Urban Planning as Rotational Grazing: Readers Respond to a (not) Dying Downtown
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Sticky Fingers closed. Before that, Taco Mac. Before that: Big River Grille, 212 Market.
Last week, we asked the question others are also asking: is downtown dying?
With an apparent glut of hotels and lack of residential condos and homes near the Aquarium riverfront, are locally-owned restaurants migrating elsewhere: Main Street. MLK, South Broad, the West End?
Yes. I believe: yes.
Maybe this is a crude analogy, but hear me out. In agriculture, we speak of rotational grazing: the practice of moving animals from one pasture or paddock to the next in frequent ways, to build soil and wildlife health (birds + insects + microbes), which, in turns, supports animal health.
Is it possible to practice rotational grazing as an urban planner?
Chattanooga grazed down the Aquarium riverfront, then, the pasture moved to the North Shore. (Thank you, Tony's Pasta and Mudpie.)
Chattanooga grazed onto Main Street, then, the pasture moved up and down Main Street even more.
Chattanooga grazed back downtown, hotels like mushrooms everywhere. Then, the pasture moved to South Broad, with fencing being set up near the Westside and the riverfront there.
When do we return to the original pasture - the Aquarium riverfront?
In rooms and meetings I'm not privy to, people - good-hearted and thoughtful - are discussing these same questions. When the great investments come - foundations, grants, so forth - they are directed with energy into certain parts of the city.
Is there an attempt to add residential life back into an over-touristed, over-hoteled - almost like it's choking out the field - six or seven blocks of downtown?
Put it this way: if you were a local chef-owner who could situate your restaurant anywhere in this city, what location would you choose and why?
And, let's be honest: I'm wrong, quite frequently, and my forecasting may be wrong here. Last week, I asked: when was the last time you ate downtown?
Apparently, quite frequently.
"Twice over the weekend," one reader said. "Puckett's and City Cafe."
"I don't agree with the idea that downtown is dying," said another reader. "Sticky Fingers and Taco Mac both have had corporate issues, Sticky Fingers with a bankruptcy and Taco Mac closing several locations ...
" ... look at what has opened - Riverport, Home Lounge. Wooden City in the original Easy Bistro location is busy every time we are there.
"There are a lot of us who enjoy going downtown to eat and know where to park - anywhere but a surface lot," she said.
She wasn't the only reader to reference Wooden City.
Nor the fact that certain closed restaurants were no longer locally-owned.
"Early in my career ... I was heavily involved in the effort to 'set the table' to encourage 'reoccupancy' of the riverfront area after the opening of the Aquarium," another reader said.
"The allied entities working to revitalize the riverfront and downtown were very conscious that businesses ideally and public spaces in particular needed to work for/appeal to local residents first, that authenticity would be the distinguishing feature to prompt the decision to come downtown instead of to a restaurant at the mall. That mantra went further to a belief that if it appealed to locals, it would appeal to our visitors," he continued.
Time-out, please.
Do you still have that feeling? Food as a Verb community, do you feel like downtown - let's say the YMCA to the Aquarium riverfront - is meant for you, Chattanooga residents? Or for tourists?
This is not a loaded question, nor is it quantifiable. I'm simply asking.
Back to our reader-friend's response, who also mentioned that both Sticky Fingers and other restaurants sold to faraway investors, which marked the inevitable end. (After ownership transferred to distant lands, Sticky Fingers, one reader said, began to feel more like a $2 Bud Light bar in Panama City Beach.)
"Remote ownership maximizes their corporate profit and strips down the authenticity of the once local establishment and it dies," he said.
One bright spot?
Yep. For the second time this morning: Wooden City.
"It's a story that validates the appeal of Chattanooga's authenticity," he said. "The owners have two WC's [Wooden City's] in Washington state and wanted to establish a location in the southeast. From the Pacific Northwest to Southeast TN is a different kind of bold move, and they're thriving."
As often the case, one opinion opens the door to many others, which create a more full picture of what's actually happening, has happened, could happen.
We remain so thankful for your feedback, responses, questions and answers.
Looks like Food as a Verb needs to visit Wooden City soon.
- Finally, the city of Chattanooga voted to lift the ban on chicken ownership, now allowing backyard hens - up to eight hens, no roosters - in the city limits.
At home, we're down to three birds, total, from our most recent flock of eight. Ms. Hawk got one, Mr. Fox gobbled two more, two died early after we bought them from Tractor Supply.
They were bantams, unsexed and unbelievably small.
Over the years, we've owned more flocks than I can remember.
Now, of those remaining three, two - it appears - are roosters. One is named Charlotte. Perhaps that's a story one day.
See you all Sunday.
A hint: anyone see Les Mis?
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
Sticky Fingers closed. Before that, Taco Mac. Before that: Big River Grille, 212 Market.
Last week, we asked the question others are also asking: is downtown dying?
With an apparent glut of hotels and lack of residential condos and homes near the Aquarium riverfront, are locally-owned restaurants migrating elsewhere: Main Street. MLK, South Broad, the West End?
Yes. I believe: yes.
Maybe this is a crude analogy, but hear me out. In agriculture, we speak of rotational grazing: the practice of moving animals from one pasture or paddock to the next in frequent ways, to build soil and wildlife health (birds + insects + microbes), which, in turns, supports animal health.
Is it possible to practice rotational grazing as an urban planner?
Chattanooga grazed down the Aquarium riverfront, then, the pasture moved to the North Shore. (Thank you, Tony's Pasta and Mudpie.)
Chattanooga grazed onto Main Street, then, the pasture moved up and down Main Street even more.
Chattanooga grazed back downtown, hotels like mushrooms everywhere. Then, the pasture moved to South Broad, with fencing being set up near the Westside and the riverfront there.
When do we return to the original pasture - the Aquarium riverfront?
In rooms and meetings I'm not privy to, people - good-hearted and thoughtful - are discussing these same questions. When the great investments come - foundations, grants, so forth - they are directed with energy into certain parts of the city.
Is there an attempt to add residential life back into an over-touristed, over-hoteled - almost like it's choking out the field - six or seven blocks of downtown?
Put it this way: if you were a local chef-owner who could situate your restaurant anywhere in this city, what location would you choose and why?
And, let's be honest: I'm wrong, quite frequently, and my forecasting may be wrong here. Last week, I asked: when was the last time you ate downtown?
Apparently, quite frequently.
"Twice over the weekend," one reader said. "Puckett's and City Cafe."
"I don't agree with the idea that downtown is dying," said another reader. "Sticky Fingers and Taco Mac both have had corporate issues, Sticky Fingers with a bankruptcy and Taco Mac closing several locations ...
" ... look at what has opened - Riverport, Home Lounge. Wooden City in the original Easy Bistro location is busy every time we are there.
"There are a lot of us who enjoy going downtown to eat and know where to park - anywhere but a surface lot," she said.
She wasn't the only reader to reference Wooden City.
Nor the fact that certain closed restaurants were no longer locally-owned.
"Early in my career ... I was heavily involved in the effort to 'set the table' to encourage 'reoccupancy' of the riverfront area after the opening of the Aquarium," another reader said.
"The allied entities working to revitalize the riverfront and downtown were very conscious that businesses ideally and public spaces in particular needed to work for/appeal to local residents first, that authenticity would be the distinguishing feature to prompt the decision to come downtown instead of to a restaurant at the mall. That mantra went further to a belief that if it appealed to locals, it would appeal to our visitors," he continued.
Time-out, please.
Do you still have that feeling? Food as a Verb community, do you feel like downtown - let's say the YMCA to the Aquarium riverfront - is meant for you, Chattanooga residents? Or for tourists?
This is not a loaded question, nor is it quantifiable. I'm simply asking.
Back to our reader-friend's response, who also mentioned that both Sticky Fingers and other restaurants sold to faraway investors, which marked the inevitable end. (After ownership transferred to distant lands, Sticky Fingers, one reader said, began to feel more like a $2 Bud Light bar in Panama City Beach.)
"Remote ownership maximizes their corporate profit and strips down the authenticity of the once local establishment and it dies," he said.
One bright spot?
Yep. For the second time this morning: Wooden City.
"It's a story that validates the appeal of Chattanooga's authenticity," he said. "The owners have two WC's [Wooden City's] in Washington state and wanted to establish a location in the southeast. From the Pacific Northwest to Southeast TN is a different kind of bold move, and they're thriving."
As often the case, one opinion opens the door to many others, which create a more full picture of what's actually happening, has happened, could happen.
We remain so thankful for your feedback, responses, questions and answers.
Looks like Food as a Verb needs to visit Wooden City soon.
- Finally, the city of Chattanooga voted to lift the ban on chicken ownership, now allowing backyard hens - up to eight hens, no roosters - in the city limits.
At home, we're down to three birds, total, from our most recent flock of eight. Ms. Hawk got one, Mr. Fox gobbled two more, two died early after we bought them from Tractor Supply.
They were bantams, unsexed and unbelievably small.
Over the years, we've owned more flocks than I can remember.
Now, of those remaining three, two - it appears - are roosters. One is named Charlotte. Perhaps that's a story one day.
See you all Sunday.
A hint: anyone see Les Mis?
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
