Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors Plan

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Creating an equitable plan for Chattanooga’s recreational assets

Chattanooga is known for its breathtaking natural scenery and world-class downtown parks. However, not all Chattanoogans benefit equally from the city’s outdoor resources; Design Workshop was hired to create a strategic vision to unify and guide the growth and development of the park, trail, and greenway system.

The Parks and Outdoors Plan (POP) offers a community-driven vision for high-quality parks and greenways that serve all residents equitably, promote health and wellness, protect natural resources, and connect people to each other and their natural and cultural landscapes. The plan provides the foundation for Chattanooga’s effort to become the first National Park City in North America. Our team worked with local and regional stakeholders and residents to capture the community’s biggest and boldest ambitions for their park and trail system. In addition, we guided the city through a Total Asset Management process to create an inventory of recreational assets and ultimately support the development of data-driven staffing and budgeting plans.

The final POP includes concrete ways that the plan can support and tie into regional trail and land conservation priorities, as well as a roadmap for phased implementation grounded in the realities of park and trail financing, operations, and maintenance.

Services Provided: Master Planning, Park Planning, Public Participation

Client

City of Chattanooga