tragenvol

Ha! You should've seen the place (square) five years ago..."you've come a long way baby" comes to mind. It's light years ahead of where it used to be. I hope you had lunch at Town Square Social; I always recommend the Cuban with the house chips and the cheese bings for a starter! At least one of the TSS owners is part of the ownership of Cedar City Brewing Company (you referenced above)…get the pilsner. The old Mill has Tenn Lakes Brewery and a new lease on life; regional fare offerings like Jonathan's Grille and the GOAT are apparently on the way as well. The 231 Burger King...it's been there since the dawn of time. @KJHburg should visit Cookeville when he has the opportunity, don't you think @jmtunafish?

I was somewhere recently where the governor made a short appearance; he cited a multi-billion dollar economic investment perhaps on the way. I wonder if this Oracle news is what he was discussing....

Wichita, KS? Downtown vitality? I've walked a mile from "downtown" Wichita to its Old Town to find said "vitality" in the form of retail or night life....since those aren't variables for consideration in this study...I suppose that could be right...then. I'm not knocking Wichita; if you have the chance, cross the Arkansas River and head to the Delano neighborhood which is in the opposite direction from downtown than Old Town.

I did as well, and last week drove by to pick up arriving passenger; this Donelson Pike situation isn't great. No wonder there's a $6M incentive for early completion.

They (Chamber, city et al) had a campaign several years back targeting their commuters asking them to work and play at home...or something like that. They used ARRA money to update their Courthouse Square; downtown did become more lively afterward. There are a few local eateries, but as the sprawl goes, most retail is chain or regionally based: ML Rose is opening soon; Jonathan's and Double Dogs are there now, but the local food scene is lacking compared to some cities its size.

Adieu; you had a great salad bar back in the day!

Typo? $.5B or $500M.

Was right in the middle of the "new" downtown a couple of weeks ago...Hilton SkyBridge, Marquis SkyBridge and Hyatt SkyBridge. When I was outside and on John Portman Blvd, I had no idea the "mark" he left on the city. Nice post!

Right; as is generally so with public university athletics departments, athletic revenue will equal athletic expenses presenting zero bottom line income for the year as every dollar earned will go back (transfer to a "savings account") or be spent as an athletics fund expenditure. As that old saying goes, athletics departments have holes in their pockets.

Not picking at you; clarifying. Your previous statement could be interpreted to state that public higher education institutions are 100% funded by tax dollars. Athletics revenue and/or income do not cross into institutional funds, and only fund athletics expenditures (auxiliary enterprises), and if regional universities like TSU had to depend upon the revenue they generate from athletics to maintain their athletics departments, they wouldn't be able to keep their lights on. Auxiliary funds do not cross into institutional funds, but institutional funds and tax dollars do prop up athletic departments at regional universities. I just heard the other day from a "top brass" i.e., A.D. at a regional university that their tv revenue last year was $75,000. $75,000 might fund five athletics scholarships on a good day. Most of us would agree, that's not very much. Now, big state universities with tv contracts, and huge fan bases generate dramatic levels of revenue and sometimes income after expenses, but not most state universities...especially regional universities. Per their finanical statements available to the public, MTSU last year had nearly $140 million in tuition revenue (after discounts and allowances); athletics did not produce half that revenue nor did it produce any income after expenses. The next largest source of funding was state appropriations at just under $130 million or so. I've seen athletics contracts (SEC were awesome literature), reviewed financials, and have been privy to athletics appropriations. I certainly wasn't trying to offend, only provide clarification to our audience.

Just to clarify: taxes fund K-12 public education; public higher education is only partially funded by taxes, that's why there is tuition.

I missed these Monday flying out from D gates; will for sure have to walk by these when I return.

I have zero context other than there being some really heavy hitters in the room, but at GOVCON23 (the Governor's economic and community development conference) I walked by someone hidden away on the phone and overheard this tidbit: "Air France wants how much (more) money?" That's what I heard, pretty sure it wasn't only what I thought I heard, but again...the only context was the conference's subject matter and who was in attendance.

Yeah...stop playing second fiddle in Chicago! Pardon the pun.

These flew under our radar for the most part; Smartitechts: please tell us again why First Horizon could or could not be expanded for MLB at Sulphur Dell. I just can't see the Brewers leaving Milwaukee. https://sportsnaut.com/milwaukee-brewers-relocation-cities/ https://sportsnaut.com/milwaukee-brewers-start-moving-process/

Also, Sparta is no longer a micropolitan as White County has been absorbed into Cookeville's micropolitan area (this from @jmtunafishas well but from elsewhere).

It's 3.5 miles from the terminal, but apparently it's only the temporary cell waiting area.

I wouldn't bet the mortgage, but I would contend that no one on the '"sales" team used the SEC Championship Game as a viable opportunity/selling point as it's firmly entrenched in Atlanta. I never saw a reference to the possibility of an SEC Football Championship game when the opportunities for Final Fours and Super Bowls were discussed. Although, Spryidon did say that Nashville wouldn't stop asking.

TCAT Nashville will as well replace its Aviation Maintenance Technology program facilities at John C. Tune for around $12 million. Also, the above 2025^ completion schedule by JJCA is very aggressive. The Nashvile projects are only a portion of the TCAT Master Plan fully funded by the governor at nearly $1 billion as appropriated in FY23-24.

Thanks for the clarification.

Right. May as well be DOA. Tennessee missed the deadline to apply for the "once in a lifetime" funding from the recent infrastructure bill awaiting a "report" from TACIR...did we not? "Nah, bruh...we're good....give me some of that grant funding from the $5.8 million pot rather than that $1.8 billion one." We have a plan to start planning. Please someone correct me; why is this story getting so much positive traction? I'd love to be wrong on this one.

Whoa! One of my best friends is from Church Hill....never ceases to amaze how small this world can feel at times.

An increase of only 4.5% from May to June would get BNA to 22 million passengers for the fiscal year...one less day in the month....but a busy travel season. I'm flying out this weekend...22 million....WOW!

Random ruminations: Genesco had a great cafeteria with a solid salad bar back in the day.

Ahh...that's what the land there is being cleared for....huge development. I was wondering.