Surrounding Counties - Cheatham, Dickson, Montgomery, Rutherford, Sumner, Wilson, Williamson, Maury, etc.

[Rural King]

I think "worst" or "best" lists have to be taken with a grain of salt. Some like business preferences for locating operations can be indicative of trends, albeit with a subjective slant fo those firms surveyed; while other lists that rank a place a good place to live can vary wildly on the subjective measures they use in their determinations. If a place is gaining/retaining jobs, gaining/retaining population, and overall has a stable and positive environment I think it's hard to say it's a particularly bad place to live and/or raise a family.

The city is growing at a pretty quick rate, so at end of the day it appears for lots of people and businesses their own personal subjective views of the city are positive ones. So what a ranking says is fairly irrelevant if the facts on the ground say otherwise, no?

[miami1855]

Also, the study used outdated numbers for areas such as amount paid per student. The Best Life study showed that Clarksville paid a worst $6,500 per student. When, in fact, the actual number per student is closer to $7,500.

[Nashville_maestro]

Thought I'd snap a pic of the Nissan HQ now that the exterior is pretty much finished. I have to say that this building looks pretty space age like. I actually like it quite a bit for a "soulless" office building. I still cant help but think if this building had gone downtown what kind of building we would be looking at today. Nevertheless...

[satalac]

Thought I'd snap a pic of the Nissan HQ now that the exterior is pretty much finished. I have to say that this building looks pretty space age like. I actually like it quite a bit for a "soulless" office building. I still cant help but think if this building had gone downtown what kind of building we would be looking at today. Nevertheless...

one of the reasons that this building didn't go downtown was that nissan was wanting a campus style layout. to build downtown would have simply been too expensive and they likely would have gone elsewhere. as for the building itself, i like it a lot. it's not too flashy but still sticks out. and it's a very green building. that and the company my dad is with did it.

The possible relocation of a division of the Jackson National Life Insurance Company to either Cool Springs or the AT&T building without incentives sounds great. This is a very positive sign that the Nashville metro is becoming quite attractive business locale via its own synergy and merits, perhaps enough so that incentives will play a less important role in luring new businesses/industries during these slower economic times nationally.

i'd actually like to see jackson, tn get this. i mean come on, the name is perfect! i'm not above sharing the wealth to our west tn brothers.

[RON-E]

i drove past this the other day. its very sleek building! im glad nashville (metro) is getting green buildings finally!

[smeagolsfree]

I was in Franklin the other day and noticed a new crane up with 5 stories of steel already erected at McEwen Town Center. A lot of other construction has taken place there as well. I just cant keep up any longer. Even with the slowdown there is a lot happening all over the mid state.

[smeagolsfree]

Noticed on the news yesterday that Clarksville's new hospital is now open and moving day was yesterday or rather Friday. Good News!

[miami1855]

Noticed on the news yesterday that Clarksville's new hospital is now open and moving day was yesterday or rather Friday. Good News!

Yes. The official move was on Saturday. They successfully moved 58 patients within 6 hours and discharged 19 others before the move. By 9 a.m., they had already treated and discharged several patients in the new ER.

Also, as much as I think the new hospital is boring architecturally, there are several new doctor's clusters and medical office buildings that look promising. Will try to get pics soon.

[timmay143]

I found an article in the TN today about Cool Springs possiby landing another company!

Unnamed company could move to Cool Springs

Here are a couple more about some road projects.

New portion of Carothers Parkway opens next week

Lewisburg Pike widening meeting set for next week

Edited June 26, 2008 by timmay143

[smeagolsfree]

Thanks for the update. I am now down there all the time, but never have a camera with me. I am blown away at all the high end gated communities that are in and around Franklin.

[timmay143]

The new Nissan NA headquarters building in Cool Springs is almost ready. Some thing pretty interesting, the comment about pushing for better mass transit. I am glad that Nissan is in the Middle TN area. I wished they would have chosen downtown, but it seems they wanted the campus layout (maybe the May Center will help out in this area for Davidson county?). I am hoping Nashville and the Middle TN region can work together on transportation, developments, and sharing corporate locations fairly. I am not sure the answer is a regional consolidation, but I hope the region works together and not against each other. It is also great to see the building be LEED certified (silver, I think) and that they preserved a small wildlife area. It would be great to see Nissan push for better mass transit options. I imagine there will be a need for a better connection between Smyrna and Cool Springs.

Monday begins Nissan's long-awaited move to Cool Springs

edit: I can't wait to see some pictures of the finished product!

Edited July 7, 2008 by timmay143

[timmay143]

Here is another article talking about the new Carothers expansion for the new Nissan building. They also talk about an additional expansion of the road to Liberty Pike. I can't believe the incredible change this area has experienced in the past 15-20 years.

City rolls out asphalt red carpet for Nissan

Edited July 7, 2008 by timmay143

[franktown]

I did some math, and that stretch of road was 20 million / mile.... amazing huh? And people flip out about light rail being expensive at 5 million / mile!

[timmay143]

Wow! I was thinking the same, that road was expensive!

[miami1855]

New census figures show (again) that the city of Clarksville is among the top ten fastest growing in the nation.

http://theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...KMrv8wJHPy4k%3D

These figures do not include a large portion of the soldiers at Ft. Campbell because many of them either live outside the city or on post, which do not count towards these numbers.

Even after these studies, Montgomery County still rarely shows up as even one of the fastest growing counties in Tennessee. So, in my opinion, this just goes to show that Montgomery County IS Clarksville and that we should push forward with consolidated government.

It also screams for more retail within the city. I am tired of the same ol' chain restaurants, Kroger and Food Lion as the only grocery options, 4 Wal-marts and a line of 12 cars at the Starbucks drive thru.

Thoughts? With studies like this coming out every year naming Clarksville, where do you think the city and county are headed? Do these numbers continue to encourage Clarksville as a separate entity from Nashville?

[Fallingwater]

Well, Clarksvillians, the census estimates are in and Clarksville comes away the winner. Clarksville ranks #9 in the nation among "large cities" (pop. 100,000 and up) in rate of growth. The estimated population is now approximately 119,500. Clarksville constituted the largest population increase in the State speaking of mere raw numbers; 5,400 new residents. Nashville Davidson County added 5,200. Knoxville and Chattanooga each added over 1,000 and Murfreesboro added 4,500.

Edited: Looks like Miami beat me to the punch.

Edited July 10, 2008 by Fallingwater

[urbanmad]

Well, Clarksvillians, the census estimates are in and Clarksville comes away the winner. Clarksville ranks #9 in the nation among "large cities" (pop. 100,000 and up) in rate of growth. The estimated population is now approximately 119,500. Clarksville constituted the largest population increase in the State speaking of mere raw numbers; 5,400 new residents. Nashville Davidson County added 5,200. Knoxville and Chattanooga each added over 1,000 and Murfreesboro added 4,500.

Edited: Looks like Miami beat me to the punch.

[urbanmad]

Congrat to Clarksville on their growth. But the numbers that you are looking at for Clarksvilles growth (5400)are their growth numbers since the 2000 census. The growth numbers from Nashville and Murfreesboro are only for 1 year. Nashville has grown by 45000 and Murfreesboro by over 30000 since 2000.

[miami1855]

Congrat to Clarksville on their growth. But the numbers that you are looking at for Clarksvilles growth (5400)are their growth numbers since the 2000 census. The growth numbers from Nashville and Murfreesboro are only for 1 year. Nashville has grown by 45000 and Murfreesboro by over 30000 since 2000.

The Tennessean shows Clarksville's growth at 5,411 residents from 2006-2007. Our seven year numbers are closer to 20,000 residents.

[Rural King]

It also screams for more retail within the city. I am tired of the same ol' chain restaurants, Kroger and Food Lion as the only grocery options, 4 Wal-marts and a line of 12 cars at the Starbucks drive thru.

Thoughts? With studies like this coming out every year naming Clarksville, where do you think the city and county are headed? Do these numbers continue to encourage Clarksville as a separate entity from Nashville?

4 Wal-Marts but only one Starbucks? Demographics are weird, we have 3 Starbucks in Jackson and only two Wally-Worlds - albeit the downtown Starbucks is getting the axe with the recent cut-back in stores by corporate.Over here we can also relate to the lack in grocery chains - 4 Krogers - 1 Food Giant owned Market Place - and one substantial independent "Camps" makes one want at least another option - Schnucks, Publix, etc. - even if all the Krogers are well-ran and offer great variety.

As for thoughts. I think that moving forward with merging the city and county is something that should happen, but the benefits of consolidating governments will have to be sold and re-inforced to county residents for some time to come. As the city grows as the ever larger percentage of the county's population I think it will become easier to sell to the the county residents.

I would wager that this growth will help re-inforce and maintain the seperate identity of Clarksville from Nashville.

[miami1855]

4 Wal-Marts but only one Starbucks? Demographics are weird, we have 3 Starbucks in Jackson and only two Wally-Worlds - albeit the downtown Starbucks is getting the axe with the recent cut-back in stores by corporate.

We have two Starbucks in the city and one on post. It just seems like everyone in town goes for coffee at the same time as me!

[Rural King]

^ LOL Gotcha - I was thinking you were saying the city only had one Starbucks which seemed weird for the population, so I just chalked it up to different demographics. Maybe your Starbucks is the better one, thus the reason for the long lines .

[Titans10]

CoolSprings Galleria announces 200,000 square-foot expansion

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...NESS01/80718028

The owners of CoolSprings Galleria plan a 200,000 square foot addition to the mall, an open-air shopping center with rooftop parking decks that will be built in 2011 on its existing parking lot.

"This is something we have wanted to do for a very long time, mainly because major retailers come to us and want to be part of CoolSprings Galleria and we have not had space for them,'' said mall marketing director Dana Katterjohn.

The mall, which is 1.3 million square feet, is owned by Chattanooga-based CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.

The CoolSprings Galleria currently has a 99 percent occupancy rate, which makes it impossible to bring many new retailers, Katterjohn said.

She said Nordstrom Inc. is among retailers who have talked to CBL officials "but space was an issue."

Instead, Nordstrom announced earlier this year that it would open in the fall of 2010 at The Mall At Green Hills in Nashville.

The first phase of the development, which will feature retailers and restaurants, is scheduled to open in 2011 on the Mallory Lane side of the mall. The exact size of the first phase has not been determined, Katterjohn said. No parking will be lost because parking decks will be created, she said.

No deals with retailers have been signed.

Katterjohn said the addition, to be called "The District at CoolSprings Galleria,'' will feature smaller anchors than those that exist at the current mall such as Macy's and Dillard's.

"The expansion will introduce a targeted selection of junior anchors, an array of high-fashion boutiques and quality sit-down restaurants in a luxurious outdoor atmosphere,'' the mall said in a press release. "The District at CoolSprings Galleria will feature an open-air, streetscape setting with unique and eye-catching storefronts, attractive architectural elements, extensive landscaping and pedestrian-friendly walkways. "

[Rocky@theTop]

Please... get a Crate & Barrel

[titanhog]

As I drove out to my land on Peytonsville Road, I passed by the Berry Farms Rheams-Flemming portion of the development (south of the Wilco Ag Center) and it appears they are putting in the sewer and on the very southern edge of this property it appears they are starting to move dirt for interior road ways. I believe this is part of the overall Berry Farms development where more of the office space will go?