Nashville Bits and Pieces

[smeagolsfree]

^^^

Nashville's USD has 430,000 people in 189 square miles, so about 2,275 per square mile. That doesn't include large parts of Bellevue, Antioch, Hermitage, or Madison. I've done my own numbers and come up with (2010 numbers) 568,000 people in 263 square miles (this includes some of the satellite cities, but they don't exactly boost the density) or 2,158 per square mile.

 

I know you can play with the numbers with other cities, but those are the numbers if you trim the 'fat' off of Nashville's land area.

Thanks for crunching those numbers Kevin. It is very helpful to know where the core stands as compared to other areas.  Those numbers are not bad, but really need to improve. The outlying rural parts of the city screw the pooch as far as numbers go. Since Nashville/Davidson is a metro area, the numbers really get screwy. Again, population is not a great way to compare cities because of land area. If you look at Travis County TX, the population is over a million, but the land area is more than double that of Davidson County. That is one of the reasons we try not to make comparisons on here, because so many folks get their panties in a big ole wad. No two cities are the same and always is apples to bananas.

 

I am not nit picking here, only agreeing with what you are saying. We are on the same page.

[UTgrad09]

Thanks for crunching those numbers Kevin. It is very helpful to know where the core stands as compared to other areas.  Those numbers are not bad, but really need to improve. The outlying rural parts of the city screw the pooch as far as numbers go. Since Nashville/Davidson is a metro area, the numbers really get screwy. Again, population is not a great way to compare cities because of land area. If you look at Travis County TX, the population is over a million, but the land area is more than double that of Davidson County. That is one of the reasons we try not to make comparisons on here, because so many folks get their panties in a big ole wad. No two cities are the same and always is apples to bananas.

 

I am not nit picking here, only agreeing with what you are saying. We are on the same page.

 

Absolutely. On city-data, I see people compare city numbers all the time -- pretty much every metric. One thing I've learned is there is no perfect metric when measuring cities -- at least not for us amateurs. 

 

When comparing population, even "cutting out the fat" of both Nashville and Memphis doesn't paint a perfect picture. As I alluded to before, one of the things that plagues Memphis is inner city depopulation (we have experienced that, too, but our urban renaissance has been considerably stronger -- despite having a smaller urban area to begin with). 

 

The fact remains that we will never have the sizable street grid that Memphis has -- and we can't replicate the pre WWII dense layout -- but I do think Nashville can, and will surpass Memphis in ultra high density development (Downtown, Gulch, SoBro, Midtown) in terms of high rise residential, commercial, and hotel development. 

 

We simply can't compete with having the shear size of old school residential development -- but we can most definitely compete in the most urban core area. And that's what we should strive for. You can't make what you don't have -- but you can play to your strengths.

 

 

Which city 'feels' bigger? I've heard pretty much every answer regarding this. I guess it depends most on perspective and what you weigh as most valuable in a "city" experience. I think Memphis definitely wins the built environment category, with, IMO, the exception of Downtown. Nashville wins a lot of other metrics such as media market and economy (both by quite sizable margins).

[smeagolsfree]

I think we agree on all items. I drove through the heart of Memphis last week and we will never replicate what we have lost, only add new. St Louis is similar to Memphis in some respects, but St Louis buries Memphis as Memphis buries us in terms of pre-war buildings and density.

 

I am in the process of putting a table together comparing Austin & Nashville using the census quick facts as a guide. There is a lot of telling information in those numbers. I will send it to you when done. The criteria for the counties is the same and the criteria for the cities is the same, but I am combining all together. I need to get the MSA information as well. I have just started playing with the numbers for giggles and I know you do this all the time. It would be interesting to get your input.

[UTgrad09]

Sure. Just message me when you have all of the info.

[Bezoar]

Hmmm, Google Fiber files for a state franchise certificate. . .  http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2014/11/google-fiber-takes-important-step-files-for-state.html

[barakat]

In the Nov 21 permit report, there's a $400K permit for a restaurant at 300 James Robertson Pkwy. What is this?

[volsfanwill]

Hmmm, Google Fiber files for a state franchise certificate. . .  http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2014/11/google-fiber-takes-important-step-files-for-state.html

I literally logged back in to share this, you beat me to it.

[Nashville Cliff]

Work getting underway at 5th and Church for the MDHA garage.

 

http://instagram.com/p/vyy-t5NZnr/

[titanhog]

Work getting underway at 5th and Church for the MDHA garage.

 

http://instagram.com/p/vyy-t5NZnr/

Are you on Church St taking that photo?  Just trying to picture where everything will be going.

[TNinVB]

Work getting underway at 5th and Church for the MDHA garage.

 

http://instagram.com/p/vyy-t5NZnr/

Thanks for posting.  They aren't wasting any time.

[Nashville Cliff]

Are you on Church St taking that photo?  Just trying to picture where everything will be going.

 

I was on the north side of Church facing southeast.  It looked like they were in the process of removing parking barriers, etc. from the whole lot, not just the portion the garage will fit on, which makes sense if they are using the rest of the lot for staging.

[titanhog]

So...will 505CST face where you were standing?

[dmillsphoto]

So...will 505CST face where you were standing?

Yes.

[titanhog]

Yes.

Ok...so now I can picture what this will look like a lot better.  Thanks!

 

For some reason, I was picturing the front of the building facing 5th.

[UTgrad09]

The passenger numbers at BNA are booming right now. The last two years have been record-setting, with 2014 looking to be a huge year.

 

Passenger numbers have increased for every month over the previous year for 22 consecutive months (December 2012 was the last month that didn't best the previous year) and for 50 of the last 51 months, dating back to August 2010.

 

The latest release reveals that October (October!) of this year being the busiest month ever at BNA, besting June of this year, which briefly held the record.

 

Total passengers (enplanements + deplanements) for 2014 so far:

 

Month - total passengers - % increase over 2013 month

January - 759,607 - 6.2%

February - 728,600 - 5.7%

March -  963,578 - 5.8%

April - 912,578 - 5.5%

May - 990,248 - 3.9%

June - 1,018,119 - 5.6%

July - 1,013,327 - 8.0%

August - 942,777 - 9.1%

September - 909,845 - 11.4%

October - 1,020,598 - 8.6%

 

2014 total (so far) -  9,259,977

 

2013 total - 10,351,709

 

2013 total (through October) - 8,656,989

 

2014 % increase (through October) - 6.97%

 

Projected 2014 total - 11,073,223

 

Projected passenger increase 2013-2014 +721,514

[smeagolsfree]

Hopefully, we can get a flight to London and Tokyo added to the mix next year. Thanks for posting Kevin.

[farm_boy]

Where did you find that airport data?

[UTgrad09]

https://www.flynashville.com/about/Pages/airport-data.aspx

 

I had to manually count the years to adjust to calendar years (BNA uses a July-June fiscal year).

[markhollin]

I would think that with our rising star as an "It City" that some of the airlines might be pondering BNA as a hub once again. American Airlines had Nashville as a hub in the early 90s as I recall…but ended up putting more emphasis on Raleigh, and pulled out.  I travel a lot in my work, and can attest that the terminal--despite these growing usage numbers---has a LOT of room for growth.  Many days there are large blocks of hours in prime time when only a third to half of the gates are being utilized. 

[volsfanwill]

yes, BNA currently has plenty of extra capacity as far as gates go. and the security line has not been bad at all the last few trips I've made.  Just as Important. there is plenty of room for additional concourses in the future if the need arises.  A could be slightly lengthened, and B could have a right angle added like C.  D could be brought back into use and upgraded to nearly the size of A. there is even room for a sizable remote concourse directly in front of the security area (large grassy area about 1,400 feed out).  that would be a giant airport though. 

 

Of course some air travel could be offset with High speed rail to closer cities.  But that seems like too much of a dream.

[NashRugger]

BNA's long-term vision includes another east runway and a satellite terminal, perhaps solely focused on int'l flights. That's at least 15-25 years out though.

[dxfret]

Nashville International Airport (BNA) is a major asset to the city and the entire region.  With its wide geographic service area, including all of Middle TN and parts of KY and AL, it's well-positioned for further growth.

 

It's highly doubtful any airline will establish a connecting "hub" at BNA, or any other airport.  BNA is already an important 

"focus city" for Southwest Airlines which runs 90+ daily flights from BNA.  In fact, many Southwest flights are timed to enable connections here.  

 

BNA also attracts air travelers from as far away as Memphis (MEM) as their airport has dwindled with massive passenger flight cuts and a formal "de-hubbing" by Delta Air Lines last year.  MEM is now down to approximately 80 total flights per day on all of the airlines serving the city -- a sharp contrast to Nashville BNA with more than 380 daily flights to more than 50 nonstop markets. 

 

The biggest gap in service at BNA is the lack of nonstop flights to the San Francisco Bay Area.  With the Nissan and Bridgestone presence here, it would seem logical for United Airlines to add a nonstop flight to their major hub at SFO where connections to Asia could be easily made.  Southwest Airlines could also reinstate their nonstop flight to Oakland (OAK) which operated for several years.  

 

BNA is rumored to be on a short list of cities vying for a British Airways nonstop flight to London, however the odds of that happening seem to be about 50/50.

 

The renovation of BNA's terminal has greatly enhanced the passenger experience at our airport, especially the centralized security checkpoint, numerous food options and vendors throughout the terminal.  There are ample gates for expansion, especially now that USAirways has merged with American Airlines and all of their flights are on Concourse C, along with Southwest and Air Canada. Concourse B is now exclusively for Delta Air Lines with Concourse A for United Airlines and Frontier Airlines.

[rookzie]

yes, BNA currently has plenty of extra capacity as far as gates go. and the security line has not been bad at all the last few trips I've made.  Just as Important. there is plenty of room for additional concourses in the future if the need arises.  A could be slightly lengthened, and B could have a right angle added like C.  D could be brought back into use and upgraded to nearly the size of A. there is even room for a sizable remote concourse directly in front of the security area (large grassy area about 1,400 feed out).  that would be a giant airport though. 

 

Of course some air travel could be offset with High speed rail to closer cities.  But that seems like too much of a dream.

 

Speaking of capacity, I think that it's way too early at this point in time for thoughts on adding an automated tram between the terminal and parking at BNA.  Most authorities or facilities which do have these use them primarily for transfer between terminal concourses (or among separate terminals, as in the case of O'Hare), rather than between the terminals and parking garages.  But even if a tram were to be used at BNA as a parking shuttle, BNA may be at least 1, maybe 2, decades away from having that much "stacked" (garage) parking, and/or standard surface parking (or even if the surface parking got converted to stacked).  As BNA's somewhat radial terminal layout is not such that a tram might even be useful (for the aggregated concourse volumes that it contains), compared to other and larger airports which utilize a more rectilinear plan.

 

On the other hand, BNA could stand to improve its current parking shuttle, which, IMHO, is woefully inadequate during peak activity.  The way the current reserved lanes are designed at the arrival and pickup level, the airport authority has to restrict the size of passenger shuttle vehicles (sorry excuse for a bus) that can be accommodated through those lanes.  BNA might consider what RDU (Raleigh-Durham) has done by using full-size buses (Gillig is a typical supplier) for its park-and-ride shuttles.  Too many times the BNA shuttle vans have had to pass up would-be passengers both at the remote parking and at the terminal, because the van's capacity is insufficient, except for non-peak activity.  Both the vehicle size/design and the luggage-stowing racks leave much to be desired for the shuttle experience, as quite often a passenger has to squirm and trip over the feet of other passengers, when heading toward the single front starboard-side door.  On top of that, one's personal luggage often has to be stacked on or under another's luggage, for it all to be safely stowed onto the rack.  A full-size bus would eliminate most of that unwieldy handling by boarding and disembarking single or multiple riders, by allowing better transverse seating with a wider aisle, more manageable luggage storage, and better egress with both front and rear doors.

 

Until BNA can change that existing curbing to accommodate real buses, it will continue to have to pass up riders as the vans load up full.

 

-==-

Edited November 26, 2014 by rookzie

[MLBrumby]

Sort of buried in the late flurry of news... the jobs data for October is in, and it's absolutely amazing how fast the jobs/city are up y-o-y by 3.2%, marking eight of the past 12 months growth has exceeded 3%. One of the fastest sectors is (of course) construction. Not exactly a linear relationship, but if these numbers keep going through the decade, the whole metro could see a population growth of 30% (putting the pop easily over 2 million). 

 

https://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2014/11/25/area_job_growth_chugging_along

Edited November 26, 2014 by MLBrumby

[farm_boy]

https://www.flynashville.com/about/Pages/airport-data.aspx

I had to manually count the years to adjust to calendar years (BNA uses a July-June fiscal year).

Thanks!