Things you can currently do in ~10 minutes:

Drive from the base to the top of Lookout Mountain
Get from one ice cream shop (Clumpies) to another (Ice Cream Show) via the Walnut Street Bridge
Get through security at the Chattanooga airport (and for this, we are thankful)
Choose which dessert you’re gonna get from City Café’s extensive menu

Things you will soon be able to do in ~10 minutes:

Walk to a park, no matter where in Chattanooga you live

🌳 Wait, really?

Really. Over the weekend, Mayor Kelly announced that the City of Chattanooga is joining the 10-Minute Walk Campaign. What is this campaign? A program led by the Trust for Public Land (you know, the folks behind the South Chick Creek Greenway) that works to bring every resident, in every part of town, in every city across America, a park within a 10-minute walking distance of home.

🌳 Why

For starters, who doesn’t love being near a park? Beyond that, though, parks can:

Benefit physical + mental health
Improve social connections
Help the environment
Cool down parts of town without green spaces + address stormwater issues

🌳 How

Most recently, the City of Chattanooga established a new Parks and Outdoors Department. Parks + Outdoors Administrator Scott Martin started his role in early February.

The Trust for Public Land will also work in partnership with the city to provide info on where parks are lacking + work with neighborhoods to help create new parks. Approaching projects include:

Finishing up the Alton Park connector — one of the first intentional connections to the Riverwalk System that will connect multiple residents to park space
Working on Lynnbrook Park, with construction to start in the next year
Creating a new neighborhood park in the Olde Town Brainerd area — more details to come

🌳 Current data

39% | Percent of Chattanooga residents who live within a 10-minute walk of a park
8% | Percentage of land used for parks and rec, compared to the national median of 15%
95 | Number of parks in Chattanooga