Pics: A Tour of Chattanooga's Gigabit City

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee in July revealed what downtown life is like in America's first Gigabit City. From TechTown (the best camp ever), to The Crash Pad (the only Platinum-LEED-Certified hostel ever), to an abundance of startup incubators, Chattanooga is a city bubbling with energy and tech-fueled ambition.

In a short day and a half, Chattanooga made me long for a little more southern hospitality in my life. It also convinced me that this Tennessee town had the right idea by investing in a gigabit network. Granted, most people and companies don't need that bandwidth yet, but its very presence has brought about some significant benefits to the community. Not only does the power grid run more smoothly thanks to smart power switches networked together with fiber, but the telecom infrastructure has been a catalyst for Chattanooga's downtown revival, and active, innovative startup scene.

But don't let me try to convince you with words. Take a look at the photos to see what Chattanooga's all about. Maybe sit back and sip some Tennessee whiskey while you do.

Figure 1: 3D-Printed Owls Behold the neon owls. The Chattanooga TechTown camp gives kids hands-on access to 3D printers. These were some of their creations.

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— Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video, Light Reading