DOWNTOWN PLAN
THE H E A LT H Y COMMUNITY
CITY LIVING We tend to define downtown visually by its buildings: Municipal Buildings, Courthouses, historic churches, tourist areas, skyscrapers, arenas and convention centers. But it is the transportation infrastructure—bodies of water, streets, railroads, interstate highways—that has shaped central cities for better and worse. The core populations have swollen over the past decade with commuting workers. The public spaces, parks, streets, restaurants, and entertainment venues in the core are not just for downtown’s workers and residents, however, but function as resources for residents of the entire region.
Downtown Community Basic Characteristics For planning purposes, core communities share many of the following characteristics: • Multiple uses and functions—including commercial, office, retail and residential • Extensive commercial and retail with large office buildings • High-density development zoning. • Significantly larger buildings, in
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terms of footprint, than those typically found in the surrounding community. Balance of automobile, pedestrian and bike-oriented infrastructure. Significant amounts of parking garages. Food access typically dominated by small market stores and sit down dining options
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Center point of major thoroughfares served by public transportation. Mix of pocket and large parks.
Neighborhood Design and Development Health-Promoting Intense planning and redevelopment in recent years have contributed to the growth of multiple land uses in downtown, expanding from the business-centered philosophy of the urban renewal period. The addition of more social venues—bars, restaurants—and the increase in entertainment and cultural offerings have brought more people to downtown streets, deterring crime and enhancing the pedestrian experience. The development of the core’s residential component enables city dwellers to work and play without resorting to cars. Health-Defeating Nashville’s core still has many underutilized properties. According to a 2008 study by Metro Planning, 37 percent of downtown property parcels are vacant of buildings; one-story buildings occupy another 25 percent. This leaves only 38 percent of downtown land with buildings of two or more stories. Because the downtown code permits significantly higher densities, there is thus tremendous opportunity for redevelopment. Such redevelopment would build on existing infrastructure and enable the more efficient supply of services, as well as help to achieve the population density necessary for a wider variety of retail.
Strategy Promote the renovation and retrofitting of historic structures and the rehab of vacant upper floors in existing structures. A study by the National Trust for Historic Preservation found that reusing rather than demolishing buildings almost always results in lower environmental impacts. In addition, cost savings from reuse are between 4 to 46 percent greater than new construction when comparing buildings of similar energy use. Redesign Broadway and Commerce Street as complete streets to balance the demands of cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. Lower Broadway is the busiest street in downtown Nashville for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The street’s width (more than 100 feet) and six travel lanes, however, make pedestrian crossings challenging. The sidewalks are only eight feet wide. Encourage redevelopment of surface parking to create active street uses and increase pedestrian interest and safety. Incentives used in other cities include property tax abatement and tax increment financing (TIF) for redevelopment, as well as increasing property taxes on surface lots to reduce the incentive for demolition of buildings for parking lots. (Currently property owners can decrease the property taxes on underperforming buildings by removing them.)
Transportation Health-Promoting A wide array of transportation options are available in the core: walking, biking, public transit, taxis, and personal vehicles. Plans are underway for Nashville’s first dedicatedlane BRT service—The AMP (see page xx) —which would pass through downtown while ferrying riders between the West End Avenue area and East Nashville to Five Points. Health-Defeating While none of the top 20 most congested intersections in Davidson County are in the core transect zone, congestion is nevertheless significant on the streets feeding the interstates during rush hours and throughout downtown on busy event days. Only two percent of Davidson County’s citizens use public transportation. Low frequency of buses and limited hours of service for public transit routes limit widespread transit use among population. The pedestrian/cycling bridge intended to connect the Gulch to SoBro under the current 2013 plan, lacks a bicycle ramp, requiring cyclists to dismount and roll their bikes up to the bridge deck using a bicycle groove; those in wheelchairs must use the elevator. This is due to the steepness of the approach and the inability of bridge planners to obtain easements from private property owners. The greenway in SoBro, along the edge of Rolling Mill Hill, lacks connectivity to the rest of the area south of Broadway. Within the Gulch, the greenway is a mere fragment that runs from the Eleven North residential complex to the Church Street viaduct. As of 2013, easements from private property owners to connect this segment to the rest of the greenway system have been difficult to obtain.
Strategy Promote transit ridership through greater frequency of buses and longer hours of service. This strategy will require more funding for Nashville MTA. Strategy: Implement a network of protected bike lanes throughout downtown that offer safer alternatives to the current lanes shared by bikes and cars. The network should include clearly defined north/south, east/west routes. Map of potential protected bike lane network for downtown and beyond the interstate loop. Note that the main east/west route through the central city is on Commerce Street. Downtown currently has some dedicated bike lanes, but none protected by bollards or buffers. Develop a bike center near the Music City Central bus terminal. The center should provide cyclists with secure storage and accommodate commuters with lockers and showers. Connect the isolated segments of downtown’s greenways, particularly the fragment in the Gulch, to the larger greenway system and attractions such as the Farmers’ Market and the Music City Center.
Walkability and Pedestrian Safety Health-Promoting The core is compact and walkable. Pedestrian signage maps were introduced on many downtown corners in 2012 to help visitors navigate to prime destinations. Efforts are being made to provide better pedestrian access to the Gulch. For example, Gulch Crossing, an office/retail project planned for the former railroad corridor, will have a stairway and elevator connecting the Demonbreun viaduct to 11th Avenue. Health-Defeating Fragmentary sidewalk networks, speed limits, and crossing signals geared to moving vehicles—as well as areas with poor street lighting—impede walkability and safety. Sidewalk conditions along Fifth Ave North in the Sulfur Dell area do little to encourage pedestrian activity. (2013) Drivers who ignore pedestrian priority within crosswalks and during right-on-red vehicular turning compromise the safety of walkers at intersections.
Strategy Reduce speed limits in the core to 25 mph and shrink vehicular rights-ofway by installing pedestrian curb extensions and refuge islands/medians. Give street crossing priority to pedestrians. Time signals for walkers and eliminate right-on-red turns at intersections heavily used by pedestrians. Establish these by pedestrian counts similar to those now used for measuring vehicular traffic. Develop pedestrian- and bicycle-only events that close certain streets to automobile traffic for special events or during low traffic times, such as Sundays.
Food Resources Health-Promoting The Nashville Farmers’ Market, just north of the State Capitol, a small grocery on Church Street, and the Turnip Truck Natural Market in the Gulch enable some access to fresh food and healthy take-out items. Health-Defeating The downtown core lacks a fullservice grocery store and community gardening options for residents.
Strategy Secure a medium-sized, full-service downtown grocery store that offers fresh produce— sourced locally whenever possible—with a priority on pricing to meet the affordability needs of all. US Census Data indicates that there are an average of 8,800 residents per grocery store nationally, irrespective of store size. The downtown residential population in Nashville is expected to reach that number within five years. When adding the 50,000 workers commuting in and out of downtown each day, the downtown area seems capable of supporting an urban-scaled grocery store—between 10,000 and 25,000 square feet, rather than the 50,000 square feet of suburban stores—especially if located near dense residential development, such as that happening on Rolling Mill Hill and in the North Gulch. Provide more financial and planning support for Nashville’s Farmers’ Market as the central hub for local food activity. Diversify offerings to include more dairy, meat, fish, and bakery vendors. Incorporate the market in planning for the new baseball stadium and attendant residential/commercial/government office redevelopment nearby to promote market evolution and sustainability. Create a community garden on city- or state-owned land to provide downtown residents space for growing food. Provide alternatives to grocery stores for purchasing healthy food. Ensure that healthy food options appear on the menus of food vendors in City-owned properties, such as parks, the bus hubs, the football stadiums, and arenas.
Housing Health-Promoting Recent residential development in downtown has drawn an influx of young professionals and “empty nesters.” The diverse physical character of different downtown neighborhoods provides opportunities for a variety of residential development types. Nance Place and Ryman Lofts in the Rolling Mill Hill neighborhood are recent examples of affordable rental housing developments. Health-Defeating Nashville’s zoning ordinance did not permit housing in the Commercial Core (CC) district between 1974 and 1994. As a result, Nashville’s downtown has significantly fewer dwelling units than our regional peer cities of Memphis, Louisville, and Birmingham. Current residential density is not enough to support significant retail, in particular, a mid-size, full-service grocery and clothing venues. Downtown residents, therefore, must travel outside the core, usually by car, to meet these basic needs. Two constraints on population diversity are that downtown dwelling units are generally of insufficient size to accommodate families with children and cost amounts that price many out of the market, Some older structures have environmental hazards related to lead paint and asbestos that require costly renovations for occupation. There is a growing need for a diversity of housing types in downtown, including for-purchase and rental options in all price ranges.
Strategy Build more housing in the core to include a wider variety of types and sizes, as well as more affordable units, than currently characterize downtown.
Parks and Open Space Health-Promoting Public parks are of crucial importance for downtown living because of the dense nature of the built environment in the core. Private open space is largely restricted to balconies and roof terraces. Downtown workers, residents, and visitors are therefore dependent on public open space to experience the outdoors and for civic interaction. The Bicentennial Mall, a state project that opened in 1996, and the recreation of the Public Square surrounding the Metro Courthouse, dedicated by Mayor Bill Purcell in 2006, are both sizeable open spaces in the downtown zone. More recent additions include Cumberland Park and a new greenway segment on Rolling Mill Hill. In 2013, public drinking fountains with water bottle-filling stations and drinking bowls for pets were installed in five downtown locations. Health-Defeating Existing downtown open spaces lack food/drink venues that would make them more attractive as social space. Some open spaces suffer from poor planning and a lack of programming to activate them. For example, Legislative Plaza, a 1970s urban renewal project to the south of the State Capitol that is mostly hardscape and elevated above street level, really comes alive only for October’s Southern Festival of Books. The Hall of Fame Park features minimal landscaping, no food/drink venue, and an absence of programming. As residential population grows, more parks will be needed. For example, the Gulch lacks any park space, a significant deficiency given this neighborhood’s relative self-containment due to its sunken grade within the context of downtown. Public restrooms are in short supply in downtown.
Strategy Create recreational and leisure spaces in the core as active social spaces for all ages. Exploit the Cumberland River watershed’s recreational potential. Construct a city boathouse on the Cumberland River that accommodates non-motorized boating—rowing, canoeing, kayaking, and stand up paddle boarding—to increase recreational uses of the waterfront. Implement a Nashville “blueway”: a series of destinations along the Cumberland River from Shelby Park to the Tennessee State University campus that can be reached by a water “path,” as well as by greenways on land, offering active transportation in multiple modes.
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Provide a safe and reliable transportation system for people, goods and services that supports economic prosperity in Tennessee.
Founded in 2000, the Nashville Civic Design Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to elevate the quality of Nashville’s built environment and to promote public participation in the creation of a more beautiful and functional city for all.
June 2016