Neighborhood
Design Projects
Through
its Neighborhood Revitalization Projects, the Nashville Civic Design
Center helps residents, businesses and other community members address
specific challenges and create a unified vision for improvement and change
in their neighborhood.
The Civic Design Center:
•conducts research and analyzes challenges and opportunities in the study area
•facilitates public meetings that involve community members in creating a vision for their neighborhood
•develops specific recommendations for short and long-term change
•produces a written report with photos and drawings illustrating those recommendations
The Civic Design Center has a full-time staff of design professionals
and interns that work on each Neighborhood Revitalization Project. In addition
to its staff, the Civic Design Center brings loaned staff from Metro Government
agencies, such as the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency and the
Mettro Planning and Public Works departments, into the process.
Lafayette Neighborhood 2005
Nashville Civic Design Center announces the Neighborhood Revitalization
Study for Lafayette in the SoBro area of Nashville, Tennessee beginning
in June 2005.
The Nashville Civic Design Center, in partnership with the Metropolitan
Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) will undertake a neighborhood revitalization
study for the 8th Avenue South and Lafayette Street area.
The Civic Design Center is known for bringing many diverse parties together
and facilitating pro-active discussion to promote change. The goal is to
create a long-term vision that addresses the issues of the neighborhood
with specific action steps and goals for implementation over time.
The Civic Design Center’s roles in neighborhood revitalization
projects are:
• to help residents envision changes and improvements to their community;
• to advise on design options that help achieve that vision; and
•
to advocate for changes that promote healthy and sustainable neighborhoods
in Nashville’s urban core.
Click here to download a report of this study. (2.2 MB pdf)
Chestnut
Hill Neighborhood 2005
At the request of the Trimble Action Group (TAG) the Nashville Civic Design
Center conducted a study of the Chestnut Hill Neighborhood (Cameron Trimble),
the wedge shaped study area lies to the south of Interstate I-40 and Lafayette
Avenue, north of the railroad tracks, and to the west of Trevecca Nazerene
University.
Click here to learn more about
Chestnut Hill (1.7 MB pdf)
At the request of the Organized Neighbors of Edgehill (ONE) the Nashville Civic Design Center conducted a study of the Edgehill Neighborhood. The study area is to the south of The Gulch, north of Wedgwood Avenue, west of 8th Avenue South and east of the alley separating Villa Place and 16th Avenue South. ONE specifically requested the Civic Design Center to establish and maintain an identity and character as a strong, diverse, and viable neighborhood within the community, and determine its relevance to the surrounding neighborhoods and the city at large. Working with ONE and the Edgehill Community, the Civic Design Center worked to create a unified vision for the neighborhood.
Click here to learn more about Edgehill.
At the request of Rediscover East! the Nashville Civic Design Center conducted a study of the linkages between the residential areas of East Nashville to the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge and the impact of the new Gateway Bridge. Public meetings were held at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, a walking tour of the site was organized, and an Urban Design Forum was dedicated to the issue. Present at these meetings were concerned citizens, Metro Officials, Metro Staff and Civic Design Center Staff. The study sought to evaluate and resolve issues of scale, landscaping and lane-logic of the Gateway Bridge and appropriate land use for the land between the Cumberland River and Interstate Bridge.
To download a report of this study, click here (3.6 mb)
Buena
Vista, East Germantown, Germantown, Hope Gardens, Salemtown 2001
Historic Germantown, Inc. requested that the Nashville Civic Design Center study
the neighborhoods immediately north of downtown Nashville in September 2001,
and make recommendations that would help guide the long-term development of the
community. The proposal from the Germantown group asked the Civic Design Center
to develop a strategy that goes beyond the boundaries of historic Germantown,
involves businesses in the area, identifies land use possibilities, identifies
existing and potential links to and through the area, especially pedestrian,
and integrates the Werthan and Neuhoff sites, the Metro Greenway and the Cumberland
River.
In its research and through community meetings, the Civic Design Center focused
on the opportunity for considering the individual neighborhoods as a community
and building necessary links.
To download a report of this study, click here. (6.7
MB pdf)
Rolling
Mill Hill and Rutledge Hill Neighborhood
This study was undertaken to help guide development of the Metro-owned properties
known as Rolling Mill Hill. These holdings include the site of the former Metropolitan
Hospital and the area of the historic trolley car barns.
The Design Center’s recommendations for the site are governed by
a main principle of the design of cities: the neighborhood and district
are the fundamental
building blocks of great cities. This implies that quality growth should be
considered a diverse systematic endeavor rather than an isolated event.
Because past efforts
to develop Rolling Mill Hill did not address this principle directly, the full
potential of this area has not been explored. To address this potential, the
design center study investigates building a site, as opposed to site planning.
To download a report of this study, click here (6.6mb)
"To encourage the production of well-designed market-rate and affordable housing in a healthy downtown neighborhood."
An ad hoc task force composed of representatives of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, the Mayor's Office of Affordable Housing, the Metropolitan Planning Department, the Nashville Civic Design Center, and the Nashville Downtown Partnership created the Downtown Living Initiative. This group convened to study housing in Nashville's urban core and develop a plan for its enhancement.
To download a report of this study, click here (2.2 mb)
A Resource guide for the Neighborhood District Overlay
Metropolitan Nashville Planning Department 2003
This guidebook is a reference tool for use by neighborhood groups, developers, architects and others interested in the development of Nashville. It is intended to provide an insight into the Planning Department's goal for future growth. The concepts presented are not new; they are a simple restatement of planning practices that have been commonplace in many areas for over 100 years. This document attempts to present the basic ideals of neighborhood design in a way that is understandable, inviting and useful, and should be used to guide decisions in any area of the city.
To download a report of this study, click here (7.7 mb)
The
Plan for SoBro
A study for the area south of Broadway sponsored by the Nashville Scene.
Text by Christine Kreyling. City Press Publishing, Inc. copyright 1997.
