Last evening my wife and I went to the Riverfront to enjoy a reunion among friends on the "3rd Deck Burger Bar".
First I would like to point out the grossly insufficient amount of parking available.
Why continue the archaic practice of flat parking lots when parking garages or towers make far more sense. My wife and I are not young any more and walking more than several blocks is out of the question. For a city wanting to be environmentally correct, a lot of hydrocarbons are expelled into the environment by vehicles circling and idling waiting or trying to find a parking place within the occupants' ability to walk to their destination.
Secondly I would like to bring attention to the grossly dangerous conditions in and along Riverfront Parkway created by not only insufficient lighting, but by no lighting along the street and sidewalks. Had I known just how dangerous this area is due to no lighting I would have never subjected my wife and I to such a fool hardy act as to attend this reunion. I am three weeks post op from a major back surgery and this was my first venture out.
I have to question why anyone would want to attend any event held in this area. I found that not only was it dangerous to try and negotiate the sidewalk, if one could find it in the dark, but it stinks along the waterfront. By stink I mean foul, filthy truck stop never cleaned restroom odor. Why and how does anyone live in this area, or have they become "Nose Blind" to the stench?
Last evening sealed it for my wife and I, we will never attend anything downtown.
Chattanooga has become a crowded, poorly designed, poorly maintained, misguided, stinking cesspool.
Chattanooga is no longer the "Jewel along the River" that I moved to years ago.
Dwayne Cales
Hixson
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Dwayne, have you ever heard of Uber? The Burger Bar is on a boat on the river. Did you expect parking on the water? If you've just had surgery and can't walk from the surface lot across the street or the parking garage which is just around the corner then use an Uber to get to the boat.
Plan ahead and maybe have one of the friends you're meeting help get you there.
You obviously have never been to any downtown in any city. Parking in downtown areas isn't like going to Walmart, Home Depot, or a strip malls. Sometimes getting out of ones comfort zone is just plain uncomfortable.
Erik Benson
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Totally agree. If you are handicapped, don't ride a bike (or taking your whole family downtown on bikes), or don't/can't walk, good luck finding parking downtown.
I tried to find parking last Sunday for Sticky Fingers and after looking for place on street, finally found one and the restaurant at 12:30 p.m. was nearly barren. I left around 1 or 1:30 and the church crowd still had not swarmed in.
I really like SF, but next time I will drive out to Hamilton Place Mall. And, sorry, even the Chamber of Commerce knows it stinks on certain days at certain times. Not sure how to figure it out, don't care to. You know it's the propane farm, Moccasin Bend, and at times, the chicken plant.
I joked with a friend about eight years ago on her final week in town before moving, after eating somewhere downtown, "Sarah, whenever I smell stench, I will fondly think of you, and I'll give you a call!" And I did!
Over the years I just have figured out how to do business and eat out not in downtown. Just hope the downtown can remain viable over the next few decades, for the sake of the Chattanooga economy as it relates to all residents.
Now let's do something meaningful for Chattanooga residents (homeless or not) who need low-income housing. Low.
Marylu Carl