Will

Yep there is a state board of equalization above Metro. Furthermore, the county/metro boards of equalization are created by state law. https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-67/chapter-5/part-14/67-5-1402/ The law doesn't allow the Metro board to just issue a blanket denial of all property tax appeals.

The $50 cap on municipal fines was set in the Tennessee constitution in 1870. It can be changed by referendum; I think the last time it was on the ballot was the early 2000s, but it didn't pass. Article VI, Section 14: No fine shall be laid on any citizen of this state that shall exceed fifty dollars, unless it shall be assessed by a jury of his peers, who shall assess the fine at the time they find the fact, if they think the fine should be more than fifty dollars.

The big unspoken gap with this project is that while the off/on ramps to surface streets are being improved, there is no capacity being added to the ramps to access 440 from 24, 40, and 65. So, for example, coming from the airport on 40 towards town get onto 440 going west, it's still going to be a 1-lane bottleneck to actually get onto 440W. Similar thing with coming up I-24 from Murfreesboro, except I think there are currently 2 lanes on that access ramp. 3 lanes of traffic throughout 440 isn't going to do much good to those folks who commute from the 3 interstates onto 440; there will still be massive backups almost every rush hour.

Five Daughters Bakery and Two Old Hippies slated for retail slots at the airport, noted on p. 6-7 of MNAA committee meeting minutes. Also has a few details on the new Delta Skyclub, which will be 15k sq. ft. (p. 4) https://www.flynashville.com/about/Documents/Board%20Docs/2019/Committee/Minutes/2019.08.14%20FAP%20Minutes.pdf

I covered CMA/Fan Fest for the Tennesseean a couple of times about 10 years ago, and I met a good many Germans and French folks on the streets. There are significant (though small, compared to the US) country music fanbases in both of those countries, as well as Australia.

There's a gentleman on Instagram who's been filming (albeit with a phone) the BNA BA 787 arrivals and departures over the past year. He got the 787-9 coming on on Sunday. https://www.instagram.com/seanblackdog/

Flew in yesterday and it was about 20% paved over already. Lots of paving equipment onsite.

Fencing is up at the former Catholic Diocese office site on 21st ave to be redeveloped by Linden Row LLC. https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21015037/excatholic-diocese-headquarters-on-21st-sells-for-6m

An organization called Truth in Accounting has released a report on what it considers the financial state of several US cities. I'm not qualified to speak on their methodology but they seem to conclude Nashville is in bad shape (FWIW they say the same thing about most other cities). Of note is the $3.2 billion we supposedly have in unfunded retiree health care benefits. https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/2019-Financial-State-of-the-Cities-Report--1.pdf

Based on that graphic of runway lengths, Japan seems to be currently within reach of Nashville with a 787-8 or -9. Either one could reach Japan from Nashville with more than 1,000 miles of range to spare.

Maybe all this could be a catalyst for a reimagining of West End into a true marquee boulevard with wider sidewalks featuring large trees, planted borders, etc. Sort of our answer to the Champs Elysees or the Mall/Constitution Hill in London.

Would that be the *great* Hormolio?

Yes the CC swipe terminals are installed on most buses now. Unfortunately they still accept cash but it's still a big improvement.

I think part of the problem is also part of the genius of these scooter companies: The scooter is a very compelling option for that often-discussed "last mile" in cities that lack a strong bicycling culture. In Nashville, we have several factors working against us: A hilly topography, hot humid summers/cold winters, and a relatively small number of roads that feel safe to bike on for a casual cyclist. I bike to work daily and I'm used to it, but even on the side streets with bike lanes like Natchez Trace and Belmont, it can be intimidating to ride, and 90%+ of people are just not going to tackle the hills/car traffic, even if they're close enough and fit enough to do the ride. The scooter solves this by taking the hills out of the equation, and reducing your exposure to the weather so that you're not sweaty or freezing. You can also ditch it without worrying about finding a bike rack, so you get most of the best of biking without a lot of the downsides. Flat cities like Amsterdam, London and to some degree NYC already have more of a bicycle culture due to the lack of the factors mentioned above, and so they haven't seen as much of a scooter explosion as cities like LA and Nashville. There are a lot of them out there, but I think the supply will even out once we get through this first full winter with scooters.

Re: Curbing relo incentives, there are a few ideas advanced in this article : https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/amazons-hq2-spectacle-should-be-illegal/575539/ There are benefits, drawbacks, Constitutional concerns, and potential loopholes in each theory, but it's worth having the conversation at a national level. 1. A federal law that disallows any incentives for relocations 2. Withholding certain federal funds from states who play the incentive game (kind of like how the Feds "withhold" highway $$ from TN because of our open container law, although we still get the money in the form of grants for special DUI prosecutors and other resources) 3. A change in the IRS code making any relocation incentives 100% taxable

BNA is going to host an on-runway (2R/20L) 5K race in the spring: https://www.flynashville.com/about/Pages/BNA5K.aspx

I heard recently that the University Club on Vandy's campus will be closing down at the end of the year. Not sure if it's for renovations or for something new. Maybe someone with Vandy connections could investigate.

This is a thing. https://www.instagram.com/birdgraveyard/ Looks like Memphis is already distinguishing itself in this area.

This is pretty much the definitive comment on the whole Nashville bachelorette thing.

Looking forward to when Qdoba across the street gets the axe for something cool.

Kinda interesting: Tesla has this site marked as a "coming soon" location for one of its superchargers:

I can't speak for commercial property appeals, but I've appealed my own home's appraisal to the state BoE twice. I prepared as best I could and presented detailed evidence to support my case, and both times I got at least part of what I was looking for, but never a straight give-away. Like the article said, many owners of commercial property hire attorneys and experts to support their case. Based on my experience I imagine the BoE makes decisions based on the evidence it has in these cases, too. I would argue the reason for the budget shortfall is not the BoE's approach, or even that so many people appealed, but rather that the city's leaders failed to prepare and plan for what was obviously a likely scenario. Hindsight is always perfect but it doesn't take a wizard to predict that a reappraisal after historic appreciation is going to generate more appeals than usual.

You know, seen from that angle it seems we might have a new complement to the Batman building...

Yeah don't shed any tears for Vandy. Note that they also have 20+ acres of pure surface parking plus an aux athletic field in the triangle bounded by Natchez Trace, Blakemore, and Vanderbilt Pl. They could easily build a whole satellite campus on that land and put all the parking in 2 or 3 garages.

Renault-Nissan has an HQ in Amsterdam with significant operations in Paris as well.