“Good planning prevents problems, makes everyday life safer and cheaper, and makes growth work for existing residents.”
– Ellen Zavisca
As an urban planner and neighborhood advocate, Ellen knows how to turn resident’s needs into practical solutions and make local government work better. Ellen is running for City Council to bring that same problem-solving approach to our city’s challenges ahead.
As Knoxville grows and families face rising costs and strained infrastructure, Ellen has a plan to build a future that is more affordable, safe, and sustainable.
Ellen has a plan for Affordability
Homeowners and renters alike are struggling to afford a decent place to live in Knoxville. When they can’t afford stable housing, families are put under enormous pressure, people risk losing their jobs, kids can face setbacks at schools, and more people resort to living with relatives, in their cars, or even on the street.
Some of the causes of rising housing costs are beyond our control, like high interest rates. But we can do something to get at the heart of the issue, which is a shortage of housing. We can make choices as a city that boost housing supply, which is the only way to effectively address Knoxville’s housing crisis.
Housing We Can Afford
Protect existing affordable housing. New housing shouldn't come at the cost of pushing longtime residents out of their neighborhoods.
Build more homes people can actually afford. Knoxville residents need a wider range of housing options — including smaller homes, townhomes, and duplexes — where infrastructure and services can support them.
Make it easier to build the housing Knoxville residents need. Ellen will support zoning and permitting policies that allow appropriate housing to be built more efficiently, cutting needless red tape while maintaining strong standards for safety and neighborhood character.
Put housing near jobs, schools, transit, and retail. Where we build matters. Thoughtful housing growth can reduce transportation costs, give more people access to opportunity, and grow our local economy.
Lowering the Cost of Getting Around
Build more places where people can walk safely. Sidewalks and connected neighborhoods give residents more choices for everyday trips.
Make transit more accessible and reliable. Knoxville should prioritize transit connections where they can provide the greatest benefit and make it easier for people to get around without a car.
Stop requiring more parking than communities need. Ellen supports eliminating parking minimums and evaluating lowering parking maximums to curb excessive paving and protect local aesthetics. Requiring more parking than a community needs makes housing and development more expensive while taking valuable land away from homes, businesses, trees, and green space.
Knoxville has a good transit system, some walkable neighborhoods, a great greenway system, and some on-street bike lanes, but it’s still true for most Knoxville residents that the quickest, most convenient, most comfortable way to get around is in a car. Car-dependency imposes a huge financial burden on Knoxvillians, and makes our whole transportation system less safe and accessible. Together, we can take steps to give Knoxville residents more transportation choices.
Ellen has a plan for Safety
Safer Streets & Transportation
Make every street safer for everyone who uses it. Ellen will prioritize sidewalks, lighting, traffic calming, and safer intersections with a data-driven focus on streets where the most dangerous crashes are happening.
Build transportation projects around safety, not just speed. Ellen is a strong proponent of Knoxville’s Vision Zero Action Plan and its goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries on our streets by taking a proactive and people-first approach to street design.
Better-connect people to where they need to go. Safe streets and transit that works for working people should be part of how Knoxville plans and builds its transportation network.
Safe, Connected Neighborhoods
Invest in the basics that make neighborhoods work: sidewalks, lighting, parks, greenways, and safe routes to schools and community spaces.
Connect neighborhoods instead of isolating them. New development and major transportation projects should strengthen connections between neighborhoods, not create more dead ends and isolated communities.
Design public spaces with safety in mind. Well-maintained, accessible public spaces give residents places to walk, gather, play, and spend time in their own neighborhoods – creating the “third places” that bring neighbors together and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.
Smart Growth & Real Transportation Choices
The right development in the right places. Mixed-use development that creates housing, stores, jobs, schools, and transit in close proximity makes it easier for people to safely get where they want to go.
Provide reliable, frequent transit. Transit that safely and conveniently gets people where they want to go improves the transportation system for everyone by creating real choices for everyone and vital opportunities for people who can’t drive.
Ellen has a plan for Sustainability
As Knoxville grows, we need to focus on growing up, not just growing out. Sprawling, low-density development taxes our infrastructure (and our taxpayers!) much more than human-scale, mixed-use, and infill development. Smart, quality infill also reduces the amount of driving people have to do, which is better for our air, water, climate, and health. A focus on maintaining what we have and encouraging better development will make our city more sustainable financially and environmentally.
Protect Our Parks & Green Space
Protect the places that make Knoxville special. Ellen sees parks, greenways, waterways, forests, and natural areas as essential infrastructure.
Protect and expand Knoxville's tree canopy. Trees provide shade, reduce heat, manage stormwater, improve air quality, and make streets and neighborhoods more comfortable.
Invest in maintenance, not just ribbon cuttings. Existing parks and greenways need the resources to remain safe, accessible, and well-maintained as Knoxville grows.
Connect our green spaces. Expanding connections between parks and neighborhoods through greenways and sidewalks makes these investments more useful to more residents.
Design for less stormwater runoff. New development and redevelopment should incorporate trees, green infrastructure, and permeable surfaces to reduce flooding and runoff into our creeks and rivers.
Build a More Sustainable Transportation System
Build complete streets. As streets are rebuilt, Knoxville needs to include sidewalks, safe crossings, bike infrastructure, shade trees, and transit improvements.
Prioritize infill over sprawl. Directing more growth toward areas that already have roads, utilities, sidewalks, and services can reduce the cost of extending infrastructure into less-developed areas.
Make walking- and biking-realistic transportation options. Knoxville should close gaps in its sidewalk and bike networks instead of building isolated pieces that don't connect people to where they actually need to go.
Use public land strategically. When the City controls land or makes major infrastructure investments, those decisions should support long-term housing, transportation, and sustainability goals.
Plan for the Knoxville of 2050
Make decisions with the next 25 years in mind. Today's zoning, transportation, housing, and infrastructure decisions will shape the city for decades.
Measure whether our plans are working. Knoxville should establish clear goals and track progress on housing, transportation safety, infrastructure, tree canopy, and neighborhood investment.
Build a city that can adapt. Good planning means preparing for population growth, changing transportation needs, extreme weather, and rising infrastructure costs rather than waiting until problems become emergencies.
Keep Knoxville livable as it grows. We must ensure the Knoxville of 2050 remains a city where our children and grandchildren can afford to live, get around safely, enjoy nature, and thrive in the city we love.