franktown

Well, I'd be afraid it would get really overgrown, and it wouldn't be very conducive to use it seems. The St. Charles streetcar runs on a system like that. We could get Rails-with-trails, as that's part of the Nashville greenway plan, but CSX doesn't like to give up any control over their lines.

Well, it's not bad. I do appreciate that they're going to great pains to not cut off KVB and 8th, but I was hoping for something... more. I was hoping for a Southern building that seemed more Nashville, but you can't please everyone. I would've loved something red or dark brick with white columns, and a big porch that would go around a fair bit of it the center make it seem inviting, but the rolling hills are a cool element to bring in. I feel like this is something that'll look kinda odd when you see it, but will make sense once you see it (i.e. Country Music HOF, Sommet, etc) as opposed to something more Classic or Southern (new library, Schermerhorn, etc). I wish it could've drawn inspiration from the Commons at Vandy, not the CMHOF or that convention center in Puerto Rico.

Come on, can you give us any hints or ideas of what we might see?

On the fourth image on the "Plan" page on the website there is a pedestrian bridge to the Gulch shown; is this simply conceptual, or is this in the cards at all?

So do you all have any involvement in Nashville these days?

So, is SBER still involved in SoBro despite the end of the Thermal Project?

Who wants to take bets on how long it takes for there to be protests outside their office?

No, our zoning codes don't allow it.

Oh yeah, I know about the YYZ-BNA flight... done it many a time (I lived up there). I meant that now that this is back we have more than just Toronto as an international destination (for passengers). Did RDU keep their flight to London?

That's really great to hear... I hate for us to only have one international destination and have "International" in our name. It seems like only a couple years ago you were hinting that Frontier would set up a hub here... my how gas prices have changed everything.

Yeah... he told me that they're about to announce that all Metro employees are getting bus cards that allow them to ride to work for free, and to show his support he's going to ride the bus for a little bit (I think he said a week).

Since you're in the know, can you tell us what IS going on with the Thermal Site? I don't feel like I've heard about it since like.... January.

It's on the table for the future; he wants Mass Transit, and he know that for it to be viable it needs to have a dedicated revenue stream. What he/I meant by the Federal funding was that if we don't fund its shortfall the Feds won't fund projects with us in the future... not them funding everything.

I talked with Mayor Dean about Mass Transit today, and he believes the time is right for it. He also thinks that we're going to have to have some form of dedicated revenue stream approved by a referendum, and while his personal favorite is BRT, he's open to more Commuter Rail, Streetcars, etc. He and I talked for about 20 minutes about it if you have any more questions on what he thinks. PS. He's 100% committed to the MCS, and refuses to let it be killed or lapse in funding b/c he feels that it'll jepordize future Federal funding for Mass Transit.

I did some math, and that stretch of road was 20 million / mile.... amazing huh? And people flip out about light rail being expensive at 5 million / mile!

Wow.... that's incredibly positive! I'll be honest... I was pretty down on this project and was just counting the weeks until they declared it wasn't happening, but this is quite a change. The only thing I'm not sure about is how it'll look; if it gets fatter at the lower levels and gets a fair bit thinner higher up it'll look weird. I thought I remembered him saying in that video that the lower part was staying the same though... anyone else?

It looks from his gesturing like the middle portion is going to increase in girth to make it more paletable for office tenants... that's just me playing charades though. Could this be another play by him though? Remember when he was close to getting financing? And when he was weeks from a groundbreaking?

So, how are the people of Clarksville reacting to the "Worst City in the Country" label?

I agree that it would be tacky, but I wouldn't put it past TG to whore out one aspect of the building to get the whole thing done. Street-level signage wouldn't provide the draw to tenants to which I was referring; I would assume they would get some form of that. Hopefully he doesn't, but it's something he might need to look into.

The possible naming rights on top of the the building might be a fairly large draw for possible business tennants. They truly would have the 'Signature' spot in the Nashville skyline in terms of advertising and visibility.

Wow... he decided this in the Spring, and we just found out? I'm suprised he kept it quiet for that long.

As much as I hate it, it's good for the region as a whole to have companies here; even if they're in Wilco. For instance, Nissan is doing the partnership with the Nashville Symphony to help Metro Schools even though they're going to be in Wilco.... a rising tide lifts all boats. It's just too bad they'll end up in CS instead of DT.

I sure hope it goes to DT, but I fear it won't because if it comes down to Franklin v. Metro, Franklin is always willing to shell out the cash to get businesses, sadly. BTW the Brentwood thing hasn't really panned out.... it's going, but it's a VERY, VERY slow process. If you go down there and look you'll hardly notice it's under way.

I read the other day that they've consolodated the security checkpoint... that should be a pretty huge change!

I think the issue would be with the lobby. The residents don't want to share a lobby with the office-dwellers or the hoteliers I would assume. That's why he has the different entrances for the hotel and residences on Church and 5th. I guess he could use St. Cloud Alley for the Office section, but that'd be tough. I think he's just going to need to hole up and try to wait out the mortgage crisis/softened economy