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

[dxfret]

Quote from Binbin 98 said:

I disagree. Domestically Nashville is extremely popular, in the UK it is beginning to be popular, everywhere else I have been... not so much. Thats not to say it won’t get popular or known in the future internationally. But right now Nashville really is only known about in English speaking countries, and that statement is a generous one lmao. Sometimes I feel like Nashvillians think of their city too highly, me included at times.

 

Sorry, Binbin98 but your comment is not an accurate observation.  To state that Nashville is only known about in English speaking countries is simply laughable.  I have lived in the U.K., France, Germany and Japan and for more than 30 years I traveled to countless other places.  Nashville is known in each of those countries and popular awareness of the city has been strong for decades.  Awareness of the city grew even more in the past 10 years  with the tv series “Nashville”.  Country  music and its personalities have been popular in countries all over the world and English remains very much the universal language. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by dxfret

[Tennessine]

1 hour ago, Binbin98 said:

But right now Nashville really is only known about in English speaking countries, and that statement is a generous one lmao. Sometimes I feel like Nashvillians think of their city too highly, me included at times.

When I studied in Germany three summers ago, every single German I spoke to had at least heard of Nashville, and many recognized it as a symbol of the Country Western genre. Again, this can't be said for the whole of the international community, but Nashville's reputation and good press can extend beyond the Anglosphere! Granted, I was very surprised that so many Germans knew about my humble hometown. (It could be the popularity of Jack Daniel's. Seriously.)

 

A side note from a Gen Z'er to a fellow Gen Z'er: Can you cull the usage of "lol" and "lmao" when they aren't necessary? I'm not trying to call you out or act like I'm a well-read critic, but it waters down your argument a bit. My writing is no golden rule (I'm an engineering major), but the lol/lmao/haha stuff drives me up the wall sometimes, especially when I see people my age using them in an otherwise serious context.

[East Side Urbanite]

Nashville may be known by many in non-English-speaking countries such as Germany, France, Japan, etc. But I'm not so sure that is the point. The question is simple: Is Nashville"understood and desired as a destination city" by the average citizen of the world? The answer as I see it is a resounding "no." That's not a dig on our city. It is what it is. Las Vegas is understood and a lure for world travelers. New Orleans is, too. Nashville … not as much so. Ron, John, Bob and I all agree on this. Binbin98 does too. Some of you, in contrast, do not agree with us and that's fine. I try simply to look at this objectively.

No doubt, however, our "reputation from the world community" is improving. The TV show helped. The convention center helps. The NMAAM will help. The airport will help. It's getting better but there is work to be done. We will get there. This city is charging forward.

 

 

[Predsboy18]

Toronto, already jammed with towers is only building more. In this video, released just last week, the guy filming counted over 45 cranes in the downtown core, in addition to the 31 buildings of over 600 ft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovaiZejy_pI&t=

 

[ruraljuror]

2 hours ago, East Side Urbanite said:

The question is simple: Is Nashville"understood and desired as a destination city" by the average citizen of the world? The answer as I see it is a resounding "no."

I don't think the question is quite that simple, but I do agree that the framing of the question is really the key to the argument. 

I also agree with you that Nashville is probably not "understood and desired as a destination city" by the average citizen of the world.  That said, the average citizen of the world probably doesn't even have a passport and probably won't ever visit the US anyway.   For those 'near average' global citizens who do make it to the US, most will only make it to a handful of cities like NY and LA coupled with a few other stops maybe - and I would agree that Las Vegas and New Orleans are both ahead of Nashville on those lists.

The other side of the argument, however, is that there's a range of global travelers who are far from the "average citizen of the world" whose list of would-be travel destinations includes (and is limited to) pretty much everywhere they consider to be anywhere, and Nashville is increasingly making its way onto ever more of those lists.   The difference between these arguments is really just a matter of perspective and how the question is framed.

[FrankNash]

^^^International visitors also like Orlando and Miami for the beaches.  

[jmtunafish]

I can tell you that my French family and friends all know about Nashville and have loved visiting.  I've run into French-speaking tourists almost every time I'm in some of the touristy parts of Nashville, and they're not all from Canada.  Almost every time I meet someone when I'm back in France and say that I live in Nashville (even though I technically don't live in Nashville) they invariably say the same thing, that they've heard Nashville  is a great place, a lot of fun, and they need to visit Nashville next time they're in the US.  While it'll never be as popular as the coasts (especially Florida), it is definitely now on people's radar more than ever.

[East Side Urbanite]

1 hour ago, ruraljuror said:

I don't think the question is quite that simple, but I do agree that the framing of the question is really the key to the argument. 

I also agree with you that Nashville is probably not "understood and desired as a destination city" by the average citizen of the world.  That said, the average citizen of the world probably doesn't even have a passport and probably won't ever visit the US anyway.   For those 'near average' global citizens who do make it to the US, most will only make it to a handful of cities like NY and LA coupled with a few other stops maybe - and I would agree that Las Vegas and New Orleans are both ahead of Nashville on those lists.

The other side of the argument, however, is that there's a range of global travelers who are far from the "average citizen of the world" whose list of would-be travel destinations includes (and is limited to) pretty much everywhere they consider to be anywhere, and Nashville is increasingly making its way onto ever more of those lists.   The difference between these arguments is really just a matter of perspective and how the question is framed.

Well put, RJuror. Agree overall. WW

19 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

I can tell you that my French family and friends all know about Nashville and have loved visiting.  I've run into French-speaking tourists almost every time I'm in some of the touristy parts of Nashville, and they're not all from Canada.  Almost every time I meet someone when I'm back in France and say that I live in Nashville (even though I technically don't live in Nashville) they invariably say the same thing, that they've heard Nashville  is a great place, a lot of fun, and they need to visit Nashville next time they're in the US.  While it'll never be as popular as the coasts (especially Florida), it is definitely now on people's radar more than ever.

Those are fair points, JMT. And I would not disagree.

[LA_TN]

My most recent experience was with a lady from Qatar. She had never heard of Nashville. Her profession is a travel agent (of many years)

[grilled_cheese]

8 hours ago, nativetenn said:

When I studied in Germany three summers ago

lol found the socialist

[markhollin]

L.A. Jackson rooftop bar at Thompson Hotel:
 

[jmtunafish]

From this morning's Sky5:

[CenterHill]

8 hours ago, grilled_cheese said:

lol found the socialist

Totally unnecessary 

 

[smeagolsfree]

16 hours ago, East Side Urbanite said:

Nashville may be known by many in non-English-speaking countries such as Germany, France, Japan, etc. But I'm not so sure that is the point. The question is simple: Is Nashville"understood and desired as a destination city" by the average citizen of the world? The answer as I see it is a resounding "no." That's not a dig on our city. It is what it is. Las Vegas is understood and a lure for world travelers. New Orleans is, too. Nashville … not as much so. Ron, John, Bob and I all agree on this. Binbin98 does too. Some of you, in contrast, do not agree with us and that's fine. I try simply to look at this objectively.

No doubt, however, our "reputation from the world community" is improving. The TV show helped. The convention center helps. The NMAAM will help. The airport will help. It's getting better but there is work to be done. We will get there. This city is charging forward.

 

 

I will weigh in a little bit here and qualify my statements to support both sides of the argument a bit. I really think that the key here is much of our brand is recognized in western culture or countries strongly influenced by western culture the main example being music or in this case, Country Music. The one thing that may help us more than anything will be the MLS team, especially if it is successful as Soccer is a truly international sport, unlike Hockey or American Football.

So those folks that are using France and Germany as example then I will say you could be right to a certain degree, but let's get into Mongolia, Albania, Brazil, China or any number of other countries and the average citizen could not find Tennessee on a map or maybe even the USA. There are a lot of folks in this country that cant find Tennessee on a map.

Nashville as a city is a relative newcomer to the scene as far as international travel goes. Yes we had a number of country music fans in Great Britain and other English speaking countries that were visiting a decade or so ago, but other midsize cities such as Orlando(Disney brand), Las Vegas (gambling), New Orleans (Jazz and History), Honolulu (just being its location and a tropical paradise, not to mention the location that brought us into WWII) have had a much larger influence on international travel than Nashville has. That is not to say we are not on the way, but folks we have not arrived yet as a recognizable international city that folks from every part of the globe would recognize, just folks that follow or are influenced somewhat by western or in our case American culture. 

I do think as Americans we can be so arrogant at times when we travel abroad thinking folks know every detail about American life and culture. We need to take a long hard look at ourselves and then take a look at the rest of the world and then we realize we are only 4.28 % of the world's population.

I am just saying let's get a little perspective here and realize we are not all that big of deal in the big scope of the world. It sort of like saying, and I quote William "like people in Atlanta saying we are like NYC". Come on now , For real!

[VSRJ]

This might be controversial, but I would argue that Memphis is more of an "international destination" than Nashville is. While your average international traveler might not be able to point out Tennessee on a map, they would be more likely to have heard of Memphis. When I worked in Downtown Memphis, I was always amazed by the number of international visitors and different languages and accents I would hear while out and about.

[PillowTalk4]

13 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

....

I do think as Americans we can be so arrogant at times when we travel abroad thinking folks know every detail about American life and culture. We need to take a long hard look at ourselves and then take a look at the rest of the world and then we realize we are only 4.28 % of the world's population.

I am just saying let's get a little perspective here and realize we are not all that big of deal in the big scope of the world. It sort of like saying, and I quote William "like people in Atlanta saying we are like NYC". Come on now , For real!

Amen!!!  I also believe that  Americans need to get over this speak english mentality that we take every where.      

[Tennessine]

1 hour ago, CenterHill said:

Totally unnecessary 

 

*shrug* I cracked up when I read that

[NashvilleObserver]

20 hours ago, Binbin98 said:

I disagree. Domestically Nashville is extremely popular, in the UK it is beginning to be popular, everywhere else I have been... not so much. Thats not to say it won’t get popular or known in the future internationally. But right now Nashville really is only known about in English speaking countries, and that statement is a generous one lmao. Sometimes I feel like Nashvillians think of their city too highly, me included at times.

When I was in Greece and Belarus on business, nobody I encountered had heard of Nashville or "Music City" and most didn't understand my reference to "country music", but most everyone knew of Tennessee, and would respond, "Oh yes!!! Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey!!"

[Pyramid Scheme]

1 hour ago, VSRJ said:

This might be controversial, but I would argue that Memphis is more of an "international destination" than Nashville is. While your average international traveler might not be able to point out Tennessee on a map, they would be more likely to have heard of Memphis. When I worked in Downtown Memphis, I was always amazed by the number of international visitors and different languages and accents I would hear while out and about.

I live in Memphis and I don't know of a single square inch of this city that's worth visiting from Arkansas or Mississippi. International tourists who come here must surely want their money back. People I've met from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and also some South American countries, however, love country music and express a strong desire to visit Music City. I will admit that my Middle Eastern friends have never heard of it though.... Too busy listening to Fayruz I guess.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Philip

[markhollin]

All of this discussion is purely anecdotal. I've been to 55 countries, many of them a dozen times.  It really just depends on who you meet and under what circumstances of them being familiar with Nashville.  I've encountered folks in the highlands of Bolivia, the plains of Tanzania, and the jungles of Thailand who knew exactly where Nashville was and knew of Country Music...but the vast majority in those places had not.  I've also met people in Wales, and Mexico City, and Tokyo who didn't have a clue---and others who were enamored with the fact that I was from Music City USA.   I've had my Predators hat on in Manila and Rio and had people tell me they were fans of our team.  You just never know.  

[titanhog]

11 minutes ago, markhollin said:

All of this discussion is purely anecdotal. I've been to 55 countries, many of them a dozen times.  It really just depends on who you meet and under what circumstances of them being familiar with Nashville.  I've encountered folks in the highlands of Bolivia, the plains of Tanzania, and the jungles of Thailand who knew exactly where Nashville was and knew of Country Music...but the vast majority in those places had not.  I've also met people in Wales, and Mexico City, and Tokyo who didn't have a clue---and others who were enamored with the fact that I was from Music City USA.   I've had my Predators hat on in Manila and Rio and had people tell me they were fans of our team.  You just never know.  

You can tell half the people in the U.S. that you live in New Mexico and they'll wonder how you speak such perfect English.  So...I'm not going to give humans too much credit for knowing ANYTHING. 

[Binbin98]

2 hours ago, VSRJ said:

This might be controversial, but I would argue that Memphis is more of an "international destination" than Nashville is. While your average international traveler might not be able to point out Tennessee on a map, they would be more likely to have heard of Memphis. When I worked in Downtown Memphis, I was always amazed by the number of international visitors and different languages and accents I would hear while out and about.

Let me tell you from an international traveler’s point of view (I have lived in England, France, Canada and China because my family moved around a lot in high school, and have traveled to more than 30+ countries), that the biggest thing Memphis is known for abroad is their basketball team. I have heard way more people from experience hear and talk about Nashville than Memphis abroad, especially in terms of travel. I have to disagree with this because I just have never seen or heard that and I have traveled all over the world. 

[dxfret]

Internationally, Memphis is known for one thing, Elvis Presley. 

Nashville today has much wider recognition as a true destination city (for tourism, conventions, corporate travel) than does Memphis. Just compare the two airports (BNA=15.9 million annual pax; MEM=4.4 million pax). Nashville and Middle TN have far outpaced Memphis and West TN in every category of economic growth, especially during the past 20 years. 

Memphis has very serious problems, namely high poverty and high crime, and the city has been declining in population.  Nashville also has its share of problems, but has benefited from a more diversified economy, a higher educated workforce, and higher income levels.  I would say Nashville is now firmly near the top of second tier US cities.  Memphis is far behind and no longer considered as a peer city to Nashville.

 

[Tennessine]

Agree w/ what you said about Memphis no longer being a peer city of Nashville, @dxfret. At this point, metro Knoxville is closer in size to metro Memphis than metro Nashville is.

 

Memphis's peers at the present time are Louisville, New Orleans, and Birmingham. Nashville's peers are Austin, Portland and Charlotte.  These tiers of cities are markedly different in so many ways. The only thing that Nashville and Memphis have in common at this point are that they have roughly the same city (non-metro) populations and are both in Tennessee.

[BnaBreaker]

PHEW!  That was a close one!  We were inches away from actually giving Memphis some credit.  Luckily some heroes stepped up in the final hour to put it back in it's place with some well timed shade.