Could Cool Springs explode?

[Lexy]

Here is the article. Let me go on record as saying the mayor of Franklin is a complete ass. If you read the artcle you will see why I said that. Especially when it comes to standards.

Admin's note. Lexy Sorry I had to delete this. Site policy, no posting of news clippings. Its in the rules above. You can post the link and a summary

[BnaBreaker]

I couldn't find the part where the mayor was an ass. Could you point it out to me?

I really hope Cool Springs doesn't "explode", at least not if it is an explosion with its current development patterns. I mean, don't get me wrong, I certainly hope for the area's continued success, but if their success means negative things for the central city AND the countryside surrounding it, then I have to give a big HELL NO!

[ATLBrain]

Here is the article. Let me go on record as saying the mayor of Franklin is a complete ass. If you read the artcle you will see why I said that. Especially when it comes to standards.

Lexy, do you know him personally? I don't, but I can't blame him for being a booster for Franklin.

I think that if Nashville's Mayor "Purseclosed" did a lot more boosterism (esp. for business recruiting... see LincLink's posts on Nissan) like Miller, then maybe Nashville wouldn't see so much of its businesses moving south.

One thing that I've wondered for a while now: Why in the heck is Purcell so concerned with building sidewalks out in the hinterlands of Davidson County, when the Gateway Blvd can't even get finished all the way to 8th Ave? And why did the Sounds ballpark take so long? And where's his leadership on the convention center?

One more thing. Watch out for another do-nothing politician on the local level... David Briley. He's currently an at-large Metro councilman and wants to run for mayor in a few years. I noticed in the articles about the ballpark and convention center expansion that he never has anything constructive or any alternative proposals to make. He's a naysayer to the core. I'm not against asking probing and responsible (esp. fiduciary) questions, but as far as I can see, he makes lame comments like "Well, that's a lot of money" and "We'll have to see if there's something else we can do" (not actual quotes, but the same idea)... So just watch in the papers whenever he's quoted. Somebody in the local media wants to boost this guy.

NOTE: I do not know Purcell or Briley, and I expect they're nice men, but (geez) they are not dynamic leaders (IMHO). A dynamic city needs a dynamic leader.

[Lexy]

Jesus Christ. No clippings eh? Oh well. Here is the link....

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...ESS01/511120353

[satalac]

well i mean i guess if some gas lines were ruptured and some tanker trucks and trains collided at the same time. anything's possible if you ask murphy. but seriously, cool springs can only grow so much. i see the thompson station area exploding next. and don't leave out the area around 840 between franklin and murfreesboro.

[Lexy]

Now. I say he was an ass because in the article he says.....

"We are not going to lower our standards because of this growth," he said. "If developers want us to lower our standards, they can go build somewhere else."

I agree that lowering the standards is not an option. Maybe I choose the wrong word to describe this comment?

Let me explain......

The standards are already lowered because you continue to endorse surburban development in a city that desperatly needs some form of urban help. Whether its transit or just plain develoment. It just shows how unwilling the city MAY be to the idea of urban design and better infrastructure in the future. Remember, there is a proposed commuter rail line that will extend to this area in the future. The thought has crossed my mind that maybe they(Franklin) feel they don't need it.

BTW, I feel this mayor did nothing to attract this to the area. It was primarily government leaders at the state level and Bill Purcell. As referenced in yesterdays Tennessean. I agree about Purcell though guys. He needs to grow a backbone and get things done to a certain degree. I feel as though he is more worried about sidewalks than he is business recruitment. Which can go hand in hand I guess, LOL!!!

[ATLBrain]

I agree with your points about the standards (or lack thereof) of development in the suburbs.

Although, I give Franklin credit for doing a nice job with their little downtown. They've certainly done much better than other ring towns. Hendersonville and Brentwood are just pathetic, and they don't seem to want anything to do with building a pedestrian friendly town center. Too bad. M'boro seems to be doing better these days. I haven't been to most of those towns in years though.

[Lexy]

I agree with your points about the standards (or lack thereof) of development in the suburbs.

Although, I give Franklin credit for doing a nice job with their little downtown. They've certainly done much better than other ring towns. Hendersonville and Brentwood are just pathetic, and they don't seem to want anything to do with building a pedestrian friendly town center. Too bad. M'boro seems to be doing better these days. I haven't been to most of those towns in years though.

I agree. Franklin's DT is priceless for a ring city. Brentwood and Hendersonville are non-exsistent to a degree and Murfreesboro is moving in the direction that Franklin has gone. So the lines are drawn I guess. Brentwood can be influenced by Nashville though due to its location within Davidson County. I see the people out there not changing one bit. Hendersonville is like Franklin in that it wants capital investment anyway it can get it and at the expense of whoever. It too, though, has institued a design standard I believe. Mt. Juliet can be grouped in here too.

[cheeriokid61]

Yes, our mayor has been one of those people that will either make you very happy or extremely angry. One of his main problems is his idea of raising lots of money to buy land to turn into parks, but not having enough money to keep up with it. For example, he buys the Country Club of Franklin Golf Course, which is a wonderful area of green space about a mile out of downtown, doesn't have enough money to keep it up, and plans on letting it turn into ugly weeds. What does he say about it? It looks as it did during the Civil War, therefore, it's a battlefield park. Guess what? The Battle of Franklin didn't happen here, buddy. It happened where you just approved that new Target, you idiot!

Needless to say, there is a good chance he will not be reelected.

[Lexy]

Yes, our mayor has been one of those people that will either make you very happy or extremely angry. One of his main problems is his idea of raising lots of money to buy land to turn into parks, but not having enough money to keep up with it. For example, he buys the Country Club of Franklin Golf Course, which is a wonderful area of green space about a mile out of downtown, doesn't have enough money to keep it up, and plans on letting it turn into ugly weeds. What does he say about it? It looks as it did during the Civil War, therefore, it's a battlefield park. Guess what? The Battle of Franklin didn't happen here, buddy. It happened where you just approved that new Target, you idiot!

Needless to say, there is a good chance he will not be reelected.

LOL! Wonderful point cheeriokid61. I had heard about that golf course deal.

[rocket9561]

I agree with your points about the standards (or lack thereof) of development in the suburbs.

Although, I give Franklin credit for doing a nice job with their little downtown. They've certainly done much better than other ring towns. Hendersonville and Brentwood are just pathetic, and they don't seem to want anything to do with building a pedestrian friendly town center. Too bad. M'boro seems to be doing better these days. I haven't been to most of those towns in years though.

I guess you haven't heard of either Brentwood or Hendersonville's town center plans. They have a HUGE problem Franklin doesn't. They are new cities and not over 100 years old like Franklin. Hendersonville did not exist until 1969...I'm not sure about Brentwood. Trust me, they want it though. Now that restored historic town centers and the "in thing" you can bet Hendersonville and Brentwood were among the first toknow they had to have one too, even if they have to build them from scratch.

[Lexy]

I guess you haven't heard of either Brentwood or Hendersonville's town center plans. They have a HUGE problem Franklin doesn't. They are new cities and not over 100 years old like Franklin. Hendersonville did not exist until 1969...I'm not sure about Brentwood. Trust me, they want it though. Now that restored historic town centers and the "in thing" you can bet Hendersonville and Brentwood were among the first toknow they had to have one too, even if they have to build them from scratch.

I have, but that is the extent of what I know about them. I have just heard of them, not seen anything on them. I apologize.

[ATLBrain]

I guess you haven't heard of either Brentwood or Hendersonville's town center plans. They have a HUGE problem Franklin doesn't. They are new cities and not over 100 years old like Franklin. Hendersonville did not exist until 1969...I'm not sure about Brentwood. Trust me, they want it though. Now that restored historic town centers and the "in thing" you can bet Hendersonville and Brentwood were among the first toknow they had to have one too, even if they have to build them from scratch.

Thanks for the update. I haven't been to Hendersonville in a long time. I always thought that the nice lake/cove coming into the "downtown" area was a huge opportunity. Up till then, it was thoroughly wasted.

Speaking of wasting opportunities. Would anybody be interested in a thread about ways to promote town centers in such suburban areas and cohesive ways to develop them (while protecting property rights at the same time)?

I'm most interested in ways that would avoid Eminent Domain. In other words, I'm for the carrot and not the stick. If I had property in one of those designated areas, I might not like having restrictions put on my property (either grandfathered or not). I realize that developers often render these questions moot when they come in and offer a lot of money for a huge chunk of different parcels.

Case in point: Hendersonville has so many acres owned by different people/families. Let's take the strip along that street that goes parallel to the lake off the main drag (I'm sorry, but I don't remember the name). It's a hodgepodge of different businesses (probably doing quite well already). So in a case like this, how could the city leaders and property owners find common ground to invest in a town center?

[ATLBrain]

A little bit of background: I once considered moving up to Hendersonville (about 5 years ago). I found a nice house on the lake. I think the homes up there are beautiful. And from what I hear, the schools are very good too. Anyway, it didn't work out mainly b/c my wife didn't want to move away from Atlanta. I'm still working on her.

Who knows? Maybe if Hendersonville had a quaint downtown a'la Franklin, then she might have been more willing.

[cheeriokid61]

I have a question. How does everyone think residential living in a small downtown like Franklin's work? We currently have a couple people, probable a little more than fifty, living in houses and condos above some shops, and we have a project called the brownstones that should add about 20 to 30 new townhomes, I forget the number. It would probably about double our downtown population to over a hundred. How do y'all think this will work out?

[ATLBrain]

I have a question. How does everyone think residential living in a small downtown like Franklin's work? We currently have a couple people, probable a little more than fifty, living in houses and condos above some shops, and we have a project called the brownstones that should add about 20 to 30 new townhomes, I forget the number. It would probably about double our downtown population to over a hundred. How do y'all think this will work out?

I think anytime you can get more taxpayers to live in the downtown areas it's great (fewer cars on outlying streets, more pedestrian traffic, more demand for services downtown, tax base grows, critical mass for more business in the downtown area... presumably in a centralized area like Franklin's. Franklin is already growing like kudzu. So if you direct some of that into downtown w/o destroying what already makes it very nice, then that's a good thing. Of course, growth does have its downside too.

[Lexy]

I think anytime you can get more taxpayers to live in the downtown areas it's great (fewer cars on outlying streets, more pedestrian traffic, more demand for services downtown, tax base grows, critical mass for more business in the downtown area... presumably in a centralized area like Franklin's. Franklin is already growing like kudzu. So if you direct some of that into downtown w/o destroying what already makes it very nice, then that's a good thing. Of course, growth does have its downside too.

Good post and I agree 200%. I think the more you can take advantage of downtown living, the better all around.