vinemp

Do those fundamentals include the Japanese Consulate in Palmer Plaza, entities of Nissan North America (i.e. a Headquarters in Cool Springs and plants in Smyrna and Decherd), and a Toyota Motorcorp plant in Georgetown, KY?

And, when you attend, please make sure you present the argument that the pedestrian bridge, however it is ultimately realized, would fill a wide interruption in the street grid that Gulch Crossings will not remedy. Yep, I am doubtful that this is a project that should be put on the back burner for too much longer. There's too much promise in it. If the next city administration is going to seriously look at making Nashville more friendly to alternative forms of transportation (i.e. biking and walking), then they are going to have to consider what it means to get around sans an automobile, which is more than just hoofin' or pedalin' just because it's trendy or makes one feel more urban. For example, Leif mentioned taking Uber instead of walking. Well, that's überneat that he can elect to do so. But why shouldn't he and other Gulch residents be afforded a more direct route to SoBro et al. without calling a car service or driving? If these two areas are meant to be more than just up and coming, they're going to need to be better connected. Period. (This includes the realization of the Division St. extension.) And, let's not forget, Gulch residents are not the only ones who mean to move about the Gulch and SoBro---some people need to park and walk. That means that visitors need to be able to find a safe place to leave their autos, which is clearly only going to grow more difficult in the Gulch as development rolls along, and walk to and from and around n' bout their destinations (e.g. from the clearly more ample parking lots directly across the railroad tracks at Cannery Row).

I can recognize Element and what I presume to be the future Virgin Hotel near it, but what are the other buildings?

I wonder if we underestimate the place of so-called vanity projects in the city---as catalysts for growth and development. It is easy to critique their place as public art pieces, tout their usefulness for tourists; however, I find it peculiar that we don't often immediately appreciate their place as magnets for talent. We do not lack precedent. (Pick any beautiful, popular, successful city!) People don't simply enjoy visiting cities that look nice and have nice things; people are compelled to move to those cities, explore life in those cities, build careers in those cities, raise families in those cities, and invest in a sense of civic pride in those cities that their posterity inherits in the form of their very identity. In short, to ignore the affective elements of the built environment has ne'er been the best public policy. In fact, to do so has been/is just plum dumb.

True: there is a need in discourse on civic development to address public sentiment. But that, in no way, should mean that everybody's knee-jerk reactions get validated. I wonder what the municipal laws say about pedestrian traffic in Bellingham. Those drivers may be more mindful of the stick (i.e. penalties) than the carrot (i.e. feeling like a pedestrian-conscious and, therefore, a good person). That is joyously the case in Brussels, where a pedestrian crossing the street has the absolute right of way. Now, it helps that there are ample pedestrian crossings at more than just intersections. I mean, there are areas where pedestrian crossings function as veritable speed bumps! And, in no way, are Brusseleers/Brusselaar/Bruxellois drivers all happy to stop for you...but they certainly effin' do!

Ah, that's grand! (Seriously, seeing this photo just gave me a rush of excitement. Oh, what will be...)

Did [insert first person] miss this earlier? Cumberland Corner

Right on! Of all the cities to miss, they omit Memphis and Detroit? We're talking important American epicenters of musical effluence, and they omit Memphis and Detroit?! The Foo Fighters can remember one of the great American musical traditions (i.e. jazz), but they forget the other, arguably far more influential, tradition(s)? Flag on play.

You may attribute too much to the virtues of big box prohibition. (And you had to ignore the demographic dissimilarities between Berkeley and Nashville to do it.)

To reply in a scatterbrained fashion... Apples and oranges are still fruit: even as one would never mistake their species, they share substantial similarities. I'm not gonna dump on Ike, but I do mean to slap a few of you on the wrists for omitting important elements in your mass-transit/the Amp/legislative/political arguments. Pres. Eisenhower appointed Charles Wilson, President of General Motors, to the position of Secretary of Defense prior to the implementation of our interstate system. Prior to that appointment, however, GM et al. had long since formally (i.e. as a matter of long-term documented company policy) contrived to dismantle mass transit in tens of cities across the United States. To add insult to injury, those mass transit infrastructures were quite "progressive" by our current standard (i.e. We are ultimately scrambling to reclaim what we once had in veritable abundance and play catch up to cities around the world that got wise over 50 years ago.) No one who's ever lived in a city with dedicated streetcar/bus lanes would ever argue that they cause congestion that would otherwise not exist. However, those same persons may comment on how frightfully expeditiously people of all ages from all SES brackets can get around those cities--to and from home, school, work, and play. (And I don't think anyone remembering the "Southern Strategy" could look upon our GOP's general discursive practices without great suspicion...and not just a bit of disdain.)

Wow. How did the REI design get the shaft? Surely, the NMAAM could be included, even in this fantasy version. (I mean, I can already see the H&M on the 5th Ave. corner.) Whatever the project, that entire end of Broadway would do so well to be opened up at the street level. Windows! Lights! People!

I missed another one?!

I stand corrected...and surprised.

The design recommendation addressed "residential scale expression", not actual residences.

So, Gateway Blvd. will be completed (i.e. extended to 8th Ave.)!!

That's just it: a city is not rural, by definition. There are ways cities develop while maintaining land it its natural state--parks. For, "city" also implies an [organization] of landuse.

Cities grow, or they die. I think that these negotiations will (should?) quickly boil down to what is appropriate for the [greater good] of Nashville. Especially in a major city, the greater good is often synonymous with a steady, but manageable population growth, ample business development and commerce, a favorable employment rate, and bountiful tax revenues. Nashville-Davidson County, the state [capital] and consolidated municipality in which Bells Bend is located, is a major U.S. city, now. I do not believe those Bells Bend residents opposing the May Town Center development truly fathom what it is they are fighting: namely, the greater good. Forty thousand jobs and $63.8-$99.5million in tax revenues is no mere trifle of good to Nashville, a growing city, with not only an apparently severely limited budget, but a dynamic city that severely needs to improve its infrastructure. As such, the greater good must not be ignored.

I wonder how successful the Star would have been were the first leg to have run the Southeast Corridor... The benefits of mass transit are clear, I believe. But, I fear most Americans have adopted a typically ambivalent, sometimes antagonistic, view of public transportation--much like our view of Western art. For example, the average American feels no relationship to classical music and makes no effort to expose themselves to such 'foreign' art based on common misconceptions and mythical (yet actualized) cultural disconnections. In other words, we may be resistant to difference (i.e. giving up automobile independency to sit next to our neighbors on a railcar as we head in the same direction to and from work each day). Actually, it may be that we are simply resistant to learning (i.e. allowing ourselves to conceive, develop, realize and enact different methods of improving our way of life as a metropolitan community rather than as individuals milling about in a populous desert). I would like to apply Gov. Bredesen's statements regarding the [much-awaited] smoking ban to this subject and assert that the Southeast Corridor should develop some "high performance transit alternatives", if only because the government has a responsibility to care for its environment and its citizens.

I've missed another one?! (You'd think I'd get a clue.)

Not only skyscrapers, but also population, economic growth and development, urban renewal, education reform... We are FINALLY seing the fruits of the Reconstruction. Better yet, this is our Renaissance. Before the Civil War, the South had some fine (I don't want to say European, but that's the imagery that comes to mind, really.) cities that were every bit an urbanist's dream. Of course, most were destroyed. Now, all we have to do is keep our kids from dropping their accents and running off to other areas of the country just cause they think the grass is greener without the "Southern stigma". They should want to remain here and live their lives well---raise families, spend their money, help future generations. When this happens the South will have reached the top. Not only skyscrapers, but also population, economic growth and development, urban renewal, education reform... We are FINALLY seing the fruits of the Reconstruction. Better yet, this is our Renaissance. Before the Civil War, the South had some fine (I don't want to say European, but that's the imagery that comes to mind, really.) cities that were every bit an urbanist's dream. Of course, most were destroyed. Now, all we have to do is keep our kids from droppin their accents and runnin off to other areas of the country just cause they think the grass is greener without the "Southern stigma". They should want to remain here and live their lives well---raise families, spend their money, help future generations. When this happens the South will have reached the top.

Oh, I was referring to the photo at the beginning of this thread.

It would appear that Signature's latest depiction was conceived according to the "bigger is better" routine (with all the implications of how that mentality has shaped American culture). The again, maybe his enthusiasm altered his judgement or he just desided to cap the parking garage with the building instead of having it attached. Either way, I think this latest design is too much like the first--ambitious and obtrusive. Someone previously mentioned that, for that height, several other buildings could be erected to fill the gaps in the CBD created by parking lots. I second that emotion. I was pleased with the second rendering. The crown made all the difference! The reduced height was still taller than any other building Downtown, yet it seemed more appropriate. Rather than steal the glory of our skyline for itself, that version of Signature Tower complemented Downtown's existing structures. It presented another jewel for our crown--another flower to add to our diverse bouquet. Our skyline appeared more balanced in that vision. Mr. Giarratana should strongly consider the merits of that design.

I am anxious for the Music City Star to get up and moving too. It's clear to us all that this will be a positive step FORWARD for Nashville and Middle Tennessee. I just wonder if we'll be able to deal with it--socially. Endeavours such as this challenge a rural/suburban-minded culture. People are so accustomed to driving everywhere (and searching/fighting/paying for parking when they arrive). Maybe rising gasoline prices will provide the necessary impetus to get people off the ever-clogged interstates and onto commuter trains. Additionally, I pray for the day Nashville proper develops a more extensive and efficient mass transit system. It'd be nice to give commuters and Nashvillians a viable means of traversing the city.