I have one question. Are the members of the Planning Commission hand picked by the developers?
They seem to be hell-bent on ruining our North Shore by building condos and apartments on every square inch and the residents that this is effecting be darned. They are taking away the charm and replacing it with volumes of traffic and construction. Destroying our North Shore.
Alison Falinski
North Chattanooga
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I could not agree more with the ruination of the North Shore. It is also the case with our beautiful downtown. Why is it necessary to put new buildings and condos in every square inch of space?
I do not believe that we will even be able to see our beloved Lookout Mountain soon.
I know it must be about the money but whose pockets are seeing the most of it? Does the commission ever say no?
Nancy Allshouse
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We never know how planning commissions members are picked. However, regulatory boards rarely escape the clutches of the people being regulated.
I lived in the “North Shore” (which we knew simply as North Chattanooga) from 7th grade at North Chatt Junior High (Northside) through Chattanooga High (City High – Go Dynamoes!) through college graduation in 1980. I bought medical supplies at Bonds’ Drug Store. I had televisions repaired at Hilton-Blair. I bought auto insurance from Betty Jolley. I ate at the Longhorn and at the Town & Country. I walked up Barton Avenue through Riverview to reach Bill Gilliam’s Amoco gas station across from the Exxon station.
If you could handle the hills, it was a nice neighborhood to grow up in – not too champagne and caviar, not too beer and pretzels (except on the hills above Barton).
We knew we would have to leave. The Veterans Bridge construction finished off our part of the area and we moved on.
For a while, the North Shore kept its charm. As long as you could drive to Coolidge Park and find a parking spot to walk around, it was fun. The parking meters made a huge difference.
Now, the North Shore looks like a wannabe Midtown Manhattan. I only recognize a few of the old buildings. I wonder when somebody will buy up the Town & Country Shopping Center to put up more condos.
Nothing lasts forever. You can’t go home again. It’s all true. I stay away from the old neighborhood and downtown as much as possible. As a famous philosopher once said, “Nobody goes there anymore – it’s too crowded.”
M. Lee Rogers