Why you should join (or start) a neighborhood association
Neighborhood associations can have real power to make a change — but the number of groups in Chattanooga is only half what it used to be.
The Silverdale Neighborhood Association holds a meeting at Silverdale Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Photo contributed by Chattanooga’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
By Mary Helen Montgomery and Nathan Bird
This story was written in collaboration with Chattanooga Civics. Subscribe to their newsletter or listen to their podcast here.
Fast facts:
There are currently about 70 neighborhood associations in Chattanooga (up from 52 last year)
Here’s a directory of all registered neighborhood associations
Check this map to see if your neighborhood has an association
When you form a collective voice with your neighbors, you can make a real impact — just read about the residents of Lupton City below!
What's a neighborhood association?
A neighborhood association is an organized group of neighbors who want to protect or improve their neighborhood. There’s a wide range in how formalized they are — some are registered nonprofits, while others are more informal.
There used to be close to 150 neighborhood associations in Chattanooga, but due to the aging demographic in leadership and the disruption caused by Covid, there are now around 70 groups. The city's neighborhood services division helps start and support local associations, and the division's manager, Perrin Lance, said they are aiming to bring the number of associations back up to 100 by next summer (they've already grown from 52 groups just last year).
If you start a neighborhood association, you can register with the city to be listed in a directory and get support from the office of neighborhood services. Homeowners associations, or HOAs, are not necessarily neighborhood associations, although they can register as one with the city. And while neighborhood associations can get support from the city, they operate independently from Chattanooga’s government.
“We are working with independent entities that can sometimes be opposed to what the city wants to do,” said Lance. “And I think that's valuable.”
‘A thorn in their side’: How one group of neighbors changed city plans
If you have a concern about something happening in your neighborhood — maybe a road that’s going in, or a new development slated for construction — you can, as an individual, approach your city council representative.
“They're going to ask you, or they're going to ask themselves, does this guy represent an organized group of people?” said Lance. “Versus, if you go to the city council, and you have a formal resolution and a petition signed by and voted on by your neighborhood association, and you bring 15 of your people, and y'all stand up at the right moment when you're addressing the council — that's power.”
Take the group that represents the Fairfax, Bagwell, and Lupton City neighborhoods, for example. More than once, the association has spoken out, and gotten the City of Chattanooga to change its plans. In 2017, the city had planned to install a 7-million gallon wastewater storage tank in their neighborhood. But residents organized and protestsed the plans, and the city agreed not to install the tank at the planned site.
More recently, the Fairfax-Bagwell-Lupton City association pushed the city to clean up the site of the old Dixie Yarns mill. After a Georgia-based company bought and abandoned the building, the group of residents asked the city to clean up the site and turn it into something for the community.
“We were a thorn in their side,” said Mark Mullins, the neighborhood association president, said of the pressure his group put on the city.
Eventually, the brownfield was capped off, and the site is being transformed into a native grass park with walking trails. These days, Mullins worries about new housing developments that are being planned for the area.
“The traffic is gonna be horrendous,” Mullins said. “We still got problems ahead.”
How can I start a neighborhood association?
First, check this map to see if your neighborhood already has an association. If there is not one, you could start by getting a small group of people from your neighborhood together in your home or other central location. The next step might be to hold a larger meeting.
“What I would hope you do is you develop a systematic plan to canvas your neighborhood to contact as many of the stakeholders as possible,” said Lance. “So, homeowners, tenants, property owners, businesses, institutions, churches — invite them to a meeting.”
You can even invite your city council representative and someone from the city’s office of neighborhood services. Then, form a committee to create bylaws, set your association’s geographic boundaries, and write a vision and mission for your group. Finally, take nominations and elect officers. The whole process usually takes three to six months.
If you have any questions, please contact Perrin Lance at 423-567-5389 or email at pjlance@chattanooga.gov.