Actually Nashville is not... and it's a more compact downtown and midtown. That means each new building (and they're coming about a week at a time) has huge impact on the urban core. Atlanta is so spread out now... and the growth is centered on the auto-centric Lenox and Perimeter areas. Downtown Atlanta is so damn dead after dark. Such a shame. And yes... I was just there.

Nashville votes down transit referendum, shoots self in foot and sets city back 5-10 years as traffic continues to get worse and worse. Kind of makes you wish the gov just had the authority to raise the sales tax without the permission of a bunch of ignorant conservatives out in the Davidson sticks.

And you know those morons are going to be the first to complain about the traffic getting worse. They all want to be able to have their cake and eat it to. "DO SOMETHING ABOUT TRAFFIC!!" okay, how about this? "NO! IT COSTS TOO MUCH AND DOESN'T HELP ME!" They basically want a transit system that reaches all corners of the county but is also free and without construction woes. What the fuck is wrong with them?

Ok, transit and our Hockey team are big losers tonight, but it's been a crazy month.

• April 2nd – Endeavor announces start of construction date for 20 story office building in the Gulch.
• April 5th – The seven story Hyatt House in SoBro installs a crane.
• April 8th – Amazon HQ2 team visits Nashville
• April 12 – Site prep begins for two seven story apartments in SoBro by the Lifestyle Communities Company.
• April 19th – SouthRock ventures purchases land in MidTown for possible 16 story hotel.
• April 25th – reports of a possible 650 ft. or taller residential tower downtown surface contingent on city approval of swapping land for the tower for construction of a homeless services building.
• April 27th – News of a significant tenant signing a lease for 22% of the space in the proposed 30 story ONE KVB Circle in SoBro and the roundabout suggests a construction start is pending.
• May 1st – Construction begins on the 20 story Kenect Apartments in Midtown/Music Row as new renderings are released.
• May 1st – AllianceBernstein, a Wall Street Investment firm, announces they are moving their headquarters to Nashville bringing up to 1,500 jobs.
• May 1st – A referendum to approve a sales tax hike to fund a 5.2 billion transit plan fails overwhelmingly.

Still, it ends with a bitter taste, but moving on to May to see what it brings.

Hopefully, news about two more office buildings for Hankook and Philips, start of the 40 story 1st Ave Condos and 4Seasons Hotel, and maybe some out-of-nowhere spectacular development is revealed. Just a typical month in other words.


...and a Stanley Cup!!

The growth is not centered around Lenox and Perimeter. That area receives just a fraction of the growth. Midtownn, O4W, (Walkable) Buckhead, and even Downtown have all received growth. I do agree though, Downtown is usually dead in some areas. But the area around GSU has students and the area around Centennial Park has people after dark. Please just don't make general assumptions without actually looking at a city. reserve that for City Data.

I am probably one of those "hicks from the sticks" to which you refer, as I live in Oak Hill. But my neighborhood was filled with pro-transit signs.

I think you need to know that the most solid opposition came from the inner-city, predominantly black sectors of the city. It's about political power, and lots of religious leaders were flexing their muscle. One of the anti-transit leaders was even a candidate for mayor.

http://tntribune.com/community/local...r-the-transit/

As expected, the plan found greater support among Democrats than Republicans, but resistance from many African-American voters prevented the pro side from building a complete Democratic coalition behind the referendum.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...sit/564991002/

Their reasons ranged from the fear of higher taxes to not giving enough to the poor. One of the most visible leaders of the opposition group was Jeff Obafemi Carr, who is a black minister. He has made it clear that he opposes funding any project that does not also (or instead of) give large amounts to the poor citizens of the community.

In the final analysis, this came down to old fashioned politics. As Nashville is a county wide jurisdiction, overwhelmingly Democrat. The proponents of this plan did not sell it to all/enough different sectors of the county.

Dude, I lived in Atlanta in the 1990s. My company has a regional office on Piedmont at P'tree. I know my way around all the sidestreets. You make my point. The growth has exploded in the suburbs. Atlanta is a suburban city. Hell, even the MLB team fled downtown. It's a typical 1960s-1980s sprawl that finds itself behind the curve now as it tries to reclaim a soul. Yes, it has had mixed success. But that genie is out of the bottle.

Compared to other smaller cities, such as Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh, Tampa and Orlando, they have the luxury of looking at Atlanta's mistakes and if they choose, taking steps to avoid them. Trust me when I say you can have Atlanta. It was a fun place to live as a single man in my early 20s. But even compared to my hometown of Dallas, Atlanta falls far short in handling its growth. So don't come in our forum and drop that little bomb that Nashville is boring and then pump up your city as something it's not. And why? Because your city has a few pointed towers. It's NOT boring. Silly!

I love Nashville, but I am curious how you see your city is learning from Atlanta's growth problems? MARTA was started in the early 1970's when our population was approximately 1.7 Million people. Fast forward to 2018 and Nashville's population is approximately 1.9 Million and your city just voted against mass transit. Just saying facts mean more than rhetoric or boosterism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrop...nsit_Authority

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Atlanta

This I did not know. Thanks. Very unfortunate.

It's indicative of a larger American problem. We seem to be a something for nothing culture. We want all the best things but are unwilling to pay for them. We can't even install a sensible gasoline tax that adequately funds repairing and maintaining our D- grade infrastructure.

Back to Basics
 

This is a good opportunity for Nashville residents to reevaluate and decide how we want to move forward. The transit vote probably takes Nashville out of the running for Amazon HQ2...and I think that is a good thing. I would rather have a bunch of AllianceBernstein moves than be reliant on one company that dominates the entire region. Diversity in a regional economy is a good thing.

We need a transit plan that addresses how to move people back and forth from the downtown core and these locations: Williamson County, Mufreesboro and Sumner County. That could be bus rapid transit or commuter rail.

We need better bus service in the city core with rapid bus lanes along major routes.

We need to continue the move to an all electric bus fleet.

We need to synchronize the traffic light system in a more comprehensive fashion.

We need more low and middle income housing.

We need to continue to build better amenities for people who live downtown. the AEG project and Whole Foods are steps in the right direction.

We need to find ways to keep people who have lived here for generations in the city. If we lose them we will lose our culture.

We need to find ways to make the city affordable to young people in the creative areas and young entrepreneurs. They provide the environment that makes everyone else want to move here.

I love the skyline and talk of new development, but ultimately the market will take care of all of that....if we concentrate on the basics.

No doubt. I was thinking about that very thing as I typed my rebuttal. And I think time will tell about Nashville. But I don't think it is doing growth very well. Remember, the OP referred to "boring". I think Nashville has been lucky in many ways to have the downtown it has. I will not defend the defeat of the transit plan, which I voted for yesterday. And if Nashville does not come up with a solution the whole county can support then that will go down as a major fail.

Regarding Atlanta's voting for MARTA in 1968, it gets major props for doing so. And also points for utilizing existing tracks through the city. Little known fact is the state of Georgia owned those tracks. So they could be used as the basis for the urban rail system. However, even that system has its major shortcomings. It's a difficult proposition to lay tracks in suburban areas "after the fact". Northeastern cities have suburbs that grew up around the rail lines unlike Southern cities NOW trying to put in rail. At least Atlanta had some tracks to utilize. Nashville doesn't even have that because the state does not own those lines. Dallas showed that it can be done, but they were mostly new rail lines with some exceptions. Keep in mind that it's easier to build rail in a flat prairie than in the hillier rockier topography of the Southeast.

Before this post gets misinterpreted, I'm not saying Atlanta never laid new track. They did, starting with the line to Hartsfield in '83. Remember the old billboards "Whoooooosh!" I was 8, but still remember those. That was a nice idea in concept, but even today airport to downtown passengers has never lived up to expectation. Atlanta gets major props for its tunneling and stations downtown. Those did not exist before MARTA. As I mentioned, it's unfortunate that the ballpark pre-existed the concept of MARTA, and a major fail that a station was never built as either a side-track or spur to the park. The Mercedes has at longlast remedied that problem, but not after the Braves were sent packing. Another FAIL by Atlanta: while it was building MARTA, it was also expanding its expressway system, and still is. Making it easier to live farther out.

Will Nashville learn from Atlanta's lessons? Doubtful. It has luxury of not growing as fast. But it's certainly NOT boring. And as long as its downtown and midtown stay compact, it will actually have opportunities to become a more lively urban core than Atlanta. That's what I call being lucky despite themselves. The failure of transit yesterday is an example. But they will find a solution. Will it be slick and expensive like MARTA? Doubtful. But they will sooner or later have to deal with it.

Ha. You can barely tell them apart. Looks like some developer was watching too many Count Dracula movies and tried to recreate Transylvania. I'm surprised those buildings aren't wearing black trench coats with organ music playing in the background. Unlike Transylvania all of the buildings in Nashville look completely different from one another.

And if you call the buildings below boxy then you need to retake kindergarten because you have no clue about basic shapes.

The Sobro
One KVB
AT & T
One Nashville Place
The Pinnacle
JW Marriott
1801 West End
Bridgestone
L&C Tower
Fifth Third
Nashville City Center

I was just in the Vanderbilt area a couple of months ago and I can honestly say Nashville in not boring. Also, I think Nashville's Convention Center is one of the greatest architectural development projects from the 2000's. Austin may be building quicker than Nashville, but I think the quality of the developments in Nashville are remarkably of a higher standard. Just my $0.02!

I agree with Atlanta3000. I took a trip recently to both Nashville and Austin and Nashville just feels more cosmopolitan with better architecture in its core. And yes, the Music City Center is amazing. We spent some time in the Hatch Show Print shop (incredible) and then had a drink at a really great bar inside the complex. Kudos to Austin for its new library, though, which is stunning. I also much prefer Austin's waterfront to Nashville's.

I'm really disappointed in the transit vote. Now, going forward, those who were for the transit system should hold those who were against it accountable and force their hands in putting forth a plan that will pass. Since so many people said they want something, they just didn't want the plan that voted on. Well, now it's time for them to produce the plan they want. And, let's see how much different it will be if they ever produce one at all.

My 2 cents
 

Hi y'all. Having been born in Nashville in 1947, I have seen a lot of change here. Generally it has been a good place to live. Nashville 50 years ago was nasty, dirty and pretty much of a big hicktown. Now I find it vibrant, sophisticated and definitely NOT boring. I am also a lifelong Democrat who was not for the dearly departed transit plan. Nashville needs mass transit, but putting rail down the middle of existing major streets was an idea right out of the 1890 trolley lines. Mixing frequent bus stops with rail stops and traffic is a bad idea. Improve bus service, yes, but rail need to serve point to point concentrations of residential core with the central downtown. for instance rail should have no more than 3 nodes between (for instance) downtown and Hendersonville - perhaps Inglewood, Old Hickory & Rivergate.
Separate the commuters from the small businesses already on the streetscape. That's what buses and cars are for. Put terminals for rail in central loctions (not park & ride either) where pedestrians and cyclists can conveniently and safely access - not on the already congested automotive arterials. If CSX freight rails cannot support an added load, use emminent domain to chop a path for commuter rail alongside existing tracks. Once clear of downtown, this land looks to be the least developed path. It may take time to figure out the best route, but it would likely be much less disruptive in the long term. As a design professional, I think this approach should be investigated.

You need to re-read what I said. I NEVER said Nash was boring, just said the skyline is not all that yet..There is NO comparison to Atlanta is this regard, sorry weak argument. As far as nightlife, no Atlanta does not have the honky tonks and such, but ATL has many more pockets of entertainment districts that far outweigh what Nashville has to offer.

It sounds like you mistook the light rail in this plan for some sort of commuter rail line. The point was never to get people from the suburbs in and out of the city faster. The point is to provide better mobility and more options on getting around in the city.

You're easily the worst Atlanta booster on these forums. Why do you have to bring up Atlanta in a NASHVILLE DEVELOPMENT THREAD???? It's clear and obvious you have some sort of inferiority complex because this isn't the first time you've done this.

I read the Nashville thread so I can see their developments, not Atlanta's skyline vs. Nashville's. Let them develop their own skyline and urban core. Worry about your own. Grow up.