Nashville Bits and Pieces

[e-dub]

I would love it if we had more of this narrow street/alley type of development.  Apparently Melbourne, Australia is full of this sort of thing. And amazing graffiti.

 

 

 

What are some other places in Nashville where this type of development would be possible?

Edited July 27, 2014 by e-dub

[smeagolsfree]

I am all for it, as long as the garbage is emptied on a daily basis and the tenants are made to keep the dumpter areas clean. That is one thing that really makes an area undesirable is the stench from the trash areas.

 

The more I think about the hotel in Printers alley, the developers need to keep the alley entities.

[calebbink]

Which spot are you talking about?

Sorry! The proposed hotel that would go in/around Printer's Alley. I think they'd be a good fit.

[Guest]

Latest rumor on the Federal Courthouse.... FWIW

"Angela Davenport Smith Actually my Chief said that we are first on the list to have a new Courthouse built, and according to GSA and the Chief Judge, the courthouse should start within the next year or so, and they have put the model back on the 7th floor of the courthouse...which is good news!! Too bad I have just retired and won't get to work in it!"

[BnaBreaker]

Very interesting...surely though they aren't still planning on using the design that is already more than a decade out of date?

[fieldmarshaldj]

^Dear heavens, no ! Please not that Hampton Inn Suites monstrosity, complete with giant cherry picker on top.

[BnaBreaker]

^Dear heavens, no ! Please not that Hampton Inn Suites monstrosity, complete with giant cherry picker on top.

 

Not to mention the giant concrete prison walls that surround it on almost all sides!  I mean, I realize it's a federal courthouse and there are security concerns, so I understand why there can't be ground level retail or anything of that nature, but for gods sake could they have made that thing look any more cold and any less inviting at street level?!

Edited July 28, 2014 by BnaBreaker

[HGMIII]

AT&T U-Verse with Gigabit official coming to Nashville.  I am also extremely confident that Nashville will get Google Fiber, which will announce later this year their city selections.  

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2014/07/at-t-beats-google-to-the-punch-will-bring-gigaower.html?page=all

[CandyAisles]

AT&T Fiber is big news.  Do they require a contract for their services?  This could be their way of cutting into Google Fiber.

[grilled_cheese]

AT&T U-Verse with Gigabit official coming to Nashville.  I am also extremely confident that Nashville will get Google Fiber, which will announce later this year their city selections.  

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2014/07/at-t-beats-google-to-the-punch-will-bring-gigaower.html?page=all

 

What makes you extremely confident?

 

 

This could be their way of cutting into Google Fiber.

 

The whole point of Google Fiber was not to become an ISP but to force the hand of the old guard ISPs and force them to improve their services.

[CandyAisles]

The whole point of Google Fiber was not to become an ISP but to force the hand of the old guard ISPs and force them to improve their services.

 

I've read that as well...I just don't believe it.  I feel that Google desperately wants to be integral to the American home.

[bwithers1]

I'm intrigued by the ACE Hotel prospect as well.  I notice that they have a new one in the works in "up and coming" Pittsburgh.  It's in the East Liberties (?) neighborhood.  Is that anything like the edgy/hipster Northern Liberties neighborhood in Philadelphia?

 

But if Pittsburgh is on the "up and coming" list for ACE Hotels, I can't imagine that Nashville is too far behind.  And yes, it would seem that a Printer's Alley-type location would be, well, right up their alley!

Sorry! The proposed hotel that would go in/around Printer's Alley. I think they'd be a good fit.

Edited July 28, 2014 by bwithers1

[nashmoney]

More stations and riders for Nashville’s bike sharing

 

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2014/07/27/stations-riders-nashvilles-bike-sharing/13188483/

 

 

Glad to hear that this is successful. It is definitely a viable alternative method of transportation for residents...and great for visitors too.

[CenterHill]

More stations and riders for Nashville’s bike sharing

 

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2014/07/27/stations-riders-nashvilles-bike-sharing/13188483/

 

 

Glad to hear that this is successful. It is definitely a viable alternative method of transportation for residents...and great for visitors too.

 

Agree.     On a related note, there is temporary striping on the Church St. viaduct that suggests bike lanes will be added each direction.  I don't know this, but I can't foresee any other purpose of the temp markings.     

 

It's coming in baby steps, but we're gradually filling out a usable bike lane infrastructure.    Still a long way to go.   Still too many "Share the Road" sections.  

[mirydi]

Someone mentioned that Google Fiber would more than likely expand here, so I thought I would post this article I found. I don't know how many utility poles AT&T owns here (if any at all) but if they do...it could potentially be a problem for Nashville landing Google Fiber now.  AT&T announcing it's version of ultra-fast internet service here is awesome, and great news for the city, but if that means we could possibly lose out on Google Fiber...then.....not so much. 

 

Why AT&T says it can deny Google Fiber access to its poles in Austin

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/why-att-says-it-can-deny-google-fiber-access-to-its-poles-in-austin/

 

 

 

[Hey_Hey]

I believe the majority of telephone poles in nashville are actually NES. There are some that are AT&T, but it's the minority. Although in Austin it looks like it's only 20%. Still I think there could be a workaround somehow.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Hey_Hey

[bwithers1]

I believe the majority of telephone poles in nashville are actually NES. There are some that are AT&T, but it's the minority. Although in Austin it looks like it's only 20%. Still I think there could be a workaround somehow.

Sometimes NES and the phone companies actually share poles (NES upper lines, phone company lower lines on same pole), but a lot of times, like on my street, there is one set of poles on one side of the street for NES (the side with the awful trees that have been destroyed) and then another set of poles for telephone lines on the opposite side of the street. 

 

Telephone lines tend to be lower to the ground - and therefore have more conflict with trees - but then the phone companies aren't nearly as vigorous as NES at cutting trees back away from the lines. In those cases, like on my street, the NES side of the street has the ridiculously cut treets, but the telephone side (my side) has huge trees that envelop the phone lines and actually hid those lines/poles somewheat.

 

I have known of several occasions in which NES and phone companies shared poles and NES moved their lines to a new pole, but the phone companies took forever to move their lines and so for a period of time there were actually two poles.  Sigh.

[smeagolsfree]

An article from Fox 17 last week about bringing formula 1 boat racing to the Cumberland downtown

 

http://www.fox17.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/f1-powerboat-racing-tests-water-nashville-mikayla-lewis-22503.shtml

[captainwjm]

They have those races in Knoxville, on Kentucky Lake at Pisgah Bay, and used to have them on Old Hickory.  Think Nashville Fairgrounds racers on water.

[satalac]

About time. I always thought this would be awesome on the Cumberland.

[nashvillwill]

I can't find the post, but someone mentioned the other day seeing lane striping on the Church Street Bridge. I noticed it today. It appears that they will be removing one lane in each direction (reducing it to one lane each), adding bike lanes and adding a center turn lane.

I JUST DONT GET IT!!!!!!!

I love the added bike lanes, they are needed. But what is the purpose of a turn lane ON A BRIDGE?!?! Demonbreun is the same way. The only thing I ever see happen on Demonbreun is it allows people to recklessly cruise past traffic in an illegal manner.

Seriously, can anyone explain this to me? What is the purpose of a turn lane on a bridge? Why is Nashville so dang obsessed with the turn lane that we put them on bridges?

Edited July 31, 2014 by nashvillwill

[mirydi]

^Turn lanes help relieve congestion, and every little bit helps. If a car needs to make a turn and there is no turn lane for it to pull into, all the other cars behind that car have to wait for it to turn causing back ups.

[nashvillwill]

^Turn lanes help relieve congestion, and every little bit helps. If a car needs to make a turn and there is no turn lane for it to pull into, all the other cars behind that car have to wait for it to turn causing back ups.

Right. So when there is no turn to be made, such as on a bridge, what is the point then?

[arkitekte]

I can't find the post, but someone mentioned the other day seeing lane striping on the Church Street Bridge. I noticed it today. It appears that they will be removing one lane in each direction (reducing it to one lane each), adding bike lanes and adding a center turn lane.

I JUST DONT GET IT!!!!!!!

I love the added bike lanes, they are needed. But what is the purpose of a turn lane ON A BRIDGE?!?! Demonbreun is the same way. The only thing I ever see happen on Demonbreun is it allows people to recklessly cruise past traffic in an illegal manner.

Seriously, can anyone explain this to me? What is the purpose of a turn lane on a bridge? Why is Nashville so dang obsessed with the turn lane that we put them on bridges?

 

That's the one problem with driving in a city that isn't laid out on a grid. In a city with a grid just use side streets, bust a right and then turn right into wherever you need to go. Surprisingly, most people in Midtown Memphis actually understand that and rarely do you see someone trying to turn left on Union, where there aren't turning lanes (it's actually illegal to turn left on Union at a light).

 

I was actually rear ended sitting in a turning lane by some fool trying to illegally pass a fire truck who was stopped in the fast lane beside me. 

[nashvillwill]

I would love to spend all day arguing about the perceived necessity of turn lanes and their real drawbacks, but I guess my point is this. For this particular spot, Church Street Bridge, there is not a need for one. I would much rather see that 8' of space moved to the edges. Move the lanes towards center. Added an extra foot to each sidewalk, and build a 3' planted buffer on each side between sidewalk and road. Hell, add free parking spaces if you want. People in this town love to complain about the lack of parking. Ultimately, I just think the space could be better used for pedestrian friendliness than 8' of useless space in the center of a bridge.