I was interested to read this week about Clarksville possibly passing Chattanooga by the next year or so as the fourth largest city in Tennessee.
As cities have been going suburban in large ways since the 1960s, despite renewed interest in downtowns, I guess counties are actually the biggest measurements of a community’s size.
In that measurement, Hamilton County at roughly 375,000 people is having trouble holding on to the fourth position, too, but against a different place. It is only about 15,000 people ahead of Rutherford County – home of Murfreesboro. Montgomery County where Clarksville is comes in as the seventh largest county right behind another county affected by the outward growth of Nashville – Williamson County.
Memphis’ Shelby County at 916,000 is still more than 200,000 people ahead of Nashville’s Davidson County.
A largely forgotten fact is that Chattanooga was the third largest city in Tennessee for several decades in the 20th century, including through the 1960 census. But by the time of the 1970 census, Knoxville had surpassed it to move into third in ranking.
Chattanooga’s population is affected in part because its city center sits close to the Southern end of Hamilton County, and numerous residents of Catoosa, Walker and maybe even Dade counties in Georgia consider themselves part of metro Chattanooga. However, they are not residents of Chattanooga or Hamilton County, even if a few might work, shop, eat or attend sports or entertainment events here.
Of course, Blount County and Anderson County heavily interact with Knox County. Bradley County, on the other hand, is still very separate at the present from Hamilton County, despite population growth in Collegedale and Ooltewah, not far from the line separating the counties.
Speaking of Knoxville and Chattanooga, the two cities are also connected in that they are both in the Knoxville Diocese of the Catholic church. And that entity has also been in the news locally due to the resignation of diocese Bishop Richard Stika amid criticisms about his administrative management and his handling of sexual misconduct allegations against priests under him.
During his time leading the Knoxville Diocese, he helped oversee the construction of the massive Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus off Northshore Drive in the Bearden area near Lakeshore Park by the diocese offices. The front of the Times Free Press on Wednesday in the story about Bishop Stika featured a photograph of the church building taken by staff photographer Robin Rudd.
While I had interviewed both another bishop of retired age and the priest at Sacred Heart over the years, including while living in Knoxville before moving back to Chattanooga in 2017, I don’t believe I ever talked with Bishop Stika.
But as one interested in buildings, I did stop along Northshore Drive not far from our house several times as the structure was being built and took photos of it from the same spot, creating a time lapse of images.
And while continuing to write for the Shopper News in Knoxville after moving here, I did get to take a personally anxiety-producing tour up some steep scaffolding to see the paintings under the dome while the cathedral was under construction. I also did a story on the building’s impressive acoustics a few months after it opened in 2018.
So, despite the comments by others about Bishop Stika and how he might have affected the foundation of the diocese in terms of confidence, he did leave behind a real landmark of a structure for architectural and Catholic church enthusiasts to enjoy.
Among the issues in the news that seemed to draw everyone more together, in contrast, was the unveiling of the city parks plan. As one who loves and longs for outdoor green spaces nearby, I was touched by some of the City Council members’ remarks in unanimous approval of the plan. Not only did Council member Jenny Hill say she cried happy tears during the presentation and loved the neighborhood connectivity the plan would produce, but fellow Councilman Chip Henderson even quoted the famous nature lover’s anthem, “Big Yellow Taxi.”
The song, originally made famous by late 1960s’-era folk and pop singer Joni Mitchell, references paradise being paved over for parking lots and development, and Mr. Henderson said he is glad the plan will preserve some of the Chattanooga “paradise” that is remaining.
Of course, different opinions might come when discussions of how much to spend or how to pay for the plan are finalized more, but it is obvious parks or a little nature nearby are almost inherently desired by the human race.
Regarding my opinion of that song, my favorite line is in the Counting Crows version recorded years later, where lead singer Adam Duritz sings with even more emotion than Ms. Mitchell the following line, “Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT. I don’t care about spots on my apples, leave me the birds and the bees!”
It is an emotional moment for any lover of nature or that song to hear him belt out that line.
Concerning critters in nature, I have seen both a turtle and a snake out among the woods and grass of Chattanooga within the last week or so. Which one do you think I was happier to see? Ha ha!
The snake sighting occurred when I was jogging over on the South Chickamauga Creek greenway near the Sterchi Farm Trailhead last Saturday about noon and was heading back to the parking lot by the old silo. I had just crossed the creek under Bonny Oaks Drive when I saw the somewhat inconspicuous creature of two or three feet getting ready to cross the paved path.
Luckily, I noticed it while I was still about 10 feet away. A couple of other young men who were walking came up just after me, and we watched it slowly slither across the path and into some brush before any of the numerous bike riders came upon it at the wrong time. It was apparently a nonpoisonous king snake, I deduced later, and was probably looking for lunch.
Late this week I saw a three-or-four-inch-long turtle in our compost pile probably also looking for a good meal. I usually see the shell-covered fellow two or three times a summer, and it is always an enjoyable encounter – unlike the spotting of its ancestral cousin last Saturday.
These reptiles have to eat when they can or when the opportunity presents itself, and I found myself in the same situation twice in the last week. I am usually a person who eats at regimented times when I am in charge of my eating schedule, and the earlier the better is normally my motto.
But when I went down to the Atlanta Braves game Wednesday afternoon with friend Steve Smalling, the situation did not work out quite like that. I had gotten something not too heavy to munch on before noon after arriving at Truist Park, and we decided as the game wore on to probably try and eat at the Varsity in Kennesaw off I-75 on the way back home.
Unfortunately for me, since I had already had a semblance of lunch, the game was aided with the new rules In place to speed up play, and we were walking out of the stadium before 3 p.m., but with the Braves victorious over the Twins, 3-0.
That was only 2½ hours after the game started and meant we were pulling into the Varsity by the Town Center mall off Barrett Parkway at 3:30 p.m. And this was going to be my supper! I could have waited until later, but I would have been forced to eat something else, as this was the last Varsity off I-75.
While I enjoyed the fast food next to a now-empty theater complex and mall department store, I could not quite eat all of it before feeling too full. And I had nothing to look forward to munching on during my normal dinnertime of 6 or 6:30 when I returned home, either.
And the next day, I was busy doing something with some other people during my normal lunchtime hour, so it was almost 2:30 p.m. when we started eating the country-style and good food at Home Folks in Soddy Daisy.
The day before, I had eaten supper quite early, and on this day, I was eating lunch quite late. But sometimes other factors get in the way, and you have to change your schedule to enjoy popular places or good company.
What are you eating for July 4? I heard my wife, Laura, say we might eat some hot dogs, the great Independence Day meal tradition. That sounds fine with me, although my eating schedule has probably looked like that of Babe Ruth’s in the last week after also enjoying that common man’s delicacy at the Wednesday Braves’ game and at the Varsity.
May we all enjoy a great Fourth of July on Tuesday! And while we are lifting a few hot dogs and other food items to taste and enjoy, may we also all lift up each other as fellow Americans thinking about the good opportunities and freedoms we collectively have.
Many might think that is a lot better than tearing each other down over political differences, as has unfortunately become all too commonplace recently.
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jcshearer2@comcast.net