Nashville Bits and Pieces

[Mr_Bond]

Hoping this is the thread for scooters.  Bird recently reported to some downtown leaders that there are now more local residents riding than tourists.  That's a very good indicator for Nashville.

Last week, a young man came to Terrazzo to pick up my daughter for a date... riding a Bird.  He lives in the Rutledge Hill area.  Dropped the scooter here and walked to dinner.

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, Mr_Bond said:

Last week, a young man came to Terrazzo to pick up my daughter for a date... riding a Bird.  He lives in the Rutledge Hill area.  Dropped the scooter here and walked to dinner.

I'm glad he didn't try to fit her on the Bird with him. 

[Mr_Bond]

34 minutes ago, titanhog said:

I'm glad he didn't try to fit her on the Bird with him. 

And I was comforted that there would be no hanky-panky in the back seat of his car.

[UTgrad09]

Those scooters need to be dumped in Lake Palmer.

[CenterHill]

11 hours ago, titanhog said:

^^The fact they did all of that in the 1800's is pretty awesome.  

Yes.   Think of what Nashville was in 1897 and think of the civic initiative  it took from city leaders to envision and undertake something like the Centennial Exposition.    Heck, imagine trying to pull it off today!   

[NashvilleObserver]

33 minutes ago, CenterHill said:

Yes.   Think of what Nashville was in 1897 and think of the civic initiative  it took from city leaders to envision and undertake something like the Centennial Exposition.    Heck, imagine trying to pull it off today!   

Well the Centennial Exposition and International Exposition (World's Fair) were held jointly from May to October. So it was beyond just city leaders involved it was truly a global event.  

Paris built the Eiffel Tower for their World's Fair, Nashville built the world's only full-scale replica of the Parthenon, and Knoxville got the Sun Sphere.

These events (International/Universal Expositions, Columbian Expositions, Pan-American Expositions) were amazingly organized and detailed and there are many fascinating things that happened at each that are worth reading about. 

[Vrtigo]

It's really neat to realize that Tennessee somehow managed to snag two separate World's Fairs in an era when an event of that stature really meant something. Our ease of mobility and interconnectedness today take away a lot of the magic surrounding the event, but it must have been quite a spectacle in generations past.

[Guest]

This is not a slam on Memphis...

 

I am shocked and saddened by the tragic shooting of the leader of the Memphis’ Chamber of Commerce. 

 

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2018/09/27/south-front-shooting-downtown-memphis/1451364002/

 

Quote

 

The president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce was killed Thursday night in a shooting on South Front Street in Downtown Memphis.

The death of Philip H. Trenary, 64, was confirmed by the Chamber and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Sometime before 8 p.m., Memphis police responded to the shooting at 579 South Front St. 

Police described a suspect as a black male with dreadlocks, wearing a blue shirt and driving a white four-door Ford F150.

At the time of the shooting, the Chamber was hosting its annual 4-mile race, Move it Memphis, at nearby Loflin Yard. 

Memphis business and civic leaders reacted with disbelief to the news of Trenary's death.

“Phil was not only a business giant, but he was really part of the heart and soul of the business community. He did everything he could to make sure we had a vibrant community,” said Carolyn Hardy, past chairwoman of the Memphis Chamber and CEO of Chism Hardy Investments. “The loss to this community is huge. It will be felt in every section, whether philanthropic, educational or business. He was a true visionary and he really believed in who we could become.”

Michael Ugwueke, CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, called Trenary a leader in the community and said his loss will reverberate throughout the region.

“This is completely senseless,”  Ugwueke said. “He believed in Memphis. I can’t believe this has happened.  I don’t think we can recover easily from this tragedy.”

 

[memphian]

Very sad for Memphis but that city is broken. I lived there for 16 years (moved back to the Nashville area last month). I’m glad to be gone. This might Really set them back, again.

[Guest]

Happy return to Nashville.

Yes, I lived in Memphis for several years during my childhood....not happy memories.

[WebberThomas4]

I really hate this for the city of Memphis. I got married there, have worked there off and on for the last decade and still have tons of family there. They have some really deep rooted problems that I don’t think many cities in this country could ever understand. Really hope they can pull through this and continue their resurgence. 

[PaulChinetti]

20 hours ago, UTgrad09 said:

Those scooters need to be dumped in Lake Palmer.

Please don't, they are great!

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, PaulChinetti said:

Please don't, they are great!

Yeah...scooters aren't the problem.  It's infrastructure that's the problem.  Dedicated bike lanes are the answer.

[UTgrad09]

8 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Yeah...scooters aren't the problem.  It's infrastructure that's the problem.  Dedicated bike lanes are the answer.

You're right, the scooters aren't the problem. The riders are.

[titanhog]

28 minutes ago, UTgrad09 said:

You're right, the scooters aren't the problem. The riders are.

But they really don't have a great place to ride.  The roadway...vs. autos...is not exactly the perfect place to ride those things.

[Mr_Bond]

38 minutes ago, titanhog said:

But they really don't have a great place to ride.  The roadway...vs. autos...is not exactly the perfect place to ride those things.

Yesterday evening, two scooters passed me on the sidewalk in The Gulch - the guy in the lead going too fast and the girl lagging behind saying, "We should be in the street."  Next time a scooter passes me on the sidewalk, I'm going to say "Please move to the street."

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Mr_Bond said:

"Please move to the street."

Ha, I have said that several times....the general response has been "F-ck you" or a derivative thereof. 



Hell, you just thinks it is funny because you all want to tell me the same occasionally at the monthly meet-ups! ha

 

Edited September 28, 2018 by Guest

[SoundScan]

^^ Same.

[Guest]

Ha, this was just posted by a friend on FB

"Nashville, you're killing me. Walking out of my building, I see a young couple struggling to scan their phone to a pay scooter on the sidewalk. "How goes it?" I say. "It's not [effing] working!" the woman exclaims. The guy shakes his head. She repeats, "This thing is [effed] up!" I say "Good luck," and walk toward Hattie B's. On the way back, I see the woman zipping down the sidewalk toward a busy intersection, with the guy running after. "Woo! These go FAST!" she says. The guy is still shaking his head. "You got it working, eh?" I say. "Yep," he replies, "now I'm just waiting for her to crash it." [Into a pedal tavern, probably...] #MusicCityMadness #BootScooterBoogie"

 

[Tennessine]

@nashville_bound How many of your posts include "ha" ?

Ha!

[smeagolsfree]

We are headed for Scooter Apocalypse. Just saw some joker older than me riding one and almost got squashed in a parking lot. Trust me. I will bet Metro will get fed  up and ban them all again and never to return. 

You can have all the rules you want, but people are too stupid or arrogant to obey them. We will have our first scooter death in the not too distant future.

[GregH]

12 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

You can have all the rules you want, but people are too stupid or arrogant to obey them. 

This is true of Nashville car operators too.

[12Mouth]

21 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

You can have all the rules you want, but people are too stupid or arrogant to obey them. We will have our first scooter death in the not too distant future.

Yeah, I still don't think the scooters are the problem outside of the fact that  we have poor non-auto transportation infrastructure in Nashville.  A high percentage of our population is constantly breaking the rules and not paying attention - cars, peds, scooter riders, etc. With this being a given, I would rather have rule breakers on a 22 pound scooter that maxes out at 15mph than a 2 ton automobile that can do 50+ on a city street.

[Guest]

Ha

[smeagolsfree]

What compounds the problem is the fact that we have a lot of tourists here on vacation not paying attention to anything other than having fun. Lots of out of town drivers here not use to all the distractions, like scooters, golf carts, horse and tractor drawn circuses everywhere you look not to mention drunks and others riding the peddle taverns, and throw in all the downtown workers who get frustrated at the nonsense.

 

Then compound it with all the sidewalks closed due to construction, Metros inability to properly mark intersections, slow drivers down, bad crosswalk markings, inadequate crossing times, not to mention pedestrians not looking, doing stupid stuff like walking and texting or chewing gum..