Nashville Bits and Pieces

[markhollin]

CMA Fest's growing impact on local economy:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/06/04/cma-fest-grows-into-nashville-music-financial-superstar/85056476/

 

[Flatrock]

Great article markhollin.  Thank you for sharing.  :-)

[FromParkAveToTN]

4 hours ago, markhollin said:

CMA Fest's growing impact on local economy:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/06/04/cma-fest-grows-into-nashville-music-financial-superstar/85056476/

 

How much longer are they planning on having this festival?  

[titanhog]

18 minutes ago, FromParkAveToTN said:

How much longer are they planning on having this festival?  

Forever.

[gstory]

I-440 Greenway planned.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson%20/2016/06/06/nashville-seeks-30m--440-greenway/85490588/

[titanhog]

2 minutes ago, gstory said:

I-440 Greenway planned.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson%20/2016/06/06/nashville-seeks-30m--440-greenway/85490588/

I wonder if maybe they would consider repaving 440 before actually paving this greenway?  That would be nice.

[bhibbs]

I went to Cleveland this past weekend and noticed that their exit ramp areas all along every interstate are so much nicer than ours.
the landscaping is beautiful, each bridge incorporated the name of the city that you were passing through in the design.

This was just one of the small things that really impressed me with their city, it was my first time up there and I was really surprised at how nice it is. It really exceeded my expectations.

 

 

[MLBrumby]

Of Nashville's 6 Fortune 500 companies, 5 moved up in the rankings. Delek stayed pretty much where it was last year.  Brookdale is just 15 slots away from cracking the F500.  Maybe next year Nashville will have 7 Fortune 500 HQs. 

From the NBJ:  http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2016/06/nashville-s-fortune-500-companies-reeled-in-more.html

[CenterHill]

10 minutes ago, bhibbs said:

I went to Cleveland this past weekend and noticed that their exit ramp areas all along every interstate are so much nicer than ours.
the landscaping is beautiful, each bridge incorporated the name of the city that you were passing through in the design.

This was just one of the small things that really impressed me with their city, it was my first time up there and I was really surprised at how nice it is. It really exceeded my expectations.

 

 

Glad you brought this up, it's something that's bothered me for a long time.    Nashville's interstate ramps through downtown, and the interstates themselves, are aesthetically horrible.    Garbage, tall weeds, trash trees, crumbling rock, stagnate water, it's a neglected mess.    I hate that this is the first impression of Nashville people get when they arrive here by car, or as they just pass through the city.    

I'm not sure if other states are different, but in TN there seems to be a serious turf battle (no pun) between TDOT and city/county roads.   I get the impression that while Metro Davidson would like to improve the aesthetics of the interstates, TDOT will have none of it.   I remember the extensive median and exit landscaping on 440 "Parkway" when it first opened, and remember watching TDOT mowers mow the trees and shrubs down like weeds rather than mow around them.   And when TDOT needed to do bridge repair on the I-24 overpass over Woodland St, all the young trees in the cloverleaf were cut down so TDOT could stage equipment there (they then planted new ones, some of which have survived).    Similar stories with the community garden along Gale Lane that abutted 440, etc.              

[SoundScan]

TDOT doesn't even have enough funding to build and maintain actual infrastructure, so I imagine landscaping projects are pretty far down the list of priorities. 

[donNdonelson2]

It seems First Tennessee Park is getting some "lipstick" from the creative folks at Nashville Walls Project. It couldn't hurt!

[Neigeville2]

2 hours ago, SoundScan said:

TDOT doesn't even have enough funding to build and maintain actual infrastructure, so I imagine landscaping projects are pretty far down the list of priorities. 

But they have enough to build four lane divided highways to every Potemkin Village in the declining rural wasteland?  Anyway, they don't need to be wantonly destructive.  Our highway landscaping is the worst.  How much can a few crepe myrtles cost?

[smeagolsfree]

You can get them on sale at Wal Mart for about 5 bucks. At least that is where I bought a couple of mine.

[NikOnder]

This is something that has really stood out to me since I recently moved to North  Carolina. Virtually every exit here, at least along 40 has landscaped exits, or at  very least, the exits are fully wooded, rather than being mowed down to grass. This is especially nice for people that live off these exits as often you can't even tell the interstate is there. Of course, nice things come at a cost , overall taxes are a bit higher here. But by the same token, it doesn't seem to me like it would be cheap to bulldoze everything for a square mile before putting in new exits.

Edited June 7, 2016 by NikOnder

[titanhog]

Overall...not a whole lot has changed about our highway infrastructure since I moved here 23 years ago...except for widening lanes.  There are so many things wrong with the way our interstates all run together with no ramps...with short entrances and exits....and some overpasses that haven't been painted since I moved here.  And...to top it...we're beginning to get way behind in repaving the highways...which used to be Tennessee's strong suit.

[Neigeville2]

2 hours ago, NikOnder said:

...or at  very least, the exits are fully wooded, rather than being mowed down to grass. This is especially nice for people that live off these exits as often you can't even tell the interstate is there....

This would be a vast improvement aesthetically to the bare ugly grass.  Wouldn't it be cheaper?

[VSRJ]

Nashville eyes $40M elevated I-440 greenway

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson /2016/06/06/nashville-seeks-30m--440-greenway/85490588/

It would be great to see a map of this (if there isn't already one out there).

[PruneTracy]

18 hours ago, CenterHill said:

I get the impression that while Metro Davidson would like to improve the aesthetics of the interstates, TDOT will have none of it.            

TDOT will let locals landscape interchange areas as long as they maintain them. All of the Brentwood exits on I-65, for example, are landscaped to some degree.

In Nashville, the Jefferson Street interchange on I-40 is heavily streetscaped and Metro even uses the area under the freeway overpass as a heritage park or whatever they call it, all on TDOT right-of-way.

http://www.nashville.gov/Public-Works/Capital-Projects/Jefferson-Street.aspx

Other municipalities have also worked with TDOT to get aesthetic enhancements to structures, e.g., Hall of Fame Drive in Knoxville during SmartFix 40, Crump Boulevard in Memphis (if it ever gets built), etc.

11 hours ago, NikOnder said:

This is something that has really stood out to me since I recently moved to North  Carolina. Virtually every exit here, at least along 40 has landscaped exits, or at  very least, the exits are fully wooded, rather than being mowed down to grass. This is especially nice for people that live off these exits as often you can't even tell the interstate is there.

Part of the problem with this, at least on the on-ramp side, is that drivers on the freeway can't see vehicles entering the freeway until they've nearly reached the merge area. You want to give mainline traffic plenty of opportunity to get out of the right-most lane to accommodate entering traffic, particularly trucks. This is especially true in urban and suburban areas where cloverleaf ramps are more common (lower ramp speed = more speed differential at the merge area) and acceleration lanes tend to be shorter, and/or ramp spacing is closer.

11 hours ago, NikOnder said:

But by the same token, it doesn't seem to me like it would be cheap to bulldoze everything for a square mile before putting in new exits.

It's pretty cheap, it runs about $5,000 an acre. It's also very fun, if you ever find yourself with a bulldozer and some woods that need to go away I highly recommend it.

[GreenHillsBoy]

15 hours ago, Neigeville2 said:

But they have enough to build four lane divided highways to every Potemkin Village in the declining rural wasteland?  Anyway, they don't need to be wantonly destructive.  Our highway landscaping is the worst.  How much can a few crepe myrtles cost?

That is so true, I was recently on a four lane divided highway that goes from around McMinnville north to near Jamestown and for much of the trip at mid day, I was the only one on it.  These rural legislators use their influence for ridiculously outlandish projects that are so over the top for the area's needs, yet look at our four largest cities.  I would also like to know how much is spent shredding any tree that gets remotely near the shoulder of the road, we have the most sheared roadsides in America, and you just know there is a big vendor with power that get's these contracts.  Drive in New England and you have trees that are not one sided like ours, it is crazy.  Also, agree about the exits on interstates, hell, even Alabama does it much better. 

[tragenvol]

1 hour ago, GreenHillsBoy said:

That is so true, I was recently on a four lane divided highway that goes from around McMinnville north to near Jamestown and for much of the trip at mid day, I was the only one on it.

I'm pretty sure there isn't a 4 lane divided highway from McMinnville north to near Jamestown unless you are considering Hwy 111 (CORRIDOR J) which  runs from the TN/KY border (north of Byrdstown) south to Chattanooga and makes for a quick and easy trip from Cookeville to Chattanooga.  Four lane and divided Hwy 70 north east out of McMinnville connects with Hwy 111 just south of Sparta; Hwy 111 has been funded by state partnership with the feds via the Appalachian Regional Commission for the last four or five decades...which means its built where the feds say and nowhere else.

Apologies for going off topic.

[markhollin]

Area home sales are up 3.9% this past month from pace of May, 2015.  Average price is up 10% over the same period:

http://www.nashvillepost.com/business/article/20782013/area-home-sales-inch-up-in-may-prices-make-doubledigit-jump
 

[nashvillwill]

8 hours ago, VSRJ said:

Nashville eyes $40M elevated I-440 greenway

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson /2016/06/06/nashville-seeks-30m--440-greenway/85490588/

It would be great to see a map of this (if there isn't already one out there).

So are the westsiders going to get up in arms about this and begin a "Stop Path" campaign? 40 million dollars from the metro budget won't bother them? It's not a problem is it? If it's money spent to beautify their wealthy neighborhood, is it? It's not a problem if it doesn't connect with "those people", is it? How convenient that it's only on the west side of I-65. Lord mercy, as long as it stops before it gets to Nolensville road, it's perfectly fine. Money well spent. That's what taxes are for, right? To make things nicer for "everyone".

[Flatrock]

Nashvillwill, I have to admit to thinking the same exact thing. We live in Woodbine just off Nolensville Pike. God forbid those people along Nolensville Pike are connected to the old money (and new). Full disclosure : I grew up in Forest Hills. These days, I like to operate in multiple cultures and socio-economic strata. Disappointed to see the Greenway stopping before reaching  'us'. Atlanta's greenway straddled many demographics, methinks....   I'll pursue this one a bit further up the ladder. 

[VSRJ]

^ As does Memphis' Shelby Farms Greenline. It slices through the heart of the city, connecting all sorts of neighborhoods and communities. I always see such an interesting variety of people when I'm on it. That's part of the reason why it's my favorite running spot back home.

I'm not familiar enough with Nashville yet to realize the magnitude of the start/stop locations. That's a real shame that it will cut off -- perhaps it will be extended eventually (Shelby Farms Greenline is nearing completion on an extension toward the Cordova area).

Edited June 8, 2016 by VSRJ

[nashvillwill]

3 hours ago, Flatrock said:

Nashvillwill, I have to admit to thinking the same exact thing. We live in Woodbine just off Nolensville Pike. God forbid those people along Nolensville Pike are connected to the old money (and new). Full disclosure : I grew up in Forest Hills. These days, I like to operate in multiple cultures and socio-economic strata. Disappointed to see the Greenway stopping before reaching  'us'. Atlanta's greenway straddled many demographics, methinks....   I'll pursue this one a bit further up the ladder. 

 

I hear ya. Please don't take my comments the wrong way either. I also like to, as you so eloquently put it, operate in multiple cultures and socio-economic strata. I do think this path would be a fantastic addition to that area. And it would help to right a not-so long ago wrong of that neighborhood being severed by the interstate highway system. But there are countless neighborhoods around this city where that cut runs deeper and longer. Areas that don't have nearly the density of nice parks to connect, as that area does. Sure, I would love to jog/bike from park to park in my hood, but unfortunately, those parks are few and far between and their budgets and landscaping are being slashed as I type. I used the Stop Amp reference as proving point, but I think it holds water. 

 

To summarize, I really do think this is a great idea. I wish we could see more of it around the city. But in my humble opinion, it's a load of horse manure to start in that area.