Nicholson

The 'Local' options for funding transit are on this slide from the 2020 Metro Nashille Transportation Plan:

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Farmers Market has an upstairs meeting room that can be reserved. If available it's great for meetings. Their office is closed today, but open T to F 9am -3pm

It's good to note Delisha Porterfield was opposed, and only voted in favor so that she would be allowed to make a "motion to reconsider." This was botched by Vice Mayor Shulman's confusion. Multiple CM's requests to be recognized created preventable chaos. Kathleen Murphy challenged Shulman's approval of Porterfield's motion to reconsider. Legal dept recommended a vote to resolve the dispute. It was left to the council to decide Shulman's approval of Porterfield's motion vs Murphy's challenge to Shulman (and not allow Porterfield's motion). The CM's supporting the stadium all voted against Porterfield's motion to reconsider, by way of voting for Murphy's challenge. Total poo show. *If the motion to reconsider had succeeded, the Metro Council would have been required to have another vote in June.

Motycka's piece goes into a lot of depth about how the deal might develop too. Metro Council will have to weigh in at some point. It would be great to see Bos2Nash's ideas, or something similar in the next round of negotiations. A few more highlights from Motycka: (I'm trying to resist copy/pasting the whole thing haha) "New York, Miami, or Los Angeles, the metropolitan tier Nashville likes to claim, do not pay for their stadiums—they make the billionaires do it... This is what happened in New York (MetLife, 2010, $1.7bn), Los Angeles (SoFi, 2020, $5.5bn), and Miami (Hard Rock, $350m renovation, 2015). To build Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for $1.9bn, the Raiders got $750m from Clark County backed by tourist taxes, the largest ever public commitment to a stadium. That deal has not turned out well for Las Vegas... The Tennessean has done little to find out essential information, like metro’s contractual obligations under the current lease, instead beating the drum for a new stadium, East Bank development, and a downtown riverfront. There are a lot of unknowns and a few knowns. The ability for Metro to service whatever loans it takes out for the Titans will be tied to a single Tiger Mart on Shelby unless more money starts changing hands quickly around the stadium. If this deal gets through—Metro Council would have to approve a lot of it, including a local counterpart to the state legislation—Metro’s financial wellbeing will be hitched to the East Bank for a generation... " _ _ _ Just noticed your post nashvylle, and IMO, it would be great to see the East Bank develop that way, but for about $1 Billion less by renovating the existing stadium. There's an opportunity cost for financing a new stadium, as opposed to other needs in the city. The Metro Nashville Transportation Plan approved in 2020, for example, has no dedicated funding source, and has a price tag just north of $1 Billion. Not that these are identical funding mechanisms, but there is some overlap. It might good to elaborate on transit funding options later, so if I do it'll be on the Transportation thread.

Eli Motycka's latest newsletter covers the new Titans stadium: https://publiccomment.substack.com/p/field-position?s=r Here's a highlight full of linked sources: "There have been attempts to misrepresent stadium benefits, like last month’s inflated NCVC World Cup economic impact study, but the economics are settled. One-off, high-profile events like the Super Bowl, the NFL draft, or an IndyCar race make the city look successful, but the numbers don’t work out in favor of residents. Publicly-financed stadiums are money pits where public officials throw away taxpayer dollars."

The Vision Zero survey closes on Monday, Aug 30th. https://bit.ly/3wUqhEo

Whoops - good catch. Here's Detroit from the same site.

Motown's love for the automobile... Where Did Our Love Go? ^ from dailydetroit.com - 'Detroit's Modern Day Parking-Lot-A-Palooza' ^^ from Oklahoma University, Institute for Quality Communities Institute for Quality Communities Institute for Quality Communities

Back in the Amp days, the TN State Senate attempted to do an outright ban of BRT, which then-Gov Haslam said he would veto, so that stricter approach failed. Here's a Wired article that gives a good overview. Appraently BRT does need the state to sign off, so it's more difficult but not impossible. Gov Lee has made statements about his support for multi-modal improvements to transportation. The State legislature is probably more supportive now than they were 2014. Back then even Douglas Henry, a democrat, voted in favor of banning BRT. As for parking conflicts, there is currently no on-street parking on the stretch of Gallatin Pike in the Transit Now BRT study area - Briley Parkway to Rivergate Mall. The Metro Nashville Transportation Plan has BRT on Murfreesboro Pike, from a new downtown South Transit Center, to the airport, and continuing on to Hickory Hollow. This will likely not be built until Nashville approves dedicated funding for transit. One possible step in that direction is the Nashville Department of Transportation, currently being formed.

BRT could be installed along a Gallatin Pike, from Briley Parkway to Rivergate Mall, with low cost / quickly implemented Tactical Urbanism methods. It could serve as a pilot corridor to showcase a successful example to the rest of the city. Out of respect for this forum, I would like to offer the following info strictly for discussion purposes: Here's a Tennessean OpEd I wrote on behalf of Transit Now Nashville that outline BRT on Gallatin Pike: https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2020/12/11/bus-rapid-transit-nashville-would-solve-intractable-problems/6512660002/ The OpEd is a condensed version of this longer report: Quick Win for Better Bus Service

There I fixed their logo.

We have to walk before we can run, but I definitely agree that transit should be the top priority of implementing the Transportation Plan. The community feedback stage of the plan said the same, with transit being everyone's top priority by far. I'd love to see a more ambitious plan too, but IMO, Nashville needs a higher capacity proof-of-concept first. If we build a true Bust Rapid Transit corridor (not BRT-lite), along Murfreesboro Rd from downtown to the airport, as outlined in the Tansportation Plan, it could set the example for the city. Here's a good Streetsblog article about building BRT faster using Tactical Urbanism: Bus Rapid Transit Should Be Built More Rapidly From the article: "...the perfect should not be the enemy of good, fast transit now." Cincinnati and Boston both built temporary, tactical-urbanism style, pilot BRT corridors that went on to become permanent. Nashville's biggest obstacle to subastantial transit improvements is the lack of dedicated funding. We're the only city our size in the country that doesn't have this. Another attempt to have a rederendum for that might be 2024. Until then, there's a lot that can be done to improve the situation.

It's pretty exciting that Nashville is getting on the Amtrak map, so I think the Tennessean was just capturing that positivity. Upcoming council vote could move Nashville's transit plan forward | Opinion Burkley Allen Guest columnist https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2021/04/01/nashville-transit-plan-could-move-forward-metro-council-vote/4824624001/ A few highlights: - Traffic is returning to its old miserable state, and will get worse, accelerating Nashville's need for mobility options. - Tuesday, April 6 is the third and final reading of RS2021-794 A resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding to transfer solid waste disposal responsibilities from the Department of Public Works to the Department of Water and Sewerage Services along with the related operational activities, personnel, and equipment. - This is a step towards Public Works having a stronger focus on the implementation of the Metro Transportation Plan. For a palate cleanser, here's some funny memes: ^This one's from #NUMTOTS on Reddit ^This one's from @music****** on IG

Tennessean coverage of the Amtrak proposal: 'OMG': Amtrak service from Nashville to Atlanta is now in Biden's transportation plan, too Daniella Medina Nashville Tennessean https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2021/04/01/amtrak-nashville-routes-atlanta-biden-transportation-plan/4839151001/?fbclid=IwAR0WutHaFyuRvXQTfx2azfCUTdzH9ia-BZ5DTQOs8HQttXDeO7dPhOhwIMg Here's an article they did from a year ago that includes a poll for which route people want the most: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2020/01/15/where-would-you-want-amtrak-routes-nashville-take-you/4480828002/

The Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee is hosting an online panel discussion about Austin's successful referendum. Its on Tuesday, March 30, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Preview of the event: http://thetransitalliance.org/austin-transit-referendum-panel/ Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Evtst1uZQ7yqDUH75f9d4Q

There might still be time to submit input on how these contracts are finalized. Here's the metro website for the Transportation Licensing Commission (A Division of Public Works) and contact info: Looking at these memos, there's language about "dedicated and preferred parking areas where SUMDs can park without penalty as long as they are properly parked and upright... [and] 3. Parking an SUMD outside of a corral within the restricted parking zone shall result in a $10 fine assessed upon the operator. The fine shall be remitted to the Metropolitan Government within 60 days. Operators are not prohibited from seeking reimbursement of such fines from users whose actions incurred the assessment of fines." Shared Urban Mobility Device (SUMD) Memo: https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/TLC/docs/SUMD-StreetParkingMemo.pdf SUMD Restricted Zones Map https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/TLC/docs/SUMD-RestrictedParkingMapDowntown.pdf These restrictions are limited to the most tourist-heavy parts of downtown only. A city-wide policy seems like a no brainer, so maybe I just haven't found that yet.

There should be a carrot and stick way to keep the scooters used and parked correctly. Riders could recieve a credit for parking the scooters in designated areas. There could also be a fee for leaving them strewn across sidewalks.

This Tennessean headline is very misleading, even though the article itself seems pretty on point. Nowhere in the article does it describe Councilmembers "gutting" the transportation plan. It's been remedied somewhat by an edited headline - now when you click the link, the word "Gutted" has been replaced with with "Slammed." I guess a headline reading "Council Voices Legitimate Concerns" doesn't pack much of a punch. It's true the plan does rely heavily on "opportunistic finding" such as grants, but with the city's budget issues being what they are, the immediate options seem pretty limited. Nashville is one of the only metroplitan areas without dedicated fuding for transit. Whenever we finally get around to approving that, it will help the city's annual budget process, because transit will not be competing with schools, police, etc for funding. In the current Transportation Plan, there is a proposal to seek dedicated funding for transit some time between 2023 and 2026. This is on a timeline image on page 157. By the time 2023 rolls around, and there's another movement towards dedicated fiunding, we will hopefully have the pandemic in the rearview mirror, and we'll have an even better idea of what the city needs transportation-wise. In the meantime, the Metro Council should have time to continue contributing feedback to make the plan better, and it looks like that is becoming the case. The best response to the plan that I've seen is from Walk/Bike Nashville, so here's a link to that: https://www.walkbikenashville.org/mayor_cooper_s_transportation_plan A few highlights: Equity and Meaningful Community Engagement. Equity should be embedded in the prioritization and selection of projects in a way that is transparent to everyone. As the plan is written now, we have concerns about how and if equity will be central to the selection and implementation of projects. In its current iteration, the plan is so broad most community members cannot give meaningful feedback that is specific to their experiences. Departmental Staffing Levels. Staffing levels at departments responsible for transportation, especially at Metro Public Works and Metro Planning, are at all time low. Goals with Measurable Outcomes, Timelines and Funding. While we applaud the broad goals included in the plan; the plan lacks specific measurable outcomes that will help us understand progress toward those goals. Without a funding plan with identified dedicated revenue sources, we have real doubts about how elements of this plan will ever move forward.

I remembered seeing that further up in Baronakim's post - Here's hoping the old Firestone building doesn't get Jiffy Lube'd too.

This has always interested me too, so i jumped down the rabbit hole - Ellington Parkway, Route 31E used to be part of the old national highway network, in the pre-Interstate Highways era. Apparently Route 31E and Gallatin Road used to be the same corridor. The present-day alignment with access ramps was built during the Parkways era, during Nashville "Urban Renewal" in the 1960s. This is when James Robertson Parkway bulldozed its way through downtown, crossed the river and terminated at the entrance to Ellington Parkway. With the addition of I24 in 1970, the huge spaghetti intersection was born. It takes up about as much space as the central business district. Planning and Transportation agencies have studied the area pretty extensively, and looked at ways to improve it. There's some great PDFs out there, and if I find more I'll add them to the thread. Nashville's pre-interstate aerial view: The old Streetcar Network:

I found a 2019 email from the Civic Design Center about this. The links in the email dont work anymore, but I took some screen shots.

People on the street are looking just as classy

This is a good article about Mayor Cooper's updated Draft Transportation Plan. The only thing off is the last sentence about Metro Council voting on it in Novemeber. I've read other articles that say the plan would be presented to Councilmembers in early 2021. https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pith-in-the-wind/article/21143680/mayors-office-releases-longer-draft-of-transportation-plan?fbclid=IwAR2j5H37vCI7WHn-rE71MnsPbwCkrBZYpf8T8mIboxZlGcW19UfcalDR-w0 Here's a link to an updated draft of Mayor Cooper's Draft Transportation Plan: https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/MayorsOffice/docs/Transportation/Metro-Nashville-Transportation-Plan-2020.pdf?fbclid=IwAR30_Oe_EDyUW2x3m7Lq3sQvKkfwgt_xoostH0eUjatbak2R5JFgjx3HpCc The public comment period is wrapping up soon, on Oct 31st. Here's a link to the survey for more feedback on the draft: https://hub.nashville.gov/s/request-type/a0ut00000015BiqAAE/transportation-plan-survey?language=en_US&fbclid=IwAR2Il3mKxLVYDIi7ReFqqothe4CjWPxBSsH1oQy_jxJzGuLJE-fmA_haMqY These are two Neighborhood Transit Centers. They're referenced in Section 2's "Financial Strategies for Transportation"

The newer building surely has some improved functionality on the inside. From the outside, the architecture isn't doing much. These are the buildings that used to be there.