It was a bit of a surprise to read recently that Chattanooga was third in the nation among major U.S. cities last year in apartment rent increases. That put us in the company of No. 1 San Francisco; No. 2 San Jose, Calif.; No. 4 Austin, Texas; and No. 5 New York City.
While we don't wish higher rents on tenants, the increase of 3.8 percent in so-called "effective rents" -- those without any incentives or concessions -- reflects the economic growth that Chattanooga has been enjoying with the arrival of the job-creating Volkswagen manufacturing plant, online retailer Amazon's distribution center and some other developments.
That brings growing pains, such as higher rents, but it certainly beats stagnation.