Dive Brief:
- Nashville, TN, is in the midst of an unprecedented construction boom, with more than 100 new projects, worth a total of $2 billion, either underway or in the planning stages, The New York Times reported.
- The majority of the activity — $1.5 billion of hotels, office buildings and residential high-rises — is centered in the city’s downtown area, which boasts Bridgestone Americas' new $220 million U.S. headquarters.
- Nashville has grown by 11,000 people this decade and is attracting young professionals, musicians and millennials with its atmosphere, walkable neighborhoods and mixed-use approach to development.
Dive Insight:
Nashville is ditching its flat skyline and "going vertical" with high-rise after high-rise, even in historic, and previously untouched neighborhoods like Music Row — country music's historical district and home to the city's entertainment industry.
However, as with most changes that have the potential to alter a city's core identity and landscape, not everyone is 100% behind Nashville's growth spurt.
"The city is on fire," Richard Lloyd, an associate professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University, told The Times. "There’s excitement about the big city thing. But there’s anxiety too. Some of it has to do with whether we are losing some part of our soul. Nashville always had this tension. It wants to be taken seriously, be big time. But it doesn’t want to lose the homeyness."
But overall, The Times reported, Nashville is welcoming its new residents, businesses and dynamic city life.
"Most people will tell you they like what’s happening," Sylvia Rapoport, president of the Conservancy for the Parthenon and Centennial Park, told The Times. "There’s an excitement about Nashville that we’ve never had. Young people are coming here to settle."
