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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Two Tennessee cities landed themselves on a recent listing of the “worst run cities” in the country.
According to Engineer Your Finances, both Chattanooga and Memphis are featured on their list of the 21 “worst run cities” in America. The list is based on statistics gathered by WalletHub, a personal finance company that “empowers consumers to lead financially healthy lives.”
WalletHub’s comparison of 149 of the biggest cities in the country looked at six main categories: Economy, Education, Financial Stability, Health, Infrastructure and Pollution, and Safety. They looked at the services offered to city residents as well as the total budget of the city to determine the quality vs. the cost of those services.
Out of the 149 cities, Memphis showed up at number 143, landing near the bottom as one of the worst run cities. However, Bluff City was also named “the worst city in America regarding safety.”
This should come as no surprise to most as Memphis crime rates surpassed those of Detroit towards the end of 2023. The city ended the year with 398 homicides. The Memphis Police Department’s homicide dashboard shows that there have already been 124 murders in 2024.
However, the list also describes Memphis as “the latest hip party city,” making reference to Beale Street.
The list calls Chattanooga, coming in at #129 of the 149, the “best of the worst run”. They highlight the city’s expansive job market and increasing population but also mention the “healthcare network and highway system straining under the weight while the public education system struggles to meet the demands of all the new residents.”
To determine an overall rank, WalletHub scored each city in each of the six categories. They then divided those scores by the “Total Budget Per Capita” to figure the “score per dollar spent.” Cities who fell farther down on the list were the worst at using public funding to provide quality services to city residents.
4 Responses
Chattanooga’s mayor is a privileged rich kid who majored in German Comparative Literature at Columbia University and looks like Gavin Newsom. People don’t vote in Chattanooga. What’s up with that? The guy won with 16,000 votes. Pathetic. The internet says it has a population of 187,000 people.
Does Chattanooga have the unusual election cycles to suppress voter turnout like other cities in TN? That would explain why no one votes
People DO vote in Chattanooga, and they chose the mayor that you despise! Maybe Chattanooga doesn’t see eye to eye with you.
Chattanooga is one of 2 cities in USA to start at “15 minute cities” under the Agenda 2030. No one seems to know or care. I spoke with one CEO of a non profit hospital and his comment, “I did not see that on TV.”