Nashville Bits and Pieces

[East Side Urbanite]

4 hours ago, markhollin said:

As I have stated elsewhere, these attendance figures are bogus.  Now THIS article says it was 600,000 over the 3 days.  It's like feeding frenzy of misinformation and poor calculations. My guess is that it was more like 70,000  on Thursday, 80,000 on Friday, and 60,000 yesterday. A total of 210,000 would still be fantastic. It was an absolutely wonderful and highly successful event.  Kudos to all involved.
 

Anyway, here's this article:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/04/27/nfl-draft-nashville-breaks-attendance-record-league-reports/3602675002/

I tend to agree with Mark. But let's say we got 200,000 to 300,000 for the three days ... that is still very strong.

I walked through the Lower Broad madness both Friday night and Sat afternoon. Wow.

WW

 

[bnacincy]

17 hours ago, titanhog said:

I think the NFL just showed us how we could do something really special across the river.   That land around the stadium needs to be more than just a parking lot.

I'd like to see the industrial parts of the East Bank become park lands-with all the new residents pouring into downtown and nearby neighborhoods, Nashville needs some serious greenspace dowtown. it would also be a great location for food and music festivals.

That little patch of grass on Church Street don't cut it.

 

[titanhog]

4 hours ago, markhollin said:

As I have stated elsewhere, these attendance figures are bogus.  Now THIS article says it was 600,000 over the 3 days.  It's like feeding frenzy of misinformation and poor calculations. My guess is that it was more like 70,000  on Thursday, 80,000 on Friday, and 60,000 yesterday. A total of 210,000 would still be fantastic. It was an absolutely wonderful and highly successful event.  Kudos to all involved.
 

Anyway, here's this article:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/04/27/nfl-draft-nashville-breaks-attendance-record-league-reports/3602675002/

But really...who knows?  Your numbers seem way low to me...and theirs seem way high.  However...I like that the NFL is happy...the world thinks we threw a heck of a party...and maybe this improves our chances of landing more high-level events.

[nashvylle]

^^^ 100% @titanhog

the NFL is very pleased. College football game day was there and very pleased. 

 

[Baronakim]

Thought I would chime in here on a topic other than sports mania, scooters and super ugly boxy housing.  This is sort of a resurrection of from an old post of Mark Hollin about the redevelopment of Centennial Park back a few years ago.  I suppose that the phase II reconstructions are winding down though the Earl Swennson designed bandshell hasn't been demolished and replaced yet.  There also was to be a reworking of the course of the spring in the corner by the funeral home at Elliston and 26th.I thought they were going to restore the clamshell and ship prow artifacts of the 1897 faire.   Does anyone know what and when is the next phase for the park?  For those of you who are new or out of town, here are some history and pics about this unique park.  I remember back then when some ignorant Nashville preacher was raging about the Parthenon and how it was NO PLACE for an idol of a Pagan goddess.  How stupid can you get?  Here is a brief history revue from the Conservancy of the Parthenon Centennial Park:

"Early in the city's history, Nashville acquired the nickname "Athens of the West," because of the emphasis on education, especially a classical education, which included studies in Greek and Latin. As the United States spread ever westward, Nashville ceased to be on the frontier and the nickname changed to "Athens of the South." It was a firmly established sobriquet by 1895, when Tennessee began planning an exposition in celebration of its first 100 years of statehood. Following the lead of Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the planners of the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition chose a neo-classical style for the buildings. When Nashville offered to build the art pavilion for the fair, the natural choice for the Athens of the South was a replica of the Parthenon. Built as a full-scale replica only on the outside, the interior was a series of galleries for the display of paintings and sculptures gathered from around the world for the . This replica was intended to be a temporary structure, as were all the exposition buildings, but it so filled Nashville's collective imagination that the city decided to leave it standing as a civic monument and art center."

The first 3 photos are of the 1897 Tennessee Centinnial Exposition which from a construction point of view was amazing.  William Crawford Smith was the architect of the Parthenon Arts pavillion.  This is a postmortem portrait.  I suppose the Parthenon will be the next victim of the rabid anti -confederate history bruha these days and will be picketed to be torn down.  Likewise the 1950s &60s nativity display.    Athena, for now, seems safe in her temple. 

"Nashville's Athena statue was constructed from 1982 to 1990. It stood in Nashville’s Parthenon as a plain, white statue for 12 years. In 2002 the Parthenon gilded Athena with Alan LeQuire and master gilder Lou Reed in charge of the project. The gilding makes Athena appear that much closer to the ancient Athena Parthenos. In addition to gilding, the project included painted details on her face, wardrobe and shield. Nashville's Athena stands 12.75 meters (41'10") tall, and weighs approximately 10900 Kg (12 tons.) This makes her the largest piece of indoor sculpture in the Western World."

The last  photos show the  clamshell and ship's prow  still standing in the front area of the park.  The ship's prow has the bronze fittings from the cruiser 'U.S.S. Tennessee'.  Actually, the ship prow dates from the 1920s not the 1897 Exposition as the ship was in active service untill it was replaced around WWI and broken up.  The state of Tennessee received the ornamental bronzework we see today.,

Edited April 29, 2019 by Baronakim
date error for ship prow

[titanhog]

Just saw a report that Seattle has led the nation each of the last 3 years with the number of cranes...and says they have 59 up right now.

Anyone know what we have?

[markhollin]

1 hour ago, titanhog said:

Just saw a report that Seattle has led the nation each of the last 3 years with the number of cranes...and says they have 59 up right now.

Anyone know what we have?

31 just in Davidson County. 

 

[PaulChinetti]

Well then Herbstreit, just throwing it out there it’s all about the stadium.

 

[Tennessine]

3 hours ago, titanhog said:

Just saw a report that Seattle has led the nation each of the last 3 years with the number of cranes...and says they have 59 up right now.

Anyone know what we have?

On a somber note, speaking of Seattle and cranes, a crane collapse in Seattle cut four lives short yesterday.

[titanhog]

36 minutes ago, nativetenn said:

On a somber note, speaking of Seattle and cranes, a crane collapse in Seattle cut four lives short yesterday.

That's where I heard the news about the 59 cranes.  Very sad.

[FromParkAveToTN]

I read an article that said 500 million attended the NFL draft in Nashville over the weekend. 

[markhollin]

Some may be wondering where I come up with my estimates on the crowd sizes for the NFL Draft.  It's just math:

- Each block on lower Broadway is 400 ft. long by 100 ft. wide. There were 5 blocks cordoned off for the live event.

- 50 people, each taking up about 2' in width, could stretch across the width of each block.

- 266 people, each taking up 1.5' in depth, could stretch along the length.

- 266 x 50 = 13,300 per block.

- 13,300 per block x 5 blocks = 66,500 (and this is provided they are all packed in like sardines--and we know that the crowd was less dense towards the back than it was getting closer to the river).

- So, let's say there were 60,000 on the street.  

- Of the 30 or so honkeytonks on Broadway (some smaller, some larger), let's say there was an average of 300 folks inside each, making for around 9,000.  

- And then, let's say, there were another 11,000 people on various side streets and other areas downtown taking in the Draft in other ways.

- So, when things were at their zenith each day, that would make for a total of about 80,000 downtown. 

- My slightly revised numbers would now be  these:

1) Thursday night, around 75,000 (kept down a bit by the rain)

2) Friday night, around 80,000

3) Saturday night, around 65,000 (people starting to depart because lower levels of draft picks, as well as the Marathon taking up lots of space as well).

4) Grand total for the 3 days:  220,000.

Of course, there might've been another 20,000 at any given moment that were in other areas of the city taking in meals, hanging out in their hotels/Air BnB's, and what not...so that could perhaps (being generous) take it up to 280,000 cumulative grand total for the 3 days.  Nowhere NEAR the 500,000 and 600,000 totals being bandied about.

And the same sort of inflated numbers  drive me crazy for other events as well.  When you hear numbers like 250,000 for the 4th of July downtown, that's just nuts.  MAYBE it is 80,000 (Ascend Amph. holds 7,000, Riverfront Park from Ascend northwards to Ft. Nashboro around 25,000, Broadway around 30,000, various other side streets and bridges around 18,000 for a total of  80,000.

...And don't get me started on the New Year's Eve at Bicentennial Mall.  Last year they were saying over 100,000, which is patently false. Just do the math again.  Starwood Amphitheater had a capacity of 17,100.  It took up approximately 220,000 sq. ft.  The Mall at Bicentennial that is open to the north of the stage area  all the way up to the Carillon Bells is slightly less at around 215,000 sq. ft.  So, even it it were more packed via standing room, it could still only hold around 35,000.  And neither of the past two year's events were full all the way to the Carillons.   

Now, don't get me wrong, these are ALL fantastic events that create a lot of great energy and good will in and for Nashville.  But let's get real about these numbers.  Same goes for every other city that inflates their crowd sizes at public events.  
 

 

[Tennessine]

Live look at @markhollin

[KJHburg]

This is a NY Times story about a Raleigh about white people moving into majority non white neighborhoods and vice versa. However they do show a map of Nashville where the same thing is happening that some of you may find interesting.  (and from the other maps it is happening all the country as housing prices rise) 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/27/upshot/diversity-housing-maps-raleigh-gentrification.html

[Tennessine]

On a serious note, Mark, did you account for the people who were come-and-goers? For instance, given the estimate of 60,000 people on the street, those same 60,000 individuals didn't remain in one place for the duration of the event. Sure, they likely went to another place on Broadway that you accounted for (such as the honky tonks) and are included in those numbers that you listed, but keep in mind there are probably a lot more come-and-goers than you accounted for. I would be surprised if there were only 20,000 who traveled from out of town in other parts of the city. That also doesn't include Nashville residents who could have briefly visited the the event just to check it out.

All told, I could see how the total number of individuals who attended the NFL Draft festivities at some point is closer to 500,000 than 200,000. But, that's just a guess, and I have no calculations to defend that like you do. I'm just pointing out some things that might not be included in your algorithm.

[markhollin]

^ ^ ^ Most of the people I spoke with were there on Broadway for the duration on the first two nights (arriving in mid-late afternoon, and staying until 10 PM or later).  That's not scientific of course.  But once you got there and had your spot, it was kind of hard to wiggle out and then get back in (from what I heard).  

But my primary point is that people looked at those photos and just started throwing out numbers like 100K, then 150K and then 200K...just puling round numbers out of their ass.  The physics of the space dictates otherwise. 

 

[PaulChinetti]

20 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

This is a NY Times story about a Raleigh about white people moving into majority non white neighborhoods and vice versa. However they do show a map of Nashville where the same thing is happening that some of you may find interesting.  (and from the other maps it is happening all the country as housing prices rise) 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/27/upshot/diversity-housing-maps-raleigh-gentrification.html

I wonder what data they are using. That highlighted area is Napier/Sudekum, there has been zero to little new construction over there are they saying white folks are moving into the public housing that is there? They are showing a 5% change in 7 years. I am confused ha. I would say my neighborhood has added more white folks since 2012 than that area. 

[smeagolsfree]

51 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

This is a NY Times story about a Raleigh about white people moving into majority non white neighborhoods and vice versa. However they do show a map of Nashville where the same thing is happening that some of you may find interesting.  (and from the other maps it is happening all the country as housing prices rise) 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/27/upshot/diversity-housing-maps-raleigh-gentrification.html

I read the story yesterday and it was well done. I can attest to the changes in areas of Indy, Atlanta, Denver as well as Nashville that were shown with maps too as I have been to all of those areas recently. It is only going to change even more in the future not only because of the current trends but the new opportunity zone program that will accelerate the process, IMO. 

[smeagolsfree]

I did not see this posted anywhere, but here is the skinny on the new private parking proposal that has not gotten much scrutiny from anyone. If you notice the map, at some point we are talking parking meters in the Nations, 12S, Germantown, Five Points and may other parts of Nashville. Time to stand up and be counted because you are about to get screwed. Not only that, they may be going to a fee base based on events going on so you would pay more at the meter based on what is going on.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/04/29/nashville-parking-streets-laz-parking-georgia-meters/3574481002/

[AronG]

I don't feel too strongly about this particular plan, but getting modern parking meters and spreading them out more widely will be good for the city. People spend a LOT of time driving around looking for a free parking spot. I do it. You do it. If there are clearly marked, enforced meters everywhere, you can (A) give up on finding a free spot, (B) use the app to find the nearest available spot, and (C) stop circling the block 24 times and get off the road. If you don't want to pay to park, use one of the other options (walk, bus, uber, scooter). Parking rates should rise with demand. All those acres of space spread along the streets in highly valuable areas is worth a lot of money. It makes no sense to give it away for free or at bargain basement prices.

The part of this that metro needs to be careful is to not get boxed in by this contract if we want to get rid of street parking and widen sidewalks, add bike lanes etc. So far it sounds like we're OK on that, but it's hard to tell exactly how this will affect the process.

[AronG]

Council has a new point system for communicating priority of city projects to the mayor. Every CM gets 100 points to assign to projects, which are then ranked high to low. The results are pretty interesting:

https://www.nashvillepublicradio.org/sites/wpln/files/CIB_FY20_Ranked.pdf

[ruraljuror]

31 minutes ago, AronG said:

Council has a new point system for communicating priority of city projects to the mayor. Every CM gets 100 points to assign to projects, which are then ranked high to low. The results are pretty interesting:

https://www.nashvillepublicradio.org/sites/wpln/files/CIB_FY20_Ranked.pdf

Ha.   Looks like that scheme pretty much backfired.   I like the idea, but maybe next time they'll require the council members to divide up their points among a larger minimum number of projects, or require that each proposal has at least a point from two other council-backers before making it on the 'final ballot.'   I like the experiment once they work out the game theory kinks, though.

[PaulChinetti]

Why do you think it backfired @ruraljuror ? 

The tornado sirens is a good low-hanging fruit project that should have been done long ago.

[Mr_Bond]

On 4/28/2019 at 11:08 PM, FromParkAveToTN said:

I read an article that said 500 million attended the NFL draft in Nashville over the weekend. 

Atlanta had more, I'm sure.  

[markhollin]

Western Express trucking company announces that they will be hiring 225 new HQ jobs here in Nashville over the next 5 years, which is an $88 million investment. Their offices will remain at 7135 Centennial Place in West Davidson County.

More behind TheNashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/transportation/article/21066635/western-express-announces-88m-investment