For a week in January 2014, MWA set up an office in the South Chattanooga Recreation Center and invited the public to work with us to prepare a Master Plan for St. Elmo.  MWA spent the first two days listening, taking notes, measuring, and taking photographs.  The team then proposed a range of ideas and solicited thoughts and suggestions from a standing-room-only crowd that gathered despite the 17-degree weather.  Meetings with residents, business owners, property owners, city officials, and local organizations ran throughout each day.

At nearly every meeting, connectedness became the theme; whether transportation routes or businesses to customers, within St. Elmo and adjoining neighborhoods, St. Elmo to downtown, streets to trails, or Tennessee to Georgia.

The final plan focuses on gateways, public spaces, improved streetscapes, opportunities for new development, and, of course, connections.  A form-based code was drafted to implement the plan, carefully navigating between upholding and improving the image of the neighborhood without restricting the architectural and social diversity that is essential to St. Elmo's character.

This work, directed by The Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, was made possible through the generous support of The Lyndhurst Foundation, The Benwood Foundation, and others.