Nashville Bits and Pieces

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

Not sure, but Barbara was walking by the blue and green building set back from the street near where Adam Liebowitz' property may be built and the guy told her Ken's Sushi will locate there. Not sure if it's an additional location, or one that is moving. Sign is up for it however.

[captainwjm]

Makes sense that Ken's would move since its been on a 30 day notice for quite a while.  As for the Buckingham development, no new information has been forthcoming from my source since the word that the financial backers had balked at the hotel portion of the project.  Although the belief has been that work would commence "after the first of the year," my betting is that there will have to be a substantial redesign before we see any activity.  As a neighbor, I'm anxious for something to break, but am not holding my breath.

[UTgrad09]

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130524/BUSINESS02/305240045/2095/BUSINESS02

 

This is an interesting article about rebuilding neighborhoods around Nashville.

 

It starts with covering the amount of work going on in Salemtown, which I think has been under-reported by the local media. Yes, you see the development announcements now and then, but rarely anything that focuses on the overall work or action in the area. Most of that has been reserved for SoBro/Gulch/Midtown.

 

 

Some 14 homes are under construction, and eight others are planned, in a four-square-block section of the working-class neighborhood about two miles north of downtown. O’Connell estimates there are at least 30 active construction projects in his neighborhood.

 

I'm not sure how accurate 30 is, but it wouldn't totally shock me. It's certainly one of the most active areas in town. 5 or so years from now, I think it will have a very different look and feel.

 

 

The article goes on to discuss other areas where tear-downs are on the rise: 

 

Among the most active areas are the 12South, Green Hills, Inglewood, Lockeland Springs and Sylvan Park neighborhoods, he and others said.

...

Even tony Belle Meade is seeing an uptick.

 

None of this surprises me. Basically: these are trendy or desirable places to live, and the housing stock isn't matching residential demand. I am happy that we are falling in line with the broader national trend that is breathing new life into our urban centers.

 

 

“We’re just seeing changing demographics and markets about how and where people want to live,” said Jennifer Carlat, Metro’s assistant planning director. “More (people) want to live in inner-ring neighborhoods, close to retail and parks, with smaller lots that are a lot easier to maintain,” said Jennifer Carlat, Metro’s assistant planning director.

 

 

Two things here; I think on one hand it is a very positive sign that a number of different neighborhoods are very healthy, very attractive to new residents. But on the other hand, we need to be wary about this frenzy of tear-downs and make sure that the structures being torn down don't compromise the nature of the community. A small historic house is still a historic house.

 

Thankfully, the Tennessean actually addressed both sides of the issue in the same article. It must be a mistake.

 

 

“Most of the homes that have been torn down recently have not been historic themselves, but they approached homes that are historic, and that is an issue” for some Hillsboro-West End residents, said Metro Councilwoman Burkley Allen, who represents the area.

 

The article continues on about expanding overlays (Salemtown now has one, even), and mixed opinions and concerns from residents where much of this activity is happening.

 

 

 

Overall, though, it's one of the more complete articles you'll find in Pravda on the Cumberland. It didn't give me the feel that the writer was picking one side or the other. But it is interesting news. With all the talk of new big time developments around town, I think the mention of rehabs and tear-downs -- smaller scale projects -- has often been overlooked.

[bwithers1]

It's funny that they mention Lockeland Springs.  Almost all of Lockeland Springs is in a Conservation Overlay.  So pretty much all teardowns in Lockeland Springs must be approved by the MHZC.  Those approvals are pretty rare, except for houses built after 1940. 

 

The article does go on to mention my neighborhood, Eastwood, which is across Eastland from Lockeland Springs.  We are seeing quite a bit more teardown activity up here because our Conservation Overlay is more erratic. 

 

It is still the case that most homes that are being torn down are either (1) not historic (built after 1940), (2) small, (3) in bad shape or a combination of at least 2 of these criteria.  I was quoted in a recent article in The East Nashvillian about teardowns and new construction in Eastwood  http://www.theeastnashvillian.com/EN_17.pdf along with Councilman Anhony Davis (District 7), who spoke about activity in the Rosebank neighborhood.

Edited May 24, 2013 by bwithers1

[bwithers1]

Not sure, but Barbara was walking by the blue and green building set back from the street near where Adam Liebowitz' property may be built and the guy told her Ken's Sushi will locate there. Not sure if it's an additional location, or one that is moving. Sign is up for it however.

I'm glad to see something going in that building, which used to house Main Street Salvage, which was a shady operation at best.  This structure was renovated with the idea of creating a food court where the food trucks can pull up and patrons can go inside that building to eat.  It will be good to get something in there.  The food trucks do pull up there, but so far there hasn't been a use for that space.  Personally, I wish that they would have scrapped the whole building.  Of course, I personally wish that the owner of the historic Silverdene house that stood next door would not have allowed that building to decay and be opened to vagrants who burned it.  The tendency to save and reuse cinderblock buildings, while ruining or demolishing historic ones is too rampant in East Nashville as in some other parts of town.

[Hey_Hey]

In our neighborhood (Edgehill Village area) we've had good success with teardowns. It seems people are using common sense and only tearing down architecturally insignificant and non-historic houses that are either abandoned or very rundown. My neighborhood wil have a one story 1960s ranch of 900-1100 sq feet built next to a 1910s or 20s four square with 3500 sq ft. Luckily the ranches are the ones being torn down and replaced by 2 story houses that actually look more in place than the ranch. This is probably an economic decision in addition to historic preservation as even a rundown four square or large bungalow is worth $250-300,000 because someone will come in, rehab it, and sell it for $500-600,000.

In general I support the teardowns. They typically get blighted properties out of the picture and replace them with much more attractive properties which increases property tax receipts, builds more eneighborhood cohesiveness and makes the neighborhoods safer. Most of these neighborhoods are places you wouldn't have wanted to walk in at night 5-10 years ago, and I have no problem taking my daughter for a stroller ride at when it starts to get dark.

Another thing this does is it provides the incentive and price support for existing homeowners to fix up their homes or add on as they know they'll be able to recoup the cost later on when they decide to sell. Lastly, it will hopefully provide incentive for some of the slumlords that house 5-10 people in these rundown historic houses to sell to more responsible owners.

[East Side Urbanite]

Ken's Sushi opening up on Main Street on the East Side.

 

That's big for the east side.

 

WW

[smeagolsfree]

Hello to all.

I am in St. Louis for a little R and R. Amazing built fabric in this town. I will do a photo thread when I get back. I also have some pictures to post from the MCC opening too.

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

St. Louis completely blows away Nashville. Nashville is like Chattanooga or Murfreesboro compared to St. Louis. Nashville could learn a lot from St. Louis, but we still have idiots here in local government that favor surface parking lots over buildings.

[bigeasy]

Eh I think it is unfair to compare the two. St. Louis is a much much older city and has had way longer to develop it's downtown. I think in time Nashville would easily compete with St. Louis, but it is hard to do so when they almost double our metro size. The big thing though is Nashville is moving more towards downtown, while St.Louis has drastically had a decline over the past few centuries. They have had probably the worst decline in population over the past 50 years or so. According to the census St. Louis had 850K in 1950, and as of 2010 they are at around 320K.

 

They just are not peer cities.

Edited May 27, 2013 by bigeasy

[Dale]

I've been to St. Louis and would not want Nashville to emulate it ... at least vast swathes of the city.

[nashvillwill]

I've been to St. Louis and would not want Nashville to emulate it ... at least vast swathes of the city.

Agree 100%

[dmillsphoto]

Agree 100%

 

Also agreed. I like the area around WU, however.

[Hey_Hey]

In my opinion, downtown Nashville > St. Louis in terms of livability, activities downtown, and the perception of safety. The buildings, infrastructure, and architecture are without a doubt better in St. Louis, but downtown absolutely clears out after 6pm. That place is desolate unless the Cardinals are in town. There's no way I would choose to spend a day or night in downtown St. Louis instead of downtown Nashville.

The Central West End does make me envious of St. Louis. West End is similar in some respects but is much more linear which decreases walkability. I'm also envious of their inner neighborhoods south of downtown lie Soulard, Benton park, and the Cherokee St area. Those are GREAT turn of the century, urban neighborhoods full of history and urbanity. Those areas are also affordable. It seems like all the walkable, historic neighborhoods in nashville are pricing out much of the population.

Much of the area north of downtown has a great housing stock, but no one lives there. There are blocks of row houses or brownstones that look completely uninhabited north of downtown. It's areas like these that highlight the fact that St. Louis was built for close to a million people, but has a population that's a third of that now.

[Nathan_in_DC]

Writing this while sitting in an overpriced, underquality cafe in the Philadelphia airport.  Every time I fly I am continually reminded just how lucky Nashville is to have an airport of the caliber of BNA.  The facilities are nicer, the spaces are cleaner, the shopping and dining options are more expansive and more reasonably priced, the people are nicer, and it's got a better layout than pretty much every airport I've ever had the pleasure or displeasure of flying through.  I just don't understand how some cities allow their main traveler gateways to founder, especially a large tourist and business centered city like Philadelphia.  Nashville, I'm glad to say, has simply not done that.  If only they could get some decent transit options to the airport, it would have PHL beaten in every way (the train departures every 30 minutes from each terminal's own station that get you right in the middle of downtown quickly and relatively cheaply are hard to beat here, though).

[captainwjm]

I've been to St. Louis and would not want Nashville to emulate it ... at least vast swathes of the city.

Agreed.  Nashville is so fortunate to have consolidated city-county when it did.  St. Louis, and Atlanta, just to name 2 are examples of competing jurisdictions with uneven and ill-planned, or no-planned zoning.  My only regret is that Nashville has outgrown Davidson county.  Too bad that we couldn't have prevented the sprawl of Brentwood, Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet.

 Every time I fly I am continually reminded just how lucky Nashville is to have an airport of the caliber of BNA.  \

Agreed, although there is still work to do, it is convenient and pleasant.

[nashvillwill]

BNA is a great airport in comparison to many others. The biggest drawback (other than a lack of transit) is the limited supply of direct flights. It's fine if traveling east, but if you are going to the west coast, fuggetaboutit.

Although I know they are working on that.

[volsfanwill]

I love BNA, my only complaint is that every time I get there a little late my gate is always all the way at the end of concourse C, EVERY TIME.  I never get one of Southwest's gates closer to the terminal.  The renovations they have done over the last few years really improved the whole thing as well, going through security is easier now that it is centrally located. One major advantage that BNA has is room to expand when needed.  both Concourse A and B could be extended if needed and D is not even used currently and it has plenty of room for expansion. With the number of runways they have, the number of flights could be increased significantly as the city continues to grow.

 

On a completely separate note, saw this on twitter earlier, I don't remember seeing it on here before.   Plans to renovate the old state prison. 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130528/NEWS01/305280031/Plans-works-remake-old-state-prison

[bwithers1]

BNA is a great airport in comparison to many others. The biggest drawback (other than a lack of transit) is the limited supply of direct flights. It's fine if traveling east, but if you are going to the west coast, fuggetaboutit.

Although I know they are working on that.

Don't forget that Nashville DOES have an express bus that runs from the airport to downtown and back.  The few times I have taken it, it was almost completely empty.  If more people would use the transit that is there, MTA might have a justification for expanding or improving on it.

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

Nashvillian's are still in love with their cars. That is the main problem.

[UTgrad09]

BNA is a great airport in comparison to many others. The biggest drawback (other than a lack of transit) is the limited supply of direct flights. It's fine if traveling east, but if you are going to the west coast, fuggetaboutit.

Although I know they are working on that.

 

 

Non-stops to 49 airports isn't really that limited. We're certainly not a big hub, but Nashville is really about where it should be in terms of airport flight options and airport traffic. 

 

That said, I would certainly welcome additional flights, and as you mentioned, especially to the west coast. Portland and San Francisco, most notably. I'd also like to see a couple more international routes (bring back the London route, please).

[UTgrad09]

Agreed.  Nashville is so fortunate to have consolidated city-county when it did.  St. Louis, and Atlanta, just to name 2 are examples of competing jurisdictions with uneven and ill-planned, or no-planned zoning.  My only regret is that Nashville has outgrown Davidson county.  Too bad that we couldn't have prevented the sprawl of Brentwood, Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet.

 

It was inevitable. Brentwood was pretty much founded by white flight. When the city/county consolidated, people wanting to escape the perceived destruction had to move out of the county. Brentwood just happens to be the closest location to downtown Nashville that is outside of Davidson County. Hendersonville and Mount Juliet are the next closest. 

 

One does have to imagine what things would be like had Nashville not consolidated. It lost population from 1950-1960. The municipal borders were tiny (26 square miles) and there was certainly a huge racial disparity between the city and the other areas within the county. Without the stability that the metro government provided, would Nashville (the city) continued to shrink, or would they have battled a war of annexations like other cities? Would we have seen the prosperity that has come with the Sunbelt boom, or would we be in the ranks of Memphis or even Birmingham in terms of growth? 

 

Would a larger portion of the growth be contained within Davidson County? Would such a delay in suburban growth have affected the outcome of the ring of sizable county seats we have? Who knows. It's interesting to ponder, though.

 

 

An interesting sidenote:

Population 1950 - this is when a lot of US cities peaked in population

56 - Nashville, TN - 174,307 - 22.0 sq miles - 7,923 ppsm 

57 - Youngstown, OH - 168,330 - 32.8 sq miles - 5,132 ppsm

^the number at the front is the rank among US cities in terms of population

 

Population 1960 - the slide begins

73 - Nashville, TN - 170,874 - 29.0 sq miles - 5,892 ppsm

75 - Youngstown, OH - 166,689 - 33.2 sq miles - 5,021 ppsm

 

Population 1970 - Nashville goes metro

30 - Nashville, TN - 448,003* - 507.8 sq miles* - 882 ppsm

98 - Youngstown, OH - 139,788 - 33.6 sq miles - 4,160 ppsm

*original Census figures list Nashville as the entirety of Davidson County -- they later changed this

 

Fast forward - 2012

25 - Nashville, TN - 624,496 -  475.1 sq miles - 1,314 ppsm

521 - Youngstown, OH - 65,405 - 34.0 sq miles - 1,924 ppsm

 

I'm not going to say I think we were on the path of Youngstown (I'm sure we would've annexed quite a bit, anyways), but it's a good example of how staying that small size geographically really hurt cities like that due to changing demographics. The population of Nashville's 1960 city limits would probably be at or under 100,000 today.

[nashvillwill]

The municipal borders were tiny (26 square miles)

The population of Nashville's 1960 city limits would probably be at or under 100,000 today.

So what is it today? Just curious.

[UTgrad09]

So what is it today? Just curious.

 

There's no way to tell for sure (at least for the novice statistician) because Census tracts do not coincide with the old city boundaries. I've played with the numbers before, and it was close to 100,000, +/- 10,000 or so. Part of the reason for the lower population is that a lot of the residential land became industrial/commercial.

[Hey_Hey]

Here's a small project at 1700 Dorothy Pl, which is the funny little road that connects 17th to 16th just north of Wedgewood. The project includes the renovation and rehab of the house at 1618 17th Ave S for residential use and the adjacent lot at 1700 Dorothy will be new construction for offices. The offices will hold outpatient child psychiatric offices. The owners and psychiatrist will live in the residence on 17th.

The project will be visible from both 17th and Wedgewood, so it should get a decent amount of attention from people. It looks to be 2.5 stories. I screen grabbed from the Historical Commission's YouTube video for the elevations. Pease ignore the closed captioning that I couldn't get rid of.

The first is the elevation facing Dorothy and visible from Wedgewood and the second is visible from 17th.