RonCamp

I've always wondered about this building. It seems to have a large structured parking garage as a component of it, but also a big indoor/outdoor events deck about halfway up, and not much office. Has anyone been inside or seen plans that can shed more light on how it functions? It seems to be one of the more strangely designed commercial buildings in Nashville.

What is the dogleg you refer to? Just curious.

Agreed - the baggage area is a dilapidated disaster that is not up to the standards of the rest of the airport. It needs immediate attention. One factor that makes it even worse than it might otherwise be: the high percentage of our flights operated by Southwest. Their "no fee" policy for checked bags encourages people to check more luggage, more often, exacerbating the problem at the baggage claim area.

Regarding the parking - and putting aside the obvious need for a small amount of parking near the museum for handicapped parking, event staging, loading dock access, etc. The majority of personal automobile-driving visitors to this museum will likely be coming on weekends. Why not use the state garage that was recently built for a lot of this parking? It's all of a 0.4 mile walk, and would force people to traverse the very cool and under-utilized Centennial Mall that tells the story of Tennessee's history.

Similar concentration of drinking establishments as New Orleans, but safer and less "sketchy," with music that's more accessible/well known to a group of young women. Add in the geographic proximity of hotels/restaurants/bars all being within walking distance so that you don't need a car, and it makes sense. Additionally the city is cheaper than Vegas overall (though hotels on average are likely more) and much easier to get to for anyone in the Eastern half of the US. Not to mention that country music's popularity continues to rise - number one radio station in most major markets - which only adds to the attraction.

Regarding your last paragraph: One important part of the solution is to significantly reduce or eliminate parking requirements in urban areas completely. Downtown, the Gulch, Midtown, West End, 12South, etc. - and yes, Five Points. Understanding of course that this has to be done in concert with changing on street parking requirements in residential areas so that residential streets and parking, where appropriate, are limited to those with permits (aka the residents) and actually enforced by parking officers. In other words, there has to be a comprehensive solution. The fact remains that if we as urban Nashvillians want dense, walkable areas, mandatory parking requirements are diametrically opposed to that goal. They encourage underuse of land and discourage people from getting out of their cars.

Great article about BNA today from Nashville Public Radio - http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/nashville-airport-bid-goodbye-its-10-minute-waiting-area-add-plenty-new-spaces#stream/0 Interesting to remember that the airport was built as a hub, which explains why there are rarely issues with getting a gate (even if your plane arrives early or late) or having to wait to taxi in or out - but the baggage claim areas, arrival driveways, etc. are almost always overflowing at peak times. I should also say that it's high time they got rid of the 10 minute waiting area. Incredibly inefficient use of valuable space, not to mention it encourages people to wait in the main driving lanes for the ten minute spaces to open up, making the congestion and delays in the area much worse than necessary.

Promise I'll make it to one of these someday. I am out of town this weekend.

2016 is going to be interesting for Nashville's multifamily market. 3x the amount of product coming online as in 2015, at quite high prices. http://www.forbes.com/sites/axiometrics/2015/11/30/brooklyn-the-king-of-apartment-construction/

I believe the brick (concrete block in the pics) wall you're referring to doesn't face a street. It will eventually face whatever building is built on the roundabout's southwestern corner. That being the case the developer / architect would have been silly to build anything other than a wall there. It will eventually be blocked by a building that is mere inches away if not touching.

100% agree with you. That said, UberX, the (admittedly needing work) free downtown green bus circulator, your own two feet, and BCycle are a good start.

The Lyden group could or did not close on the 5th Ave piece; they did close on the piece at 4th and Elm. They supposedly want to flip it but it is not being actively marketed to my knowledge. The former Lyden site on 5th is being marketed by CBRE.

https://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2015/10/29/google_fiber_taps_gulch_for_retail_space

The Nashville Google Fiber physical office location is (reportedly) headed for the former Wedding 101 shop in the Icon ground floor (this one: https://goo.gl/e94x0Z).

I did, yes. And please know that in no way was the posting meant to be an attack on you, or frankly, a political discussion. I think it's a legitimate topic for the "bits and pieces" thread in a town that's consumed by discussion about transit, congestion, and growth. With that out of the way, I reiterate that I did in fact read the article, and that I believe the following, as well as several other key components of the piece, could easily be interpreted as "somewhat different and more nuanced conclusions." A separate report focusing on New York, from New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation, came to a similar conclusion. The study compared neighborhoods by accessibility to mass transit and the number of jobs within an hour’s commute. It found that residents of the areas least well served by mass transit relied on personal vehicles. Areas in the middle third — those with some, but insufficient, access to transportation — had the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest incomes, the study found. A key takeaway from the article is that socioeconomic mobility is often related to one's ability to move around the city easily, efficiently, economically. Having more than one way to do so (i.e. not just private car ownership) is a good thing for the socioeconomic mobility of an area's citizens. I think this sums it up well: His commuting problems highlight a central theme for many low-income people trying to build a better life: A lack of reliable and efficient transportation is often a huge barrier. Public transportation is an important - though I certainly agree not the only - component of providing reliable and efficient transportation for as many citizens as possible.

Others have come to somewhat different and more nuanced conclusions: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/upshot/transportation-emerges-as-crucial-to-escaping-poverty.html?_r=0

This is true. There is so much confusion when the traffic has a green light and pedestrians do not... it creates a lot of unsafe situations.

This. I wish more people would realize how viable West End is for dedicated ROW transit - be it BRT, streetcar, or light rail - if the poorly designed and enforced street parking was removed completely.

Per the airport's website they have included in the master plan provisions to relocate a number of roadways, expand parking, and expand the terminal building. https://www.flynashville.com/about/Documents/2012 Masterplan/12 BNA-ALP-TAP_MAIN.pdf However, to Markhollin's point, it seems the main terminal/ticketing/baggage areas would become very cramped. I rarely see issues on the departures level, but the current baggage claim/arrivals level is already beyond its vehicle and pedestrian capacity at peak times.

Alternate headline: "Positive trends in Millennials' mobility choices spurs need for transportation tax reform"

Agree that street parking should be retained where practical and/or needed. I just meant that the "there's no room for BRT / bike lanes / added pedestrian infrastructure / [whatever]" statement isn't really true when, on many downtown streets, you could easily get rid of street parking to make room for these items. Street parking is a great thing for streets where transit lanes or other elements noted above aren't needed. It provides a buffer between vehicular traffic and sidewalks and reduces the distance pedestrians need to traverse when crossing streets, increasing safety.

Exactly. It may not be popular, but all of our downtown streets have room for at least three lanes... if you remove all street parking. That makes it easy to add BRT, bike lanes, urban streetcar, light rail, traffic calming pedestrian areas with bollards, etc. You'd think that Premier Parking and SP+ would be lobbying for exactly this. Parking rates would shoot up and people would be forced to either pay or get out of their cars and walk a little. They could still park on the periphery and walk in. Or bike. Or Uber. Or demand transit from the government. Imagine. A downtown that's focused on something other than cars! There's a saying among the urban planning community that goes something like, "If you design cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you design cities for people and places, you get people and places." Which one will Nashville choose in the next phase of our development?

Simple answer is that it's just a lot harder to get condo projects financed.

[Deleted - article states they have the land tied up in SoBro, and are conducting due diligence, but have not closed]

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2015/10/exclusive-firm-started-by-nba-team-owner-joins.html?ana=twt