TRAFFIC!

When I see, on a daily basis, whole streets change...houses torn down and a few going up in their place, I can't help feeling that Nashville has missed a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY.  

An opportunity to put in high quality sidewalks therefore creating a rich culture of WALKING rather than DRIVING.  

The Sidewalk In-Lieu Fee was supposed to help but it has been a failure.  A full-on, bottom of the barrel, failure...it was designed to allow developers, who are required to build sidewalks when they create density to, instead, pay a fee if the area was considered in lower need of walkability.  

But, unfortunately, with so much development, ALL of Nashville now NEEDS sidewalks.  

So, time passes and the sidewalks were not built.  The fund has accrued a measly 1 million dollars - just enough to build one mile of sidewalk for the whole city of Nashville.  I am hearing stories now that most developers don't even pay the fee and that is why the collection is pitiful.  There appears to be no automatic paperwork generated when a developer pulls the permit to create density - so, if the guy at Public Works doesn't think to charge the in-lieu fee - it does not happen.  

In addition, the development community seems entirely confused - some saying that 'Sidewalks that run in front of a house as part of a neighborhood are constructed by the city not the home builder.  We cannot construct public sidewalks ... when there are no existing city sidewalks in the neighborhood to tie into', from Superior Build in East Nashville. 

Recently emailed to me - have to say I love the idea of questioning where the sidewalk is...why WASN'T it built???

Just saying...I think we have missed a wonderful opportunity to have sidewalks put in WITH construction AND paid for by developers who are changing the face of Nashville.  If there is one thing you could do, I would encourage you to talk to developers when they come to your block.  Ask them to BUILD the SIDEWALK rather than pay the fee (or not pay anything as seems to be more common case).  



LINK:
http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/how-has-nashville-traffic-altered-your-life#stream/0

How Has Nashville Traffic Altered Your Life? 

By BLAKE FARMER • MAY 23, 2016 

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  A behind-the-wheel photo texted from a driver to his wife, saying he will be late for dinner — again.

  BLAKE FARMER /  WPLN

It's official: traffic in Nashville has hit life-altering stage. And WPLN wants traffic tales.

A local CEO struck a chord when he shared a little anecdote at a Nashville Business Journal event last week. He said prospective employees have turned down jobs after trying to get to the airport from Brentwood.

We're guessing Tractor Supply's Greg Sandfort isn't the only one who feels like Nashville's traffic has hit a tipping point of some kind. And according to the Metropolitan Planning Organization, matters will only get worse. Average daily time spent in a car — which stands now at 48 minutes — is expected to more than double by 2040.

So what's your story? Yours truly now gets his workday started from home because leaving at 9:00 a.m. often means the morning commute time is cut in half. And forget about leaving the office at 5:30. You could leave at 6:00 and possibly get home at the same time.

How has traffic changed your life? More telecommuting? Riding a bus? Quit a job? Moved the family?  No more weeknight activities? A ban on all travel between 3—7 p.m.? Who knows, maybe you've found a life-hack to avoid it all. We want to hear.

We set up a voice mailbox to record your traffic stories. 
Just give us a call at (615) 669-7358 and leave us a message. Be sure to include a callback number so we can follow up with you. Thanks!

So what's your story? Yours truly now gets his workday started from home because leaving at 9:00 a.m. often means the morning commute time is cut in half. And forget about leaving the office at 5:30. You could leave at 6:00 and possibly get home at the same time.

How has traffic changed your life? More telecommuting? Riding a bus? Quit a job? Moved the family?  No more weeknight activities? A ban on all travel between 3—7 p.m.? Who knows, maybe you've found a life-hack to avoid it all. We want to hear.

We set up a voice mailbox to record your traffic stories.
Just give us a call at (615) 669-7358 and leave us a message. Be sure to include a callback number so we can follow up with you. Thanks!