jmtunafish

Absolutely. Tons of excellent places to eat and grab a drink in downtown Cookeville in some very historic buildings. One place, in particular, that is unique is The Exceptional Bean which as far as I know is the only coffee shop in Tennessee where each employee has some sort of disability. It's hard to visit there and not leave with a smile on your face. It's a jewel in downtown Cookeville. https://cookevillelifestyles.com/introducing-cookevilles-inspiring-new-business-the-exceptional-bean/ https://www.newschannel5.com/news/autistic-son-makes-cookeville-business-dioramas-with-his-mom

Assuming the airport's Wikipedia page is correct, this will give Southwest 75 nonstop destinations out of BNA. That's pretty impressive.

Hmm, yet according to the National Association of Realtors the average home in Charlotte sold for $398k in 2023 compared to $401.5k in Nashville. Not much of a difference, particularly considering the wide income gap between the two MSAs. https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/metropolitan-median-area-prices-and-affordability

Why did you limit the income comparisons to just the city limits? By metro area, Nashville is considerably wealthier than Charlotte. Personal income for the Nashville MSA in 2022 (the most recent year available): $74,035. Charlotte MSA: $65,156. https://www.bea.gov/data/income-saving/personal-income-county-metro-and-other-areas

OK I found the planning commission agenda at the county website. This is what they call a "concept plan" and not a preliminary plat, meaning it'll likely be changed quite a bit before earth is moved. But it's still interesting. And I agree with Luvemtall, Ditty Road will need to be upgraded all the way to I-40 in Baxter which should probably be done anyway, whether this neighborhood is built or not. At any rate, social media comments are already fast and furious about this potential development, almost all negative.

I never thought I'd see something like this in Cookeville, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. A developer is proposing 850 new homes on 560 acres in an area just southwest of Cookeville/southeast of Baxter on Burgess Falls Road @ Ditty Road.. They plan on donating 16 acres to the county for a new elementary school. This is the only image I could find that shows the proposed development (the county planning department doesn't update its webpage very often which is really annoying). Since it's out in the rural part of the county, there's no sewer service and I can't imagine 850 new homes and a school all on septic tanks. So I imagine it'll take a while to get all this done, but a friend of mine who lives on one of those side roads nearby said the farm that used to be on those 560 acres has already been demolished and metal utility poles have already started being installed to the area. UGH. But I guess this is better than 850 homes on 850 acres.

The Winnipeg Sun is saying this is going to be "seasonal service" which I assume means it'll halt during the winter months and pick back up in the spring. https://winnipegsun.com/news/westjet-adding-montreal-ottawa-nashville-flights-from-winnipeg For what it's worth, here are WestJet's other US destinations it currently serves from Winnipeg: Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Palm Springs, and Phoenix.

Gallatin's Prince Street Pizza has expanded into Cookeville, opening Cookeville Pizza & Pub today. They have 24 Tennessee-brewed beers on tap. Those who went to Tech would probably recognize the location: the former Sunshine Laundromat on Mahler Ave behind Jere Whitson Hall. I've heard really good things about Prince Street Pizza so I have high hopes for this place, too. Being within walking distance of the dorms and frat houses should make this a popular hang out spot.

Air Canada is going to fly to Montreal AND Quebec? ?? And it's Delta Air Lines, not Delta Airlines. (former Delta employee here, it's one of my pet peeves). But at least the Tennessean got the right airport code for BNA this time (a previous article said it was NAS which is the code for Nassau).

As much as I want to believe this, that's not what Sports Business Journal said. They have Nashville listed among the 10 cities "to watch" but as far as the 10 best sports cities for hosting events, Nashville is mysteriously not in the top 20. Very baffling really, particularly considering some of the cities that are in the top 20. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/03/18/best-sports-business-cities

Here's how all of Tennessee metropolitan and micropolitan areas fared last year: metropolitan areas...2023 population...1-year change Nashville...2,102,573...31,554* Memphis...1,335,674...-2,993 Knoxville...946,264...13,343 Chattanooga...580,971...6,510 Clarksville...340,495...4,968 Kingsport-Bristol...313,025...1,985 Johnson City...213,198...2,975 Jackson...181,826...408 Cleveland...129,612...1,295 Morristown...124,054...2,227 micropolitan areas...2023 population...1-year change Cookeville...148,226...2,748** Sevierville...99,415...609 Greeneville...72,577...1,285 Tullahoma-Manchester...67,381...886 Crossville...64,760...1,278 Shelbyville...53,055...1,091 Lawrenceburg...46,114...612 Winchester...44,654...535 McMinnville...42,638...637 Dyersburg...36,498...58 Lewisburg...36,961...1,104 Fayetteville...36,169...163 Martin...33,084...41 Paris...32,554...172 Union City...30,411...37 *Nashville was the 13th highest-gaining metropolitan area in the country. **Cookeville was the 4th highest-gaining micropolitan area in the country.

And that's why a future MLB stadium needs to be downtown or on the East Bank.

Dalton is its own metropolitan area, just like Cleveland. But both Dalton and Cleveland are included in Chattanooga's Combined Statistical Area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_metropolitan_area,_Georgia

2023 saw record numbers of new homes built in Putnam County and Cookeville. From city-data.com: The city of Cookeville and Putnam County both set records for new home construction in 2023, topping the previous records set just the year before in 2022. In Cookeville, there were 309 new housing units permitted in 2023 which included no apartments (which is unusual). The previous record was in 2022 with 234 which included 50 apartments. And in rural Putnam County (outside the four cities) there was also record-breaking construction with 408, up one from the 407 in 2022. The housing boom has continued into 2024, at least for the city of Cookeville. In January there were 81 new single family homes started in Cookeville which is a record for a single month since the city started keeping track in 2006. And January is usually one of the slower months for new homes, especially considering much of January was brutally cold with more snow than we usually get around here. I wish the city of Baxter had its permits online as I wouldn't be surprised if it outpaced Cookeville in 2023. There are housing developments going up all over Baxter. The Baxter mayor was on the radio a few weeks ago and said there are 1,500 new homes either under construction or approved which, considering the 2020 population of Baxter was only 1,578, is phenomenal.

And here's Middle Tennessee's urban areas per the Census Bureau. An urban area is made up of contiguous census tracts that have a population of, I think, a minimum of 500 per square mile. It's easy to see with this map why places like La Vergne and Mt Juliet are attached to Nashville's urban area instead of Murfreesboro and Lebanon, respectively.