Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States

Economy | Banking | Attractions | Culture : Museums | Performing arts | Literary events | Festivals and events | Sport : College : Baseball : Soccer : Rugby | Rowing | Sport : Cycling | Running | Triathlons | Awards | Media : Print | Online media | Media : Radio : Television | Education : Primary and Secondary : University | Public library | Health care | Transport : Road | Tunnels | Public transit | Bicycle-sharing system | Railroad lines | Bridges | Air travel

🇺🇸 Chattanooga is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia. It is one of the two principal cities of East Tennessee. The city anchors the Chattanooga metropolitan area, as well as a larger three-state area that includes South-east Tennessee, North-west Georgia, and North-east Alabama.

Chattanooga was a crucial city during the American Civil War, due to the multiple railroads that converge there. After the war, the railroads allowed for the city to grow into one of the Southeastern United States' largest heavy industrial hubs. Today, major industry that drives the economy includes automotive, advanced manufacturing, food and beverage production, healthcare, insurance, tourism, and back office and corporate headquarters. Chattanooga remains a transit hub in the present day, served by multiple railroads and Interstate highways, Chattanooga is a transit hub. It is 118 miles north-west of Atlanta, Georgia, 112 miles south-west of Knoxville, Tennessee, 134 miles south-east of Nashville, Tennessee, 102 miles east-north-east of Huntsville, Alabama, and 147 miles north-east of Birmingham, Alabama.

Divided by the Tennessee River, Chattanooga is at the transition between the ridge-and-valley Appalachians and the Cumberland Plateau, both of which are part of the larger Appalachian Mountains. Its official nickname is the "Scenic City", alluding to the surrounding mountains, ridges, and valleys. Unofficial nicknames include "River City", "Chatt", "Nooga", "Chattown", and "Gig City", the latter a reference to its claims that it has the fastest internet service in the Western Hemisphere.

Chattanooga is home to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and Chattanooga State Community College.

Economy Chattanooga's economy includes a diversified and growing mix of manufacturing and service industries.

Notable Chattanooga businesses include Access America Transport, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, CBL & Associates, The Chattanooga Bakery, Sanofi, the world's first Coca-Cola bottling plant, Coker Tire, U.S. Xpress Inc., Covenant Logistics, Double Cola, CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Luken Communications, Miller & Martin, the National Model Railroad Association, PepsiCo, Reliance Partners, Republic Parking System, Rock/Creek, Tricycle Inc., and Unum. The city also hosts large branch offices of Cigna, AT&T, T-Mobile USA, and UBS. McKee Foods Corporation, the maker of nationally known Little Debbie brand snack cakes, is a privately held, family-run company headquartered in nearby Collegedale, Tennessee.

Notable companies that have manufacturing or distribution facilities in the city include Amazon.com, BASF, DuPont, Invista, Komatsu, PepsiCo, Rock-Tenn, Plantronics, Domtar, Norfolk Southern, Ferrara Candy Company (manufacturer of Brach's candies), Alco Chemical, Colonial Pipeline, and Buzzi Unicem. The William Wrigley Jr. Company has a prominent presence in Chattanooga, the sole site of production of Altoids breath mint products since 2005.

In a seminal event for Chattanooga, Volkswagen announced in July 2008 the construction of its first U.S. auto plant in over three decades, the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant. In May 2011, Volkswagen Group of America inaugurated its plant. The $1 billion plant, opened in May 2011, served as the group's North American manufacturing headquarters. The plant, which initially employed 2,700 people, later increasing to 4,700, manufactures the Passat and the Atlas. It also has a full research and development centre in downtown Chattanooga, employing some 200 engineers, the first of its kind in the South. The plant was the first new Volkswagen plant in the United States since the 1988 closure of the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant near New Stanton, Pennsylvania. In 2019, Volkswagen Chattanooga announced plans to expand its Chattanooga-based plant to construct electric vehicles. The expansion is expected to create one thousand new jobs and $800 million in investments.

In addition to corporate business interests, there are many retail shops in Chattanooga, including two shopping malls: Hamilton Place Mall in East Brainerd and Northgate Mall in Hixson. Eastgate Mall in Brainerd used to be a shopping mall, but has changed into a multi-use office building. Tourism and Hospitality has been a growing part of Chattanooga's economy, with 2014 being the first year for Hamilton County to surpass $1 billion in revenue.

Startups have been an increasing trend, due in part to EPB's fiber optic grid. Notable venture firms based in the city are Blank Slate Ventures, Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, Lamp Post Group, SwiftWing Ventures, and the Jump Fund. The city is served by several incubators, notably Co.Lab, the Business Development Center, and Lamp Post Group. The Business Development Center is among the nation's largest incubators, both in square footage and in the number of startups that it supports. Co-working spaces have picked up downtown, including Society of Work and Chattanooga Workspace. Unique in the city is the startup accelerator Gigtank, which utilizes the city's gigabit capacities and focuses on 3D printing, healthcare, and smartgrid technologies. Notable startups include Quickcue (acquired by OpenTable in 2013), and Reliance Partners. Chattanooga went from zero investable capital in 2009 to over $50 million in 2014.

Banking As of 2014, there are 27 banks operating in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, lending to financial strength. Among the larger banks are regional banks First Horizon Bank, Truist Financial, and Regions Financial Corporation, but the area also has offices from UBS, Chase, and Bank of America. In part to the strength and growing economic development, Chase recently shifted its East Tennessee headquarters from Knoxville to Chattanooga.

In early 2015, three locally owned banks and one in nearby Cleveland, Tennessee, were acquired by other banks. CapitalMark, formed in 2007, will be acquired by the Nashville-based Pinnacle Financial Partners for $187 million to have the fourth largest market share in the Chattanooga metro area. First Security Group, Inc, the largest Chattanooga-based bank, formed in 2000, will be acquired by the Atlanta-based Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc., for $160 million. Cornerstone, started in 1985, will merge with the Knoxville-based SmartBank in a stock deal. Cleveland's Southern Heritage Bank was acquired in 2014 by First Citizens National Bank in Dyersburg, Tennessee, for $32.2 million. All these mergers only leave one Chattanooga-based, independent bank, First Volunteer Bank. Others in the area locally based include Dunlap, Tennessee-based Citizens Tri-County Bank, Ooltewah-based Community Trust and Banking Co., Dayton, Tennessee-based Community National Bank, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia-based Capital Bank, LaFayette, Georgia-based Bank of LaFayette, and Cleveland-based Bank of Cleveland.

Attractions Chattanooga touts many attractions, including the Tennessee Aquarium, caverns, and new waterfront attractions along and across the Tennessee River. In the downtown area is the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, housed in the renovated Terminal Station. Also downtown are the Creative Discovery Museum, a hands-on children's museum dedicated to science, art, and music; an IMAX 3D Theatre, and the newly expanded Hunter Museum of American Art. The Tennessee Riverwalk, an approximately 13-mile-long (21 km) trail running alongside the river, is another attraction for both tourists and residents alike.

Across the river from downtown is the North Shore district, roughly bounded by the Olgiati Bridge to the west and Veterans Bridge to the east. The newly renovated area draws locals and tourists to locally owned independent boutique stores and restaurants, plus attractions along the Chattanooga Riverpark system, including Coolidge Park and Renaissance Park.

The Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park is at 301 North Holtzclaw Avenue, a short distance from the downtown area. Hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. In 1937, the first small exhibit was "established with the construction of a 4x6' cage for two Rhesus Monkeys". The Zoo has since grown, as in 2017, "the Zoo kicked off the year with the announcement of the Kits and Cubs Program, which is a unique early childhood learning program designed specifically for the youngest of animal lovers". And in May 2017, "the Zoo broke ground to expand the Corcovado Jungle exhibit adding six new outdoor and six new indoor exhibits to house small South American monkeys and mammals in June". Parks and natural scenic areas provide other attractions. The red-and-black painted "See Rock City" barns along highways in the Southeast are remnants of a now-classic Americana tourism campaign to attract visitors to the Rock City tourist attraction in nearby Lookout Mountain, Georgia. The mountain is also the site of Ruby Falls and Craven's House. The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway is a steep funicular railway that rises from the St. Elmo Historic District to the top of the mountain, where passengers can visit the National Park Service's Point Park and the Battles for Chattanooga Museum. Formerly known as Confederama, the museum includes a diorama that details the Battle of Chattanooga. From the military park, visitors can enjoy panoramic views of Moccasin Bend and the Chattanooga skyline from the mountain's famous "point" or from vantage points along the well-marked trail system.

Near Chattanooga, the Raccoon Mountain Reservoir, Raccoon Mountain Caverns, and Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanical Garden boast a number of outdoor and family fun opportunities. Other arboretums include Bonny Oaks Arboretum, Cherokee Arboretum at Audubon Acres, and Cherokee Trail Arboretum. The Ocoee River, host to a number of events at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, features rafting, kayaking, camping, and hiking. Just outside Chattanooga is the Lake Winnepesaukah amusement park. The Cumberland Trail begins in Signal Mountain, just outside Chattanooga.

Culture: Museums As the birthplace of the tow truck, Chattanooga is the home of the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. Another transportation icon, the passenger train, can be found at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, called TVRM by locals, which is the largest operating historic railroad in the South. Chattanooga is home to the Hunter Museum of American Art. Other notable museums include the Chattanooga History Center, the National Medal of Honor Museum, the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, the Chattanooga African American Museum, and the Creative Discovery Museum.

Performing arts Chattanooga has a wide range of performing arts in different venues. Chattanooga's historic Tivoli Theatre, dating from 1921 and one of the first public air-conditioned buildings in the United States, is home to the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera (CSO), which became the first merged symphony and opera company in the United States in 1985. The CSO is directed by Kayoko Dan. The Chattanooga Theatre Centre offers 15 productions each year in three separate theater programs: the Mainstage, the Circle Theater, and the Youth Theater.

Another popular performance venue is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium. It was built between 1922 and 1924 by John Parks, General Contractors, and was designed by the architect R.H. Hunt, who also designed the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga.

Literary events Chattanooga hosts several writing conferences, including the Conference on Southern Literature and the Festival of Writers, both sponsored by the Arts & Education Council of Chattanooga.

Festivals and events Chattanooga hosts the well-known Riverbend Festival, an annual four-day music festival held in June in the downtown area. One of the most popular events is the "Bessie Smith Strut", a one-night showcase of blues and jazz music named for the city's most noted blues singer. The annual "Southern Brewer's Festival" and the "River Roast" festival celebrate such traditional Southern staples as beer and barbecue.

Moon River Festival is a three-day musical festival held every September in Coolidge Park. The festival originally was located in Memphis but relocated to Chattanooga in 2018. Moon River Festival and Riverbend Festival were rated among the top 10 music festivals in the south by Southern Living magazine.

New events, such as GoFest!, the "Between the Bridges" wakeboard competition, Heritage Festival, and Talespin, complement well-established events, such as Riverbend and the Southern Brewer's Festival, and attract their own audiences. Back Row Films is a citywide celebration of film co-sponsored by the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Arts & Education Council, and UTC.

"Nightfall" is a free weekly concert series in Miller Plaza on Friday nights that features an eclectic mix of rock, blues, jazz, reggae, zydeco, funk, bluegrass, and folk music from Memorial Day until the end of September. The Chattanooga Market features events all year round as part of the "Sunday at the Southside", including an Oktoberfest in mid-October.

The Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival, held each June, features workshops for mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, and auto harp, among others, along with performances by champion performers from across the nation.

Chattanooga is also the centre of much bluegrass music. In 1935, as well as from 1993 to 1995, the city hosted the National Folk Festival. Since 2007, the annual 3 Sisters Festival showcases traditional and contemporary bluegrass artists, and has been named one of the country's "5 Best" bluegrass festivals by Great American Country.

Each January, Chattanooga plays host to Chattacon, a science fiction and fantasy literary convention. The convention is organized by the nonprofit Chattanooga Speculative Fiction Fans, Inc. First held in 1976, the convention drew an estimated 1,000 attendees to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in 2012, as well as an estimated 1,300 attendees in 2013.

Since 2014, Chattanooga has been home to the Chattanooga Film Festival, an annual film festival.

Sport Chattanooga has a large, growing, and diversified sports scene for a city of its size, including professional soccer, college sports, minor league baseball, semi-professional teams, professional cycling exemplified by the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships, the Ironman Triathlon, and a large nationally renowned regatta the first weekend of November.

Sport: College Chattanooga was the home of the NCAA Division I Football Championship game, which was held at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, from 1997 to 2009.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Mocs compete in NCAA Division I and the Southern Conference. UTC's athletic programs include football at the FCS level, women's soccer, volleyball, and cross country in the fall; men's and women's basketball, Wrestling, and indoor track & field in the winter; and softball and outdoor track & field in the spring. Men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis play in the fall and spring.

Sport: Baseball The Chattanooga Lookouts, a Class AA Double-A South baseball team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds, play at the riverfront AT&T Field.

Chattanooga also is home to several semi-professional football teams, including the Tennessee Crush and the Chattanooga Steam. The Tennessee Crush plays its games at Finley Stadium in downtown Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Steam plays at Lookout Valley High School near Lookout Mountain.

Sport: Soccer The city has two professional soccer teams. From 2009 to 2019, Chattanooga FC played in the National Premier Soccer League, but is moved to an unsanctioned professional league (NISA) in 2020. Founded in 2009, Chattanooga FC has gone to the national finals four times since its inception, and drew a record 18,227 fans for their 2015 NPSL title match. The club has also found success in the U.S. Open Cup defeating the professional USL's Wilmington Hammerheads to reach the tournament's third round in 2014 and 2015. In 2019, Chattanooga FC became one of the founding members of NPSL's Founders Cup, a group of eleven teams playing a professional tournament in the fall before forming a fully professional league in 2020. To support this, Chattanooga FC became only the second sports team in the U.S., after the Green Bay Packers, to sell supporter shares in the team. These moves were partially in response to a USL League One franchise, the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC starting play in the 2019 inaugural season of that new third-tier professional league under the direction of Chattanooga FC's former general manager. The Red Wolves are play in USL League One and intend to build a multi-million dollar soccer specific stadium in the neighboring town of East Ridge, Tennessee. Before the proposed stadium was built, the Red Wolves had a legal battle with Arkansas State, with ASU sending them a cease-and-desist letter in November 2019. The stadium was announced as CHI Memorial Stadium, and was opened for play and fans in 2020 while still under construction. It will hold an estimated 5,000 fans for soccer matches.

Sport: Rugby Chattanooga is also home to several rugby teams: the Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, Nooga Red, Nooga Black, men's Old Boys, a women's rugby team, men's and women's teams at UTC, and an all-city high school team. The Chattanooga Rugby Football Club, which was established in 1978 and the 2011 and 2013 DII Mid South champions, is affiliated with USA Rugby and USA Rugby South. The club fields two teams, Nooga Red, which competes in Division II, and Nooga Black, which competes in Division III. There is also a men's Old Boys team, a Chattanooga women's rugby team, as well as collegiate men's and women's teams representing the Mocs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. A citywide high school rugby team, the Wolfpack, was established in 2012 and is open to any high school player living in the Chattanooga area. All seven teams play their home matches at Montague Park.

Rowing The Head of the Hooch rowing regatta takes place along the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga during the first weekend of November. The head race originally took place on the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta before moving to Chattanooga in 2005, hence the name "Head of the Hooch". With 1,965 boats in 2011 and nearly 2,000 boats in 2012, this competition ranks as the 2nd largest regatta in the United States, with numerous college and youth teams, such as UNC Men's Crew, Vanderbilt Rowing Club, James Madison University Crew, University of Tennessee Women's Rowing, Orlando Rowing Club, Nashville Rowing Club, Newport Rowing Club, and Chattanooga Rowing, competing. There are also multiple local rowing clubs, such as the Lookout Rowing Club for adults and the Chattanooga Junior Rowing Club for high school students. The weekend of the Head of the Hooch also sees hot-air balloon rides and other activities.

Sport: Cycling In 2013, the Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Road & Time Trial National Championships were held in Chattanooga. The schedule for the 3-day event on May 25–27 featured a handcycling time trail and various other cycling time trials and road races, including a men's road race that took the cyclists through the heart of downtown Chattanooga and up Lookout Mountain for a total race distance of 102.5 miles (165.0 km). American professional cyclist Freddie Rodriguez won the national road race championship title for the fourth time in his career. The Championships' debut in Chattanooga marked the first time in the event's 29-year history that women were allowed to compete for professional national titles. Chattanooga will also host the Championships in 2014 and 2015.

The city is home to the Chattanooga Bicycle Club. It was established in 1967 to "encourage and promote bicycle riding and safety, and to foster good relationships between cyclists and motorists by demonstrating courtesy and respect the law". The Chattanooga Bicycle Club advocates for transportation, fitness, and recreation, as well as health and wellness.

This club is in relative with the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), Adventure Cycling, Bike Chattanooga, and Outdoor Chattanooga.

Running Due to its location at the junction of the Cumberland Plateau and the southern Appalachians, Chattanooga has become a haven for outdoor sports, and has even been named Outside Magazine's "Best Town Ever" twice such as hunting, fishing, trail running, road running, adventure racing, rock climbing, mountain biking, and road biking. The internationally known StumpJump 50k has been hosted on nearby Signal Mountain since 2002.

The Erlanger Half Marathon and Marathon have become a large part of the spring activities in Chattanooga in recent years. These events are orchestrated by the Chattanooga Sports Committee, and the half marathon course and marathon course are designed by the same group of runners. The course is subject to change throughout the years. The most recent marathon and half marathon were held on March 3, 2019.

Triathlons In August 2013, further cementing Chattanooga's growing status as a nationally recognised outdoor haven, the Chattanooga Sports Committee, an organization established in 1992 to help the city host major sporting events, announced that the Ironman Triathlon would be coming to the city in a 5-year deal. The city became one of only 11 cities in the United States to host the grueling competition showcasing Chattanooga's natural beauty, which consists of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180 km) bike race (which is broken down into two 56-mile (90 km) loops), and a 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run (which is broken down into two 13.1-mile (21.1 km) loops). The event has a $40,000 prize purse and chances to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. On November 4, 2014, it was announced that Chattanooga would host The Ironman 70.3 event, also known as the Half Ironman, in addition to the standard Ironman Triathlon. This event consists of a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run, and has a prize pot of $30,000. On September 29, 2015, The Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that Ironman had chosen Chattanooga, Tennessee to host the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

Awards Chattanooga has been a member of the League of American Bicyclists' Bronze level since October 2003, the only city in Tennessee to be a member of the organization before Knoxville and Nashville joined in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The city has a number of outdoor clubs: Scenic City Velo, SORBA-Chattanooga, the Wilderness Trail Running Association, and the Chattanooga Track Club. The city also funds Outdoor Chattanooga, an organization focused on promoting outdoor recreation. In September 2004, the city appointed its first-ever executive director of Outdoor Chattanooga to implement the organization's mission, which includes promoting bicycling for transportation, recreation, and active living. For paddlers, Chattanooga offers the Tennessee River Blueway, a 50-mile (80 km) recreational section of the Tennessee River that flows through Chattanooga and the Tennessee River Gorge. The Tennessee Aquarium has a high speed catamaran, the River Gorge Explorer, to allow up to 70 people to explore the Tennessee River Gorge. The Explorer departs from the Chattanooga Pier. Since 2008, Chattanooga has hosted the Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship, the crowning event of the largest disc dog competition series in the world.

Media The city of Chattanooga is served by numerous local, regional, and national media outlets which reach approximately one million people in four states: Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.

Media: Print The Chattanooga Times Free Press, the area's only daily newspaper, is published every morning. It was formed in 1999 from the merger of two papers that had been bitter rivals for half a century, the Times and the News-Free Press. The Times was owned and published by Adolph Ochs, who later bought The New York Times. The Times was the morning paper and had a generally more liberal editorial page. The News-Free Press, whose name was the result of an earlier merger, was an afternoon daily and its editorials were more conservative than those in the Times. On August 27, 1966, the News-Free Press became the first newspaper in the nation to dissolve a joint operating agreement. In 1999, the Free Press, which had changed its name from News-Free Press in 1993, was bought by an Arkansas company, WEHCO Media, publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which then bought The Times from the Ochs heirs. The Times Free Press is the only newspaper in the United States to have two editorial pages, reflecting opposite ends of the political spectrum. The Times's editorial page, which is liberal, is on the left page and the Free Press's editorial page, which is conservative, is on the right.

The Chattanooga Pulse is a free weekly alternative newspaper, published every Wednesday, that focuses primarily on arts, music, film and culture. It was formed in 2003 by Zachary Cooper and Michael Kull, running independently until 2008, when the paper was purchased by Brewer Media Group, which also owns and operates five radio stations in the city.

Enigma is a free monthly pop culture and entertainment magazine. Founded as a weekly newspaper in 1995 by David Weinthal, Enigma lays claim to being Chattanooga's oldest alternative newspaper, even though it had ceased physical publication from 2013 until it resumed as a monthly magazine in 2015.

The Chattanooga News Chronicle is an African-American weekly newspaper.

Online media The Chattanoogan and its website "Chattanoogan.com", established in 1999, is an online media outlet that concentrates on news from Chattanooga, North Georgia, and Southeast Tennessee. The publisher is John Wilson, previously a staff writer for the Chattanooga Free Press. The Chattanoogan is the oldest online newspaper in Chattanooga.

Nooga.com, purchased in November 2010 by local entrepreneur Barry Large, relaunched in 2011 as a local news website offering "quality daily content focusing on local business, politics, and entertainment in the Chattanooga area". In August 2018, Nooga.com partnered with Greenville, S.C.-based media company 6AM City. The outlet was rebranded and relaunched as NOOGAtoday in September 2018. While NOOGAtoday's primary product is its daily email newsletter, it also publishes content on its social media accounts and website.

Media: Radio Chattanooga is served by the following AM and FM radio stations: AM • WDYN 980 AM – Southern Gospel / WDYN Radio, operated by Tennessee Temple University (licensed to Rossville, GA) • WFLI 1070 AM – Top 40 from the '60s & '70s (licensed to Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain, TN) • WGOW 1150 AM – News Talk / NewsRadio 1150 (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WNOO 1260 AM – Urban gospel and Motown (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WXCT 1370 AM – Sports / 1370 Fox Sports Radio (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WLMR 1450 AM – Christian Talk (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WJOC 1490 AM – Southern Gospel (licensed to Chattanooga, TN); FM • WUTC 88.1 FM – NPR/Mixed music / Music 88. Operated by UTC. First station in Chattanooga to broadcast in HD Radio. (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • W203AZ 88.5 FM – Religious / CSN International (Licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WMBW 88.9 FM – Christian / Moody Radio For The Heart of the Southeast. Owned and operated by Moody Bible Institute. (Licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WYBK 89.7 FM – Christian. Operated by Bible Broadcasting Network. (Licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • W211BG 90.1 FM – Religious (Licensed to Walden, TN) • WSMC 90.5 FM – Classical/NPR/PRI Operated by Southern Adventist University. (licensed to Collegedale, TN) • WJBP 91.5 FM – Christian / Family Life Radio (licensed to Red Bank, TN) • WAWL – College Alternative / The Wawl (web only / formerly broadcasting on 91.5) Chattanooga State Community College (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WDEF-FM 92.3 FM – Adult Contemporary / Sunny 92.3 (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WSAA 93.1 FM – Christian Rock / Air 1 (licensed to Benton, TN) • WMPZ 93.5 FM – Urban Adult Contemporary / Groove 93 (licensed to Harrison, TN) • WJTT 94.3 FM – Urban contemporary / Power 94 (licensed to Red Bank, TN) • WAAK-LP 94.7 FM – Variety (low power station licensed to Boynton/Ringgold, GA) • WALV-FM 95.3 FM – ESPN Chattanooga (licensed to Ooltewah, TN) • WUSY 96.1 FM – Classic Country / The Legend 96.1 • WDOD 96.5 FM – Hits 96.5—Chattanooga's No. 1 Hit Music Station (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • WUUQ 97.3 and 99.3 FM – Classic Country / Q Country 97.3/99.3 (licensed to South Pittsburg, TN) • WLND 98.1 FM – Hot AC / 98.1 The Lake (licensed to Signal Mountain, TN) • WOOP-LP 99.9 FM – Classic country, old-time gospel, bluegrass, and mountain music. Operated by the Traditional Music Resource Center (licensed to Cleveland, TN) • WUSY 100.7 FM – Contemporary Country / US101 (licensed to Cleveland, TN) • WJSQ 101.7 FM – Contemporary and Classic country / 101.7 WLAR (licensed to Athens, TN) • WOCE 101.9 FM – Spanish (licensed to Ringgold, GA) • WGOW 102.3 FM – Talk Radio 102.3 (licensed to Soddy-Daisy, TN) • WBDX 102.7 FM – Contemporary Christian (licensed to Trenton, GA) • WJLJ 103.1 FM – Contemporary Christian (simulcast with WBDX 102.7) (licensed to Etowah, TN) • WKXJ 103.7 FM – Top 40 / 103.7 Kiss FM (licensed to Walden, TN) • WUIE 105.1 FM – American Family Radio (licensed to Lakeside, TN) • WRXR-FM 105.5 FM – Active Rock / Rock 105 (licensed to Rossville, GA) • WSKZ 106.5 FM – Classic Rock / KZ106 (licensed to Chattanooga, TN) • W295BI (WALV HD-2) Adult Contemporary / Big Easy 106.9 (licensed to Ooltewah, TN) • WOGT 107.9 FM – Country / Nash Icon (licensed to East Ridge, TN).

Media: Television Chattanooga's television stations include: • WRCB channel 3, NBC affiliate (DT 13 / cable 4) • WOOT-LD channel 6, independent (formerly UPN) (silent) • WTVC channel 9, ABC/Fox affiliate (DT 9 / cable 10) • WDEF channel 12, CBS affiliate (DT 8 / cable 13) • WNGH channel 18, GPB affiliate (DT 4 / cable 12) • WELF channel 23, TBN affiliate (DT 28 / cable 9) • W26BE channel 26, 3ABN affiliate (cable 295) • WTCI channel 45, PBS member station (DT 35 / cable 5) • WFLI-TV channel 53, The CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate (Formerly UPN and The WB) (DT 23 / cable 6) • WDSI channel 61, This TV affiliate (DT 14 / cable 11).

Education: Primary and Secondary Most of Chattanooga's primary and secondary education is funded by the government. The public schools in Chattanooga, as well as Hamilton County, have fallen under the purview of the Hamilton County Schools since the 1997 merger of the urban Chattanooga City Schools system and the mostly rural Hamilton County Schools system. The Howard School was the first public school in the area, established in 1865 after the Civil War. Tyner High School (now Tyner Academy) was the first secondary school built east of Missionary Ridge in 1907. It is now the home of Tyner Middle Academy. The Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, the STEM School Of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts are additional public magnet schools.

The city is home to several well-known private and parochial secondary schools, including Baylor School, Boyd-Buchanan School, Chattanooga Christian School, Girls Preparatory School, McCallie School, and Notre Dame High School. The Siskin Children's Institute in Chattanooga is a specialized institution in the field of early childhood special education.

Education: University A wide variety of higher education institutions can be found in Chattanooga and nearby. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is the second largest campus of the University of Tennessee System, with a student population of over 11,587 as of 2017–18 school year. Chattanooga State Community College is a two-year community college with a total undergraduate enrollment of roughly 8150 students in 2018. Tennessee Temple University was a Baptist college located in the Highland Park neighborhood that is no longer operating as of 2015. Chattanooga is also home to a branch of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, which provides medical education to third- and fourth-year medical students, residents, and other medical professionals in south-east Tennessee through an affiliation with Erlanger Health System. Covenant College, a private liberal arts college operated by the Presbyterian Church in America, is located in the nearby suburb of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and has a student population of about 1,000. Southern Adventist University is located in the suburb of Collegedale, Tennessee, and enrolls roughly 3,000 students. Richmont Graduate University is a Christian graduate school located in Chattanooga with a CACREP accredited clinical mental health counseling program as well as other ministry related degrees and a student population close to 300. Virginia College School of Business and Health offers a variety of programs leading to diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor's degrees.

Public library The Chattanooga Public Library opened in 1905. Since 1976, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library system had been jointly operated by the city and county governments; due to Chattanooga terminating a 1966 agreement with Hamilton County to distribute sales tax revenue equally, the city has taken over full funding responsibilities as of 2011. The city was given a Carnegie library in 1904, and the two-story purpose-built marble structure survives to this day at Eighth Street and Georgia Avenue as commercial office space. In 1939, the library moved to Douglas Street and McCallie Avenue and shared the new building with the John Storrs Fletcher Library of the University of Chattanooga. This building is now called Fletcher Hall and houses classrooms and offices for the university. In 1976, the city library moved to its third and current location at the corner of Tenth and Broad streets.

Health care Chattanooga has three hospital systems: Erlanger Health System, Parkridge Hospital System, and CHI Memorial Hospital System.

Founded in 1889, Erlanger is the seventh largest public healthcare system in the United States with more than half a million patient visits a year. Erlanger Hospital is a non-profit academic teaching centre affiliated with the University of Tennessee's College of Medicine. Erlanger is also the area's primary trauma centre, a Level-One Trauma Center for adults, and the only provider of tertiary care for the residents of south-eastern Tennessee, north Georgia, north-eastern Alabama, and western North Carolina. In 2008, Erlanger was named one of the nation's "100 Top teaching hospitals for cardiovascular care" by Thomson Reuters. Erlanger has been operated by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority since 1976.

Parkridge Hospital is located east of downtown in the Glenwood district and is run by Tri-Star Healthcare. Tri-Star also operates Parkridge East Medical Center in nearby East Ridge.

Memorial Hospital, which is operated by Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, is located downtown. In 2004, Memorial was named one of the "100 Top Teaching Hospitals" by Thomson Reuters.

Transport Considered to be the gateway to the Deep South, along with the Midwest and the Northeast for motorists from states such as Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, Chattanooga's extensive transportation infrastructure has evolved into an intricate system of interstates, streets, tunnels, railroad lines, bridges, and a commercial airport. While only a midsize city, Chattanooga is ranked as having some of the worst traffic congestion of cities its size, due primarily to unusually high volumes of truck traffic. A 2015 study by Cambridge Systematics found that 80% of trucks that pass through Chattanooga are destined for a different location, the highest share of any metropolitan area in the country.

Transport: Road Interstate 75 (I-75) connects Chattanooga with Knoxville to the north-east and Atlanta to the south. Interstate 24 (I-24), which to Nashville to the north-west, passes through the central part of the city and reaches its eastern terminus at the 75/24 Split with I-75. The northern terminus of Interstate 59 (I-59) is about 10 miles (16 km) south-west of downtown Chattanooga in Dade County, Georgia, and connects the city to Birmingham to the southwest. A controlled-access segment of U.S. Route 27 (US 27) begins at an interchange with I-24 in downtown Chattanooga, and ends in northern Hamilton County, connecting the city with the cities of Red Bank, Soddy Daisy, Dayton, and Dunlap to the north. State Route 153 (SR 153), some of which is controlled-access, is a major route which connects I-75 to US 27 in the eastern and northern parts of the city. A short controlled-access portion of SR 319, known as DuPont Parkway, connects downtown Chattanooga to the Hixson area.

In addition to US 27, several other US Highways pass through Chattanooga as surface streets, and many share concurrencies. They include U.S. Routes 11, 41, 64, 72, 76, and 127, the last three of which have termini in Chattanooga. US 11 and 64 form a concurrency as Brainerd Road and Lee Highway, and connect Chattanooga to Collegedale and Cleveland to the northeast. US 41/76 (Ringgold Road) connects the city to Ringgold, Georgia to the south-west, and a surface-street section of US 27 (Rossville Boulevard) connects to Rossville, Fort Oglethorpe, and LaFayette, all in Georgia, to the south. Beginning in downtown and continuing for several miles to the south-west, US Routes 11, 41, 64, and 72 run together as Cummings Highway, before US 11 splits off, heading toward Trenton, Georgia. The remaining three routes continue toward Jasper, where US 72 splits off headed towards Huntsville, Alabama. US 127 (Signal Mountain Boulevard) begins in North Chattanooga at an interchange with US 27, and connects the city to Signal Mountain and Dunlap to the northwest.

Other major state routes in Chattanooga include routes 17, 58 (Riverfront Parkway, Amnicola Highway), 148 (Lookout Mountain Scenic Highway), 317 (Bonny Oaks Drive), 319 (Hixson Pike), and 320 (East Brainerd Road). Major city-maintained surface streets include Broad Street, Georgia Avenue, Gunbarrel Road, Hickory Valley Road, McCallie Avenue, Shallowford Road, Dayton Boulevard, and Frazier Avenue.

Tunnels • Bachman Tubes (also unofficially known as The East Ridge Tunnels), which carry Ringgold Road (US 41/76) into the neighboring city of East Ridge. • Missionary Ridge Tunnels (also unofficially known as McCallie or Brainerd Tunnels), which carry McCallie and Bailey Avenues (US 11/64) through Missionary Ridge where the route continues as Brainerd Road. • Stringer's Ridge Tunnel, which carries Cherokee Boulevard through Stringer's Ridge where the route continues as Dayton Boulevard. • Wilcox Tunnel, which carries Wilcox Boulevard through Missionary Ridge and connects to Shallowford Road.

Public transit The city is served by a publicly run bus company, the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA). CARTA operates 17 routes, including a free electric shuttle service in the downtown area, and free wireless Internet on certain "smartbuses".

The Chattanooga Department of Transportation has a mission "to make efficient transportation viable for all commuters- cyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and motorists while enhancing multi-use public spaces for all people". Chattanooga favors public transit, as the opening lines on the TDOT website read: "Sit back, relax, and let someone else deal with the traffic. Compared to driving, public transportation is less expensive, safer, and better for the environment. It reduces traffic congestion, saves energy, and benefits the communities it serves".

Bicycle-sharing system The city has its own bicycle transit system (Bike Chattanooga) with 300 bikes and 33 docking stations, all supplied by PBSC Urban Solutions, a Canadian company.

Railroad lines Though Chattanooga's most famous connection to the railroad industry is "Chattanooga Choo Choo", a 1941 song made famous by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, the city serves as a major freight hub with Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX running trains on their own (and each other's) lines. The Norfolk Southern Railway's main classification yard, DeButts Yard, is just east of downtown; Norfolk Southern's Shipp's Yard and CSX's Wauhatchie Yard are south-west of the city. Norfolk Southern maintains a large railroad repair shop in Chattanooga. The two railroad companies are among the largest individual landowners in the city (the Federal Government is another).

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM), the largest historic operating railroad in the South, and the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway also provide railroad service in Chattanooga. The headquarters of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) were located in Chattanooga next to the TVRM from 1982 to 2013, when the NMRA moved to Soddy-Daisy, a nearby suburb. (The NMRA had moved from Indianapolis, Indiana to Chattanooga.)

Despite the high level of freight rail activity, there is no passenger rail service in the city for commuters or long-distance travelers. But the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) has Chattanooga on a proposed future route that would run from Atlanta to Nashville twice daily, with additional stops in Marietta, GA; Cartersville, GA; Dalton, GA; Bridgeport, AL; Tullahoma, TN; Murfreesboro, TN; and the Nashville International Airport.

Using the AAR reporting marks (NS for Norfolk Southern, CSXT for CSX Transportation, TVRM for the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, TNT for subsidiary Tyner Terminal Railroad, and CCKY for Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway), the rail lines passing through Chattanooga are as follows: • CSXT – Western & Atlantic Subdivision (Chattanooga to Atlanta) ◦ Chattanooga Subdivision (Chattanooga to Nashville on former NC&StL trackage) • NS – Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific, aka the Queen and Crescent Route, (Chattanooga to Cincinnati, Ohio via Lexington, Kentucky) ◦ Alabama Division (Chattanooga to Memphis via Huntsville, Alabama) ◦ Alabama Great Southern (Chattanooga to New Orleans, Louisiana via Birmingham, Alabama) ◦ Georgia Division (Chattanooga to Atlanta) ◦ Central Division (Chattanooga to Knoxville) ◦ Chattanooga Traction Company

▪ North Chattanooga to Signal Mountain

▪ Dry Valley Line (Red Bank to Lupton City) • TVRM – East Chattanooga to Grand Junction (3 miles (4.8 km)) ◦ East Chattanooga Belt Line Railroad (from near 23rd Street, across to Holtzclaw Avenue and East Chattanooga around North Chamberlain Ave., used by TVRM) ◦ TNT – Tyner Terminal Railroad (Enterprise South Industrial Park railroad operations) • CCKY – formerly the Tennessee Alabama & Georgia line (Chattanooga to Hedges, Georgia, abandoned since 2009) ◦ formerly the Central of Georgia line (Chattanooga to Lyerly, Georgia)

The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, often referred to as the Incline Railway by locals, serves as a tourist attraction. It is also occasionally used for commuting by Lookout Mountain residents, particularly during wintry weather when traveling up and down the mountain could be very dangerous.

Until the 1960s the Louisville and Nashville railroad ran passenger trains through Union Station and the Southern Railway ran trains through Terminal Station. The last train, the L&N's Georgian, left Terminal Station in October 1971.

Bridges Being bisected by the Tennessee River, Chattanooga has seven bridges that allow people to traverse the river; five of the bridges being automobile bridges, one a rail bridge, and one a pedestrian bridge. These are the following, from west to east: • P.R. Olgiati Bridge – Named for a former mayor, P.R. Olgiati, this bridge, which was dedicated in 1959, carries U.S. Highway 27 from downtown towards Dayton, Tennessee and points northward. • Market Street Bridge – Officially called the John Ross Bridge, this bridge is a bascule bridge, which is a type of draw bridge. The bridge was completed in 1917 for the large sum of $1 million for the time. Having stood for decades since its last major overhaul, the Tennessee Department of Transportation declared it unsafe in late 2004. The bridge was closed in 2005 for a long-overdue renovation and was reopened on August 4, 2007. • Walnut Street Bridge – Also known as "The Walking Bridge", it is one of the centerpieces of Chattanooga's urban renewal and is the second longest pedestrian bridge in the nation. Constructed in 1891, the bridge was declared unsafe and closed to traffic in 1978. It was on the verge of being demolished in the late 1980s when public outcry led to it being restored as a pedestrian-only span that opened in 1993. • Veterans Memorial Bridge – Completed in 1984, this bridge has helped commuters from Hixson, Lupton City, and other northern areas reach downtown quickly. • C.B. Robinson Bridge – Opened in 1981, this bridge carries DuPont Parkway (SR 319) from Amnicola Highway (SR 58) to Hixson Pike and Route 153. • Tenbridge – This truss bridge with a vertical lift carries the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway over the river and is a popular railfan area. It was constructed in 1920. • Wilkes T. Thrasher Bridge – Completed in 1955, this route carries Highway 153 over the Chickamauga Dam.

Air travel The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) offers non-stop service to various domestic destinations via regional and national airlines, including Allegiant Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Air Lines and its regional carrier Delta Connection, and United Express.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States 
<b>Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States</b>
Image: Adobe Stock Jacob #470027319

Chattanooga was ranked #523 by the Nomad List which evaluates and ranks remote work hubs by cost, internet, fun and safety. Chattanooga has a population of over 182,799 people. Chattanooga also forms the centre of the wider Chattanooga metropolitan area which has a population of over 528,143 people. Chattanooga is the #59 hipster city in the world, with a hipster score of 5.3272 according to the Hipster Index which evaluates and ranks the major cities of the world according to the number of vegan eateries, coffee shops, tattoo studios, vintage boutiques, and record stores. Chattanooga is ranked #222 for startups with a score of 1.696.

To set up a UBI Lab for Chattanooga see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Chattanooga has links with:

🇬🇭 Accra, Ghana 🇮🇹 Ascoli Piceno, Italy 🇰🇷 Gangneung, South Korea, since 2003 🇮🇱 Givatayim, Israel 🇩🇪 Hamm, Germany 🇮🇹 Manfredonia, Italy, since 2014 🇷🇺 Nizhny Tagil, Russia 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Swindon, England 🇯🇵 Tono, Japan, since 2017 🇩🇪 Wolfsburg, Germany, since 2011 🇨🇳 Wuxi, China
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | Hipster Index | Nomad | StartupBlink

North of: 35.043

🇺🇸 Fayetteville 35.045

🇨🇳 Linyi 35.049

🇯🇵 Moriyama 35.05

🇯🇵 Tsuyama 35.062

🇰🇷 Yeongdo 35.067

🇰🇷 Sacheon 35.067

🇯🇵 Tamba-Sasayama 35.067

🇯🇵 Toyota 35.067

🇯🇵 Miyoshi 35.068

🇯🇵 Kuwana 35.069

East of: -85.308

🇺🇸 Greenville -85.25

🇺🇸 Battle Creek -85.191

🇺🇸 Rome -85.167

🇺🇸 Fort Wayne -85.137

🇺🇸 Carrollton -85.067

🇺🇸 LaGrange -85.017

🇺🇸 Dalton -84.967

🇺🇸 Marshall -84.95

🇺🇸 Columbus -84.933

🇺🇸 Richmond -84.883

West of: -85.308

🇺🇸 Opelika -85.376

🇺🇸 Muncie -85.378

🇳🇮 Waslala -85.383

🇺🇸 Cadillac -85.4

🇺🇸 Dothan -85.407

🇺🇸 Bardstown -85.45

🇨🇷 Liberia -85.458

🇳🇮 Matiguás -85.467

🇺🇸 Auburn -85.482

🇺🇸 Cookeville -85.512

Antipodal to Chattanooga is: 94.692,-35.043

Locations Near: Chattanooga -85.3076,35.0433

🇺🇸 Dalton -84.967,34.767 d: 43.7  

🇺🇸 Cleveland -84.867,35.167 d: 42.4  

🇺🇸 Fort Payne -85.7,34.45 d: 75.1  

🇺🇸 Rome -85.167,34.245 d: 89.7  

🇺🇸 Cookeville -85.512,36.166 d: 126.2  

🇺🇸 Loudon -84.333,35.717 d: 115.8  

🇺🇸 Dallas -84.87,33.92 d: 131.2  

🇺🇸 Canton -84.422,34.202 d: 123.8  

🇺🇸 Gadsden -86,34 d: 132.2  

🇺🇸 Huntsville -86.585,34.73 d: 121.7  

Antipodal to: Chattanooga 94.692,-35.043

🇦🇺 Bunbury 115.637,-33.327 d: 18082.7  

🇦🇺 Mandurah 115.721,-32.529 d: 18055.4  

🇦🇺 Rockingham 115.717,-32.267 d: 18048.5  

🇦🇺 City of Cockburn 115.833,-32.167 d: 18035.1  

🇦🇺 Wanneroo 115.803,-31.747 d: 18025.2  

🇦🇺 Vincent 115.834,-31.936 d: 18028.2  

🇦🇺 Perth 115.857,-31.953 d: 18026.6  

🇦🇺 Guildford 115.973,-31.9 d: 18014.5  

🇦🇺 Midland 116.01,-31.888 d: 18010.8  

🇦🇺 Albany 117.867,-35.017 d: 17909.8  

Bing Map

Option 1