North Knoxville Community Leader Lauren Rider 
Announces Candidacy for City Council

Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 

KNOXVILLE - Lauren Rider, Co-Chair of the Broadway Corridor Task Force and past-President of Old North Knoxville, Inc., seeks the 4th District City Council seat in the upcoming 2017 city election.

Passionately involved in community issues, Rider served four years as President of Old North Knoxville, Inc., in addition to appointments on Knoxville’s Neighborhood Advisory Council, Knox County Library Advisory Board, KAT Community Advisory Committee, and Knoxville’s Public Property Naming Committee.

Rider is known for her efforts in community revitalization. She contributed to the recent wave of renovations in North Knoxville by organizing neighbors to purchase and rehabilitate vacant, blighted properties, avoiding demolition and empty lots. “When frustrated by problem properties, I reached out to neighbors and created solutions. Through teamwork, we were able to create homes for new neighbors and put those properties back on the tax rolls,” Rider said. She has encouraged others to seek similar redevelopment solutions by giving presentations at neighborhood conferences and workshops throughout the city.

Rider has frequently partnered with area businesses to improve incoming development. She is serving her third year as Co-Chair of the Broadway Corridor Task Force, a group of neighborhood and business representatives collaborating on a vision for improvements along the Broadway Corridor. Rider stated, “After a year-long collaboration of input from property owners and community members, we shared an Enhancement Plan. This visioning tool will help the community identify prospective infrastructure improvements, like greenway connections and enhanced crosswalks, as well as illustrate ways to connect commercial centers and residential areas.”

Rider calls North Knoxville home, where she is raising two sons, Finley (9) and Hagen (7), with her husband, University of Tennessee Medical Center Neurologist Steven Rider, and their two poodles, Camoodle and Spike. The Rider family can often be found participating in community activities including bi-annual clean-ups of First Creek and its Greenway. A native of Evans, Georgia, Rider earned a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from Georgia State University and a Masters of Library Science from Indiana University. She is the Campus Librarian at Pellissippi State Community College, Division Street.

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