Nashville Bits and Pieces

[AronG]

22 minutes ago, bigeasy said:

Fixed 

Never forget.

[MLBrumby]

Richard Courtney reported on Q1 for real estate in Nashville. I think he erroneously said "May" instead of "March". Anyway, permits are up y-o-y: http://tnledger.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=117042

He also gives a brief history of the HG Hill fortune/family and their houses on Caldwell Acres. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by MLBrumby

[smeagolsfree]

This is one from this week that its a buyers market now in Nashville. From the TN

 

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/04/30/nashville-home-housing-prices-demand-continues-cool/3617850002/

[titanhog]

1400 Nashville teachers call in "sick" today after Briley announces budget.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/05/03/more-than-350-metro-nashville-schools-teachers-request-substitutes-friday/3660992002/

[TheRaglander]

Y’all, in NY this weekend for the first time.  Wow these buildings.   Amazing and beautiful.  Definitely have a new appreciation for architecture and history.  

[smeagolsfree]

That is a different level of city. Everyone should visit NYC at least once in their lifetime.

[OnePointEast]

NYC is a tier of it's own along with Tokyo and London.

[Binbin98]

2 hours ago, OnePointEast said:

NYC is a tier of it's own along with Tokyo and London.

Representing from London

But I have to also revise a statement I said about Nashville not being known abroad. I meant more so mainland Europe, Latin America and Asia, and I also didn’t suggest that Nashville could never ever be known in those markets, it just is not at this time.

Nashville is WIDELY known however here in the UK at this point. Several if not all of the magazine in this hospital I am at here in London all have lengthy articles about what to do and see in Nashville, and British Airways themselves does advertisements for holidays in Nashville in magazines and billboard signs. In addition to all of this, the guardian and other newspapers here seem to publish online or in paper articles about the city every week lmao and even advertisements for Lynchburg Tennessee and jack daniels are in many underground stations. It’s almost like you cannot escape Nashville here but in a good way, I have yet to meet someone on this side of the pond who has not heard of the city.

[titanhog]

I moved here in 93...and have worked in the country music industry ever since.  And I can tell you that there was really no market for country music much at all outside of the U.S., Canada and Australia.  With the internet...suddenly, you could feel that change...and could feel Nashville's persona change a little overseas.

Now...I know of many country artists that never made a big splash here in the U.S. who are making a living in the UK, Germany, France, etc singing hardcore country music (not the stuff you hear on the radio in the U.S.)  A lot more people in Europe know about Nashville right now than they did 20+ years ago...at least from a music perspective.

[KJHburg]

Nashville named one of the ten best cities for grads

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/best-places-for-new-college-grads-to-find-a-job-mate-and-affordable-home/

[MLBrumby]

Gawd, I hate lists... really really! Even the info in that piece is about 7 years old, except the reference to Amazon. Guys, don't let your city become Amazonville. Please!!!

[PaulChinetti]

Just saw this on Reddit. 

“Nashville, Tenn. Steps of the Capitol with covered guns; vista of the city beyond”

https://www.loc.gov/item/2018667002/

 

[MLBrumby]

Probably should be under Nashville accolades b/c it's sort of the opposite of one, but still one nonetheless. From the NBJ (paywall): https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/05/07/why-didnt-this-fortune-500-company-move-its-hq-to.html 

Explanation: Waste Management which is ranked 202 on the F500 list decided to relocate their new corporate HQ to Houston. Nashville was runner-up. Chief criticism for Nashville was its critical mass of higher education institutions was found 'wanting'. I've said it before and will again and again... Nashville's public institutions need to step up their games. MTSU, TSU and TTU need to JV on centers of excellence, in IT/CS (led by Tennessee Tech), Business/Accounting (MTSU), and Graduate Management/Marketing/Technology (TSU).  As a graduate of Vandy, I honestly don't know where the hell they're coming from as they spend millions on buildings that look like Hogwarts. Vandy's downside is that it is still 'training' people to go on to Medical/Law/Grad schools. It needs to do much better turning out new grads ready for the workforce in the areas above. I think one of the areas Vandy could shine would be in the area of Communications/Media. Belmont seems to be doing a great job addressing the needs of today's employers, but I'm not close to BU. I'd guess they're developing a strong Media program but don't know for sure. 

Edited May 7, 2019 by MLBrumby

[Baronakim]

59 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

 As a graduate of Vandy, I honestly don't know where the hell they're coming from as they spend millions on buildings that look like Hogwarts.

Obviously, you are not particularly well acquainted with the physical plant of Hogwarts (which is of course fictional).  Perhaps you are referring to the theme parks' theatrically fake facades? Alternately, you are perhaps woefully deficient in your knowledge of classical architecture and think Vandy is building medieval castles all along West End.  I personally worked for Street and Street Architects when those massively ugly Carmichael Dorms were designed.  I thought they were dreadful then and will shed no tears when they come crumbling to the ground.  The original Edward Durell Stone dorms at the corner of 21st Avenue were godawfully boring.  If you prefer steel and glass boxes, perhaps you would like to see some of the insane products of Frank Gehery on campus or perhaps a chimera like the hodgepodge of the Children's Hospital on campus or monstrosities like the old swoopy Olin Engineering Hall .    Seriously, the replacement dorms are in fair harmony with the historic structures of the Vanderbilt campus and do define an important boundary along West End.  There are far worse alternates Vandy could have taken architecturally.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Baronakim
spelling

[titanhog]

24 minutes ago, Baronakim said:

Obviously, you are not particularly well acquainted with the physical plant of Hogwarts (which is of course fictional).  Perhaps you are referring to the theme parks' theatrically fake facades? Alternately, you are perhaps woefully deficient in your knowledge of classical architecture and think Vandy is building medieval castles all along West End.  I personally worked for Street and Street Architects when those massively ugly Carmichael Dorms were designed.  I thought they were dreadful then and will shed no tears when they come crumbling to the ground.  The original Edward Durell Stone dorms at the corner of 21st Avenue were godawfully boring.  If you prefer steel and glass boxes, perhaps you would like to see some of the insane products of Frank Gehery on campus or perhaps a chimera like the hodgepodge of the Children's Hospital on campus or monstrosities like the old swoopy Olin Engineering Hall .    Seriously, the replacement dorms are in fair harmony with the historic structures of the Vanderbilt campus and do define an important boundary along West End.  There are far worse alternates Vandy could have taken architecturally.

Pretty sure you are misreading his post...as far as what his intentions are.  I think (and I could be wrong...it's happened before...once )  he's just saying Vandy is spending a lot of time and money building onto its campus with beautiful, substantive physical structures...but maybe not focusing on upping its game in the "tech" scene.

[Baronakim]

5 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Pretty sure you are misreading his post...as far as what his intentions are.  I think (and I could be wrong...it's happened before...once )  he's just saying Vandy is spending a lot of time and money building onto its campus with beautiful, substantive physical structures...but maybe not focusing on upping its game in the "tech" scene.

Oh, I got his well taken point.  I just couldn't resist an architectural dig at the "Hogwarts" reference and wanted to comment on the work going on along West End.  I have felt a little shame for years in  having even been remotely associated with the four giant boxes on West End. 

[Ingram]

2 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Probably should be under Nashville accolades b/c it's sort of the opposite of one, but still one nonetheless. From the NBJ (paywall): https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/05/07/why-didnt-this-fortune-500-company-move-its-hq-to.html 

Explanation: Waste Management which is ranked 202 on the F500 list decided to relocate their new corporate HQ to Houston. Nashville was runner-up. Chief criticism for Nashville was its critical mass of higher education institutions was found 'wanting'. I've said it before and will again and again... Nashville's public institutions need to step up their games. MTSU, TSU and TTU need to JV on centers of excellence, in IT/CS (led by Tennessee Tech), Business/Accounting (MTSU), and Graduate Management/Marketing/Technology (TSU).  As a graduate of Vandy, I honestly don't know where the hell they're coming from as they spend millions on buildings that look like Hogwarts. Vandy's downside is that it is still 'training' people to go on to Medical/Law/Grad schools. It needs to do much better turning out new grads ready for the workforce in the areas above. I think one of the areas Vandy could shine would be in the area of Communications/Media. Belmont seems to be doing a great job addressing the needs of today's employers, but I'm not close to BU. I'd guess they're developing a strong Media program but don't know for sure. 

 

That's a load of crap.  They wanted Nashville to throw incentives at them from every direction known to man and they didn't get 1 cent in incentives. Amazon, Nissan, Bridgestone, etc aren't having any problems with Nashville colleges so "Waste Management" wouldn't either. They're throwing shade because Nashville refused to line their pockets.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Ingram

[MLBrumby]

LOL... yes, Titanhog is correct. My point was actually not about Hogwarts but about the hundreds of millions of dollars my alma mater is spending to cater to the richest of the richest kids who will choose to live in a 'residential college hall' instead of expanding their curriculum and updating it to the 21st Century (that's my point). I will proudly admit that I know very little about all things Harry Potter, but I do understand the difference between the Hogwarts of the novels, the theme parks and the film productions. 

Somehow I was construed as defending the current (and recently razed) residential buildings. FTR: I lived in the referenced Kissam complex during my freshman year and a Tower 1 suite in my Jr/Sr years. You'd never catch me wistfully defending the stark cinder-block 'beauty' of those buildings. And I GET that colleges these days are competing for students with their fancy digs and student amenities. I also realize those buildings are now over 50 years old. The original Vanderbilt Hall didn't last much longer than that, and it was caving in on itself when it was finally demolished. I know old buildings eventually need to be replaced. My beef is with the expense and rapid plowing-under of existing dormitories, when even Duke (where I received my JD & MBA) is using dorms that are 70-80, even 90 years old. 

You mention the towers, and I've thought they looked like Soviet style apartments from the first time I saw them. I don't know how anyone could have commissioned them, even in the design-challenged 1960s... at least where college architecture is concerned.  Vandy is not alone.  I also understand that the post WW2 boom caused colleges to build a lot of crap.  I just spoke at a seminar at UTK at the Engineering school (Ferris Hall), a beautiful gothic style building on The Hill. To get there, I had to walk through/past three hideously windowless brick mid-century buildings. When I reached Ferris, it occurred to me that schools everywhere made a lot of bad design decisions during that time. I'm sure there were good reasons... and with a little foresight, they might have avoided lots of those mistakes. Since you were with the firm at the time, I have to ask what was the statement Vandy wanted to make in 1965 with Carmichael Towers? Or as the stories were told even when I was there 30 years ago, were they really built to be temporary?

There is a very sizable group of Alums who are furious with Vandy's decision to build Hogwarts (sorry!) as a move to be like the other elites. Some of that (I'm sure) may also stem from alums who think the school should be putting far more into their athletics (that's not me). I simply don't like the direction Vandy has headed in the last 15-20 years. I think the Residential College concept is just the latest extension of the nanny ("helicopter parent") phenomenon in child-rearing these days. Is it popular with prospective students? Must be. Is it the only option?  No! And if it comes at the expense of updating the Undergraduate curriculum to prepare their students for a Gig economy then I'm not a fan. 

Obviously, Vandy does not care what the alums in that group think. They're not even sensitive to the sports fans gripes about their pathetic programs. So we have these very beautiful buildings under construction. But I remain skeptical that they will really make it a better school. 

[Baronakim]

Hey MLB, I was kidding you, not criticizing any lack of knowledge on your part.   No the dorms were never intended to be temporary.  As to the "Soviet style" design of the towers,  it was economy, economy, economy.  Vandy wanted to make them even cheaper and more brutalistic.  Thank heavens, I was just an low level employee and had nothing to do with the actual designing.  The firm really did much better work for Vandyon other projects; both of the Streets were very cognizant of how horrible the buildings would look, but Vandy was adamant on costs.   Other and considerably better buildings they did at Vandy included Sarratt, Blair School of Music and the village style dorms next to Morgan.

As to Waste Management's reasoning, I can believe Ingram may have a valid point as to why they chose Houston.    

[MLBrumby]

I know... I guess you might tell how sore I am at Vandy... plus, my kid was waitlisted (growl) but my feelings on this matter precede that. Sorry for coming across so defensively. 

[titanhog]

In all seriousness...I do hope Vandy will improve their "21st Century" programs and help the city / region's growth in the tech sector.

[KJHburg]

As for Waste Management HQ I am not sure how hard they were really trying to relocate from Houston.  They were in downtown Houston and now they are moving their HQ into a bigger space in a brand new building Capitol Tower in downtown Houston.  As far as I know they really didnt get any incentives to stay in Htown but maybe Nashville was a bargaining chip to get a good lease rate at that new building.    Sears many years ago did the same thing with Charlotte.  Flirting with building a huge campus south of town for their headquarters  but they ended up in Hoffman Estates a suburb of Chicago.   (boy were we lucky with that one as Sears is now a shell of its former self) I read that article too from Chief Executive magazine here is the original article 

https://chiefexecutive.net/waste-management-ceo-new-headquarters/

I think they were just exploring but not sure  how serious they were leaving Houston.    Nashville has great job growth and a great streak of attracting businesses. 

Edited May 8, 2019 by KJHburg

[memphian]

I’ll agree that the universities appear to lack foresight when it comes to developing modern programs. I think the public schools have traditionally been so focused on first-generation college students that they didn’t need to create exciting and challenging programs because “status quo” was sufficient. Basically by doing nothing the state schools inadvertently did something, they got left behind. Also the business climate didn’t need much for a long time so there’s that to consider, too. 

Edited May 8, 2019 by memphian

[12Mouth]

Also, in terms of staying up with the times, Vandy just built the Wond’ry a few years ago, which is entirely dedicated to innovation. The top two majors are econ and computer science, and they invest a ton of money into bio tech research. Regarding the buildings, they are trying to build out living/learning communities to distinguish themselves from their peers, which makes sense to me. I just don’t think that a communications program fits into their core mission as it exists right now. We’ll see if this changes when a new chancellor comes on board.

[dragonfly]

On 5/7/2019 at 11:29 AM, MLBrumby said:

Explanation: Waste Management which is ranked 202 on the F500 list decided to relocate their new corporate HQ to Houston. Nashville was runner-up. 

That company has been headquartered in Houston for a long time, so why wasn't the cost of moving across the country a disincentive identified as such. Plus its main competitor historically was BFI in Houston so there is a large talent pool here for that business sector, so why wasn't that mentioned. BFI (Browning-Ferris) was bought out by a smaller rival in 1999. 

 

On 5/7/2019 at 11:29 AM, MLBrumby said:

Chief criticism for Nashville was its critical mass of higher education institutions was found 'wanting'. I've said it before and will again and again... 

What a load of crap from the CEO if that is really where it came from. I live in Houston. Rice U is  academically ranked almost as high as VU for research institutions, does have a very good engineering school, but enrollment is half that of VU and research funding is pipsqueak by comparison to VU. And no med school at Rice either. The University of Houston does have a decent engineering school, but feels like the commuter school it is when you walk across campus, kind of like MTSU, but twice the size. The next most influential local school, Texas Southern U. is kind of a joke, scandal ridden leadership over the years, and cannot be compared to Tennessee State or Fisk by any stretch. Plus you have institutions rising there like Belmont and Lipscomb, and there is nothing to compare to them here.  I graduated from VU and UT Austin for the master's degree, so I think I have an OK grasp of the educational footprint of the two cities. Degrees in my field, electrical engineering, are available at the two Houston institutions first mentioned, and at two in Nashville, VU and Tennessee State. Houston does not out-rank Nashville in higher ed, trust me.

Edited May 9, 2019 by dragonfly