New 16 story tower across from Terrazzo

[Onyte9]

Every time I see the phrase "public space", I see "panhandler park."

I passed by today and it was packed. Its a sad sight in more ways than one.

[cdub]

I agree with your underlying point here wholeheartedly. I'm all with you on providing urban communities with a wide but indiscrernable socioeconomic makeup. Personally, I feel that creating good mixed income communities plays a large step in decreasing a laundry list of problems ranging from the public school academic gap to racial tensions to crime.

Thanks for backing me up, I was beginning to think the crazy guy had drove everyone away. The problem with urban design is how intricate it is. I question at what point does greed begin to lessen into doing what's right for the community at large. That's what struck me from the quote from Mr. Neighbors. Maybe I'm too socialist/ communist in my views, I don't know. I'm afraid downtown could become the gated Brentwood communities that we all argue against. After all, very few can afford a unit in the range of 500K+. My belief is the city belongs to everyone and we should all be allowed to have some part, other than serving meals or selling handbags and then leaving to our 'affordable' parcels elsewhere on the fringe.

As far as our policy makers go, just watch channel 3 when you get the chance and you'll understand why things in this town happen in the way they do at a Council meeting. I feel I have a hard time expressing how every little detail can have a major impact on how a city develops. I feel strongly about this due to my education and work experience. Had I not had a background in what I'm doing now, I'd probably be living in a ranch in Crieve Hall driving an SUV and thinking all was right in the world, just wandering where all my gas money was going. Most of our policy makers think very short-sightedly, only what's going to get them re-elected next term. What's best for the city falls a distant third in most cases, as I don't think these individuals truly understand some of the consequences.

[bzorch]

Every time I see the phrase "public space", I see "panhandler park."

That is unfortunate. I think of:

Having morning coffee and reading the paper in the park on a crisp fall morning

Inspiration

Having lunch with friends

Playing a fountain

A place for all socio-economic backgrounds to gather

Performances/Event Space

Admiring the surrounding architecture

Soaking in the energy of the city

Sustainability

Art

Impromptu Meetings

Feeding the Pigeons

Filtered Shade of Trees

Just a few things that come to mind. What do others think of when they hear public space?

[Guest]

Cdub

[bzorch]

That is why I love this forum as well. I am going to think about this one. I think the top 5 platform issues is a great idea maybe it will inspire one of us to run for Mayor. Now paying for it could get a bit complicated, do we download the current budget and make changes to it as we see fit? This is probably too cumbersome.

But I think it is only fair that you participate by creating a list as well. Could you create a new topic for this?

[Guest]

bzorch

Agreed! The gauntlet has been cast!

I agree lets not refer to the existing budget, clean slate as it were is our directive. Now where the hell is my pretty little intern and expense account?

[fieldmarshaldj]

I am not sure who 'crazy' is referencing but it is amazing how liberals claiming to be more enlightened through education often dismiss opposing views as uninformed or not worth a response v. having a true debate about those some ideas. Our forum members have proven to be a great mix of conservatives (less so) and liberals, urban and suburban dwellers, formally educated and self-educated, and young and old; the differences are what add color to the debate. Since the late

[cdub]

Cdub

I am not sure who 'crazy' is referencing but it is amazing how liberals claiming to be more enlightened through education often dismiss opposing views as uninformed or not worth a response v. having a true debate about those some ideas. Our forum members have proven to be a great mix of conservatives (less so) and liberals, urban and suburban dwellers, formally educated and self-educated, and young and old; the differences are what add color to the debate. Since the late

[doormanpoet]

I am a little on the midrise side here. Much to Bzorch's suprise, I still want anything over 200 feet to be in downtown. The CBD should be the apex of the built environment. As far out as Belle Meade and Bellevue we are seeing 10 and 12 story apartment and condo buildings. The tallest in Bellevue being Wessex Towers on 9 mile hill, and Belle Meade having a residential tower of 10 stories behind Calypso Cafe and the Porter paint store.

I want to see The Gulch develop into a hip urban neighborhood, but a 23 story building needs to be on an open lot on Church or Commerce Street.

I love the idea of Encore, but it needs to be in Nobro! It belongs on the lot across from the Cumberland. We don't need to be like Atlanta and have 200 foot to 600 foot towers in mid town that don't adress the street and making walking to them impossible.

[smeagolsfree]

I am a little on the midrise side here. Much to Bzorch's suprise, I still want anything over 200 feet to be in downtown. The CBD should be the apex of the built environment. As far out as Belle Meade and Bellevue we are seeing 10 and 12 story apartment and condo buildings. The tallest in Bellevue being Wessex Towers on 9 mile hill, and Belle Meade having a residential tower of 10 stories behind Calypso Cafe and the Porter paint store.

I want to see The Gulch develop into a hip urban neighborhood, but a 23 story building needs to be on an open lot on Church or Commerce Street.

I love the idea of Encore, but it needs to be in Nobro! It belongs on the lot across from the Cumberland. We don't need to be like Atlanta and have 200 foot to 600 foot towers in mid town that don't adress the street and making walking to them impossible.

I sympathize with you John, but you dont have enough room for all the towers that are on the drawing board in the CBD. Not unless you start raising more of the older buildings. We agree on most things and I think you are right about super tall structures being in the CBD, but there are only 6 or 7 places there to put any new towers. What would your solution be?

[bzorch]

I am a little on the midrise side here. Much to Bzorch's suprise,

I am speechless.

but you dont have enough room for all the towers that are on the drawing board in the CBD.

After a quick look at Google Earth, there seem to be a number of sites in the CBD even after the courthouse and the Signature Tower, how many towers are you expecting?

[smeagolsfree]

I have an inventory of the surface lots downtown somewhere and frankly many are not big enough to put large projects on or are not zoned for such. There are lots close to 2nd and 3rd and the city would not let a huge high rise go there because it would be out of character for the street. The other problem would be to get the current owners to sell their property. You cant force Monroe Carrell or anyone else to sale any of the properties they have in the CBD unless it is a civic project. I may have misunderstood what the Doorman was saying but I think he is referring to the ICON and the WES size buildings. If that is the case find me a lot downtown that you could put a structures of that size. The only place is the proposed Courthouse site. When you talk of building high rise structures like the Signature, the dream of affordable housing goes out the door because the price of the land is so high and has to be incorporated in to the cost of those structures. Even office space can be too expensive for some compared to Cool Springs or other areas of town.

[barakat]

bzorch - the massing diagram you posted isn't displaying. can you fix it?

[doormanpoet]

Has anyone seen a rendering yet?

[ATLBrain]

Speaking of... where's Bzorch anyway?

[Kheldane]

Maybe I'm too socialist/ communist in my views, I don't know.

Hey cdub, maybe I can help you figure this out^^^ I happen to be an expert at this sort of thing...

Let's see...

My belief is the city belongs to everyone and we should all be allowed to have some part,

There we go! The answer is yes, you are too socialist/communist in your views. The city in fact does not belong to everyone. Instead it is a collection of privately owned parcels, with a few government owned parcels thrown into the mix, and (regrettably) lots of government owned roadways. If you were to make a quick trip down to the Register of Deeds you would find the offical documents showing all the different people that own land in Nashville. So instead of your stated belief, it would be more accurate to say "My belief is that every part of the city belongs to someone". Because really, how could everyone own the whole city? That seems like a recipe for disaster! As it turns out, what you are "allowed to have" is the plot of land that you purchase through a voluntary exchange of cash for land. You must deal fairly with your fellow Nashvillian...after all, it's not their fault if you don't have anything of value to offer them in return for the land you want. Is it?

[FromParkAveToTN]

Has the Terrazzo broken wind yet?

[Guest]

Has the Terrazzo broken wind yet?

A couple of weeks ago in a ceremony. The big lifting starts this month.

[Hankster]

Has the Terrazzo broken wind yet?

Eeek!

[chris holman]

By the looks of things the Gulch will have its on skyline soon with the amount of developments going in.