Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumH2O
Recently went through the inner loop of the city and what amazed me the most was the density more than anything else. For a city it's size it felt much bigger and grander than it actually is. I believe metro Nashville is at 2 million now but it felt as is the population could push past 2.5 million-3 million. Though, once you get over 20 miles in any direction from downtown you could than see and start to actually believe why the actual population is only around 2 million and not 2.5-3 million. Another thing I liked about Nashville that's not all too visible in the southwest is the hilly terrain and how well the developers play with and around such geographic features. Also, what makes Nashville look so modern is the cleanliness. Nashville is one of those few cities that actually looks very clean.
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Even as a hyper homer, I realize the census data does not reconcile with the growing density and height. I have been to every one of the top 50 metros (except San Diego and Grand Rapids) and have a greater appreciation for the scope of Nashville's skyline as it stretches 30+ blocks through Midtown. The economics behind this over achieving have puzzled me.
A skyline picture from Midtown with some proposed and rising buildings added.
Part of the impetus for this level of development is obviously the transient population of multi-day tourists and conventioneers. This requires a lot of hotels and attractions. And there are a number of spec office buildings going up due to anticipation of a tech industry boom that could be a result of 'Amazon partners' expanding to the city.
And there is a metro area of nearly 300,000 (Clarksville) about 45 miles away which is neither included in the MSA or CMSA. But nevertheless Clarksville is an important neighbor to Nashville as its citizens visit Nashville's attractions and hospitals and sporting events in droves.
Midtown's growth is somewhat centered around Vanderbilt University's influence. You can never underestimate the powerhouse impact a major university like Vanderbilt has on a city.
Some years ago, someone published a map on-line (of which I have tried to retrieve again to no avail) that broke down U. S. cities by area of economic influence. In other words, it defined cities as regional and showed Nashville's E. I stretching to Chattanooga and Huntsville and up into Kentucky. Applying a similar construct to all cities, Nashville ranked 20th in size when this definition was applied to determining the size of a city based on it's economic influence. I know that without a link this is hard to appreciate, but at least to me, it was another way of putting into perspective the amazing growth in Nashville.
And yes, there are hills (up to 1,100 ft.) (A telephoto image, hills are a few miles away)