Knoxville mayor: Government investment in city pays quality-of-life dividends | Opinion

Every day Knoxville’s public servants work hard to make sure all neighbors have access to the basics: a safe neighborhood, an affordable place to live and a bright future for themselves and their families.

Over the past four years, our local efforts have received a huge boost thanks to President Joe Biden and members of Congress. You don’t have to look far to find a project that was made possible with support from our federal partners. In a time of such divisiveness, it's important to look beyond the headlines and see what is working right here in Knoxville.

Public safety

Public safety is job No. 1. We are seeing a huge drop in crime across our city, and federal dollars are a big part of our success.

The Public Safety Complex in North Knoxville is a prime example of a project that we were able to complete thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act. This investment is helping revitalize the historic St. Mary’s Hospital campus and is forging relationships and career opportunities with emerging leaders next door at Fulton High School. Our local and federal funds at St. Mary’s are also leveraging more than $41 million in private investment from Pete Debusk and Lincoln Memorial University as they educate future health care professionals through their School of Nursing and East Tennessee’s first College of Dental Medicine.

We also know that keeping our community safe requires new, community-based efforts. The city of Knoxville is leading the way with support from the Biden administration. Thanks to city investments and a $2 million Justice Department grant, we have a violence reduction strategy that taps into credible messengers who are now trained street violence interrupters. It’s working ‒ homicides are down almost 35% and our city is safer.

However, it is important to remember that more Knoxvillians have lost their lives to roadway fatalities than violent crimes. With my administration’s new Vision Zero Action Plan, we are working to eliminate traffic deaths on city streets by 2040. This goal will be expedited thanks to an $8 million Department of Transportation Safe Streets for All grant that will go towards safety improvements on Magnolia Avenue, Broadway and Woodland Avenue.

Attainable housing

To have safe neighborhoods, we must also have access to stable and affordable housing. The federal government is helping make every Knoxville neighborhood a community of opportunity.

∎ First Creek at Austin: Federal funds helped replace dilapidated older buildings that housed 120 people with 438 new affordable rental homes, all within walking distance to jobs, transportation and schools

∎ Transforming Western: A $40 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhood federal grant to Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation in 2022 was the down payment that got the milestone project started. This project will have life-changing impacts for families in the city’s oldest affordable housing communities.

Climate action

The Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest climate investment in U.S. history, and Knoxville is already seeing the benefits. Thanks to the IRA, Knoxville neighborhoods will soon have 7,500 more trees, and trained urban arborists to help maintain them. The trees will provide shade, mitigate stormwater and lower electric bills. The $4.3 million federal grants will expand Knoxville’s canopy – especially in neighborhoods needing it the most.

The American Rescue Plan Act

And don’t forget the $62.5 million Knoxville received from the American Rescue Plan Act. These dollars addressed immediate COVID-19 pandemic needs as well as some critical stormwater infrastructure projects that were long overdue.

The federal assistance funded everything from protecting and sheltering individuals experiencing homelessness, to supporting local artists and nonprofit groups who lost income during the pandemic shutdowns, to installing tailored traffic-calming designs in neighborhoods.

The ARPA helped the city pave more streets, improve parks and provide "hero pay" to first responders.

More to come

My hope is that we can continue to work with our federal government, as we have done the last four years, to increase connectivity, support generational wealth-building and create a safer Knoxville.

The collaboration between our city and the federal government serves as a testament to what can be achieved when leaders work together with a shared vision of progress and prosperity.

Thank you, President Biden and Congress, for investing in Knoxville and for investing in America.

Indya Kincannon is the mayor of Knoxville.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Opinion: Knoxville mayor: Investment in city pays off in quality of life