Nashville Bits and Pieces

[Baronakim]

This photo is of a building  housing a "School for Young Ladies" in East Nashville that has been long demolished for a Metro school (Cora Howe ) over on Greenwood Avenue.    On another popular forum. "I Remember Nashville When..."  there are often posted photographic gems  of Nashville buildings from decades past or even centuries past similarly to those posted by folks like Mark here.   We all enjoy them and often I will repost one here myself.  Many times though, these are photos of buildings that are "in danger" of being demolished for some new project of which most of us on this forum are very much in favor.   The difference between the two forums is that on the other, there is a great deal of whining, bemoaning and hand wringing in opposition to demolitions .  Often remarks are very acrimonious.  An example of which was the house that was demolished for the hotel and residential towers at 19th & Broadway.   One of the reasons I am on this very sentimental forum is that there are many folks there that I think would both enjoy and would be valuable members of our forum, so I do slip in statements to entice them to look into joining ours.    One of my recent repies on the other forum, as is often the case,  consists  on folks there bemoaning loss of old Nashville buildings...in this case one in East Nashville razed over 40 years ago.   We here drool over new skyscrapers, but they salivate readily  over the old ones pretty quickly.  Most say folks like us are "destroying" or "ruining" Nashville and vehemently blame Metro, developers and anyone but themselves for their own neglect  of the deterioration of their beloved city until it is too late to deal with the problems.  Some of their recent issues have been, the Louise apartments and the Soda Shop over on Elliston Place.  WE share our disdain for the demo of the apartments because we think the hotel proposal is a piece of crap; THEY are horrified at losing three shining jewels in Nashville Historys crown.  Same with the Soda Shop and now the Exit In.   Here are my comments I posted recently on "I Remember Nashville When..." in an effort to make some folks understand why "historic" buildings must come down for new.    I think these reasons are much more well understood with our members than theirs as well as the fact that there are over 40K members on that forum compared to ours.  Also a huge part of theirs are just folks expressing their love of their personal memories of Nashville and want no change to ever happen here.   I hope my comment helps them realize why some buildings must come down for new.

" Pretty much ANY of these buildings had issues beyond maintenance in a time period after WW1 that NO ONE had the resources to keep them in repair or convert them to what was then modern electrical or plumbing standards. A great many of the "historic" buildings many folks wring their hands and whine constanly over have another half century or more of neglect on top of that catastrophe. By and large, they stand vacant, uninsulated, contaminated by lead paint, asbestos and black mold, plus crumbling plaster interior walls that cannot be repaired, but must be taken out and replaced as well as all of the aforementioned systems. A problem most folks on this forum do NOT appreciate is that getting repairs to these old buildings, if the repair is greater than a certain value or percent of the existing, ALL systems must be FULLY upgraded to current building, plumbing, electrical, structural codes, which also must go through an elaborate and expensive decontamination process before any restoration can even begin. THIS is why so many are just bulldozed...there are few uses that justify such expense. Most of the time the value of the land itself is far beyond the value of a fully restored building after huge restoration expense. Owners do not care (and rightfully so) if others bewail taking them down just because some folks think they are pretty or pleasing as they drive by. There are often overriding issues of public safety, crime and health including structural instability, squatters like homeless and drug users and vermin infestation involved. When a building is truely of historic heritage, I FULLY support public interest and involvement to preserve it and find new uses for it. However, when so many on this forum decide that something is "historic" and "must" be saved, I suggest that you get up the cash to buy it and pay for all the expense of a restoration instead of moaning about "your loss" if it is destroyed. Nashville has a great many of beautifully restored and maintained buildings and historic neighborhoods. There are also a lot of rotting buildings that are vacant and derilect. If you want them saved, put your money where your mouth is and stop mindlessly blaming Metro and developers. They are not going to tear down Cheekwood or the Belle Meade mansion or Traveller's Rest but no owner is going to restore buildings just so some folks can get bargain housing in old apartment buildings or crumbling Victorians just to make them pretty to look at as you drive by. I would ask some members on this forum, must EVERY building past a certain age be preserved because it evokes your memories of the past? Or do you like to see the city dotted with boarded up old buildings that no one wants to use anymore? I personally don't think so. And for any outraged trolls who will try to demean my opinion by saying "You must not be a native, when did you move here?" or "What developer do you have a deal with?. These are standard throwaway responses, that I will ignore as deserved. I was born here in 1947 and I am retired and am not involved with any Nashville real estate. If you want to troll or disparage my comment, I suggest you do so to someone who cares. Relevent and reasoned comments or questions are welcomed."

Edited March 18, 2021 by Baronakim
spelling

[smeagolsfree]

20 hours ago, Binbin98 said:

Open your third eye!

No but seriously Nashville’s tech sector has growth at an insane rate recently, I think the arrival of Amazon fully soon will help speed it up even more. In Miami things are the same way, California needs a lifeline.

I heard potential hire numbers and they  are impressive, but I can’t repeat them in public. We need a lot more companies like this to open offices here.

[samsonh]

20 hours ago, Binbin98 said:

Open your third eye!

No but seriously Nashville’s tech sector has growth at an insane rate recently, I think the arrival of Amazon fully soon will help speed it up even more. In Miami things are the same way, California needs a lifeline.

Ehh, California is doing pretty well, a 26 billion dollar budget surplus last year.  Economy that would rank as 5th largest country. Creating the largest and most profitable companies in the world. If everyone was like them we would be much better off. 

[bigeasy]

16 minutes ago, samsonh said:

Ehh, California is doing pretty well, a 26 billion dollar budget surplus last year.  Economy that would rank as 5th largest country. Creating the largest and most profitable companies in the world. If everyone was like them we would be much better off. 

Ehh, not really. The surplus has less to do with them doing "pretty well", and more to do with the cuts they made in spending  along with the federal aid during pandemic.  Who knows how much income they are losing with companies like HP, Oracle, Elon Musk, etc leaving the state. 

[samsonh]

2 hours ago, bigeasy said:

Ehh, not really. The surplus has less to do with them doing "pretty well", and more to do with the cuts they made in spending  along with the federal aid during pandemic.  Who knows how much income they are losing with companies like HP, Oracle, Elon Musk, etc leaving the state. 

Well that just is not true. Not going to debate you on this. It takes a google search to understand why revenue for California is way up, and it has zero to do with federal aid. California keeps producing billion dollar companies, if Tennessee could do the same on a smaller scale we would be ecstatic. California has world class education that produces the talent these companies need, we do not.

[bigeasy]

2 hours ago, samsonh said:

Well that just is not true. Not going to debate you on this. It takes a google search to understand why revenue for California is way up, and it has zero to do with federal aid. California keeps producing billion dollar companies, if Tennessee could do the same on a smaller scale we would be ecstatic. California has world class education that produces the talent these companies need, we do not.

It most certainly is true and if you google it you would see everything I stated is a fact. The state prepared by cutting their spending and pulled from their savings. Which are both smart things to do when you think income is going to drop. Then add in some federal aid (all states received this benefit) and a pandemic that didn’t impact the wealthy as much and you have increased revenue. Also, the stock market is above pre pandemic levels. California taxes capital gains and has a tax code that relies heavily on the rich. End result is a surplus.

I think you are reading/interpreting that I am dogging the state but I am not. I love parts of California, it has some great higher education schools, and does produce some good companies. But it also lost 1.2m jobs and has a job recovery rate towards the bottom. The wealthy are doing great there, and also are leaving. 

[samsonh]

1 hour ago, bigeasy said:

It most certainly is true and if you google it you would see everything I stated is a fact. The state prepared by cutting their spending and pulled from their savings. Which are both smart things to do when you think income is going to drop. Then add in some federal aid (all states received this benefit) and a pandemic that didn’t impact the wealthy as much and you have increased revenue. Also, the stock market is above pre pandemic levels. California taxes capital gains and has a tax code that relies heavily on the rich. End result is a surplus.

I think you are reading/interpreting that I am dogging the state but I am not. I love parts of California, it has some great higher education schools, and does produce some good companies. But it also lost 1.2m jobs and has a job recovery rate towards the bottom. The wealthy are doing great there, and also are leaving. 

Agreed they have had an uneven recovery, and capital gains are the main reason for the surplus. Federal aid has not played a role, just spent some further time researching it. California has exported wealth and people for decades. This is not a new phenomenon. It will continue to happen, because they are a great incubator of young companies. 

[LA_TN]

Ok, I have to say it's time to get back on track. Thanks

[bigeasy]

10 hours ago, samsonh said:

Agreed they have had an uneven recovery, and capital gains are the main reason for the surplus. Federal aid has not played a role, just spent some further time researching it. California has exported wealth and people for decades. This is not a new phenomenon. It will continue to happen, because they are a great incubator of young companies. 

Thanks for chatting and keeping it civil. I hope I did as well.  I honestly hate coming across as confrontational, and really struggle with that.  Hence why you will rarely see me get involved in anything on here. So it is nice when the conversation doesn't turn into finger pointing or just anger. Have a good day!

Edited March 19, 2021 by bigeasy

[titanhog]

Not that I want us to be like Atlanta…but I do hope we can eventually land a few towers with crowns and proper lighting like these.  We could really use some height and a crown or two to set off the skyline.

Edited March 22, 2021 by titanhog

[BnaBreaker]

22 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Not that I want us to be like Atlanta…but I do hope we can eventually land a few towers with crowns and proper lighting light these.  We could really use some height and a crown or two to set off the skyline.

Totally agreed... such a beautiful skyline.  There are certainly things about Atlanta I wouldn't want us to emulate, but on the flip side there are things about it I feel are well worth emulating, and their skyline is definitely one of those things.

[MLBrumby]

Nashville building permit values broke record last year with $4.66 billion worth of permits

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/03/22/2020-sets-record-building-permits.html

The Metro Codes Department dealt $4.66 billion worth of permits in 2020, according to internal data. The figure — which includes new residential, commercial and “other” construction, as well as repairs — is a 10.6%, or nearly $447 million, increase from 2019.

[jkc2j]

Did a quick Google search on Nashville's MSA population estimates and saw this site https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/23077/nashville/population have it listed as 1,272,000? Not sure if they're using numbers from the census but if I recall Nashville hadn't been that size since the late 90's early 2000's.

Edited March 22, 2021 by jkc2j

[titanhog]

12 minutes ago, jkc2j said:

Did a quick Google search on Nashville's MSA population estimates and saw this site https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/23077/nashville/population have it listed as 1,272,000? Not sure if they're using numbers from the census but if I recall Nashville hadn't been that size since the late 90's early 2000's.

Yeah…that’s WAY off.  We’re right at 2 million.

[MLBrumby]

11 minutes ago, jkc2j said:

Did a quick Google search on Nashville's MSA population estimates and saw this site https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/23077/nashville/population have it listed as 1,272,000? Not sure if they're using numbers from the census but if I recall Nashville hadn't been that size since the late 90's early 2000's.

Yeah! That's wrong by a long shot. That website is often wrong.  The MSA is probably going to be just over 2M, as long as the counties don't change. There's some talk that they may change, but not likely to happen by the time the 2020 stats are release (very soon... I think July).  

[chris holman]

What is the accuracy population of Nashville in 2021 metropolitan and city numbers?

[markhollin]

William Williams, Managing Editor of The Nashville Post (and our very own EastSideUrbanite), interviews local developer Tyler Cauble.

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/nashville-post-magazine/article/21146716/in-charge-talks-tyler-cauble
 

[markhollin]

Educational Media Foundation (EMF), which is the parent organization for the K-LOVE and Air1 radio networks (close to 1,000 stations nationwide)  will be moving its HQ from Sacramento, CA to Nashville,  bringing around 300 jobs to the area.  The move will happen over a 3 year period.  They are still selecting the site for their new campus. 

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/03/25/christian-radio-business-hq.html

And the Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/religion/2021/03/24/parent-company-of-christian-radios-k-love-and-air-1-moving-to-nashville/6973101002/

[MLBrumby]

Maybe a teaser to a new thread for Nashville's Mid-Century Modern buildings. I stumbled across this site for the MCM architecture in each state. Here's the first page for Tennessee...   https://www.roadarch.com/modarch/tn.html

Includes examples from different cities. Memphis has a ton! For Nashville, buildings included are:

Ben West (old library) building

News Channel 5 building

Sheraton Downtown

Regions "gold dome" Branch building

Donelson Christian Church (may have been destroyed by tornado)

Goodlettsville Baptist Church

Municipal Auditorium

Pagoda of Medicine

And a feature from WPLN on Nashville's 2020 Tornado, a year later... https://wpln.org/post/the-tennessee-tornadoes-of-2020-one-year-later/

Edited March 27, 2021 by MLBrumby

[donNdonelson2]

I think the building that once housed the Donelson Christian Church is now the Catholic Church of Korean Martyrs. It stands at the corner of Lebanon Pike and Fairway Drive. Photo from Google Maps  Street View.

[donNdonelson2]

L&C tower would be an appropriate addition to this list! (In fact, it’s rather surprising that it is NOT on the list.)

[downtownresident]

Things sound pretty bad in SE Nashville tonight. Hoping that everyone is staying safe tonight. 

[titanhog]

Watching News2 and I-24 near Hickory Hollow under water again (like 2010) with cars underwater.  Cumberland River rising.  Don’t think the Cumberland will do what it did in 2010…but it sure does remind us all how quickly things can change…and just how important it’s going to be to add a flood wall in downtown.  Also…has got to make all developers on the east bank (like River North) think twice.

[downtownresident]

3 hours ago, titanhog said:

Watching News2 and I-24 near Hickory Hollow under water again (like 2010) with cars underwater.  Cumberland River rising.  Don’t think the Cumberland will do what it did in 2010…but it sure does remind us all how quickly things can change…and just how important it’s going to be to add a flood wall in downtown.  Also…has got to make all developers on the east bank (like River North) think twice.

Thankfully the Cumberland is expected to crest just under 42’ this time(about where it was last Feb.) so flooding downtown is going to be minor. My heart breaks for everyone in SE Nashville along Seven Mile and Mill Creeks. 

[markhollin]

The Cumberland River this morning near downtown.  Another 15-20  ft. and we could have trouble.  

Looking north from the KVB Bridge: