Nashville Bits and Pieces

[markhollin]

Here’s a look at the stats from the Nashville Health Care Council’s new economic impact report:

- Nashville’s home to ~46 major health care companies.

- One in every 12 occupations is health care, with the industry growing 8% during 2018 to 2022.

- The average wage for health care occupations is $92,470, surpassing Nashville’s average annual wage of $57,560.

Full report here:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Af2f98d2d-81a1-333d-a6e7-5d2045ba2210&utm_term=nashtoday&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=nashtoday&utm_content=nashtoday&viewer!megaVerb=group-discover

[smeagolsfree]

15 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

More of a "Tennessee Bits and Pieces" but Nashville has a huge part in this recognition. In case you haven't been to Knoxville lately, you'll be amazed how that city is booming. And our little city in the Tennessee Valley is really perking. I must say that beting between Atlanta and Nashville spins off so much growth to Chattanooga, and we're seeing that in all sectors of our county. 

Many on this forum aren't surprised by this, but this does give some hard numbers to what we've seen around us. Anyway, today Bloomberg noted that 6 states, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Carolinas and Tennessee contributed more to GDP growth than all other states combined. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-06-29/millions-move-to-the-south-as-us-economy-favors-its-wealth-job-opportunities?sref=U3dOGIDF

Bloomberg gives a shout out to Fort Worth, which is significantly less obnoxious than Austin when it comes to bloviating about their city's growth...   Nashville, where the asset-management firm AllianceBernstein relocated a few years ago, has become the country’s top real estate "supernova" in surveys by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute. Houston, Atlanta and Charlotte, longtime home of Bank of America Corp., rank among theTop 10 Moving Destinations nationwide by Penske Truck Rental — all ahead of boomtown Austin.  And no one beats Fort Worth, Texas, near Dallas, the country’s fastest-growing big city in the latest US Census Bureau data.

I want to encourage you guys to visit and post over in the Chattanooga / Knoxville thread please. Lots happening and we need more posters there too.

[MLBrumby]

Yes, Smeags! There's a lot going on in this end of the state. Lots of commercial and residential. Eastern and Northern parts of Hamco are bursting at the proverbial seams. Downtown is holding its own with new hotels and townhouses but I don't go downtown for work anymore. I posted some pics from back in March. Knoxville is the place that surprises me with all their growth. And their downtown and south of the river are seeing lots of development. Of course, UTK has a billion in projects u/c or proposed. 

[Baronakim]

1 hour ago, smeagolsfree said:

I want to encourage you guys to visit and post over in the Chattanooga / Knoxville thread please. Lots happening and we need more posters there too.

Everywhere but Memphis in our state huh?  I find it amazing that after all of my life to talk about Tennessee's four cities, but now there are five or six and the Boro is about to move up to fourth place.  Wow.

[smeagolsfree]

1 hour ago, Baronakim said:

Everywhere but Memphis in our state huh?  I find it amazing that after all of my life to talk about Tennessee's four cities, but now there are five or six and the Boro is about to move up to fourth place.  Wow.

Do not be so quick to count out Memphis. There are projects happening in Memphis as well and you are welcome to visit that thread and "respectfully" leave comments there as well. Memphis is sort of like Nashville was in the early 2000's getting some projects while a few are on hold. 

[glamdring269]

On 7/7/2023 at 9:44 AM, MLBrumby said:

And their downtown and south of the river are seeing lots of development. Of course, UTK has a billion in projects u/c or proposed. 

I grew up in South Knoxville.  Still call the South Knoxville bridge the ‘new bridge’ because that’s what it was to us when it was built. Jesus that makes me feel like I’m old with a ‘back in my day!!’

Moved to the Nashville area in 1995 but my entire family still lives there, predominantly in South Knox. I love visiting the south side along the river now. I doubt they can penetrate too much further in terms of housing, maybe into Island Home area, but will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Edited July 9, 2023 by glamdring269

[Baronakim]

Somehow I was enrolled in one of the nostalgia groups for Nashville (Nashville History and Memories) and my second post seems to have been "automatically" declined.  I suppose too much truth pissed them off.  Apparently, only feelgood history and memories are allowed.  Here is my reply to someone offended to my statement that  Nashville was left to rot  largely by "privileged folks" who abandoned downtown and fled to the suburbs in the 60, 70s and 80s. 

"I grew up here in the 50s. I remember the squalor and all the buildings downtown black with the soot from all the coal fired heating of the city. I remember the acres and acres of black homes without plumbing below Capitol Hill. It remains a blight of surface parking lots to this day. By 'privileged", I meant the vast majority of natives who fled to the suburb malls and fast foods and abandoned downtown in mass, not "rich". Folks left in the abandoned inner city were victims, not "privileged" IMO. Y'all had your cars and turned your back on the city for the most part. I saw for instance a beautiful classic bandshell in Edgefield knocked down because the whites didn't want let black use the toilets under it after repair. So it was destroyed instead. NOT because we lost it for the reasons most folks on nostalgia sites moan aboout. It wasn't the black community that let downtown die in the 1970s & 80s. It was the privileged suburbanites who abandoned it for malls in the suburbs. Most of y'all let downtown Nashville to rot And now so many wring their hands about how much they loved it. Sorry, I don't generally buy that piece of pudding. Even 10 years ago, the scars of urban renewal and neglect still was peppered all over downtown that are only now being rebuilt. Some Nashvillians still don't get that Nashville is a greatly respected and loved city taking its place as a major city in America and also the world. The city is prosperous because they like what they see and invest with jobs and new vigor. They certainly don't come here for the old days so beloved by aging nostalgics. Most Nashvillians owe their prosperity to the huge corporate influx of healthcare, banking and entertainment. Without it Nashville would have been as rotting as Detroit IMO.  I have lovely memories of so much of Nashville, but you can't worship every brick. I think what is happening in Nashville now is great in repairing the mess of the last 50 years.

Have I somehow missed offending anyone or am I off base?

Edited July 9, 2023 by Baronakim

[UTgrad09]

I am too young to have lived through it, but based on everything I have read about that time period, you are spot on with your assessment,  Baronakim.

 

The people who are waxing nostalgic don't like to admit that they either consciously or unconsciously played a part in killing their favorite memories downtown.  To them, it's today's Nashville that has no respect for history, not the one that knocked down rows of historic buildings paved a glut of surface parking in the name of urban renewal -- or carved up the city's street grid to move traffic around downtown instead of in to it -- or the Nashville that dezoned residential out of downtown. 

No it's the New Nashville -- the one bringing residents, retail and entertainment downtown,  and all the vibrant energy that goes with it -- that's the callous, evil Nashville that is destroying all of our sweet memories. 

[Auntie Yock]

18 hours ago, Baronakim said:

Somehow I was enrolled in one of the nostalgia groups for Nashville (Nashville History and Memories) and my second post seems to have been "automatically" declined.  I suppose too much truth pissed them off.  Apparently, only feelgood history and memories are allowed.  Here is my reply to someone offended to my statement that  Nashville was left to rot  largely by "privileged folks" who abandoned downtown and fled to the suburbs in the 60, 70s and 80s. 

"I grew up here in the 50s. I remember the squalor and all the buildings downtown black with the soot from all the coal fired heating of the city. I remember the acres and acres of black homes without plumbing below Capitol Hill. It remains a blight of surface parking lots to this day. By 'privileged", I meant the vast majority of natives who fled to the suburb malls and fast foods and abandoned downtown in mass, not "rich". Folks left in the abandoned inner city were victims, not "privileged" IMO. Y'all had your cars and turned your back on the city for the most part. I saw for instance a beautiful classic bandshell in Edgefield knocked down because the whites didn't want let black use the toilets under it after repair. So it was destroyed instead. NOT because we lost it for the reasons most folks on nostalgia sites moan aboout. It wasn't the black community that let downtown die in the 1970s & 80s. It was the privileged suburbanites who abandoned it for malls in the suburbs. Most of y'all let downtown Nashville to rot And now so many wring their hands about how much they loved it. Sorry, I don't generally buy that piece of pudding. Even 10 years ago, the scars of urban renewal and neglect still was peppered all over downtown that are only now being rebuilt. Some Nashvillians still don't get that Nashville is a greatly respected and loved city taking its place as a major city in America and also the world. The city is prosperous because they like what they see and invest with jobs and new vigor. They certainly don't come here for the old days so beloved by aging nostalgics. Most Nashvillians owe their prosperity to the huge corporate influx of healthcare, banking and entertainment. Without it Nashville would have been as rotting as Detroit IMO.  I have lovely memories of so much of Nashville, but you can't worship every brick. I think what is happening in Nashville now is great in repairing the mess of the last 50 years.

Have I somehow missed offending anyone or am I off base?

It's a bit angry and hostile for that website and comes off as a tad racist. You're also rather rolling in 3-4 decades of the city's decline into a big ball. The White upper class began moving out of downtown in the early 20th century, long before suburban malls and fast food joints. One of the worst mass-demolitions of stunning 19th century mansions occurred around 1920 for the War Memorial Plaza, which included the old Governor's Mansion. The few mansions that remained in the shadow of the state capitol were transformed into transient flop-houses and eventually were demo'd for government office buildings. Your description of Hell's Half Acre, the civil war-era ramshackle housing for Blacks, many of whom worked in those upper class mansions, managed to survive past the demo of countless mansions and townhouses downtown. The mass-demo of HHA was another aspect of urban renewal, which has been lamented in some quarters. I thought it was a shame a small section of it wasn't preserved as a museum.

As for the rest, you've largely described almost every major city in the post-WW2 period: Blacks moved into inner city housing of better quality than many of the slums they were previously confined to, with Whites relocating out of the inner city to newer housing stock. Most folks still had to shop downtown, of course, until shopping centers and malls arrived, though the latter didn't pop up for most until the early 1970s (with Harding Mall and 100 Oaks preceding that). Of course, that killed scores of downtowns across the country. Curiously and ironically, for many historically Black neighborhoods, most of which had their own business districts, once the Civil Rights Era allowed them to go shopping outside of their neighborhoods in the downtowns where White folks had been the dominant group, said business districts died. It also coincided when interstates were often run through those areas, a double-whammy. As it became easier for suburbanites (post-1970) to shop, go to movies, eat, et cet. without having to go downtown, the remaining residents there could not sustain those businesses. Add to that, many of said remaining residents (Blacks, in this case) would prefer to head out of downtown to the malls and the like, as these had better offerings. Of course, now, that has changed in the past 50 years as well, with malls deteriorating and closing. White folks returning to revitalize downtowns, too, that dreaded "gentrification." All happens in cycles.

People have different reasons or preferences for which Nashville era they prefer. Some like the booming era of today, some prefer the more quiet of the past (1950s-80s). Part of the reason many prefer the earlier time is that it seemed like we knew each other a lot better than today, where new folks move in every day. There were established cultural institutions in the city, where folks shopped at the same places for years, ate at the same places, went to the movies at the same places, participated in events in the same places, basically socialized in the same places. Now, with countless choices and places to go to and things to do, we've ended up becoming fractured socially. Think of how we all used to generally watch the same things on tv until the 1990s, with a few choices, and had basically the same shared cultural experiences. That just isn't the case anymore. We may have those countless choices today, but we're further apart now as a culture than at almost any point in American history. That latter part is what many people lament losing, and many others (younger folks) never got to experience, and why we see so much alienation.

[smeagolsfree]

Lest we forget this happened everywhere in the country so why do we just bellyache about it here. It is just that some people can't handle change. They don't want change. They want things to stay the same no matter what and no matter what you do you can't stop time and the force of human events, and you can't stop your own mortality. Everybody changes, and we are the same person we were 40 years ago thank goodness. If we expect a person to change then why should we not expect the environment natural and manmade to change around us as well. You can't go around with your head buried in the sand as all that happens is you get sand in your ears.

Jump into the future with eyes wide open and take it as it comes for better or worse!

[nashville born]

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-skylines-in-america-seattle-chicago-and-las-vegas-top-our-list

Subjective list of curse, yet look who made it.

[jmtunafish]

2 minutes ago, nashville born said:

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-skylines-in-america-seattle-chicago-and-las-vegas-top-our-list

Subjective list of curse, yet look who made it.

Kudos to Nashville, but geez I hate that tired old view of our skyline.  I guess they wanted to focus on the Batman building since that's the building they specifically mentioned.  They weren't very kind with the Atlanta and Miami skyline shots, either.

[markhollin]

Travel + Leisure readers name the Top 5 Hotels in Nashville:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/07/11/travel-leisure-readers-name-top-5-hotels-in-nash.html
 

[Rick Dalton]

15 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

Kudos to Nashville, but geez I hate that tired old view of our skyline.  I guess they wanted to focus on the Batman building since that's the building they specifically mentioned.  They weren't very kind with the Atlanta and Miami skyline shots, either.

New York is tier 1

Chicago is tier 2

 

Everything can be debated after those

[Baronakim]

Geez guy, this makes me fell so old.  Anyone else see drive-in movies at the Skyway when they were kids?  Right at Ren Allen Road and Dickerson Pike.

[markhollin]

Analysts at S&P Global Ratings boosted their assessment of Metro's debt, in an analysis published July 10. The higher "AA+" mark from S&P Global Ratings — one step below a perfect AAA grade — is the first upgrade that agency has given Metro's general obligation bonds in more than four decades, according to Metro financial records.

Bond ratings are one signal of a city's financial health, which is one of the many qualifications executives consider when scouting where they will move or expand their businesses. The ratings also inform investor decisions about whether to loan Metro money: The stronger the rating, the lower interest rate Metro typically can fetch, reducing the cost of its borrowing.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/07/12/s-p-ratings-metro-bond-debt-upgrade.html

[Baronakim]

Again, recent events have piqued my curiosity.  With the recent hoopla by Ron Desantis over illegals and the subsequent vanishing of migrants from Florida construction sites, hotel staff and other services mostly provided by immigrants, how does this affect things in Nashville?  Are we getting a surge of much needed labor for our booming construction going on here?  I would think that there must be an incresingly larger pool of workers available for work here in Nashville.  My only worry is that the proven animousity towards our city  of the current Republican State Gestapo in our legislature will come down with the same draconian new laws that are proving disasterous for Florida.  Such  ill advised actions by the "conservative leaders" of our state could kill Nashville's boom IMO.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Baronakim

[rolly]

We're simply looking for legal workers. People using stolen social security IDs and other ID theft should not be on these work sites.  Your hubris and slur-slinging (Republican Gestapo?) isn't helpful.

And it's not even political like you make it; the construction unions (i.e. not conservative) are not for the depressed wages from illegal workers.  What's needed is to onboard immigrants who go through the effort to get legal status to join the labor market.

[MontanaGuy]

3 minutes ago, rolly said:

We're simply looking for legal workers. People using stolen social security IDs and other ID theft should not be on these work sites.  Your hubris and slur-slinging (Republican Gestapo?) isn't helpful.

And it's not even political like you make it; the construction unions (i.e. not conservative) are not for the depressed wages from illegal workers.  What's needed is to onboard immigrants who go through the effort to get legal status to join the labor market.

There are millions of Hispanic workers who work in this country illegally who would love to become legal!  I've had many of them do various projects for me over the years in different homes that I've lived in and I've had conversations with a few of them about this very subject.  The reality of the situation is that there isn't a process in place that would allow these people to get legal status mainly because Republicans are opposed to it.  It's a sad predicament because they're such good workers and we really need them!

[Baronakim]

4 minutes ago, rolly said:

We're simply looking for legal workers. People using stolen social security IDs and other ID theft should not be on these work sites.  Your hubris and slur-slinging (Republican Gestapo?) isn't helpful.

And it's not even political like you make it; the construction unions (i.e. not conservative) are not for the depressed wages from illegal workers.  What's needed is to onboard immigrants who go through the effort to get legal status to join the labor market.

I agree with hiring legal workers with real documents strongly.   My comment on the State legislature relates to their actions to which I strongly disapprove.     That is  my personal opinion and the recent interference of the State into the number of Nashville's City Council  seats, tossing three members  for standing up to their beliefs and  with the Airport Authority certainly does not look like a Bulwark of Democracy to me from my perspective.   I am not going to go into an extended political diatrible with you Rolly or any other member of this forum however, here or even in the Coffehouse. for neither you or I are going to change our personal views and we shouldn't inflict a politial tete  te upon others here.  My question however remains.  Has  anyone percieved  any recent  increases in the available labor pool here to ease our present labor shortages and could there be an inflex of workers from Florida?

[MontanaGuy]

42 minutes ago, Baronakim said:

 I am not going to go into an extended political diatrible with you Rolly or any other member of this forum however, here or even in the Coffehouse. for neither you or I are going to change our personal views and we shouldn't inflict a politial tete  te upon others here.

You're right, I'm going to drop the subject myself because it serves no purpose! 

[KJHburg]

Nashville has 6th highest apartment absorption of all US metros the first half of the year.  You beat quite a few much larger metros like Atlanta, Austin, DC metro, Orlando. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2023/07/12/apartment-delivery-slowing-rental-market.html?

So like Charlotte, Nashville is punching way above its weight in absorbing apartments.    Expect the apartment boom to continue.  

[donNdonelson2]

2 hours ago, MontanaGuy said:

There are millions of Hispanic workers who work in this country illegally who would love to become legal!  I've had many of them do various projects for me over the years in different homes that I've lived in and I've had conversations with a few of them about this very subject.  The reality of the situation is that there isn't a process in place that would allow these people to get legal status mainly because Republicans are opposed to it.  It's a sad predicament because they're such good workers and we really need them!

There IS a process in place. I have a friend who has a business helping migrants get their legal paperwork in order so that they can work in this country. It isn’t an EASY process, but it is absolutely possible for those who don’t have criminal records!

[smeagolsfree]

I am unsure if what is going on in Florida is not also affecting the legal migrant worker program. It is unclear to me what all is happening. I think that is the H2B program and a lot of them may be leaving in protest as well. Florida has brought it upon itself IMO. Just like everything else when a state goes too far one way or the other, the proverbial crap eventually hits the fan. I think California is an example of things going too far the other way and those folks are going to pay for those mistakes too. We just have too many idiots electing other idiots on both sides of the aisles into politics in this country and a lot of bad laws are being passed in all 50 states. This state is no exception.

California and Florida are about to have a major insurance problem because those states lag with insurance reform and overbuild, and Texas is losing its most favored status as a place to do business because they still want to have their own power grid. Stupid stuff like that come back and bite you in the ass. The water crisis is finally catching up with Arizona and building permits have now been halted in some areas around Phoenix. Look to Las Vegas to be next. You can't just keep on making bad decisions in state and local governments and get away with it. No cash bails in LA?? A recipe for disaster! 

Things will change as the voters get tired of the stupidity when those laws go too far and piss off the wrong people. Too far right or left the balance is eventually upset. The middle in this country is the group that really controls the flow. They are the ones that are take the longest to anger and roll with the flow, but if they get pissed off then that is when you have a problem.

[rolly]

I had chatGTP compose a poem about the skyscrapers of Nashville. Ya, it's a little campy. But it did integrate some local highlights. 

In Nashville's heart, where dreams ascend,
The skyline stands, a tale to commend.
Skyscrapers soar, reaching for the skies,
In a symphony of steel, where wonder lies.

Like modern giants, they proudly rise,
Reflecting the city's ambitious guise.
Their windows gleam, reflecting the sun,
As if to say, "Look what we have become!"

Amidst the hustle and the city's thrum,
The towers stand tall, reaching to overcome
The trials and triumphs, the hopes and fears,
They witness the passage of time, it appears.

From Broadway's melodies to honky-tonk tunes,
The skyscrapers watch, as the city swoons.
They guard the secrets of a vibrant place,
Where music and art leave a lasting trace.

At night, they light up like constellations,
Guiding lost souls to their destinations.
A beacon of progress, a symbol of might,
They paint the Nashville sky with vibrant light.

Oh, Nashville's skyscrapers, proud and grand,
Testaments to a city that will forever stand.
They tell a story of growth and dreams,
Where the spirit of Nashville forever gleams.