Nashville’s mentality as a city

[Binbin98]

This is kind of a random topic but I feel like in my 6 years almost on this forum I have just noticed a general attitude, especially from the city council in Nashville, of being content with and even wanting to go back to the old Nashville, where it was not important and people/companies weren’t moving there from all over, and to be honest it kind of grinds my gears sort to speak. 
Many cities would absolutely die to get the kind of attention Nashville is currently getting, my aunt lives in Winston Salem and they struggle to get any buildings at all announced let alone a 500’ one. If this kind of growth started happening there or say in Rochester New York those cities would be going above and beyond to accommodate it most likely.  People compare Nashville to Atlanta but when Atlanta started growing back in the 1960s the local city council and mayors welcomed it (completely different in the suburbs but I digress) rather than be opposed to it. 
 

Keep in mind I’m not saying the city should approve of every project or company without research, some might not be the right fit or not help the city thrive and grow. But at the very least I feel like the city council and local government should hold a ‘innocent until proven guilty’ mindset with new skyscrapers (especially regarding the height limit stuff) and companies/mixed use developments/etc.. if that makes any sense

I guess my question to you all is do you think the local Nashville government’s mentality of ‘longing for the old days’ will ever change? Or will Nashville just have years of reluctant growth ahead of it?

[dxfret]

I totally disagree with this sentiment.  It reminds me of visits with my parents and some really old school Nashvillians  60+ years or older who may occasionally gripe about the growth and changes. I don’t think this applies to the Metro council.  Nashville has been fortunate to have several very progressive mayors and Metro councils that ok’d big projects. That continues and is simply not going to change.  There is little longing for the good old days. Time is marching on.   Nashville is on fire, everyone knows it.  Seize the day. 

[Bos2Nash]

I agree with @dxfretin that Nashville has an extremely welcoming attitude to development. What folks dont understand with something like the height discussion, is it is not a willy nilly process to go higher in building heights. To change the zoning codes allowing additional height (up to the presumed 750' ceiling) is essentially a year long process of community meetings, writing new codes and approval processes etc, etc. Nashville is BOOMING and welcoming more booming, but there is only so much our city can do. We are on pace to reset the "average" number of Downtown development applications this year and from the sounds of it that won't be a single year thing.

We are spoiled by the fact that we have had so many announcements over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, we are also hamstrung by the amount of tax revenue that has come from that boom and we are seeing it in the lack of infrastructure improvements, lack of transit, deferred maintenance on structures and that is only compounded that these new developments are not helping improve these things and the city cannot mandate them to thanks to the state. One would argue that we are booming in the face of all this adversity and honestly we could be quickly approaching a hard stop if things don't change in the next 5/10/20 years.

[grilled_cheese]

On 2/17/2022 at 1:06 PM, Binbin98 said:

This is kind of a random topic but I feel like in my 6 years almost on this forum I have just noticed a general attitude, especially from the city council in Nashville, of being content with and even wanting to go back to the old Nashville

Source?  D8's council member has been full throttle on every project.  I can't think of one project they have talked negatively about in a broad sense except for minor issues.

On 2/17/2022 at 1:06 PM, Binbin98 said:

and to be honest it kind of grinds my gears sort to speak. 

You know what grinds my gears?  Walking through the parking lot of my neighborhood bar or restaurant and seeing all the out of state/county license plates.  And when I get inside there are no seats at the bar or there is a wait for a table when there used to be none.

On 2/17/2022 at 1:06 PM, Binbin98 said:

Many cities would absolutely die to get the kind of attention Nashville is currently getting, my aunt lives in Winston Salem and they struggle to get any buildings at all announced let alone a 500’ one. If this kind of growth started happening there or say in Rochester New York those cities would be going above and beyond to accommodate it most likely.

I don't care about any other cities.  This is kinda like the male/female experience on dating apps.  Males (other cities) are starved for attention (growth) and have to put in a ton of work to get noticed.  Females (Nashville, for instance) have so much growth (responses/likes/whatever)  it's overwhelming. 

As a resident, we're feeling the squeeze.  Police are understaffed and only respond if you're actively being shot at.  Trash pickups are delayed by days.  Recycling pickup has been paused.  Codes are overwhelmed and take forever to do anything.  The transportation we did have got de-funded. Good luck getting a residential project done that is worth less than $150k since all the trades people want to do new builds. 

The growth only seems to benefit people moving here, people selling their homes and moving far away, landlords, the beer sellers, etc.

[Binbin98]

On 2/18/2022 at 11:10 AM, Bos2Nash said:

I agree with @dxfretin that Nashville has an extremely welcoming attitude to development. What folks dont understand with something like the height discussion, is it is not a willy nilly process to go higher in building heights. To change the zoning codes allowing additional height (up to the presumed 750' ceiling) is essentially a year long process of community meetings, writing new codes and approval processes etc, etc. Nashville is BOOMING and welcoming more booming, but there is only so much our city can do. We are on pace to reset the "average" number of Downtown development applications this year and from the sounds of it that won't be a single year thing.

We are spoiled by the fact that we have had so many announcements over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, we are also hamstrung by the amount of tax revenue that has come from that boom and we are seeing it in the lack of infrastructure improvements, lack of transit, deferred maintenance on structures and that is only compounded that these new developments are not helping improve these things and the city cannot mandate them to thanks to the state. One would argue that we are booming in the face of all this adversity and honestly we could be quickly approaching a hard stop if things don't change in the next 5/10/20 years.

I think my point with what I said was not necessarily more about building height and more about the latter part of this post, to which I completely agree with. There is only so much self inflicted adversity a city can get through 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Binbin98
Typo

[Bos2Nash]

The unfortunate part about the adversity is outside of the transit issue (which isnt 100% city) it is mostly inflicted at the State lev el rather than the local level. Impact Fees - to get developers to help pay for additional infrastructure upgrades - was shot down by the state. Inclusionary zoning - which is aimed at increasing our affordable housing stock - was shot down by the state. Our tax revenue is balanced across the city by state law so we are capped with how much gets brought in to the city coffers - which is also why people in some of the poorer, gentrifying areas are paying sometimes equal to what folks in Bellemeade are paying. 

Certainly the environment that has been created here at a state and local level has contributed to the boom, ie no income tax, but without some changes that allow the city to operate more freely from the state's "hand in the cookie jar", we may be on borrowed time. 

So to answer your original question, Nashville has a very welcoming attitude toward development. The city council, mayor's office, planning department are all welcoming to what has been occurring and I would argue want more development. Nashville is actually extremely EASY to develop in compared to other sister cities. It is the NIMBY population - which isnt unique to Nashville - that harkens for the old days. Change will always bring those folks out no matter how much they are catered to. 

[Pdt2f]

On 2/17/2022 at 1:06 PM, Binbin98 said:

This is kind of a random topic but I feel like in my 6 years almost on this forum I have just noticed a general attitude, especially from the city council in Nashville, of being content with and even wanting to go back to the old Nashville, where it was not important and people/companies weren’t moving there from all over, and to be honest it kind of grinds my gears sort to speak. 
Many cities would absolutely die to get the kind of attention Nashville is currently getting, my aunt lives in Winston Salem and they struggle to get any buildings at all announced let alone a 500’ one. If this kind of growth started happening there or say in Rochester New York those cities would be going above and beyond to accommodate it most likely.  People compare Nashville to Atlanta but when Atlanta started growing back in the 1960s the local city council and mayors welcomed it (completely different in the suburbs but I digress) rather than be opposed to it. 
 

Keep in mind I’m not saying the city should approve of every project or company without research, some might not be the right fit or not help the city thrive and grow. But at the very least I feel like the city council and local government should hold a ‘innocent until proven guilty’ mindset with new skyscrapers (especially regarding the height limit stuff) and companies/mixed use developments/etc.. if that makes any sense

I guess my question to you all is do you think the local Nashville government’s mentality of ‘longing for the old days’ will ever change? Or will Nashville just have years of reluctant growth ahead of it?

No offense, but this is definitely a post of someone who doesn’t live in Nashville and lives far above the income level of understanding why people don’t like the growth. Like many Nashvillians I have a love-hate relationship with the growth. It is cool to see the city grow and do well,  and it provides a lot of opportunity, but I’ve also got 2 kids with another on the way and this city is less and less affordable by the day. All the class A office space and $8 million penthouse condos in the world aren’t going to help my kids. I personally worry that we’ll become like San Fransisco and end up with only like 10% of our population being children due to the cost of living. Funny thing is I’ve been on a roll the past 5 years or so with getting better paying jobs and promotions, but it’s meant fudge-all because the cost of living is rising higher than I can earn. Now we have half million dollar homes in Madison (freaking Madison?!) and other places that used to be affordable for people like civil servants, cops, teachers, etc.  

Btw, for many of the residents here “becoming the next Atlanta” is a huge fear, not something that can make them “see the light.” I don’t know anyone in Nashville who enjoys going to Atlanta or thinks being the next Atlanta would be cool.