Bachelorettes, Bibles & Amazon: Is Nashville The Perfect Model For A Second-Tier City

[BnaBreaker]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

"might be" wishful thinking? Uh, gee ... ya think?

You've got to be kidding. That is your response? The appropriate reply here was, 'oops, my mistake, I misunderstood.' But instead, you decided upon that needlessly condescending nonsense... complete with an eye roll emoji no less! It's almost as though you're incapable of controlling your own fetish... keep it in your pants man, my god.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by mhays

Sometimes people mean "it's not my cup of tea" when they say "I don't get the appeal."

That's not what BNA said. He saying while it may not be your cup of tea, it's a happening town with a lot of growth so surely you can see its appeal for others.

People on this forum are so obtuse. Nashville went from a shit kicker country music town to a cosmopolitan city in short order and that alone is pretty impressive. Is it LA? No and Mark's article didn't allude to as much but merely cited LA as a role model. They are both 'entertainment' cities. Elitists on this forum here see a sunbelt city with some positive spin and aren't taking that shit sitting down. Bird scooters are dropping all over the place in outrage...

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by JManc

Elitists on this forum here see a sunbelt city with some positive spin and aren't taking that shit sitting down. Bird scooters are dropping all over the place in outrage...

And as apparently required by local Nashville ordinance, only in doorways, on handicap ramps, and on stairs.

[Centropolis]

Nashvilles housing prices have jumped the shark for the appeal of the region. That being said, provided i'd find a good location and job, I find Nashville a more appealing place to actually live than visit. The problem is that I actually frequent the civic institutions of larger/older cities that Nashville is lacking (which plays into the what is there to do beside nightlife problem), and the infrastructure is awwwwwful, from lack of sidewalks, CURBS, a well developed urban and manicured park system, sewers, alleys, transit, surface street connectivity, and yes, even expressways...the amount of traffic is not acceptable for such a small city with a lack of a real blvd/regional surface street system and transit.

[tdawg]

I disagree about expressways. Nashville has one of the best freeway systems for a metro of its size and TDoT keeps them in pretty terrific shape. There are there major interstates that cross Nashville.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by tdawg

I disagree about expressways. Nashville has one of the best freeway systems for a metro of its size and TDoT keeps them in pretty terrific shape. There are there major interstates that cross Nashville.

I guess i've never thought like...wow, Nashvilles expressways are amazing. Have you ever been to Kansas City? You can just drive the outerbelt for days and days and days and days and not hit traffic. The lower midwest is the capital of expressway overbuilding...Nashvilles system looks like a choked little knot in comparison.

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

You've got to be kidding.

No, I'm not.

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

That is your response?

Yes, it is.

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

The appropriate reply here was, 'oops, my mistake, I misunderstood.'

Appropriate according to you.

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

But instead, you decided upon that needlessly condescending nonsense... complete with an eye roll emoji no less! It's almost as though you're incapable of controlling your own fetish... keep it in your pants man, my god.

Sensitive, much?

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by JManc

it's a happening town with a lot of growth so surely you can see its appeal for others.

The issue here is that few (if any) of the many other "happening towns with a lot of growth" suffer from the nauseating civic boosterism that Nashville exudes. It would be one thing if their residents and media were simply content about their city's progress, but instead, they experience a 15% growth rate one year, and the next, they ridiculously claim that Los Angeles - a city that is not comparable by any stretch of the imagination - should suddenly be their "model for growth". Yeah, okay.

Originally Posted by JManc

Nashville went from a shit kicker country music town

Still is, IMO (and in the opinion of many others).

Originally Posted by JManc

to a cosmopolitan city in short order and that alone is pretty impressive.

Please, define "cosmopolitan". If you're suggesting that Nashville meets this criteria because a few L.A.-based record labels and talent agencies now have a regional office there, or because it now has a few decent non-chain steakhouses, I would beg to differ. Heck, IKEA even recently cancelled plans to open a store there, which says a lot about the area's consumer sophistication benchmark (read: it must be decidedly low).

Originally Posted by JManc

Is it LA? No and Mark's article didn't allude to as much but merely cited LA as a role model. They are both 'entertainment' cities.

L.A. is, and for years has been, largely considered to be the entertainment capital of the world (for myriad obvious reasons). Nashville is home to a few artists from a very niche genre, hosts the CMA's annually and has Opryland, and as a result the two are somehow comparable?

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

The issue here is that few (if any) of the many other "happening towns with a lot of growth" suffer from the nauseating civic boosterism that Nashville exudes. It would be one thing if their residents and media were simply content about their city's progress, but instead, they experience a 15% growth rate one year, and the next, they ridiculously claim that Los Angeles - a city that is not comparable by any stretch of the imagination - should suddenly be their "model for growth". Yeah, okay.

Okay, so your basic problem here is that Nashville is "uppity." You also seem to be saying that Los Angeles has no lessons to teach a growing city, or that cities must adhere to a rigorous scale of learning, as though Nashville must first learn from, in order, San Jose, Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Houston, and Chicago before it can even think of attempting to learn from Los Angeles. And then... then and only then can it attempt to learn from New York! I've heard of this theory of urban planning before though, actually. It's called the Street Fighter II Theory and states that cities must battle their way upwards, learning as they go, before they can attempt to learn from much tougher, more accomplished opponents. I hear though that Nashville is doing well thus far, and has developed a mean shoryuken.

Meanwhile, I believe that Mumbai, rather than LA, is actually considered the entertainment capital of the world based on sheer volume of output, and -- prepare to clutch pearls -- there are even people who, having been to London, Paris, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, or Hong Kong find New York to be somewhat unimpressive and blase. Such people could even perhaps be said to find New York "uppity."

What I mean to say is, it's all opinion and when you demand that someone else stop thinking their city is great it's obnoxious. Perhaps you should go eat a bagel or jack off or whatever it is you need to do to calm down enough to let someone else just enjoy their town.

[Crawford]

The thing is, I don't think Nashville was ever (at least not in recent history) a poor, redneck town. I visited a few times in high school, 20 years ago, and it was very fast-growing and prosperous then, with McMansions going up the hillsides, downtown faux-honky tonks, that Batman building downtown and a new performing arts center had recently been completed.

I had a friend on the south side of town, and it seemed very uppity and status-oriented, with lots of fancy private schools and custom mansions in the woods. Much of the rest of town looked tumbletown/temporary, but that's kinda the boomtown look.

I recently visited for work after two decades away, and it didn't seem that different, just bigger. South side is still rich and uppity, most of the rest of town has no infrastructure and looks like a strong wind would blow everything away. It reminds me of Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, or a much smaller Atlanta, but with a more Southern feel (especially compared to Raleigh which feels about as Southern as NJ these days).

If you want urbanity and character, I'd argue both Memphis and Birmingham have Nashville beat by miles. But people generally aren't choosing where to live based on such criteria.

[isaidso]

The mid-size southern city has been firmly financially rooted in a ..... Christian book publishing

Mildly disturbing.

[M II A II R II K]

The bible happens to be a best seller and not going out of fashion soon so that’s a cash cow.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Please, define "cosmopolitan". If you're suggesting that Nashville meets this criteria because a few L.A.-based record labels and talent agencies now have a regional office there, or because it now has a few decent non-chain steakhouses, I would beg to differ. Heck, IKEA even recently cancelled plans to open a store there, which says a lot about the area's consumer sophistication benchmark (read: it must be decidedly low).

IKEA? That's your benchmark for sophistication? Particle board bookcases? You do know how market research works right? This tells me all I need to know your point of view on the issue and you still thinking the place is straight out of a skit from Hee Haw.

Originally Posted by Crawford

If you want urbanity and character, I'd argue both Memphis and Birmingham have Nashville beat by miles. But people generally aren't choosing where to live based on such criteria.

Downtown Memphis has a load of character, I will give you that and they even have a miniature Woolworth building and Birmingham isn't called the Pittsburgh of the south for nothing and if it wasn't in Alabama, it would be far more a long that it is.

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by JManc

IKEA? That's your benchmark for sophistication? Particle board bookcases? You do know how market research works right? This tells me all I need to know your point of view on the issue and you still thinking the place is straight out of a skit from Hee Haw.

Although it might come as a surprise to you, reading comprehension is an actual thing. If you were aware of that, you (and anyone with a grade school education) would have interpreted "read: it must be decidedly low" as a point of clarification for the IKEA backing out of Nashville reference.

It's now obvious that I shouldn't have assumed you'd have the ability to digest such a basic notion; duly noted, I'll be sure to dumb things down for you moving forward.

Edit: I also noticed you elected not to share your definition of "cosmopolitan", nor an example of how Nashville fits into it. I'll wait.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Although it might come as a surprise to you, reading comprehension is an actual thing. If you were aware of that, you (and anyone with a grade school education) would have interpreted "read: it must be decidedly low" as a point of clarification for the IKEA backing out of Nashville reference.

It's now obvious that I shouldn't have assumed you'd have the ability to digest such a basic notion; duly noted, I'll be sure to dumb things down for you moving forward.

Edit: I also noticed you elected not to share your definition of "cosmopolitan", nor an example of how Nashville fits into it. I'll wait.

You cited IKEA backing out of the Nashville market for being "decidedly low" on the consumer sophistication benchmark. Which is asinine because they sell cheap furniture. They are barely a notch above Walmart in build quality. We aren't talking about Restoration Hardware which Nashville does have, btw. I take it you do not have any sort of business background. Big box retailers have been getting hammered by online competition and IKEA is no exception which is why they are focusing their attention to their own online store because sites like Wayfair and Amazon are kicking their ass. No, of course the logical explanation is that Nashville is a bunch of gauche hicks who only eat fast food and rent their furniture from Aaron's.

[TexasPlaya]

Is Nashville really a second tier city? I view Nashville as Austin 10 years ago and I wouldn't consider Austin a second tier today.

I view DFW/Hou/ATL as second tier cities.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by JManc

You cited IKEA backing out of the Nashville market for being "decidedly low" on the consumer sophistication benchmark. Which is asinine because they sell cheap furniture. They are barely a notch above Walmart in build quality. We aren't talking about Restoration Hardware which Nashville does have, btw. I take it you do not have any sort of business background. Big box retailers have been getting hammered by online competition and IKEA is no exception which is why they are focusing their attention to their own online store because sites like Wayfair and Amazon are kicking their ass. No, of course the logical explanation is that Nashville is a bunch of gauche hicks who only eat fast food and rent their furniture from Aaron's.

You aren't aware of the "IKEA metric"?

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by JManc

You cited IKEA backing out of the Nashville market for being "decidedly low" on the consumer sophistication benchmark. Which is asinine because they sell cheap furniture. They are barely a notch above Walmart in build quality.

I can't believe I actually have to explain such a ridiculously fundamental concept to someone who I'm assuming is beyond the age of 4 years old, but here goes.

You proudly claimed that Nashville has evolved from a "shit kicker country music town" into a "cosmopolitan city". I proceeded to ask you how you'd define "cosmopolitan", as I was genuinely curious how you perceive Nashville being worthy of that description (two responses later, you've continued not to provide your definition of the word).

I referenced the fact that IKEA - a company best known for selling discount, poorly constructed fast-furniture to college students that apparently once planned on opening a store in Nashville - abruptly cancelled its plans upon further consideration, and cited that decision as proof that Nashville has a decidedly low consumer sophistication level. In other words, as "cosmopolitan" as you think Nashville is, IKEA (a retailer that sells cheap POS furniture to local college kids) doesn't believe that Nashville is sophisticated enough to support its bottom line. Interestingly enough, they recently opened stores in Austin and San Antonio (so no, they clearly are NOT "focusing their attention to their own online store"), two solid boom towns whose residents don't need to constantly mention, post or boast about articles that attempt to validate their cool factor.

But congrats on landing Restoration Hardware, though. I'm sure Barney's, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and more are all next up, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to open stores in the red-hot cosmopolitan Tennessee mecca that is Nashville.

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Is Nashville really a second tier city? I view Nashville as Austin 10 years ago and I wouldn't consider Austin a second tier today.

I view DFW/Hou/ATL as second tier cities.

This, 100%. Good to know somebody gets it.

[JManc]

You clearly do understand the concept of market research. Or business in general. Or what "cosmopolitan" actually means. Hint. It's not having an IKEA. Texas is a much faster growing state with Austin and San Antonio each quite a bit bigger than Nashville. IKEA also takes into account who shops at their stores as well as their shopping habits. The one here in Houston is mostly working class Hispanic families. It's not always college kids furnishing their dorms. But continue on with the little jabs if you think it helps with your argument.