Nashvillain

I thought I was the bad news thread. I try not to miss any opportunity to point out things that suck

Nashville needs housing. It needs housing along and nearby transit. This would be a good place for that. Who said anything about the Gulch?

The fact that we're getting single-story commercial in this location is such a gross under-utilization of this space

Also, the bike infrastructure is nonexistent, but the tree canopy is miles ahead of Nashville, too

Just spent a couple days in Knoxville. I haven't been back in that city since graduating from UTK in 2003. While there hasn't been a ton of new building in the downtown/old town core, there has been a ton of reuse and reinvestment in the extant building stock. Market Square in particular was a revelation. I'm pretty sure The Tomato Head was the only thing there in 2003 and, surprisingly, it's still there but has been joined by a whole gang of new restaurants and shops. While it hosts the Farmer's Market and was the sight of a community event/concert on Friday night, it didn't need any programmed events to feel like the communal center/living room of the city. Too bad Nashville doesn't have an equivalent space of its own.

C'mon everybody, take the Orange Pill. My MOS was 35B. MI was in the same battalion as the Combat Engineers, our company HQs were right next door, but there was a world of difference!

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/ndot-reveals-5-year-vision-zero-draft-plan-to-keep-pedestrians-safer "Crash deaths in Nashville: 2019: 106 people killed 2020: 114 people killed, despite lower traffic volumes during the pandemic 2021: 131 people killed YTD 2022: 77, which is around 10 more crash deaths than this time last year. Each year, between 30 and 40 of the deaths are people on foot."

Yeah, he makes reference to his hometown of fake London, Canada. He's done vids on how terrible Houston is, etc. He actually moved him and his family to the Netherlands based on how safe and comfortable it is (the whole quality of life thing). But it's a great resource for people to learn about infrastructure in general

Nashville 5-Year Vison Draft Plan from NDOT https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2022-07/NashvilleVZ_ImplementationPlan_FinalDraft.pdf?ct=1658257758

I'll just put this here and see if anyone takes the bait. I've gotten a lot of push back from people suggesting we can never get rid of cars, or it won't happen in our lifetimes, etc., plus suggestions that I take myself to Europe or wherever, but it's important to understand that safe infrastructure is a choice that even we here in America can make. This channel focuses on The Netherlands, but the current infrastructure that allows for such easy and safe multi-modal use is a relatively recent phenomenon which came about after intense public pressure to make roads and streets safer. Hopefully, we're reaching a critical mass here where our leaders will finally have the courage to implement changes to eliminate roadway deaths and injuries for us as well. This is not enough: https://www.newschannel5.com/news/ndot-reveals-5-year-vision-zero-draft-plan-to-keep-pedestrians-safer "Crash deaths in Nashville: 2019: 106 people killed 2020: 114 people killed, despite lower traffic volumes during the pandemic 2021: 131 people killed YTD 2022: 77, which is around 10 more crash deaths than this time last year. Each year, between 30 and 40 of the deaths are people on foot."

Interesting article talking about how small businesses thrive in micro spaces throughout Tokyo: Why Neighborhoods and Small Businesses Thrive in Tokyo https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/tokyo-s-urban-planning-secrets-revealed-in-new-book?cmpid=BBD072222_CITYLAB&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=220722&utm_campaign=citylabdaily

Since we don't have a thread dedicated to parking (I'm sure no one is sad about that except me) I figure this is the best place to post: Oregon Just Slashed Parking Mandates. 5 Things That Might Happen Next https://www.sightline.org/2022/07/22/oregon-just-slashed-parking-mandates-5-things-that-might-happen-next/

It recently happened at Capitol View, so I wouldn't be surprised, but my pessimism knows no bounds

This thread certainly is eye opening. In terms of getting in and out, I'm not a traffic engineer but it seems as though there are at least as many options to get here and get out as there are at Geodis. There's 40 and 440. There's DB Todd, 28th/31st Ave., Rosa Parks, Clarksville Pike, Buena Vista/Trinity Ln, Walter Davis to Centennial BLVD., Briley PKWY. I don't know, doesn't seem all that bad. Would be cool if Metro actually got its thumb out of its a$$ and planned for transit TO A DESTINATION. Maybe Rookzie can dust off his Jefferson Street corridor transit plan and make some alterations and shop it to NDOT, local council member, and the ownership group trying to get this thing built

Praise the gods! I was looking for plans of that development but couldn't find anything. I wonder what kind of bike lanes they're going to be. Painted bike gutters or real protected lanes?

It's ironic that people think moving their families to the burbs will keep them safer, but your kids are more likely to die in an auto accident than they are to suffer random or targeted violence in the inner cities. This has been true for decades and remains true today (in all but a handful of places) even with the uptick in the murder rate the last few years. Keep in mind, about the same number of Americans are killed in road accidents as those who are killed by guns (which includes accidents, suicides, and homicides). As for your soap box sentiments, blaming traffic violence on individual behaviors isn't a productive way to reduce traffic violence. Rather, systematically redesigning our roadways would have a profound impact on roadway violence. See the Netherlands.

Quite a few parking garages, though

Yes exactly. It is terrible planning. It's premised on the fallacy of limitless expansion, resources that never run out, and a climate that isn't reactive to human activity. And you're right, attitudes change and a city, like Seattle, can be transformed. Which is one hopeful model for Nashville

Ok, but nobody here is arguing that you HAVE to ride bikes. Are they? Nobody is saying that you CAN'T drive. Are they? It's amazing that people in other parts of the world are able to ride bikes or walk or take transit YEAR AROUND. They must be such strong, tolerant, and resilient people. Or maybe it's because they and their governments decided that transforming their built environments to make biking, walking, and transit possible, safe, comfortable, and practical, enabled citizens to have a CHOICE about how to navigate their towns and cities in a way that makes the most sense given the circumstances. As opposed to our situation where the ONLY thing that makes sense is driving

I think you'll be alright. As Markholin pointed out, this development includes 2000 spaces. I don't know of any development in Germantown that doesn't include parking. My point is, nothing changes until we actually change things. There won't be viable alternatives unless we create them and that won't happen unless we make space for alternatives. Which, due to the constraints of physical space, would entail the reduction of space for cars and the creation of space for people, bikes, and transit. But, as people keep pointing out, that won't happen overnight, or, like, magically. By which I mean that I think you'll be fine to move to Germantown and bring your car. Full disclosure: I own a car. So does my wife. We live in the world that is even though we'd like for it to be different

I tried not to make any assumptions, which is why I asked what your suggestion would be while trying to articulate my own. I would be curious to know any examples of where cities shut down auto traffic, killed business, then reinstated car traffic. I'm not sure what are the mechanisms you're suggesting for giving the people what they want. I think the people with the most stake in how Nashville develops, changes, or stays the same, are the citizens of Nashville who pay property taxes which is the largest funding source of the government, and who vote for the officials who run the government because their primary residence is Nashville/Davidson County and businesses which pay various taxes and fees to Metro as well. And those aren't just downtown residents and businesses. I don't live downtown. But I don't think tourists or residents of other counties should have a voice in how things are run in Nashville. I wouldn't presume to think I have a voice in how things are run in Williamson County, for example, just because I go there occasionally to visit family and maybe shop at the biggest Best Buy in the area. I don't have a primary residence there and I don't vote in municipal elections there. I'm sure that the people's representatives, Metro Council and the mayor, take into account those different perspectives--businesses and tourists--as those will influence the success or failures of the policies the government implements, but they ultimately answer to the residents of the county because that's who puts them in office.

I was just making a joke about basking in the friendlier confines of bike and transit Twitter. You'll have to do a lot better if your intention is to run me off . But having a friendly conversation with you, as you put it, is difficult because you never argue from the premises of my posts but instead attribute claims to me that I've never said. Like I feel somehow that all cars, trucks, busses (?) and the interstates are going to magically disappear. I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion based on what I actually said. Nor is making fact-free, absolutist claims an argument style that leads anywhere: like "we will never be without them [personal vehicles]... ", and, "we will never have less cars or more bikes." So, end of discussion, right? You win? I think the intended conclusion of this type of argument is that we should do nothing. Also, I should be forgiven for assuming that your badass Dodge Ram is an asinine choice because I just used your words to arrive at that conclusion: "This is America, the land of self Indulgence, bigger the better, testestarone inspiring Automobiles !! It’s a great feeling, I could take you for a ride around town in my big badass RAM heavy duty with its great view high above the normal traffic. It’s a whole new perspective." But yeah, you need it for "work."

Those 2,000 cars will certainly present parking problems in other parts of the city. Anyway, I'll take my act to Twitter for a while where my views will be reinforced in a comforting way.

Nah. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, Nashville will follow D.C.'s lead and jack up the registration fee for asinine vehicles like that

Probably going to flood this thread with articles about bike lanes and safe streets in case anyone is interested: Want To Make Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane https://www.fastcompany.com/90182112/want-to-make-money-build-a-business-on-a-bike-lane