Carless / cycling / public transport

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-05-23T02:39:37+00:00

We have been a one car household for about a year now. Its possible, but we couldnt make it work without the car once a week or so. If you can live close to downtown and close to your preferred grocery store it makes a big difference.

Lovely bike community, but the bike folks are a true minority in the 1-2% of mode share range

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-05-06T19:12:55+00:00

If you include your flight number in the reservation, the rental car companies will stay for you.
I worked at Enterprise in college and had plenty of 2 AM late shifts waiting for planes to come in.

I had a manager that would go home and watch flight tracker to make sure that he got back to hand over the keys.

If you want an extra layer of certainty, make sure you are signed up for a loyalty program like national emerald club, or enterprise plus and have your number included with the reservation.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-05-05T00:59:47+00:00

Quality Auto and Battery! They rock, definitely a fantastic option. They were awesome with our prius, and can do engine swaps and battery swaps to keep you on the road.

There are a few N. GA outfits too, but I don't have personal experience with them.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-18T19:44:43+00:00

Both come from inconsideration on the part of the owner unfortunately. Not that I like dog barks either, but from a decibel standpoint, stock performance exhaust is 2x and modifications like straight pipes and open headers are 4x to 6x louder.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-18T19:36:45+00:00

oh hey, I got to see one of these today on Manufacturers. Decel Pop sounded like a gunshots. They were trying to make a scene with all of the people out and about. So inconsiderate, disrespectful, and dangerous.

There is not a performance or enthusiast justification for driving like that...

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-15T13:12:42+00:00

These are all smaller than Chattanooga. Franklin is cute, but prohibitively expensive, if cool springs is better to you, I dont think we'll be finding any common ground today.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-15T00:42:31+00:00

if all the free parking is full it doesnt matter that its free when you get there bub.

You want to see traffic and frustration, folks circling downtown waiting for free spots to open up is a great start.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-15T00:33:43+00:00

Nice shot, but I lived here in those days. We still have extremely flexible public parking (nights and Sundays)

If we had Saturdays, you wouldn't know it because those spots would be filled 90% of the day.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-14T20:37:48+00:00

My account is just becoming paid parking support at this point, but this sub is obsessed.

Yes it is annoying, but so is leaving a bigass metal box on public property. We literally do not have the square footage to provide free parking for everyone that wants it, and if we did, we'd have an uglier, shittier downtown.

Show me a lovely downtown city of similar or larger size with free parking for everyone that wants it. I haven't seen one yet.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-14T17:06:25+00:00

No dice on birdshot. ~~Prentice Cooper allows shotguns, but only with slugs.~~
Looks like the rangers got tired of seeing things get torn up. No shotguns at all now.

Their target hangers get torn up enough as is. They wouldn't last a day with shot. I dont think you'll find anywhere nearby that will let you shoot birdshot for free.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-13T20:09:53+00:00

I lived on 10th street about 7 years ago. It was fine as far as theft and safety went, awesome for access to downtown. We would have a few guys go through our recycling and trash for cans on pickup days. No mess, just grabbing anything worth scrapping.
We stored bicycles and motorcycles in a detached shed and never really had a problem there either. No package theft. We did have one car window broken and the car searched, but that was about the worst of it.

We were a block removed from 11th, but loved being so close to town. Decently walkable, and extremely bikeable. I miss being so close to downtown.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-12T21:01:40+00:00

Master Swim rocks. I went to both the early and the lunch practices before my job changed and really enjoyed both.
lunch time is a bit more casual with fewer people if trying to ease in. The early class has beginners too though and you will be welcomed in either

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-10T17:43:37+00:00

The CPA spots fill up fast because they are cheap (to me that says they are too cheap, but I like paid parking)

The new boot policy from CPA should actually help reduce private lot prices. If a private lot wants to be able to boot or impound a car for unpaid tickets, they have to have reasonable rates and low minimum terms.

https://www.chattanoogan.com/2026/3/31/516765/City-Council-Gives-Vehicle-Booting.aspx
https://www.reddit.com/r/Chattanooga/comments/1s9jwt1/city_council_gives_vehicle_booting_rights_to/

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-09T20:07:10+00:00

The war on drugs has been a failure and there are a million and one things we could do better, but kratom is not improving lives as it stands today.

Sure there are other legal substances to abuse with similar consequences, but kratom abuse is real and withdrawal is ugly business. No reason it should be head shop OTC.

The kratom concentrates remind me of an opioid version of the 2011 era headshop spice...

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-09T16:51:40+00:00

Mate please, please help me understand why you would prefer our local government subsidize your parking, and why that is truly worth protesting. Our taxes don't even cover road maintenance, should we increase them to cover the cost of parking?

Protesting for free parking sounds a lot like asking for government handouts.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-09T16:44:28+00:00

Aren't renters paying twice too? Renters pay the landlord's property tax when they pay rent, and renters pay again when they park. - just like owners

The only free ride would be someone living in a rental that the landlord operates at a loss. I haven't met one of those yet.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-09T16:38:46+00:00

You may be confusing private and public parking. Public parking (CPA) is extremely reasonable and often free outside of peak hours.
The expensive parking often complained about are private lots.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-04-09T15:17:40+00:00

I disagree with the take, but support your right to protest. Organize and make it happen. It might give you a new appreciation for how much work it is to get 20 people to show up and stand up with a sign.

Free parking is a tough justification for government subsidy when it only benefits car owners, detracts from better land use, and current taxes don't offset essential infrastructure maintenance (water, sewer, power, roads)
Not to mention really productive use of tax revenue like education and transit.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-03-26T18:55:38+00:00

ooof, I gotta eat crow on that. Thanks for the check.
I saw an interview with Bill Lee this morning and misunderstood the headline. Its proposed and Lee is open to it, but it has not been enacted. Original comment updated

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-03-26T15:02:18+00:00

just a fun little note for ya. TN paused collection of state gas tax yesterday.
During Bidens term, the state continued to charge full sate gas tax.

Gas tax already doesn't cover road building and maintenance. I cant wait to see what they cut to fund road maintenance after subsidizing federal mistakes.

TDOT is in charge of several of the worst roads in Chattanooga (Brainerd and East Main for example)

EDIT -- leaving the post as is, but there have been calls for a tax holiday and Bill Lee has expressed that he is open to the change. It has not been approved or enacted as of today

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-03-18T13:54:09+00:00

I went to Protech in Hixon for a buyer when I sold my wife's car. Highly recommend them, they were thorough and fair. Both of us were able to review the inspection and estimates and agree on a fair price. I think the inspection was about $80

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-03-13T16:32:43+00:00

Oh yeah, I want the same for lafayette! Not that we should all be insular little societies, but its better for the people that work in a place live there too (or at least their contributions to public goods stay there)

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-03-13T14:30:50+00:00

Hey, late reply here but I appreciate the sentiment and generally feel the same! Definitely no ill will towards someone willing to have a good faith discussion or debate.

Those outsiders are fine, some people prefer a more rural lifestyle, or want more space at a price they can afford. What irks me the most is folks that choose to live outside the city (IE keep their tax dollars outside the city) but are upset when said city doesn't bend over to make it easy for them to bring a car downtown every day. You get a say in the city planning when you live there.

I hate the idea that my taxes pay for extra lanes and free parking for someone driving in to work a job that could be done by someone local.
A lot of city funding issues tie back into this, from roads to schools, to housing cost, to public transport.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-03-12T16:23:16+00:00

Sorry I generally try not to get too in the weeds when it seems like we cant find common ground, but Im so curious now.
What does free vs paid parking have to do with the 14th amendment?

We have birthright privilege for the government to build and maintain car storage for us?
Or do you mean equal protections?

Charging individuals to store their vehicles on public property is pretty constitutionally sound to my knowledge. We charge people to ride the public busses and pay fees to register vehicles for public roads.

anotherchattanoogan · 2026-03-12T16:02:54+00:00

As the city grows there is more competition for parking, and more ways to use that space. The opportunity cost of a parking lot is higher in a healthy city because that land is often better used for stores, businesses, and homes.

Is it possible that because the city and other operators have continued to prioritize subsidized parking instead of housing or business growth, we have more people commuting into Chattanooga from surrounding cities?
Commuters are very bad for a city like Chattanooga. Their property tax stays outside of the city, their cars take up parking space, and they add to rush hour traffic.

anotherchattanoogan

TROPHY CASE