came from has never gotten it right in years and years of trying - years of building this, tearing it down to try something else just as useless. But I've already seen signs of wanting to ignore the history of the place, and I've stood against it. Thankfully, what was intended didn't happen.
Ignoring a place's history destroys it's chances of sustaining it's development. Those people and neighborhoods whose history is ignored won't buy into the development, and shouldn't.
I just hope what the statement, "an identity up for grabs", sounds like isn't what is really meant.
—Rick on Thursday 31 JanuaryRick- I wholeheartedly agree with you that the story of this wonderful place deserves to be told. The past three decades have seen a remarkable turnaround... We need to embrace our past, rejoice in the progress that was made, and seriously consider what we want our future to be. One of CreateHere's core beliefs is that the expectations for our city can be reset to achieve greatness. We are a city that has turned around, thanks to a lot of hard work from many, many people, and we're still enjoying the fruit of those labors. I believe it's time to take a deep breath, really consider what our future will be and work hard to bring those hopes into reality. For me, having an identity up for grabs is an incredibly exciting prospect....
— Sarah Lester"-an identity up for grabs"
Interesting - I hope this isn't Chattanooga that's being referenced here. Where I came from, the city didn't know who it was, it ignored it's history and did not build on it. One reason we were attracted to Chattanooga was that they _did_ seem to know who they were, and were building on their history, not trying to escape it or ignore it. Where we came from has never gotten it right in years and years of trying - years of building this, tearing it down to try something else just as useless. But I've already seen signs of wanting to ignore the history of the place, and I've stood against it. Thankfully, what was intended didn't happen.
Ignoring a place's history destroys it's chances of sustaining it's development. Those people and neighborhoods whose history is ignored won't buy into the development, and shouldn't.
I just hope what the statement, "an identity up for grabs", sounds like isn't what is really meant.
— Rick