Downtown Chattanooga represents the economic center of southeast Tennessee. It plays a vital role as a center of employment and commerce, and is home to major corporate employers such as BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Unum, CIGNA, Krystal Company and the Tennessee Valley Authority, as well as housing the financial district and many major law firms.
A 2009 Brookings Institute study found that Chattanooga was one of only three metropolitan areas out of the 100 largest nationally in which downtown gained in regional employment share between 1998 and 2006. In 2007, zip code 37402 (containing most of the Central Business District) contained 586 firms with 19,266 employees and an annual payroll of $953 million.
Downtown Chattanooga also represents the highest concentration of property value in Hamilton County. A 2008 Community Research Council analysis found that on a per square mile basis, the Downtown census tract had assessed value of $5.4 million per square mile – nearly four times the value per square mile of the next highest census tract.
As far as its residential population, downtown Chattanooga grew by 7.4% in the 1990s after major declines in previous decades. Between 2000 and 2008, the county sub-region containing the Central Business District experienced a 9.4% population increase, while neighborhoods associated with Downtown saw population growth of 12%. An internal analysis by the River City Company indicates that between June 2005 and October 2008, 906 Downtown condominium or townhouse units were either completed or underway and 108 rental apartment units were announced or underway.
Chattanooga’s downtown is also home to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). More than 10,000 students inhabit the campus in the University/MLK area of town just steps away from the Central Business District. A true “metropolitan university,” UTC strives to meet the general and professional educational needs of area residents, provide strong community involvement and leadership, and emphasize applied research and public service.
Downtown Chattanooga is also the center for tourism and entertainment for the region. Several major attractions provide animation in the downtown area – including the Tennessee Aquarium, Creative Discovery Museum, Hunter Museum, IMAX and Majestic Theaters, Tivoli and Memorial Auditoriums, Lookouts minor league baseball, Chattanooga FC, the RiverWalk, Coolidge and Renaissance Parks, Riverbend Festival and the Nightfall Concert Series. These attractions not only create spending at the site of the main attraction, but create spending at other proximate firms in the downtown area. For example, survey research found that over 90% of the patrons attending a downtown movie theater also patronized a restaurant or other downtown establishment during their visit.