Project Thread/New Construction/Photo du jour/Const. CAMs

[donNdonelson2]

More shade downtown would make walking in our sweltering summer days much more tolerable! Bring on MORE trees!!! 

[memphian]

I liked it when all those trees had twinkling lights strung through them (they may still have them). It made for a festive atmosphere all year long. Of course that may have just been a 1990’s fad but I liked it. LOL

[smeagolsfree]

The biggest problem I have seen is that Metro does not replace trees as they die or get too old. I am fine with the look of 2nd Ave. We need more streets like this.

[CenterHill]

51 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

The biggest problem I have seen is that Metro does not replace trees as they die or get too old. I am fine with the look of 2nd Ave. We need more streets like this.

Totally agree we need to pay more attention to our urban forest.     Healthy street trees add a lot to the aesthetic charm of a place.  

Metro Public Works, to give them some credit, is getting better about maintaining street trees in the downtown core.        Public Works for many years planted Pin Oaks, which are considered good street trees in many places, but for reasons probably having to do with high soil ph levels, have not worked well in our downtown.     Most of the oaks died and the ones that remain are not healthy.     Public works is now planting a different mix of trees downtown, like Zelkovas, Sweet Gum, Gingko and the newer disease-resistant elm varieties, like Princeton Elm and Chinese Elm.      Chinese Elms are fast growing with interesting mottled bark - they are what you see lining 2nd Ave.      

Developers, however, often have no clue and I still see pin oaks being planted as sidewalk trees around all these new apartment complexes.    Unfortunately, those trees will all be dead in 3-4 years, but the developers will be long gone.     

[VSRJ]

^ That's one of the things I miss most about Memphis: the canopy of trees that nearly covers the entire city proper.

[bnacincy]

I wish the city would trim those trees on 2nd Ave-you can hardly see the buildings to appreciate the architecture plus I'm a little worried about fire hazard-if lightning struck one of those trees and fire managed to spread to any of those buildings it could set off a chain reaction like the one that destroyed the buildings between Church Street and Bank Street in the mid 1980's.

 

[NashRugger]

14 hours ago, markhollin said:

Looking north along 2nd Ave. North near Broadway.  Does anyone else think some of the trees are getting a bit unwieldy and might need a bit of a trim?  In a couple spots further north, they nearly cover the entire street, and are almost 4 stories tall.
 

Those are Drake Elms, which are doing exactly as intended because they're one of the few trees that actually perform well in the urban, concrete core landscape. They are a touch leggy due to not full abundance of sun through the entire day, but they've made it threw plenty of high wind events downtown that are amplified by the buildings, so they've definitely been a worthy investment. I actually encourage more of them because they're essentially maintenance free. That said, we had many in Murfreesboro get significantly damaged to require either hefty pruning or replacement due to the ice storm in 2015 with 3/4in of ice.

[titanhog]

Looking more and more like a big city.

 

[Pdt2f]

2 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Looking more and more like a big city.

 

Wow, nice pic. Just the embassy suites and 5+Broad towers, not counting the projected and halted projects like SAP, will help flesh out the skyline even more. Plus the Endeavor and Hyatt Regency helping to bridge the gap between the CBD and midtown. 

[titanhog]

I'm really liking the blue glow from L27 reflecting off of the JWM.

[MLBrumby]

And from this angle too (this morning)... 

 

[markhollin]

[archilove]

2nd avenue is one of the most pleasant and interesting streets downtown. Trees are good! Let's have more! Could the city require builders to plant the types of trees with more survival potential?

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by archilove
Additional thought.

[e-dub]

when i lived at the bennie dillon, i'd walk to crema every saturday morning in the autumn and winter. i would walk down church to 2nd ave and i loved walking down 2nd when no one else was around. it really is a great street!

[markhollin]

I hope no one thought I was against having trees downtown.  I'm all for greenery and beauty to augment architecture and provide a respite from hardened corridors. I was just pointing out that the trees along 2nd Ave. are growing larger and broader in a way that was probably not originally intended. Eventually, something will need to be done to restrict further growth as they climb taller, completely canopy streets, roots push up sidewalks, etc.  

[NashRugger]

They picked the right tree because Drake Elms max out about 70-80ft and a relatively equal canopy spread and they have very little to no root puncture habits, the tendency for roots to uplift and crack asphalt or concrete. I'm not kidding when I tell you these are one of the top performing urban landscape trees, and they're readily available and affordable.

[Pdt2f]

10 hours ago, markhollin said:

I hope no one thought I was against having trees downtown.  I'm all for greenery and beauty to augment architecture and provide a respite from hardened corridors. I was just pointing out that the trees along 2nd Ave. are growing larger and broader in a way that was probably not originally intended. Eventually, something will need to be done to restrict further growth as they climb taller, completely canopy streets, roots push up sidewalks, etc.  

We all thought you were completely anti-tree and nature.  

Edited October 31, 2017 by Pdt2f

[dmillsphoto]

31 minutes ago, Pdt2f said:

We all thought you were completely anti-tree and nature.  

Useless trivia - that dude is actually Italian.

[markhollin]

Looking SE  from above Capitol View (courtesy of Aerial Innovations):

 

[Vrtigo]

On 10/29/2017 at 3:46 PM, VSRJ said:

^ That's one of the things I miss most about Memphis: the canopy of trees that nearly covers the entire city proper.

One of the contributing factors is Nashville's relatively shallow soil depth and overabundance of near-surface bedrock. Memphis distinctly benefits from an unusually deep layer of rich soil which promotes the deep rooting of their massive trees.

(As you may know, healthy trees typically have a root system that nearly mirrors the canopy in size and depth. They both grow in tandem.)

 

P.S. Since this is a picture thread, a few more shots from the post-storm sunset last Friday. I was trying to find a spot on the window without any water droplets, but then I realized they looked kinda neat:

Edited October 31, 2017 by Vrtigo

[Rockatansky]

On 10/26/2017 at 2:54 PM, dmillsphoto said:

That one^ may be my favorite of the Nashville Walls project.

Really? I think the aqua and pink are awful, but to each their own.

[Lexy]

A selection, of sorts, from my helicopter flight around town yesterday.  There's PLENTY more, but this gives one a good perspective of where we stand so far.

 

 

[nashvylle]

Amazing. 

[Lexy]

One that I think bears mentioning is this perspective...

[archilove]

Great eye! Beautiful, comprehensive shots!