Nashville Bits and Pieces

[nashvillwill]

Can someone post a link to the document being discussed? Or provide a summarized version?

Edited August 20, 2014 by nashvillwill

[Neigeville2]

 

...If this is really a discussion over the appropriateness of zoning and overlays then that is a different discussion entirely. I personally think zoning is an appropriate means for a municipality to direct land use in a way that it deems fit. That does necessitate the removal of some rights from the homeowner, but I believe that is better than the alternative. Reasonable people may disagree on that point, and I'm not going to try to persuade you on that because it probably wouldn't do any good.

 

 

But while we're having that discussion I'd just like to mention one thing.  We often hear zoning and overlays criticized on this board as an intrusion on property rights-that's a libertarian argument, but there is just as great an objection from a socialist/social democratic viewpoint.  Zoning in general tends to destroy affordable housing, small housing, rental housing, etc.  There is a confluence of interest between a local government trying to maximize revenues and greedy homeowners trying to maximize their property value, and the thousands of people making $8.00/hr who just need a place to live don't have the megaphone.

[grilled_cheese]

Lots of angles in this discussion.

 

As a great man once said "It's like what Lenin said... you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh..."

 

Who is going to profit from this the most?  Easily identifiable are the developers.  It's easy to say that they're running away to the bank with profits and I'm sure perception is reality in this case.  Look also for homeowners who are protecting their property/home value.  A worst case scenario we can pull from is the current situation in San Francisco.  The median rent out there is north of $1,300.  Many factors are blended into this equation but part of it is the codes regulating how tall buildings can be, among other things, causing the housing stock to remain stagnant, driving up prices.  They don't have enough middle class and highrise, non-luxury housing.  Obviously totally different situation but still something to look at. 

 

Perusing the East Nashville listserv today, two rental properties were advertised, one being a 3/2 house for $1500 and a 4/3 for $2700.  Pretty wild. 

 

I'm a late 20s first time home buyer and purchased, in northwest Inglewood in late 2012, a very simple 1,000 sq ft house.  As it stands, I am priced out of the market.  There is such a low stock of housing currently, that there is no way I would be able to purchase anything.  My buddy spent the last calendar year searching for a home and was consistently out bid, IN CASH, by other parties.  He finally was able to snag something but that was a stark difference to my experience.  I was able to buy after my first offer.  I wish I was in a situation to buy right after the crash but unfortunately I was still in college and had no monies.  Consider yourself lucky if you were able to buy then.  As a Nashville native it's difficult to watch much of the desirable parts of the city already gone by the time I was ready to buy.  I grew up in the suburbs and wanted to live in a 'somewhat' urban atmosphere.  I feel lucky I just barely got in. 

 

I hear a lot of people complain about parking, I wish I had street parking!  I have about 3 spaces of off street parking and zero chance of street parking.  Our street is so narrow that there is nowhere to park due to the sidewalk and drainage ditches.  I really do not understand the parking complaint from some neighborhoods (looking at you 12south).  If you have off street parking AND street parking then you need to STFU right now.  If you're someone that moved to, say, 12South in the last 10 years and KNOWINGLY bought a house without street parking then the blame falls on you, what did you think was going to happen?  I've gotten the stink eye from 12South residents for parking on a public street in the middle of the day, part of why I boycott that entire neighborhood to this day.  I drive down parts of Lockeland Springs and dream of having these wide streets connecting to my house, sidewalks on both sides too!

 

"All good things in moderation".  Smart development, smart infill, don't tear everything down that's worth saving, grow is happening, etc etc etc.  We don't want a strip club popping up at the corner of Cahal and Scott but we also don't want to stifle everything that comes through.  I know, I know, what you're thinking "but the contextual overlay is just some guidelines for ......."  but this hasn't been the first change and it won't be the last.

 

I want density, I want mass transit, I want to be able to walk to places, I want my property value to appreciate.  I'm not looking to MAXIMIZE my property value but I obviously don't want it to depreciate.  I'm asking for common sense here.  If anyone in Lockeland Springs or Edgefield is upset over their housing situation I will GLADLY trade places with them.  PM me if interested.

 

go preds

[UTgrad09]

Go Preds, indeed.

[e-dub]

this is a projection re: which neighborhoods get google fiber. it'd be nice if this goes down!

http://erichsen-group.com/mapping-google-fiberhoods/

[dmillsphoto]

this is a projection re: which neighborhoods get google fiber. it'd be nice if this goes down!

http://erichsen-group.com/mapping-google-fiberhoods/

 

I'd be in a Fiberhood!!!

[e-dub]

yeah, likewise.

[satalac]

I'd be in a Fiberhood!!!

I'd miss it by a mile or two 

The house I just moved from would just barely get it too. Please Google, save me from Comcast.....

[bwithers1]

Yeah, that's interesting for the East Nashville area.  Eastwood is in, but Inglewood appears to be out.  Is Google Fiber unable to cross the railroad tracks?  Or is that more Inglewood separatism ("we're NOT East Nashville, we're Inglewood") at play?

Edited August 21, 2014 by bwithers1

[rookzie]

Lots of angles in this discussion.

 

As a great man once said "It's like what Lenin said... you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh..."

 

Who is going to profit from this the most?  Easily identifiable are the developers.  It's easy to say that they're running away to the bank with profits and I'm sure perception is reality in this case.  Look also for homeowners who are protecting their property/home value.  A worst case scenario we can pull from is the current situation in San Francisco.  The median rent out there is north of $1,300.  Many factors are blended into this equation but part of it is the codes regulating how tall buildings can be, among other things, causing the housing stock to remain stagnant, driving up prices.  They don't have enough middle class and highrise, non-luxury housing.  Obviously totally different situation but still something to look at. 

 

Perusing the East Nashville listserv today, two rental properties were advertised, one being a 3/2 house for $1500 and a 4/3 for $2700.  Pretty wild. 

 

I'm a late 20s first time home buyer and purchased, in northwest Inglewood in late 2012, a very simple 1,000 sq ft house.  As it stands, I am priced out of the market.  There is such a low stock of housing currently, that there is no way I would be able to purchase anything.  My buddy spent the last calendar year searching for a home and was consistently out bid, IN CASH, by other parties.  He finally was able to snag something but that was a stark difference to my experience.  I was able to buy after my first offer.  I wish I was in a situation to buy right after the crash but unfortunately I was still in college and had no monies.  Consider yourself lucky if you were able to buy then.  As a Nashville native it's difficult to watch much of the desirable parts of the city already gone by the time I was ready to buy.  I grew up in the suburbs and wanted to live in a 'somewhat' urban atmosphere.  I feel lucky I just barely got in. 

...

...

 

 

Even at my ripe age (if not over-ripe [or even half rotten]), I am blessed to have snagged my own house, when I did in early 2003.  Seems that I managed to get a running jump onto that very last car of the moving "housing train", back then.  Even though things had slowed down considerably later, during the latter part of the 2000s, it never got so bad in most parts of this region, such that property values had to take a big hit here, as they had in many other parts of the country.  Yes, there was a marked and defined "point of inflection" in the sales and demands of this region during the housing slump.  But I marginally had been able to land what I settled for, in compromise between projected long-range affordability, accessibility to public transit (because I then maintained a single aging automobile of 30 years), and relative proximity to an aging parent.

 

Having been jobless for exactly 3 years (except for PT and volunteer work during most of that period), I managed to stave off failure (which seemed so imminent with many others) just in time before the job situation took a dive, coinciding with the financial crunch period, by (as irony would have it) landing my current FT job in early 2008.  A lot of us who had squirrelled away for the future lost big in investment plans, but fortunately, I had maintained diverse resources of such from back in the early '80s, and subsequently I was fortunate enough to be able tighten my grip onto maintaining my home, which I never again even could come close to being able to afford the same.  The flood of 2010 did its job also in putting a hurt on marginal home ownership, but I was fortunate to have been on higher ground (with no wash-out damage)..

 

As you generally indicate, the cost of housing in Nashville has skyrocketed by an inordinately disproportional rate, compared to local mean rates of compensation, partly induced by the factors which you have touched on above.

 

-==-

[satalac]

Yeah, that's interesting for the East Nashville area. Eastwood is in, but Inglewood appears to be out. Is Google Fiber unable to cross the railroad tracks? Or is that more Inglewood separatism ("we're NOT East Nashville, we're Inglewood") at play?

It's based off of existing capabilities I believe. The map can change with more information. It's not Google that made the map, so it's nothing official.

[bwithers1]

It's based off of existing capabilities I believe. The map can change with more information. It's not Google that made the map, so it's nothing official.

Good to know.  Lord knows there are plenty of existing utility easements cutting up the Riverside Drive corridor and behind Stratford High.  As long as we're not adding any more easements like that, we should be OK.  I think that the Google Huts or whatever they are called are going to be located on Metro-owned property such as schools per a recent Council ordinance. 

Edited August 21, 2014 by bwithers1

[grilled_cheese]

It's a projection based on the current NES dark fiber network

 

http://www.nesnetwork.com/map.php

[nashvillwill]

Had to drop my parents off at the airport very early this morning. I was awake, and already had a cup of coffee, so I ended up doing a driving tour of projects around town at about 4:30 am. It's interesting to drive around this city while she sleeps. Totally different perspective on things. Sorry, I didn't have any "aha!" moments, but it's just fun to see Nashville without all of the cars. This really is a beautiful city. Unfortunately that beauty is ruined by speeding/standing cars.

[nashmoney]

Metro Arts - Projects in Progress

 

http://www.nashville.gov/Arts-Commission/Public-Art/Find-An-Artwork/Projects-in-Progress.aspx

 

Looking forward to STIX. I think it will look cool at the MCC roundabaout, especially lit up at night.

 

This is one of the pieces for the amphitheatre site:

 

The form of the sculpture is based on the meandering curves of the Cumberland River as it passes through Davidson County. Anticipated to be approximately 45 feet tall, the ribbon-like form will be approximately three to four feet wide and 8 to 12 inches thick.

Edited August 25, 2014 by nashmoney

[bwithers1]

That piece that traces the shape of the Cumberland in Nashville is really a great way to create a sense of place there at the riverfront.  I just hope that it is bolted down well or it will end up at PSC on the other side of the river. 

[Paramount747]

Nice looking piece.

[mirydi]

I like it too. What's up with the dead trees though? Is that supposed to mimic what would happen if a tree was planted on the PSC metals site? 

[Vrtigo]

lol. The PSC comments crack me up.

 

If you look closely, the trees actually appear to be artificial--similar to the following:

 

 

Or maybe the rendering is just a winter scene. 

[Vrtigo]

The link by nashmoney above was very helpful--thanks for sharing!

 

One particular paragraph caught my eye about the STIX installation (my emphasis in bold):

Artist Christian Moeller has been selected for the public art project at the Korean Veterans Boulevard Roundabout, adjacent to the Music City Center convention facility. His proposed work is a composition of native hardwood and natural colors – red orange, light blue, dark blue, light green and egg white, a homage to the Native Americans who first populated Middle Tennessee – with approximately 27 painted red cedar poles standing 70-feet tall. They will be spaced in an irregular organic pattern throughout the surface area of the roundabout. Moeller’s proposal calls for the verticality of the poles to vary between zero- to 15-degrees from the center axis. Each pole tip will be covered with a cap made of photo-luminescent pigment enhanced urethane resin to emit a light glow at night.

Should be a very striking project!

[nashmoney]

The link by nashmoney above was very helpful--thanks for sharing!

 

One particular paragraph caught my eye about the STIX installation (my emphasis in bold):

Should be a very striking project!

 

No problem....and I agree, this should be a very nice project and visible from different parts of the downtown core, especially at night.

 

You probably would be able to view it from Love circle, over off west end.

 

There is going to be 27 of these 70ft tall cedar poles!

 

The below statue of Sam Houston is 70ft tall and you can see how tall it is in relation to a human.

 

[titanhog]

I like the amphitheater art...and the Stix art.  Very well done on both.

[gannman]

I really like the bike rack art pieces; however, I feel like most people don't realize that they are indeed bike racks. I rarely see them in use.

[japan]

Gotta wait until late 2015 for Stix?  

[ariesjow]

Metro Arts - Projects in Progress

 

http://www.nashville.gov/Arts-Commission/Public-Art/Find-An-Artwork/Projects-in-Progress.aspx

 

Looking forward to STIX. I think it will look cool at the MCC roundabaout, especially lit up at night.

 

This is one of the pieces for the amphitheatre site:

 

The form of the sculpture is based on the meandering curves of the Cumberland River as it passes through Davidson County. Anticipated to be approximately 45 feet tall, the ribbon-like form will be approximately three to four feet wide and 8 to 12 inches thick.

 

Looks like a pretty cool art piece. Do we want to make bets on how long it will take until the first skateboard injury after installation though?