Nashville still lagging behind peer cities

[smeagolsfree]

From WW at the post. We have been discussing some of these factors for a while and this is conformation of some of our findings as well.

The three main competitors in the South are Austin, Charlotte, and Raleigh. We have a long way to go to play catch up with any of the peer cities that are in competition for development and job growth.

http://nashvillepost.com/blogs/postbusiness/2011/12/8/we_are_battling_austin_charlotte_and_raleigh_durham

[MTSUBlueraider86]

This subject has been discussed at length. Nashville needs the reminder every so often. Good article by WW.

[smeagolsfree]

Just doing research on several of our competitor cities and realize Nashville is so far behind the curve. Who knows where we would have been if we had not has three progressive mayors with a vision of what we need. Unfortunately there are, and have been a lot of good ole boys and girls on the council that stand in the way of anything a progressive the Mayor or anyone with vision wants to do. I could name a few but better not, but anytime there was something exciting these people would say we don’t need that.

Austin is red hot right now and Raleigh is definitely making a strong showing. Charlotte is not rolling over and playing dead either. Nashville is behind as far as infrastructure needs such as a workable mass transit system. Nashville is behind office market sq footage by 10's of millions of sq ft. with other cities mentioned here and in other threads. Nashville is behind with the number of downtown residents. The only areas Nashville really leads is the amount of industrial warehousing space and that means jobs for sure, and Nashville is ahead as far as tourism as well. But, Nashville needs to lead the way. We have competition not only form the southern cities, but also from many Midwestern cities for corporate relocations, warehousing and industrial expansion just because of our proximity to those other cities. That can be a good thing too, if these same companies are looking at Nashville because we are in a great location to all regions in the mid western and southern areas of the country.

A lot of the folks who were against the Arena and the Stadium are the same ones that go to concerts, events and the Predators and Titans games. I was talking to someone the other day who wanted Nashville to remain the same sleepy little place it always had been. The problem is that when you go to sleep, the world leaves you behind and Nashville was asleep for about 30 years and is just now starting to wake up. We need more visionaries like Tony Giarratana and Phil Bredison who have a vision of what Nashville can be and not the folks without any vision, with their heads buried in the sand. Good nes now is that Spectrum and Boyle are looking to the core for mixed use and office developments. Maybe this is the decade of Nashville. I sure hope so.

[MTSUBlueraider86]

My fathers favorite saying is "bigger is not always better..." That is his way of saying Nashville is spending too much to grow and keep up with other cities. I then invite him to move to Winchester or Sparta and he says I am not getting his point.

People of Nashville have always been naysayers. Nashville has always wanted to stay a small sleepy southern town, and many cities smaller than Nashville are passing us by rather quickly. A lot of this comes from the conservative church community that has always been against development, professional sports, or any development where someone may drink a beer.

Ira North of the Madison Church Of Christ controlled Madison, Tennessee with an iron fist for decades. Bill Sherman of the Broadway Baptist Church fought tooth and nail to keep the city from building the arena because he said "I don't want 20,000 drunks driving on Broadway..."

The religious community has always fought to keep what it called "immoral businesses" out of Nashville, namely sports, and more music venues. Without being disrespectful here, it's good that the unchurched or non-religious are coming in and building what the city needs based on economic issues and not what one's belief system tells them to do based on what their interpretation of moral fortitude is.