What is Nashville's claim to fame other than country music?

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by DCReid

I don't think it has as much to do about race as you think. If it did, I do not think cities like Atlanta would be growing, even in the city itself at this point. Many midsize cities are the growth magnets if they are cheaper, have a strong knowledge base, have a big university and/or are a state capital. Many are also attractive to businesses which can serve their clients just as well as big cities and have cheaper costs. Most of the cities you mention as growth are state capitals and stronger tech and university driven cities/ Columbus is doing better than Cleveland because it is a state capital, has a large university, and has a good location, among other things. There are plenty of African-Americans in Columbus, and plenty of blight. Nashville has a leg up on Memphis because it has better universities and is a state capital, among other things...I see blog posts about Nashville not having a decent streetscape and etc, but I don't think that matters as much as you think. I remember in the 1980s there were complaints that Houston was flat and muggy, had flying roaches, freeways everywhere, houses next to office buildings, and was basically a mostly unattractive city. Those perceived drawbacks have not prevented it from continuing to grow even when its economy collapsed in the early 1980s.

I generally agree with you.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Investing In Chicago

What is the draw of this for the bachelorette crowd?

If they go to Las Vegas everyone assumes they're slutting it up with pro athletes or whichever celebrities happen to be in town. In Nashville they have the cowboy costume party and save face. They're "having fun".

One of those sites someone linked to listed scented candle-making as a Saturday afternoon activity. Yeah, and they'll go to Mass on Sunday morning before catching their flight home.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I used to work as a nightlife photographer before Facebook, etc., existed. Bachelorette parties weren't a big deal until the rise of digital cameras and social media. Then they took on this really angry energy.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by DCReid

I don't think it has as much to do about race as you think. If it did, I do not think cities like Atlanta would be growing, even in the city itself at this point. Many midsize cities are the growth magnets if they are cheaper, have a strong knowledge base, have a big university and/or are a state capital.

If there is a race/racism problem, it's probably influenced more by local politics than national perception. I think places like St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, etc., just don't do a good job of marketing their cities. Using Detroit as an example, local politics is probably a significant factor for why they don't do it as well as an Atlanta or Austin.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by jkc2j

For someone who supposedly moved from Nashville in 2001 and doesn't like it you sure seem invested and visit often. I mean.. you have multiple recent photos of neighborhoods in transition and constantly make posts about it. Very strange.

I have relatives and friends who live there. I visit them 2-5 times per year. Very strange.

[jkc2j]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I have relatives and friends who live there. I visit them 2-5 times per year. Very strange.

Right.. Just like how you said hot chicken was "invented" in 2017, or your supposed two "non-white" friends you texted just so happened, said they hadn't heard of hot chicken till 2017.. the same year you stated the rest of Nashville all of a sudden heard of it.. very strange indeed..

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

If they go to Las Vegas everyone assumes they're slutting it up with pro athletes or whichever celebrities happen to be in town. In Nashville they have the cowboy costume party and save face. They're "having fun".

One of those sites someone linked to listed scented candle-making as a Saturday afternoon activity. Yeah, and they'll go to Mass on Sunday morning before catching their flight home.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I used to work as a nightlife photographer before Facebook, etc., existed. Bachelorette parties weren't a big deal until the rise of digital cameras and social media. Then they took on this really angry energy.

Angry??

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

If there is a race/racism problem, it's probably influenced more by local politics than national perception. I think places like St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, etc., just don't do a good job of marketing their cities. Using Detroit as an example, local politics is probably a significant factor for why they don't do it as well as an Atlanta or Austin.

Might have been true more with Memphis than those cities, which are considered rust belt and had heavy manufacturing declines. Memphis is a major logistics hub and is a fairly old, large and historic city, and if you look at its position on the US map, it seems like it could have been a major regional hub to serve what the Atlanta and Dallas hubs serve. I'm guessing that local politics may have led to the area not marketed as well as it could have - with Memphis being heavily black and the suburbs in or near the Mississippi border being very primarily white, and the area was not considered progressive like Atlanta. Now Nashville has most of the momentum in business and population growth in the mid-south central area.

[jd3189]

Well, I finally tried Nashville hot chicken. Great taste and really follows its namesake.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by DCReid

Might have been true more with Memphis than those cities, which are considered rust belt and had heavy manufacturing declines. Memphis is a major logistics hub and is a fairly old, large and historic city, and if you look at its position on the US map, it seems like it could have been a major regional hub to serve what the Atlanta and Dallas hubs serve. I'm guessing that local politics may have led to the area not marketed as well as it could have - with Memphis being heavily black and the suburbs in or near the Mississippi border being very primarily white, and the area was not considered progressive like Atlanta. Now Nashville has most of the momentum in business and population growth in the mid-south central area.

That is very much like Detroit.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Well, I finally tried Nashville hot chicken. Great taste and really follows its namesake.

I had literally never heard of it before this thread.

[mrnyc]

^ its a fake foodie thing that got pimped for awhile like detroit pizza.

no one can figure out why nashville is the new austin anymore than they could figure out how austin was the new portland.

[iheartthed]

I've been looking for Nashville hot chicken in NYC, but it doesn't seem that easy to find. I thought I found a spot in the LES last night but when I got there it appeared to be some type of weird commercial kitchen type of setup that was operating two different takeout restaurants out of one space. That was a turnoff so I didn't order.

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ its a fake foodie thing that got pimped for awhile like detroit pizza.

I saw yesterday that there are Jet's Pizzas in NYC now. Jet's is another pizza chain from the Detroit area that does "Detroit-style" even though they never really called it that before the media hype.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

Pretty much nothing, it’s extremely hyped in the same way Austin is. Both are fairly bland places on a national level.

Orlando is bland. Raliegh is bland.Sacramento is bland.
Nashville is not one of my favorite cities but I dont dislike it either . That said Nashville is anything but bland and has rich culture. Especially black.
You cant discount Nashvilles black influence and history.
You have three HBCUs , Fisk is one of the most famous HBCUS and its history of the Fisk Jubilee Singers introduced the world to African American spirituals by performing even in at the White House .They are an important milestone in African American history.

Tennesee State University is one of the largest HBCUS in the US.

Nashville also has some very old and historic architecture

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

^ its a fake foodie thing that got pimped for awhile like detroit pizza.

no one can figure out why nashville is the new austin anymore than they could figure out how austin was the new portland.

Actually very popular in the South. Its spread all over it now.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

exactly.

and i can see how someone in, say, st. louis might look at a media darling like nashville a little sideways.

i mean, on just about every measure of being an established old school traditionally urban "authentic" big city in the interior of the nation, st. louis kinda blows nashville out of the water.

but the masses of middle america don't want that real shit, they want disneyland - RELATIVELY SPEAKING. i know nashville is a real and established city with its own real history, culture, etc., but by "disneyland" i mean the somewhat manufactured tourism-related "cowboy hat and bachelorette party" media image that nashville projects out to the world.

and on a certain level, good for nashville for cashing in on its "disneyland" creation. money is money, it doesn't really matter who you're getting it from.

people continually want a place to sink real estate dollars for a quick return and nashville has gained critical momentum in this way. its easy to understand and a straight forward deal. a lot of the money is coastal money.

st. louis has the central west end (and clayton…) and theres a decent concentration of local/chicago/midwest based investment in new buildings but not much play nationally.

[BigDipper 80]

^You see a similar "problem" with Cincinnati, where almost all of the development is by local companies. But that's in part because of their extreme isolationist attitude, to the point where the current mayor has on more than one occasion chased out-of-town developers away just to give the parcels to his contractor buddies. A developer from Indianapolis?? Pearls clutched! They just don't understand Cincinnati to make a development successful here!

I think this mentality probably hurts a lot of rust belt cities from gaining more national momentum. Nashville, and really anywhere in the New South, doesn't seem to care who comes in and build stuff. A lot of established cities seem really protective of who gets to build what, and as a result they fall off the national radar while shirking money from the Chicagos and the New Yorks.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by BigDipper 80

^You see a similar "problem" with Cincinnati, where almost all of the development is by local companies. But that's in part because of their extreme isolationist attitude, to the point where the current mayor has on more than one occasion chased out-of-town developers away just to give the parcels to his contractor buddies. A developer from Indianapolis?? Pearls clutched! They just don't understand Cincinnati to make a development successful here!

I think this mentality probably hurts a lot of rust belt cities from gaining more national momentum. Nashville, and really anywhere in the New South, doesn't seem to care who comes in and build stuff. A lot of established cities seem really protective of who gets to build what, and as a result they fall off the national radar while shirking money from the Chicagos and the New Yorks.

cincinnati seems to do OK on its own in that way. in st. louis because so many of us moved to chicago and did or didnt move back there was somewhat of a renewed business relationship but of course chicago capital is as risk averse as anyone and its not enough investment compared to say nashville.

[watchmanonthewall]

If you consider just how few people are actually able to live in a tall building and conservatively estimate how much demand Oracle and Amazon alone could create for downtown housing then it stands to reason that a lot more tall towers will be coming to downtown Nashville.
That was a long sentence.

[sopas ej]

OK so I finally had Nashville hot chicken, at Dave's Hot Chicken. I had it for lunch today. It was good. I didn't get a sandwich, I got one chicken tender, and a side of kale slaw. The tender is served on a slice of white sandwich bread and comes with pickles and dipping sauce.

Photo by me

Glad I got the curiosity out of my system. Now I don't have to have it for at least a year! I'm really cutting down on fried food. Again, it was good, but I can't imagine having it often.

i've been eating these things for months but didn't realize "nashville hot chicken" was a thing until this thread. i still prefer "buffalo" to "nashville hot" but it's pretty darn good nonetheless.