BoardviewViceMayor
Based on social media feed, Town of Farragut building quite a reputation
Recently as I was scrolling through my social media feed, I came across a post authored by a young mom relocating to the area with her family. She stated that she wanted to move to Farragut because she liked the vibe. In another post, a Hardin Valley resident lamented that he would like to have nice parks and trails like the ones we have in Farragut.
These posts reminded me that the many amenities and community events Farragut residents enjoy came about over many years with a great deal of dreaming and planning. Over the 42 years of Town’s existence, we have grown to become a great place to live, a great place to raise a family, a great place to retire and a great place to experience the sense of community and connection so many of us long for.
Our community was founded in 1980 after several residents in the Farragut area led the effort to incorporate. They wanted growth in the area to be handled with higher standards than Knox County imposed.
Once the first Board of Mayor and Aldermen was elected, they got to work to approve the ordinances, plans and development requirements to lay the foundation for how our Town would be different.
Our Town has grown and evolved into this amazing community due to the commitment to maintaining those high standards and recognizing opportunities to be innovative and build a unique and special place to live.
Early on, a vision of having four parks, one in each quadrant of Farragut, was set. It took several years and several boards to plan and purchase land to fulfill this goal and several years of planning to build, add and maintain the amenities in those parks.
Sometime in the 1990s, the Town envisioned having a connected and extensive sidewalk/greenway trail system throughout the Town. With this goal in mind, all new development and redevelopment was required to include sidewalks, trails and connectivity.
A vision to build a more walkable, pedestrian-oriented town center began to take shape in the 2001 Land Use Plan and by the development of the 2012 Land Use Plan, the goals became more defined to include a residential aspect in the commercial areas in the heart of our Town.
Our town center has begun to take shape in the past few years. Residents who moved here recently might be surprised to learn that a few short years ago the heart of our Town appeared to be in decline.
It would have been easy to relent
and move away from this long-held dream, but the community stayed true to the
vision of building a walkable town center, and we’re beginning to see unique
small businesses establish themselves
in the heart of our Town, like 35
North and the recently opened Summer Moon Coffee.
Elkmont Station is a new restaurant planned in the Farragut Gateway building (home of Starbucks). The Campbell Station Inn is stabilized and awaiting public input to see how we will use the building, but the McGill Plaza surrounding the Campbell Station Inn is already being used to host a number of community events.
Over the years, our community has grown and evolved. A commitment to high standards and a desire to be innovative, to build a unique and special community with a sense of place, is paying off. Farragut is attractive and remains a desirable place to call home.
If you would like to learn more about the founding of Farragut, please read “Full Speed Ahead” by Heather Mays Beck. You can pick up a copy at Farragut Museum in Farragut Town Hall or borrow a copy from the library.
