Inner Loop - CBD, Downtown, East Bank, Germantown, Gulch, Rutledge

[Luvemtall]

A better job on upkeep is definitely needed by all municipalities and state agencies, and also the general public! As mentioned above, I also see debris blowing or falling from improperly secured or tarped vehicles from both commercial and private vehicles . As a longtime commercial driver, that ticks me off when I see truckers and their employers not taking the responsibility to check their loads and maintain proper equipment and procedures. It’s all part of the job requirements, and shouldn’t be overlooked. As far as the municipal side , as Smeags mentioned they do a lousy job at it. I recently traveled back up to Smith County to visit over the holidays, traveling on I-40 and without vegetation to block the view I couldn’t help but notice the large amount of debris still scattered along the edge of the ROW from the tornado back 3 years ago! I’m talking about large sections of metal roofing twisted like pretzels, insulation material, etc all embedded in the multiple fallen trees lining the shoulders. Clean that damn crap up! A bulldozer and dump trucks and a few hours later it’s a good looking clean safe environment. It’s not rocket science, just a little effort. As far as along the intercity interstate, a vacuum truck with adequate support from a safety crew can do wonders, working though the slower overnight hours they can traverse long distances in short hours. It’s a sad situation that these things are happening , when it’s really not that hard to keep up with it.

[markhollin]

Looks like The Listening Room will be relocating to 801 Ewing St.  Chris Blair )owner of Listening room) has purchased the 20,920 sq. ft. warehouse (circa 198s) on .6 acre from Mike Borum for $9.45 million. Listening Room is currently at 618 4th Ave. South, where they lease.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:
 

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/live-music-venue-owner-buys-in-pie-town/article_485aeb32-ae7d-11ee-85e5-9f9280961b67.html
 

[smeagolsfree]

Treg Warner owns the current location and I do not look for him to let that property go. I may be surprised but unless the property is at a premium, he will hold on to it and I do not see buyers standing in line to buy right now. It is a great location, and I may be surprised.

[dmillsphoto]

On 1/9/2024 at 9:39 AM, markhollin said:

Looks like The Listening Room will be relocating to 801 Ewing St.  Chris Blair )owner of Listening room) has purchased the 20,920 sq. ft. warehouse (circa 198s) on .6 acre from Mike Borum for $9.45 million. Listening Room is currently at 618 4th Ave. South, where they lease.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:
 

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/live-music-venue-owner-buys-in-pie-town/article_485aeb32-ae7d-11ee-85e5-9f9280961b67.html
 

It delights me to no end that the Chromatics warehouse is getting repurposed.
art fact: the mural was done by an artist named Tackz and dates back to May of 1993, making it among the oldest of public art murals in the city.

[markhollin]

Street vendors will now be barred from a larger area of Nashville's downtown entertainment district.

Metro Nashville's Transportation and Parking Commission approved an expanded map of restricted streets Monday, adding approximately 15 blocks to the vending exclusion zone after business owners complained that vendors had set up on too-narrow sidewalks outside of their establishments.

The new map prohibits street vending between Union Street and Peabody Street, along the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and from Ninth Avenue to the Cumberland River.

"There's a potential plan long-term to define specific vending areas for people, but that is far down the pipe at this point," Downtown Councilmember Jacob Kupin said. "So given that it will take some time, and given that this (restricted) area already exists and looking at the disruption to the sidewalks as they currently exist, we felt this was the best way to address it."

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2024/01/10/nashville-expands-downtown-area-prohibiting-street-vendors/72155566007/

[andywildman]

2 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Street vendors will now be barred from a larger area of Nashville's downtown entertainment district.

Metro Nashville's Transportation and Parking Commission approved an expanded map of restricted streets Monday, adding approximately 15 blocks to the vending exclusion zone after business owners complained that vendors had set up on too-narrow sidewalks outside of their establishments.

The new map prohibits street vending between Union Street and Peabody Street, along the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and from Ninth Avenue to the Cumberland River.

"There's a potential plan long-term to define specific vending areas for people, but that is far down the pipe at this point," Downtown Councilmember Jacob Kupin said. "So given that it will take some time, and given that this (restricted) area already exists and looking at the disruption to the sidewalks as they currently exist, we felt this was the best way to address it."

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2024/01/10/nashville-expands-downtown-area-prohibiting-street-vendors/72155566007/

This sounds more like a Right-of-Way allocation issue, where we need to allocate more space from cars and give it to pedestrians and vendors. This will just push complaints out to different areas.

[Luvemtall]

21 minutes ago, andywildman said:

This sounds more like a Right-of-Way allocation issue, where we need to allocate more space from cars and give it to pedestrians and vendors. This will just push complaints out to different areas.

How about the street vendors buy or rent a piece of property, let’s say a surface parking lot and set up a vendors village and then the pedestrians will have open sidewalks to use without vendors blocking them. Again as we been discussing over on the transportation thread, why is it that the solution to all the problems that arise, immediately goes to eliminating the roadway for vehicles! No, that’s not the answer. How about we eliminate street vending, have them get the proper license and setup a storefront just like legitimate businesses do.

[PruneTracy]

52 minutes ago, andywildman said:

This sounds more like a Right-of-Way allocation issue, where we need to allocate more space from cars and give it to pedestrians and vendors. This will just push complaints out to different areas.

20 minutes ago, Luvemtall said:

How about the street vendors buy or rent a piece of property, let’s say a surface parking lot and set up a vendors village and then the pedestrians will have open sidewalks to use without vendors blocking them. Again as we been discussing over on the transportation thread, why is it that the solution to all the problems that arise, immediately goes to eliminating the roadway for vehicles! No, that’s not the answer. How about we eliminate street vending, have them get the proper license and setup a storefront just like legitimate businesses do.

I'd be more sympathetic to the street vendors if it wasn't 90% CBD and t-shirts being sold to Broadway tourists. Don't care if they sell stuff on the street but not exactly a produce stand either.

Wasn't 2nd Avenue originally called Market Street?

[markhollin]

The bulk of the units at downtown residential high-rise Capitol Towers — the only non-government building located on the city's Capitol Hill — has been listed for sale for an undisclosed asking price.

Opened in 1959 and sitting on approximately 1.83 acres in the shadow of the Tennessee State Capitol, the modernist 12-story building is located at 510 Gay St.

According to marketing materials, Capitol Towers offers 219 residential units, six commercial spaces and 205 parking spaces (most within a structured garage). The offering is for 172 of the total units (representing almost 80 percent of the homeowners association) and the commercial spaces. The non-residential tenants in the building, with their spaces fronting James Robertson Parkway, are owned and operated by the individual who is seeking to sell.

The Post was unable to identify the owner of the for-sale spaces. That individual acquired the listed portion of Capitol Towers in 1992 and undertook some upgrades at that time.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/downtown-residential-high-rise-units-listed-for-sale/article_06647b9a-afcb-11ee-bda1-839cf8e7bc4b.html
 

[donNdonelson2]

Capitol Towers is a building that was, I’m sure, once a nice residential structure. A handsome modernist building in the worst of places. That building should be purchased by the state and demolished, leaving that corner an extension of the Capitol Hill green space. (If that’s not to be, as I suspect, I hope the building will be cleaned up and restored to its former mid century glory.)

[PaulChinetti]

A high rise with balconies, something of a unicorn these days. 

[smeagolsfree]

Why is it I still see sidewalk vendors selling their crap on the sidewalks with the cops walking right on by when I am downtown. This was as recently as 6 months ago when the weather was warmer right at 5th & Broad.

[BnaBreaker]

9 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

Why is it I still see sidewalk vendors selling their crap on the sidewalks with the cops walking right on by when I am downtown. This was as recently as 6 months ago when the weather was warmer right at 5th & Broad.

I thought sidewalk vendors were just a normal part of city life... never occurred to me that some people would see them as some sort of menace ... I must be missing something?

[FrankNash]

^^^Other than festivals and large gatherings I agree that vendors should be banned from downtown.  It takes away sales from retail businesses that are paying premium rates in the city center.

[BnaBreaker]

1 hour ago, FrankNash said:

^^^Other than festivals and large gatherings I agree that vendors should be banned from downtown.  It takes away sales from retail businesses that are paying premium rates in the city center.

I mean, I suppose?  I guess I should clarify though what sort of vendors we're actually referring to here, because when I hear the term "sidewalk vendor" I just tend to think of like an old lady selling tamales or something.  

Edited January 12 by BnaBreaker

[smeagolsfree]

The sidewalks are very crowded and force folks to walk in the streets at some choke points and those are right where these folks sell their worthless trinkets.

I really never noticed these folks until the last couple of years either. This is sort of a new thing too. Selling CBD oil, cheap jewelry and other things on tables set up on the sidewalks.

3 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

I thought sidewalk vendors were just a normal part of city life... never occurred to me that some people would see them as some sort of menace ... I must be missing something?

Not sure when the last time you were downtown, but on busy days the last thing you need is a table blocking your path trying to get through 500 people to cross the street.

[BnaBreaker]

50 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

The sidewalks are very crowded and force folks to walk in the streets at some choke points and those are right where these folks sell their worthless trinkets.

I really never noticed these folks until the last couple of years either. This is sort of a new thing too. Selling CBD oil, cheap jewelry and other things on tables set up on the sidewalks.

Not sure when the last time you were downtown, but on busy days the last thing you need is a table blocking your path trying to get through 500 people to cross the street.

Ahh gotcha... yeah I mean if you're talking somebody just selling plastic junk in the middle of a Broadway sidewalk at the height of business hours, then okay, yeah I get what youre on about now.  I just had the wrong image in my mind, I think.  

[Luvemtall]

8 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Ahh gotcha... yeah I mean if you're talking somebody just selling plastic junk in the middle of a Broadway sidewalk at the height of business hours, then okay, yeah I get what youre on about now.  I just had the wrong image in my mind, I think.  

Yeah,  it’s more than a person with a hot dog cart. 

[smeagolsfree]

9 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Ahh gotcha... yeah I mean if you're talking somebody just selling plastic junk in the middle of a Broadway sidewalk at the height of business hours, then okay, yeah I get what youre on about now.  I just had the wrong image in my mind, I think.  

No worries. It now gets crazy downtown especially on the weekends. I try not to venture out into the mess but every now and again it happens.

[chc3]

Although I live in Germantown, I don’t think I’ve been at a joint on Lower Broad in 9 years.

[Rick Dalton]

it's because the guys on the sidewalk downtown are selling fake sham marijuana products. Keep the hot dogs though 

[BnaBreaker]

3 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

No worries. It now gets crazy downtown especially on the weekends. I try not to venture out into the mess but every now and again it happens.

Haha completely understandable!

[bnacincy]

On 1/11/2024 at 10:45 PM, smeagolsfree said:

The sidewalks are very crowded and force folks to walk in the streets at some choke points and those are right where these folks sell their worthless trinkets.

I really never noticed these folks until the last couple of years either. This is sort of a new thing too. Selling CBD oil, cheap jewelry and other things on tables set up on the sidewalks.

Not sure when the last time you were downtown, but on busy days the last thing you need is a table blocking your path trying to get through 500 people to cross the street.

I kinda like having the street vendors there....particularly the ones selling hot dogs, gyros...etc.

But Lower Broad does get crowded so it would probably be best to keep them  just off Broadway...3rd-4th Avenues and also have them on Commerce Street where the foot traffic isn't as heavy and the sidewalks are wide.

The food vendors perform a useful function in that food consumption after a night out drinking can help folks sober up-necessary in a car culture such as ours.

 

[Auntie Yock]

On 1/14/2024 at 7:09 PM, bnacincy said:

The food vendors perform a useful function in that food consumption after a night out drinking can help folks sober up-necessary in a car culture such as ours.

At least it adds density to your 5am projectile vomiting.

[markhollin]

900 Division St. (7 stories, 22 units, ground level retail, internal garage) update: more pillars rising.

Looking SE from 10th Ave. South,  1/3 block north of Division St: