Mayor Bob Corker said he would like to see Chattanooga recognized as "the Boulder, Colo. of the East."
He said a consultant is being hired to develop a plan to make the Chattanooga area recognized for its variety of outdoor recreation opportunities.
He brought a contract to the City Council Tuesday which will begin the public component of the Outdoor initiative he outlined in his State of the City Address earlier this year.
Mayor Corker said, "Our community is very fortunate to be situated in the center of a tremendous number of God-given, natural amenities. There are very few other locations in the country where citizens have direct access to hiking, rock climbing, biking, fishing, canoeing, white-water rafting, or an afternoon of boating on the Tennessee River."
He said that "although our community's location makes us a great outdoor destination, we have not really made the most of these outdoor advantages."
He stated, "We have done a good job of creating initiatives around our distinctive technology assets and now we will do the same with our outdoor assets. Because mobile entrepreneurs, who can live anywhere, are attracted to our community because of our outdoor resources, these two areas of focus are highly complementary."
To begin the public process of creating an outdoor initiative for various audiences including citizens, visitors and mobile entrepreneurs attracted to Chattanooga because of the outdoor opportunities available here, the city will contract with QL Consulting to create this initiative "using significant public input."
The Convention and Visitor's Bureau will pay ¼ of the $44,000 contract.
On November 3, the community is invited to attend a public meeting "where citizens will come together around this important issue."
The mayor said, "In the past thousands of our citizens have attended similar public meetings to help shape a variety of initiatives that have transformed our city and distinguished us nationally as a great place to live, work and play."
All those interested in helping craft Chattanooga's Outdoor plan are invited to the Ballroom of the Chattanoogan Hotel and Conference Center on November 3 at 5:30 p.m.
To reserve a spot, please RSVP at 423-757-5167. Refreshments will be served and free parking will be provided.