Signatures Needed for Streetscape Project

Glass Street LIVE! is always such a great day in the neighborhood to come together, share and celebrate. It is also an opportunity to sometimes act collectively and at Glass House Collective we strive for Glass Street LIVE! to be another form of civic participation in guiding a shared future.

In 2017 residents imagined a landscaped Glass Street by leaving their remarks on an interactive activity at GSL that invited color-coded post-it style feedback to indicate preferences for green space, desired or undesired land use, and a color for new ideas.

Project coordinator, David Barlew, with David Barlew Architects, said some of last year’s feedback has made it into this year’s interactive visioning activity at the block party.

To keep things manageable, David’s team will be using a 30 foot stretch of Glass Street between 2200-2300 Glass Street to take some of the ideas off the drawing board, and attempt to temporarily illustrate them on a human scale.

This short block was chosen as the “life sized street sketch” for a few reasons including the desire for wider sidewalks and a more pedestrian friendly area in general. This stretch includes existing 9 foot sidewalks already, making a great jumping off place to expand on that pedestrian-friendly idea.

Working off the 9’ sidewalks will be crafted indications of additional greenways and areas where planted strips could be installed acting as a buffer between Glass Street shoppers and traffic. A temporary median will be created for David’s “street sketch” using live trees. Trees and patches of grass sod will also be strategically placed accompanied by written marks to easily indicate new curb heights and other measurements and ideas the street sketch is proposing.

The most important thing about this project right now is that it gathers signatures of support and resident advocates to let city officials know that infrastructure improvements are needed in East Chattanooga and that residents want those budget dollars invested where we live.

Your neighbors will be walking around with clipboards asking residents for their support of streetscaping improvements to the area. Participating by signing your name is one way the community can be champions for their future. Become an advocate for where you live by letting officials know what projects are important to you. Together we can make this happen. We are always careful to take time to gain input. Together we can help to turn input into action!

Don’t miss this temporary installation at Glass Street LIVE!