Metro Redistricting

[smeagolsfree]

Redistricting District 19

I don't know if anyone paid attention to the new D 19 proposal but it is interesting and makes a lot of sense!

 District 19 boundaries seem to expand into Midtown more and take a big chunk of Brandon Taylors area and give it to Freddie's district not to mention give all of the East Bank to D-19.

This would put the East Bank under one district instead of three.

It would also give Edgehill to Colby which makes a lot of sense, so I can see an expansion of the DTC into Midtown across the interstate, SoBro, & the East Bank as the natural boundaries of downtown. When I say SoBro I mean an increase in height.

Metro will almost certainly have to extend the DTC into the East Bank to do what they want to do with the East Bank plan.

Council District Proposal Compare Application (arcgis.com)

(1) Redistricting – Metro Council Districts Proposal B Explainer - Bing video

[Nash_12South]

One change that I think will be for the good, is moving a section of the line separating Districts 17/18. Currently, part of the line is in the center of 12th Ave. South, dividing the business stretch in half. The proposed dividing line moves east to 10th Ave S, putting more of the neighborhood, and all the businesses, into District 18. 

[smeagolsfree]

From what I hear Sean Parker is not happy with the plan of taking the East Bank out of his district but this make a whole lot of sense and I think that Brett would probably support the idea although no t 100% sure. The plan would help to really put the downtown and the East bank on the same page. 

As to the 12 South area I agree on the 10th Ave move and moving the boundary up to the Interstate.

I am not very familiar with the rest of the districts to know what other changes are needed or are best.

Thats sot of why I put this out here.

[Nash_12South]

I think what makes sense neighborhood wise gets hampered by the requirement to keep the districts as equal, population wise, as possible. I agree that the line between 17 and 18 should go to I65.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Nash_12South

[Bos2Nash]

I've heard rumblings that Sean Parker is not pleased with losing the East Bank, but I also understand from the standpoint of getting that under the direction of downtown.

Here is my problem with the entire stretch of East Bank being under one person though, it essentially grants a large power to a single elected entity in Freddie O'Connell (for now). Downtown on the west side of the river still has ALOT of shit it needs to figure out and needs to maintain. The river is a natural border and what goes up on the East Bank - especially north of James Robertson/Main Street - impacts the neighborhoods to the east more than to the west. Germantown is well established and connecting from the East Bank to Germantown will be a long shot (even with the pretty pictures from the River North and Oracle development proposals) so the focus from a legislative perspective should be how that area's developments will impact its surroundings.  I also believe that District 6 should maintain from Shelby Ave/KVB down to the interstate as that area connects under the interstate and needs to be connected correctly. Having two legislative folks bickering over it will get messy.

This is how I would re-district the East Bank.

Districts should not be simple and clean really. Districting really comes down to the people and needs to be approached that way - which is inherently messy. I believe the way I showed the three districts joining together best aligns with the residents surrounding those areas and how connections will continue to develop. Lastly, I believe having 3 council members be impacted by the East Bank Study and proposed zoning and subsequent development while cumbersome to the study team will be a much better benefit to the overall city than if it was just one.

[smeagolsfree]

I think Sean is going to come up on the losing side here. The plan has survived plan A and plan B cuts and I think Freddie and Brett are in favor of this.

Frankly I don’t see it that way as the entire area is going to be tied together a lot more closely now as the zoning on the East Bank will have to mirror more of what is going on in downtown more than what is happening on the other side of the Interstate. 

The zoning on some of the parcels already reflect this with GBT parcel going to 38 stories and the RMR development going to 30. There may be other motives in play too.

[Bos2Nash]

Motives from Sean's side of it is his constituency is the one that will feel the brunt of the impact from the River North development. Freddie's constituency is currently very different and what will be his incentive to work with the established residents? Versus having multiple council people involved where they all have to answer to a constituency that has a stake in the game. Having a single legislative member oversee a massive area doesn't make it any more uniform, that is what Planning is for. Planning has the say there because if certain zoning and development approaches dont get through zoning, then the council never has to worry about it - beyond the single legislator who is working with the development team. The council is about the people and for the people and this approach to re-districting is just not that.

I agree Sean will most likely "lose" this fight. I think the "winning" side is the wrong side in this discussion. Sean has shown no indication that he is against development, so the fact that GBT and RMR are where they are doesnt make him any less equipped to deal with it than Freddie.