The Seduction of High Rise Condo Living

[Nashville_maestro]

Article

Here's a really great article on the allure of downtown condo living and what it takes to create a true urban neighborhood. It also goes into why Nashville is so far behind the times with urban living. I think it takes a really impartial approach to the issue and puts a much less negative spin on it than what the Tenessean usually does.

I think that Nashville is on it's way but still has a very long time to go before it has the urban-ness that Philly, Atlanta, and Chicago have. I'm not talking about highrises but just the urban "feel" and mindset of its inhabitants. Like the article says, it's really hard to start something like this because it's a two sided coin: it's hard to convince retailers to come without the people and it's really hard to get people to move without the retail.... Well you get the idea.

[monsoon]

I think the basic problem with these places is their cost. Now that money is returning to it's traditional cost to acquire, and household income is in fact falling, it makes me wonder exactly who will be able to afford or will want to buy these kinds of places.

[FromParkAveToTN]

I was born and raised in New York City and lived in high rises most of my life. I prefer city living, but when I first moved here, there were not a lot of options. The first thing I noticed is that Nashville isn't very pedestrian friendly. Nashville is not a walkable city or a place I would feel safe riding a bike. Also, there were no places downtown to buy groceries. The public transportation options are not very convenient and taxi prices are much higher. All these factors played a part in my decision making. So, I purchase a car and purchased a house in Green Hills.

[nashvylle]

better public transportation is a start, affordable housing is another step, and a city council willing to do what it takes to keep companies to work downtown and not in the suburbs is the big key. I would be ok with the counil putting up my tax dollars to keep companies downtown in Davidson County; it will help alleviate the dependence on oil, stop wasting $ on constructing more interstates, and set up a true live, work, play, environment downtown.