March Forum Meet a Grand Success!

[doormanpoet]

We are on a historic roll now. With so many getting involved with the issues of urban development and the built environment, next month we may need to discuss if we are going to make the group "formal" and possibly make ourselves known to the Civic Design Center and other entities and maybe have a representitive at formal design and civic discussion meetings.

William and I are so proud of what has become of our Saturday Coffee Chats. We are so happy so many have taken interest in our passion and dreams for this great city.

Much thanks to the Machine, Ron and the Historian, Dave for taking time out of their weekends to show so much interest with us. Nashville Bound, Todd also was with us in the early months and has been a great asset to the group. Lexy, the Photo Guru Wizard has beeen instrumental in posting beautiful and artful photo's of the city. And although he has been with us in spirit, Rural King deserves so much credit for a great job as moderator. Hankster, thanks so much for the Chattanooga updates!

For those 22 who were with us today, thank you! I do not remember all of the names, so I won't try to list them in fear of leaving someone out, but please feel free to post comments on this thread. Much thanks to the new people for checking us built environment geeks out! (Where was Kheldane our Libertarian friend?)

For those not in attendance here was the agenda, or actually more of a Tour De Force.

Meeting at Provence at 10:00.

Approximately 1 and 1/2 hours of discussion on various topics.

Then a walk to the Savage House where Josh, a friend of Todd's gave us a tour of the 1845ish mansion that is under a major renovation.

Next was a stroll down Church Street, and then a tour of the Phoenix Lofts. Thank You Cliff.

Next was a short stroll to the Courthouse Square.

Some of us left then as we had some other commitments, but overall approimately a 2 and 1/2 hour session.

What a wonderful day!

See you next month and please Nota Bene' (note well) we will meet at the Savage House for the month of April and then May we will return to Provence. Much thanks to Antony and Shelia for hosting us at Provence.

John the DP

[Rural King]

I'll be at the next meet if at all possible. I have to see this new mega-meet in action. I am VERY happy to hear that the meets are drawing so well, and hope they contintue to grow and do so in the future. I hope a good time was had by all, and hopefully in both April and May I will see you all there.

[it's just dave]

Great time had by all. There were some faces absent and many new faces. We all share that same intense interest in what's going on around here. The many perspectives presented on so many different things just amaze me. Thanks Provence for a great meeting spot, and a good plate of quiche, btw.

Hank and I hit the road after the meet and checked out Germantown, Salemtown, the debated apts. at MetroCenter (which look very nice), back downtown, to the ultra-modern houses off Charlotte which had us both wishing we had an extra few hundred thousand to invest in a view, we hit Love Circle, West End, Belmont, and then lunched at Jackson's in Hillsboro Village after which we were treated to a great sidewalk musical ensemble with accordian, violin, guitar, drum, cymbal doing tunes very Eastern European in tone. Excellent. And the dancing street person was quite entertaining as well. Sorry about the frozen ears, Hank, but it's just not the same with the top up. lol. We also checked out the progress at Edgehill Village...I'm in love with that.

[splash]

the ultra-modern houses off Charlotte which had us both wishing we had an extra few hundred thousand to invest in a view

They are calling this little enclave "Nevada Heights". The company that built those I think is called Dreaminc, which seems appropriate.

My wife and I enjoyed the forum meet immensely. Maybe after a few more meetings I can convince her to move Downtown. LOL

[Kheldane]

(Where was Kheldane our Libertarian friend?)

Hey doorman, thanks for asking about me! Sorry I had to miss the meet!!! I had to get some work done (groan!), but I'm already looking forward to april. I'm also glad to hear the meet was such a success and I'm very eager to help with the nascent efforts to make the group "official". Our ever-growing and ever-strenthening group of concerned citizens has unlimited potential to affect change in nashville. With as many smart and creative people as we have in this forum, we have the potential to change from a group that watches the news to a group that makes the news. See you guys next month!

[LA_TN]

I too enjoyed the meeting; but I was whipped and tortured after returning home (back to changing diapers)....

[urbanbna]

Sorry I was not able to make it today and share with you guys the interview I conducted with Tony G. I was caught up in work and the like. You know how it gets. I am planning on having the interview posted very soon. Most of you know where you can find it, if not, just ask me. I can't put a link here on UP because it directs you to another website. Anyways, off that, the interview went very well, and I also have a grand surprise for you all later this next week. You will have to wait on that, but it has to do with the Viridian. Sorry again guys, it just seems like every meet, something comes up.

[Hankster]

Great time had by all. There were some faces absent and many new faces. We all share that same intense interest in what's going on around here. The many perspectives presented on so many different things just amaze me. Thanks Provence for a great meeting spot, and a good plate of quiche, btw.

Hank and I hit the road after the meet and checked out Germantown, Salemtown, the debated apts. at MetroCenter (which look very nice), back downtown, to the ultra-modern houses off Charlotte which had us both wishing we had an extra few hundred thousand to invest in a view, we hit Love Circle, West End, Belmont, and then lunched at Jackson's in Hillsboro Village after which we were treated to a great sidewalk musical ensemble with accordian, violin, guitar, drum, cymbal doing tunes very Eastern European in tone. Excellent. And the dancing street person was quite entertaining as well. Sorry about the frozen ears, Hank, but it's just not the same with the top up. lol. We also checked out the progress at Edgehill Village...I'm in love with that.

I certainly had a great time! Thanks Dave for taking me around town and showing me all the areas listed above. It truly is amazing the breath and scope of all the development all over the city. I especially like looking at all the "new-old" (new but looks like old) housing going in the Germantown area....very attractive stuff. Then there was that house up on top of the hill near Charlotte with a view was not too shabby up there. We stopped a chatted with the sales agent at the Bristol West End Project. It's just barely out of the ground, and they have only 3 units left! She gave us brochures for the Icon, and said things were really going well there too. She also said that the 5th and Main project in East Nashville was already nearly sold out! Amazing! I enjoyed that musical ensemble too. They were great fun. I took a few pictures, and I'll try to get them posted tomorrow. Wish me luck in avoiding getting another bunch of postage stamp sized pictures again.

[smeagolsfree]

Hey guys!!

Thanks for a good time yesterday and I am looking forward to next months meet. You all are to be commended for taking an interest in the Forum and the great city of Nashville. Glad to see all the new faces with all the old ones as well. If we had some of the people that were at the last meet there yesterday then we would have had about 30 or so people. Talk this forum up to your friends and let them know to join and take part. The more interest we have in UP the better the site will be.

Maybe we can get some of our friends from Charlotte to take a trip to Nashville and see us. I would much rather see admiration for each others cities than competition and animosity. Also thanks to Metro M for making this a site that does not allow bashing as I have seen on other sites.

Good work

[bzorch]

We all love photos so here a couple from the tour.

Church Street. So what is wrong with Low-rise and mid-rise.

They do not make them like they use to except at the Symphony Hall.

We were impressed by the crane

A look at the capitol

Not my favorite building downtown, but thought it offered an interesting shot.

[Lexy]

Those are awesome pics. The last one especially! Casey and I had a fantactic time and are already looking forward to April, and warmer months. By then I will have my camera. Until then I need to get to the top of the Financial Tower.

Cliff, can you PM me and I will get with you about going to the YMCA at the top?

Savage House will be awesome. I especially encourage all that have a mere intrest in Nashville to attend. The place looks great and gives you a great walk back into the history of Nashville inside. The March meeting was very informative and equally as fun! Thanks guys.

It is important to note that over on www.skyscraperpage.com, their MEGA meet is in Toronto and we are expecting around 50-60 people for it. I will be representing Nashville at this meet for the first time ever. Nashville has never been represented at a mega meet like this, so Casey and I will be flying up to Toronto on May 27th for the big event.

[smeagolsfree]

Better take plenty of pictures Lexy. OH who am I talking to. Of course you will take plenty of pictures. Since we know you will bring back pix we want something else too.

SO,

The entire Nashville Forum wants T-shirts.

[Lexy]

I may be able to swing it. Let me see what the going rate is on T's and i'll get back to ya. LOL!!!

[Hankster]

Here's some pics from the forum meet and my ride with Dave after the meet. I do hope they're not postage stamp size this time. If they are, my apologies.

Viridian Construction

Views for the 6th Floors of Phoenix Lofts

New housing on hill near Charlotte Pike. What a view!

View inside one of the homes

Street musicians near the Pancake Pantry. "Its Just Dave" standing at left of first photo.

[Lexy]

WOW! That's the biggest dang postage stamps I have ever seen. Great pics. I have used that view form close to CHarlotte Pike for many of my pics before.

[it's just dave]

Ah, Hank. Great job! No more postage stamps for you, my friend. Just think, if you lived in that house you could cut up your veggies and have that as a skyline view. The village was just perfect yesterday, perfect.

[Hankster]

Ah, Hank. Great job! No more postage stamps for you, my friend. Just think, if you lived in that house you could cut up your veggies and have that as a skyline view. The village was just perfect yesterday, perfect.

Thanks for the compliment. It sure felt good when I saw the full sized pictures come up this time. As for that house. Wow! what a view. I could never get tired of that, and what a place to have a party! And to think, the view is only going to get better and better! Imagine the West End Summit, the Icon, the Terrazzo and of course, the Signature Tower added to that view! Wow!

[smeagolsfree]

I guess we are going to have to put you in the photo contest too.

Great Job Hankster!

[Lexy]

I guess we are going to have to put you in the photo contest too.

Great Job Hankster!

We should do that at some point. LOL!!

[cdub]

Just wanted to follow up from the meeting and say I enjoyed meeting everyone and look forward to future meetings. Here are a few photos from our walking tour, hopefully they don't overlap others photos.

I've also got a few photos of some really nice mid-rise and townhomes from a recent trip to the Denver area. I may start a new thread or include them in the skyscraper discussion started by Newtowner.

I also wanted to mention a nice program for you photo posters out there. Easy Thumbnails is a nice, free program that is good for batching the size of photos so you don't have to save each one individually. I've found 400x400 pixels is still a good for viewing, but makes a pretty small file size. You can download it at Tucows or search for it. Should help with some of the posts and spooling of images.

[william]

Friends,

Great seeing everybody today. The turnout, as the Poet noted, was outstanding. The day may come when we average at least 30 people per session.

As special thanks to Hankster for bringing me the info about the residential developments in Chattanooga. Very exciting.

Also, thanks to Antoni at Provence. Many of us shook his hand and said thanks at the end of the meeting and I could tell he was appreciative. I had never actually had food or beverage in the space. Very nice place.

The Doorman, Lexy, IJDave, Nashville B. and Smeagolsfree have all agreed that 2006 is going to be a monster year for Nashville. Let's watch it happen.

WW

[Skyscrapergeek]

Thanks guys for putting together a great Forum Meet. It was really great getting to put faces with names. Looking forward to all the cool monthly inside info.

[Skyscrapergeek]

For those of you who were there last Saturday and went in First Presbyterian Church...this is a picture of their original organ casement being installed at First Presbyterian Gallatin, TN. At some point in the early 1900's, First Presbyterian Nashville donated this smaller casement to Gallatin to make room for the much larger casement they have now. The top of the casement shown in this picture was burned in a fire at the Gallatin church in late 2004. It has since been restored.