Nashville Bits and Pieces

[Binbin98]

Maybe they are including people in bars and clubs and stuff too? 

[Mr_Bond]

@markhollin, don't forget to add two to your final number; my wife and I watched from our balcony in Terrazzo. 

[Nashvillain]

Maybe they included all the people who pulled over on I-24, the ramp to Shelby Ave., and Ellington Parkway

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, Nashvillain said:

Maybe they included all the people who pulled over on I-24, the ramp to Shelby Ave., and Ellington Parkway

And it includes all the people watching on News2...and any other channel showing it. 

[deletethisaccount]

From The SoBro pool deck. Seriously impressive display!

[PaulChinetti]

6 hours ago, Nashvillain said:

Maybe they included all the people who pulled over on I-24, the ramp to Shelby Ave., and Ellington Parkway

We were driving and it was mind boggling the amount of people pulled over on the interstate. I saw multiple people pull over and just swing their doors open and get out. ON THE INTERSTATE!

[TNinVB]

This is how I watched them from Virginia Beach!

[Nashvillain]

10 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

We were driving and it was mind boggling the amount of people pulled over on the interstate. I saw multiple people pull over and just swing their doors open and get out. ON THE INTERSTATE!

I know. It was crazy. I had been at my parents' house in Franklin with my wife and we were driving home to East Nashville. The electronic billboards said, "Do not pullover in the shoulder to watch the fireworks." Somehow that was ineffective. I saw a couple of police officers trying to manage the situation but it was very much a free-for-all

[PaulChinetti]

https://www.nashville.gov/Metro-Clerk/Legislative/Ordinances/Details/016e9c09-2b0a-467f-bd65-4a26016ac4ed/2015-2019/BL2018-1416.aspx

Looks like you can get some parking requirement reductions if you save more trees. 

[Bos2Nash]

We had this discussion over the nfl draft, but I will say we saw the fireworks from the 24th floor of the Fifth/Third so I wonder if the algorithms that count crowds have a certain allowance for indoor spaces. 

[markhollin]

Mark Baum, the head of Harrow Health--a pharmaceuticals company relocating from San Diego to Nashville--had this to say  about the business environment here:

“We are getting ripped off in California” Baum said, recounting his conversation with his chief financial officer. “It’s the most business-friendly place in the galaxy. You add all of that up, I said, 'This is the place to go.'”

Baum readily praises Nashville’s cost of living, universities, food, friendly residents, four seasons, the music, the airport, amenities for kids and much better traffic conditions than he is accustomed to in California.

Baum predicts many businesses from California will follow suit, more than current residents and business people probably expect.

“They have no idea what’s about to happen over the next 10 to 20 years. This is the very, very beginning. This is nothing,” Baum said, adding with a laugh, “and there is no state income tax.”

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/07/08/harrow-health-ceo-looks-nashville-pharma-growth/1570280001/?utm_source=tennessean-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=hero

[Baronakim]

Hi y'all.  At the Forum Meet Saturday morning, I shared my proposal for the rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral.  I suppose it is a bit odd for an old East Nashville boy to be working on something halfway around the world, but I entered the competition anyway.  Voting has begun until the end of the month.  The website is https://www.goarchitect.co . There are about 230 designs entered and I would appreciate y'all' to support my design.  One vote per person per email address, though you can get friends and family to vote too.  Entries are randomized when one enters, so you will have to hunt for my design.  There are a bunch of wacky proposals but there are many well thought out and interesting ones as well....worth looking at.  Thanks.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Baronakim
erroneous location info of design on site corrected

[titanhog]

^^Voted!

[smeagolsfree]

It helps that yours is the second one on page one.! Good Luck!

[titanhog]

Czech guitar maker Furch Guitars is setting up a North American base of operations in Nashville.

https://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czech-guitar-makers-hope-to-expand-business-in-us-by-setting-up-branch-in-nashville?fbclid=IwAR3of-sfumK2guDELTfiB9MW1ydE0dke9O3Y6sKr6dvIHpMy6yCT8Vyc3B4

“We are trying to be present better in the USA now. We chose Nashville specifically because we were looking for a sort of Silicon Valley of the music industry and it turns out that Nashville seems to be that sort of place. Many musicians and studios are moving there, so you can say that Nashville is a big thing in music right now and that is why we chose it.” 

[bigeasy]

On ‎7‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 8:39 AM, markhollin said:

A huge crowd for the Fourth of July celebration downtown last evening.  The weather ended up being nearly perfect, the flow of people was well managed, and everyone was in a good mood. Once again, however,  officials are pulling attendance numbers out of their collective ass.  They stated the size was 343,000 (which would be equal to the entire populations of Knoxville and Clarksville combined, or 50% of Nashville's entire population squeezed downtown).   I was there...and while the throng was impressive, there is simply no way those official numbers make sense. 

Video of fireworks here:

https://www.tennessean.com/videos/news/2019/07/05/fireworks-light-up-nashville-skyline/1654005001/

Story here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/07/04/nashville-fourth-july-weather-scattered-storms-independence-day/1642629001/

 

I have gone to the show for the past few years, and it felt pretty smaller compared to previous years. Atleast from where I was. I always cycle down from Two Rivers park with friends, and we watch from Korean Vets Bridge.

 

They do continue to make it better though. Each year the show beats my expectations, and this year the finale was nuts. Very loud, and much closer to the bridge than previous years.

[Rockatansky]

On 7/8/2019 at 5:54 AM, markhollin said:

four seasons

Not really. A really long summer, fall, spring repeat...

[markhollin]

Butch Spyridon (president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Copr.) pushes back at criticism of Nashville's boom:

Over a decade ago, Spyridon recalls gathering with “140 community leaders from all walks of life” to devise a plan to make Nashville a destination city. The plan centered around hosting major events and creating landmarks people would want to visit while promoting the brand of Music City. 

“Ten years later, it took fire. Now we’re having to apologize for being successful,” Spyridon said. “I really think these opportunities mean we should count our blessings and let’s be smart about managing and being able to sustain this because we did agree on what we wanted to do. It’s worked, and it’s worked beyond everybody’s expectations. With growth and opportunity comes challenges, and we’re up for that.”

"People are around here acting like if we just shut everything down, everything will be OK. I thoroughly believe cities are growing or dying. The smart cities are growing the smart way, and the dumb cities are dying. So, I hope we’re smart.”

“Putting the brakes on this would be the equivalent of saying, ‘Well, Nissan or GM shouldn’t make cars anymore because there are too many cars on the road,’” Spyridon said. “If either one of them shutdown, everybody would be up in arms because it’s big and everybody can identify with Nissan and GM so they tend not to think that way. They look at our industry with this cavalier thinking of ‘Oh, we don’t need that. They’re visitors, they don’t vote.' Or, 'That money goes somewhere else.’ I think the city would have a helluva hard time replacing the revenue that is generated from this industry.”

According to Visitors Corp. data, tourism generated more than $6 billion in direct visitor spending in 2017.

Spyridon also said he sees a connection between the city's booming tourism industry and the region's economic development success. Recent big wins include AllianceBernstein and Mitsubishi Motors deciding to move their headquarters to the region, and Amazon planning 5,000 jobs as part of a downtown hub.

“We put a shining star on this city that allows the chamber, the state or the city to go chase corporate relocations,” Spyridon said. “They weren’t coming 10 years ago like they are today because we weren’t very attractive. Now, we’re pretty damn attractive and that’s because of the work this industry did."

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/07/10/butch-spyridon-pushes-back-at-criticism-of.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

 

[Nash_12South]

I hate statements like this. If you dislike aspects of growth and tourism, you obviously hate all growth and tourism.  Easy way to deflect criticism and potentially useful discussion.  

Edited July 10, 2019 by Nash_12South

[titanhog]

Pretty funny

 

[markhollin]

A deal involving the purchase of three media-production companies is bringing a new headquarters to Nashville. 

Live Media Group Holdings, a Los Angeles based media company, has announced the purchase of Nashville-based TNDV: Television, Knoxville-based Harb Production Services and L.A.-based Coastal Media Group.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/07/11/l-a-group-buys-trio-of-media-companies-plans-move.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[e-dub]

I saw this one this morning and laughed.

[fishsticks176]

Edit: nvmd, already posted above. Whoops!

Edited July 12, 2019 by fishsticks176

[markhollin]

At Warby Parker’s downtown Nashville offices — its second headquarters — the company has outpaced its growth projections and now occupies three floors at the L&C Tower.

In 2016, the company said it would eventually employ 250 people in Nashville. Today, they have all over 350 local employees, with a dozen new team members starting Monday and plans to hire even more workers. The company started with a handful of Nashville employees in 2014, moving to two floors in the L&C Tower by mid-2016 to accommodate its growth.

Additionally, Warby Parker is opening its 2nd Nashville retail operation at the expanded Green Hills Mall.

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/07/11/warby-parker-nashville-new-green-hills-store/1702050001/

[henburg]

I was browsing one of the Toronto skyscraper boards and saw something that looked pretty familiar-

 

I think it's called 160 Front West and is beginning construction in Toronto now. It'll be weird seeing OG 505 CST's doppelgänger rise.

Edited July 11, 2019 by henburg