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...and to that end, they've landed an Ironman Triathlon event starting this September.  Yesterday, they unveiled the event's title sponsor...

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/jun/12/little-debbie-maker-sponsor-inaugural-ironman-chat/

Next thing you know, we'll be seeing Peta rallies catered by Outback Steakhouse. :dielaughing:

Not to interrupt your snark with a serious note, but Chattanooga is kicking tail. What's the secret to their success?

Well, there have been entire books written on that subject, but mainly it was a group of city leaders about 30 years ago who set a vision for downtown, and a handful of wealthy private citizens who were willing to invest their own money to see it through.  To me, that's the big differentiator- if they had relied solely on public funding, it never would have happened.  Most of the cornerstones of our downtown redevelopment (Aquarium, Northshore, AT&T Stadium, etc.) have been built with mostly private funds. 

And once downtown was in shape, it was a lot easier to attract big job creators like VW, Amazon, Alstom, etc. 

All is not perfect here.  While a few areas like the Southside and St. Elmo have started to see some revitalization in the past decade, most of the inner city outside of the downtown core remains a crime-ridden wasteland.  And our interstate system is woefully outdated (although it's not as bad as Knoxville, which is the worst I've ever seen for a city that size).  Just this week, a proposal was put forth to build a bypass around town.  That should've been done a couple decades ago.  But in today's climate, any big road project it going to face a ton of opposition constituencies that will tie it up in red tape for years.  I doubt it will get done in my lifetime.

But all in all, Chattanooga is a great place to live.  This town today is unrecognizable from the industrial wasteland I grew up in.

I remember going into Chattanooga as a kid and everything just felt grimy and dirty, rundown and in a state of disrepair. Much like Birmingham...only worse. Pretty amazing that it has become the city that it has.

Little Debbie is the epitome of fitness. Kinda like M & M Mars sponsoring a run for diabetes. But hey, money is money. Somebody had to sponsor it.

and remember how bad it was. It's remarkable how the downtown has revitalized. A lot of larger cities are experiencing an influx of retired baby boomer who do not lawns to take care of when they can take a taxi or walk practically anywhere. I like some of the downtown areas of Nashville.