What does Chattanooga mean to you?
by Josh McManus
A friend put me on to a public radio podcast about "big ideas" that came from the Aspen Institute in Colorado - 5 minute idea speeches from around the world.
The final speech was from the Founder of the Project for Public Spaces, who sent 30,000+ people the question "What does 'place-making' mean to you?" One of the many replies said "Place-making is the act of liberation, of staking claim, of beautification; it is true human empowerment", and quoted Thoreau:
There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it, and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.
These are moving words, implying duty and accountability for me as a Chattanooga citizen. Can we be brave enough to talk about "value" and "happiness" in the same breath as "Chattanooga"? Fill out our short CreateHere survey and make your voice heard about how we can make Chattanooga better, but don't stop there. Think about what our city means to you, what you hope for the future, then how to make it happen.