Question about ppl living dowtown

[FluffyP13]

where can i find population estimates for people living downtown? i need them for various cities like dallas and nashville. i know there are numbers from the 2000 census as well as current estimates and estimates in 2010. i cant seem to find them at census.gov so if anybody can direct me in the right place i would greatly appreciate it

[smeagolsfree]

This may help you some. The following are web sites from metro, downtown living initiative and from the Tennessean. I am not real sure how to estimate the number of people to be living downtown other than to get the household average and multiply by the number of downtown units planned, under construction, or development. You can follow guild lines set forth on the Downtown Living Initiative study as to what is considered the downtown area. I think you may mean the Central business core. I hope this helps.

http://www.nashville.org/mpc/population_projections2010.htm

http://www.civicdesigncenter.org/downloads...ntownLiving.pdf

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...D=2005512250345

[BnaBreaker]

I think the only really fair way is to add up the populations of all of the central census tracts because obviously cities have varying definitions of how large the boundaries of a "downtown" is, so doing it that way isn't really always a fair comparisson.

[chuckster]

well, whatever the figure for Nashville is now....we all know it's about to drastically change.

[smeagolsfree]

Here is another source that may be of help. This is the downtown residential report from the Downtown Nashville Assn.

http://www.nashvilledowntown.com/live/Resi...Report_2005.pdf

[teshadoh]

Based on the 'Greater Downtown' boundary established by http://www.nashvilledowntown.com/live/Resi...Report_2005.pdf - The 2000 census block population is 3146.

Based on estimated 2004 census block group (commercial not census population estimates) the 'Greater Downtown' area plus an area bounded by Charlotte, 17th, Broadway, a little south of Broadway, 16th, & Division - the estimated population is 3630 - the 2000 population was 3383.

[it's just dave]

I wonder what the numbers would be if one were to extend the purple line 1.5 miles in each direction. I bet the number would quadruple or more quite easily. The interstate loop really puts our numbers at a disadvantage. Some cities claim a much larger number because their "boundaries" contain larger land mass. For instance, the north Capital area...negligible. Hope Gardens is doing fine, Gulch, not online yet. Rutledge/SoBro, not online yet. I'd sure like to see these areas just pack 'em in over the next few years. I don't think our, we'll call it, "intown" population is nearly as lean as its made out to be.

Can someone point me to a census tract map? Love to see it.

[smeagolsfree]

This is all I can find Dave. Hope it helps.

ftp://ftp.nashville.org/web/mpc/Populatio...usTractsMap.pdf

ftp://ftp.nashville.org/web/mpc/Populatio.../Tract_Data.pdf

[Hankster]

Here is another source that may be of help. This is the downtown residential report from the Downtown Nashville Assn.

http://www.nashvilledowntown.com/live/Resi...Report_2005.pdf

Based on the data in the above report and the projects annouced to be built about 6 months ago, I did a projection of people living in downtown in 2009, and came up with a projected figure of at least 9,000. It assumed that no other projects other than the ones we knew of at that time would be completed by 2009...a very conservative assumption. However, the momentum has built since then, and I think that figure should top 10,000 by that date.

For details of my analysis you can visit this earlier thread:

9,000 Residents in Downtown Nashville by 2009

[it's just dave]

It appears the greater downtown area as outlined contains only 3 census tracts. This is the one studied and the one in Hankster's projections.

But, taking the area one step further and taking the census tracts that touch the purple line designating the area described by teshadoh...all within a mile or little more from the core area, I added them up and came up with 19,258 people. I don't know the years of these counts. Add to it the estimated 3600 people living in the core area, I come up with 22,858 in what could be called "downtown, slightly extended." I've always thought our figures were a bit lean and I think it's the downtown loop that makes it look that way. If the interstate had never been constructed, or constructed somewhat further out, some of these areas would be commonly thought of as "downtown". So, all the other places who claim these hefty populations "downtown" ...we're not so far behind when one considers geography and semantics.

Like I said, certainly nothing scientific here, but Nashville's urbanized area is pretty tight and denser than people often give us credit for.

And Ron, thank you for those links.

[teshadoh]

But Dave, don't you think there is a distinction between 'downtown' & urban neighborhoods surrounding it? A similar arguement is made in Atlanta where people include adjoining neighborhoods to downtown's population. By adding these neighboring urban neighborhoods to downtown's population, it does remove the significance of the neighborhoods themselves. It's nice having a high density mixed use 'downtown' & also having lower to medium density mixed use urban neighborhoods as well.

I can't remember the names of the places, but I'm thinking of that predominately lower income neighborhood to the south of downtown as well as the post-industrial area between downtown & Vanderbilt. Though they do merge into downtown, they do reflect different styles than downtown itself.

[ATLBrain]

Nice work, guys. Plus, I like to include the more than 10,000 students from Belmont and Vandy who live on or near campus 9 months of the year. I think Nashville will soon realize what a great asset it is to have those two campi so close to DT as midtown and DT grow together.

And the daytime DT population is pretty impressive. I've heard (I don't know for sure) that it's approaching 90K. Anybody have anything more scientific. If those tracts include MetroCenter and WE, then probably more than that.

[ATLBrain]

But Dave, don't you think there is a distinction between 'downtown' & urban neighborhoods surrounding it? A similar arguement is made in Atlanta where people include adjoining neighborhoods to downtown's population. By adding these neighboring urban neighborhoods to downtown's population, it does remove the significance of the neighborhoods themselves. It's nice having a high density mixed use 'downtown' & also having lower to medium density mixed use urban neighborhoods as well.

I agree with the distinction. I'd guess Atlanta's to be apx. 50K if you include the near town neighborhoods and another 8-12K for GSU and Tech students.

Still, I'd include them nevertheless, b/c so much infill is going on in those areas of both cities. Also, I enjoy seeing these numbers finally going up after going down my whole life.

[it's just dave]

Perhaps it's because I remember before the loop was built. I drove on the loop while it was under construction thinking this was the greatest thing ever (I guess I can tell on myself now). But before that, there was no "line", downtown just kept going until you decided you were out of downtown and that certainly wasn't in the vicinity of the loop. So, yes, I absolutely agree that these areas are different, but the reality of it all it's that it's a very new thing in terms of this city's age.

Rather than call SoBro and the vacant adjoining areas infill, I prefer to call them "refill." Replacing the connectivity that existed before is going to be a huge, complicated endeavor, but with careful planning, I think the multiple personalities of the surrounding areas will remain unique, but beautifully blended. Someday.