More Accolades for Nashville

[Pdt2f]

3 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

I love that WestJet flies nonstop to Calgary from BNA.  Calgary is a great town, too.

WestJet upgauged their Toronto flight to a 737 on some days of the week in April, too. I believe that will run into or through the fall. Their Calgary service increased to 3 days per week this summer, as opposed to 2 last year. I’m interested to see if we eventually get flights to Montreal or Vancouver. 

[Flatrock]

3 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

I love that WestJet flies nonstop to Calgary from BNA.  Calgary is a great town, too. 

They actually mentioned that they feel really comfortable and welcome here.... particularly so, since Nashville reminds them a lot of Calgary. Just as an aside - by their clothing, jewelry, manner, speech and overall appearance, those gals were VERY affluent. It's still fascinating to me what dynamics draw our tourists. Moreover, the sea change of tourists' profiles today compared to the typical bumpkin of 15 years ago. No offense to any bumpkins out there...

[jmtunafish]

1 hour ago, Pdt2f said:

WestJet upgauged their Toronto flight to a 737 on some days of the week in April, too. I believe that will run into or through the fall. Their Calgary service increased to 3 days per week this summer, as opposed to 2 last year. I’m interested to see if we eventually get flights to Montreal or Vancouver. 

I would cry like a little girl if we got a nonstop to Montreal.  Talk about an incredible place to go spend a long weekend.

11 minutes ago, Flatrock said:

They actually mentioned that they feel really comfortable and welcome here.... particularly so, since Nashville reminds them a lot of Calgary. Just as an aside - by their clothing, jewelry, manner, speech and overall appearance, those gals were VERY affluent. It's still fascinating to me what dynamics draw our tourists. Moreover, the sea change of tourists' profiles today compared to the typical bumpkin of 15 years ago. No offense to any bumpkins out there...

I hope the bumpkins will always feel welcomed in Nashville.  As shiny and sophisticated as Nashville is getting, I don't want us to forget what made Nashville what it is.  (Hint:  it's not all the corporate relocations or professional athletes or hipsters.)

Edited May 25, 2018 by jmtunafish

[Flatrock]

5 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

I hope the bumpkins will always feel welcomed in Nashville.  As shiny and sophisticated as Nashville is getting, I don't want us to forget what made Nashville what it is.

To clarify: I 100% agree. I'm original Nashville. Frankly, I see little danger that the country music mecca tourist of old, would not continue to come here and enjoy.

[markhollin]

For the third month in a row, Nashville has the lowest unemployment among the Top 51 markets in U.S. at 2.2% again in May.

[markhollin]

A national site selector believes Nashville is poised to attract more banking and finance jobs than the 1,050 positions coming with the new headquarters of Wall Street money manager AllianceBernstein.

An analysis from The Boyd Co. Inc. concludes that Nashville is the second-cheapest city in the U.S. for a bank or financial firm looking to move operations out of high-cost areas. The kinds of "back-office" jobs the study examined don't normally involve work with clients, but instead are more in the vein of administrative positions. Examples can include legal, compliance, accounting, auditing, IT and human resources.

More behind NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/06/01/nashville-primed-for-more-finance-jobs-than-just.html?ana=twt

[markhollin]

Investment in Williamson County has soared beyond the rest of the state, landing it in the top 10 counties in the nation issuing the most new building permits, a new review of federal data shows.  According to SmartAsset.com, there are 33 new permits per 1,000 homes in Williamson County.  Maury and Davidson Counties are not far behind at 33 and 31 per thousand, respectively.

Franklin, the county seat, also emerged as the 8th fastest-growing city in the nation in terms of new residents.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/05/25/williamson-county-tennessee-new-building-permits-nashville-franklin-brentwood/641363002/

[MLBrumby]

Which makes the Census estimates even more curious, given the continued growth rate of residential dwellings. That's a 3+ percent growth in units, and 314,014 units as of July 1, 2017.  That's a y-o-y increase of 9734 over the past year. Let's assume 2/3 are occupied during that time (IDK, maybe that's on the high side), and given a ratio of 1.7:1 (which is fairly conservative) for Davidson and 2.1 for suburban counties, that gives about 11,087 new residents over the past year. Yet the last estimate published showed a smallish increase of under 3000 from last year.  So I don't get it. 

Having said that, it appears the Census Bureau has revised upward their y-o-y figures for 2016-2017, giving an increase of nearly 7000. I still think that's overly conservative, but perhaps the blame is with the Metro codes/housing development department. It seems the estimates are habitually low from Metro. That in itself can impact other things like their budgeting, which (not surprisingly) is forcing new discussions on taxes, but that's not my point here.

 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/davidsoncountytennessee/PST045216https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/davidsoncountytennessee/PST045216

I have an old friend who is a retired actuary and now lives atop Monteagle Mtn. He still runs population estimates from his home office based on data from every county in the state. He says the Davidson County estimate now is closer to 705,000 and targets a 2020 population at b/n 725K and 730K. I put my money on him instead of Metro codes. 

[smeagolsfree]

Dont forget, there are people moving out because they cant find affordable housing and many may have children, thus the decline in Metro schools enrollment. 

[MLBrumby]

_{That's a good indicator; at least reflecting a change in the mix of the population.  However, I would like to see how much private school (or even home school) numbers have changed to get a full read. I know in Chattanooga, our county has grown, but enrollment in public schools has not as people decide they are unsatisfied with the quality of the schools. Those numbers at the MS/HS levels drop off sharply. Conversely, the private schools are bursting at their seams.} 

[jmtunafish]

9 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

_{That's a good indicator; at least reflecting a change in the mix of the population.  However, I would like to see how much private school (or even home school) numbers have changed to get a full read. I know in Chattanooga, our county has grown, but enrollment in public schools has not as people decide they are unsatisfied with the quality of the schools. Those numbers at the MS/HS levels drop off sharply. Conversely, the private schools are bursting at their seams.} 

There's also a growing number of parents who live in Davidson County but figure out ways to send their kids to neighboring schools.  I know this is an issue in Sumner and Wilson counties in particular, where there are quite a few students who use relatives' or friends' addresses in Hendersonville and Mount Juliet to avoid lousy Metro schools.  It may not be enough to make much of a dent in Metro's numbers, but it is a growing concern in some of those ring counties.  A good friend of mine is a counselor at Mt Juliet HS and said they used to try to weed out those kids, but in the end it's just too much of a hassle.  Some parents will even "split up" (one parent live in their house in Davidson County while the other parent rents an apartment in Mt Juliet) just for the sake of the kids' education.  I can't say I blame them.

[smeagolsfree]

I did see a  quick story on the local Fox station yesterday saying 24000 milenials moved here last and almost 20, 000 moved out.

[markhollin]

BRIDGESTONE ARENA RANKED SECOND IN THE U.S. IN CONCERT TICKET SALES BY VENUESNOW

 Bridgestone Arena, home of the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators, ranks second in the United States and 10th in the world for concert ticket sales, according to VenuesNow’s 2018 Mid-Year Top Stops. The ranking was released this June and takes into account venues in the 15,001 – 30,000 capacities worldwide ranking from Oct. 16, 2017 – May 15, 2018. When including the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament and Nashville Predators home hockey games, Bridgestone Arena has hosted over 1 million people in the building year to date.

 Within the Oct. – May time frame, Bridgestone Arena hosted a number of sold-out events, including seven Garth Brooks performances, two Eagles concerts, Jimmy Buffett, The Weeknd, Kid Rock, Jay Z, Brad Paisley, Justin Timberlake, Foo Fighters and Shinedown/Five Finger Death Punch.
 

[markhollin]

[BnaBreaker]

Wow... seeing Bridgestone amongst that company is truly astounding.  Paris, Madrid, Sydney, Shanghai, LA, NYC, Chicago, Mexico City and Nashville... yep, that checks out!

 

[titanhog]

5 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Wow... seeing Bridgestone amongst that company is truly astounding.  Paris, Madrid, Sydney, Shanghai, LA, NYC, Chicago, Mexico City and Nashville... yep, that checks out!

 

We are definitely world-class as far as some entertainment metrics.

[Pdt2f]

6 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Wow... seeing Bridgestone amongst that company is truly astounding.  Paris, Madrid, Sydney, Shanghai, LA, NYC, Chicago, Mexico City and Nashville... yep, that checks out!

 

 

40 minutes ago, titanhog said:

We are definitely world-class as far as some entertainment metrics.

We hit waaaaaaaaay above our population when it comes to national and worldwide cultural impact. Primarily because of the music business, obviously. 

[markhollin]

Feature in today's New York Times about the bachelorette party phenomenon in Nashville:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/fashion/weddings/bachelorettes-in-boots-take-on-nashville.html

[smeagolsfree]

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 12:59 AM, jmtunafish said:

There's also a growing number of parents who live in Davidson County but figure out ways to send their kids to neighboring schools.  I know this is an issue in Sumner and Wilson counties in particular, where there are quite a few students who use relatives' or friends' addresses in Hendersonville and Mount Juliet to avoid lousy Metro schools.  It may not be enough to make much of a dent in Metro's numbers, but it is a growing concern in some of those ring counties.  A good friend of mine is a counselor at Mt Juliet HS and said they used to try to weed out those kids, but in the end it's just too much of a hassle.  Some parents will even "split up" (one parent live in their house in Davidson County while the other parent rents an apartment in Mt Juliet) just for the sake of the kids' education.  I can't say I blame them.

I know of similar situations, where a parent lives in one county and another one in Davidson. They will switch around so they can go to the better school. This has been going on for years and would require full time employees to check each student address out.

Same goes for the emissions test. I know a lot of folks that register their cars in Cheatham at friends and relative homes to keep from replacing a oxygen sensor that may cost a 1000 bucks. 

If there is a way to beat a requirement of any kind, Americans will figure it out. 

[Pdt2f]

7 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Feature in today's New York Times about the bachelorette party phenomenon in Nashville:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/fashion/weddings/bachelorettes-in-boots-take-on-nashville.html

I don’t get why people hate the bachelorette parties. I say keep ‘em coming as long as they keep spending their money on hotel rooms and restaurants. More tax money for the city and more growth in the hospitality and restaurant industries never hurt anyone. 

[bigeasy]

29 minutes ago, Pdt2f said:

I don’t get why people hate the bachelorette parties. I say keep ‘em coming as long as they keep spending their money on hotel rooms and restaurants. More tax money for the city and more growth in the hospitality and restaurant industries never hurt anyone. 

I think someone can hate them and also not want them to go away. Like you stated, they are great for the city. My hatred towards them can be summed up by the every picture that article has. Bachelorette girls are loud and obnoxious. I get so annoyed hearing their "wooing" or singing while on the pedal bars or those trailers. Can't they have fun without trying to make sure everybody within a mile knows they exist?

[BnaBreaker]

33 minutes ago, bigeasy said:

Can't they have fun without trying to make sure everybody within a mile knows they exist?

But didn't you know that they're, LIKE LITERALLY the most important people in existence since they have one friend that decided to get married to that one guy she met in a bar that one time, and everyone should care deeply??

[Nash_12South]

My experience, with these parties, is that they end up in a 12 South restaurant, are overly loud, with families at adjoining tables. The boys (and girls) can get pretty drunk and foul mouthed, again, right beside folks with kids.  This isn't all of them, but a noticeable number. Downtown it's more expected than in the "quieter" neighborhoods. 

[NashvilleObserver]

I don't mind the Bachelorette parties, the CMA fest hooligans, the Titans or Predators fanatics, etc. It keeps the city vibrant. We are a destination... I hope it continues.

[markhollin]

Nashville will be first city in the world with a "mapping video" app designed by local photographer, Nate Vogel, of TripBlazr. It is an interactive video mapping platform that organizes existing YouTube videos, as well as creating its own, for Nashville restaurants, bars, retailers, hospitality entities, tourist attractions, etc. People can click on a location of a map on their smart phone and then a video will appear showing what it is about. The service is free.  I think this will become quite popular with our tourist scene in particular.

A full interveiw with Nate is behind the paywall at Nashville Post here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/people/article/21009624/mapping-video-content-is-important-for-city-exploration