Please join the Nashville Department of Transportation for the Third Annual Transportation Demand Management Summit at Nissan Stadium on Friday, October 10 from 8 am - 3 pm.

It will be an exciting day filled with insightful discussions, networking opportunities, and innovative ideas. This in-person event will bring together professionals from various industries to explore the latest trends in transportation demand management.

Don't miss out on this unique chance to connect with industry leaders, share best practices, and gain valuable insights to enhance your TDM strategies. Whether you're a seasoned expert or new to the field, there's something for everyone at the Third Annual TDM Summit.

The event is FREE and Breakfast and Lunch will be provided, so please register to hold your spot!

The purpose of this special event is to create deeper connections with fellow Civic Design Center members that live around your neighborhood. Folx Table will help us break the ice for your like-minded community! When you sign up for this event, you will be asked to fill out a survey where you specify the neighborhood that you call home. You will be matched with no more than 5 other people who live nearby, and you will attend dinner with them at a designated location that is sent to you the day before. The goal will be to dine at a location close to the neighborhood where you live!

During dinner, you will play a game devised by Folx Table that will help you get to know your neighbors better with the knowledge that they align themselves with our mission.

While you will be responsible for covering your own dinner, it will be free to participate so long as you are a member. If you are interested in learning more, email veronica at civicdesigncenter dot org.

In partnership with the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT), the Civic Design Center is shutting down a portion of 6th Ave N in Germantown to celebrate reclaiming public space for pedestrians and unveil the new parklet in front of The Cupcake Collection.

We have been hosting PARK(ing) Day in Nashville for 13 years. New to PARK(ing) Day? PARK(ing) Day is a global, public, participatory art and design project which started in San Francisco in 2005. It is a day where people across the globe temporarily repurpose street parking spaces into tiny parks and places for art, play, and activism. Learn more about past interventions in Nashville.

In our 3rd year of the Parklet Design Competition, we are not only bringing another permanent parklet to Nashville, but we are committed to celebrating the Germantown community where the parklet is being built. We couldn’t do it without JE Dunn, whose construction team is donating time and materials to bring this parklet to the neighborhood.

Activations

There will be local purveyors to satisfy any craving! During the Block Party, we will have 10+ hyperlocal food and retail vendors that represent Germantown. You might have brunch at Monell’s, Taco Mamacita, or Mother’s Ruin before hanging out in the street or you could grab a cupcake from The Cupcake Collection and enjoy it in the parklet. Sauced will also be opening early just for us! Plus, DJ RAIDEN will be spinning tunes. 🪩

Featured vendors: Alloy Personal Training, Basket Case, Blue Smoke Jewelry, Bits N’ Pieces, Eddie’s Italian Ice, Heart of Wisdom Yoga, Injections by Hannah, Oye Coffee, Pro Vita, Slide Hustle, Taylor Street Arts and Books

Featured artists: Mangoe Arts, Light Catcher, Megan Hudson, Erin Laughlin, Amber Lelli, and Elisheba Mrozik

Belmont University O’More Architecture students are doing a parklet design competition of their own with the theme of “play.” Attendees will see the winning pop-up parklet on the block too.

Thanks to our sPonsor!

Understanding the Present 

PechaKucha Nashville Vol. 50: A 50-Year Vision is part of an event series exploring the influence of The Plan of Nashville with regard to the past, present and future twenty years after it was published. PechaKucha presenters will explore present day reactions to ideas from The Plan. These presenters may not have been involved in The Plan of Nashville process 20 years ago, but they are here now, evaluating its impact.

Presenters might be considering, are visions from The Plan actually feasible to accomplish in 50 years? What present day developments have gone farther than we could have imagined? If we were to re-do The Plan of Nashville today, what ideas would be impossible to ignore? Nashville's present context is vastly different from the Nashville of 2005 and so we must check-in, evaluate, and provide a progress report for the 50-year vision now before we continue to forecast the future. 

About PechaKucha

Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", PechaKucha rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace. 

Presenters will be announced soon…

What does it mean for a young person to feel a true sense of belonging in their city?
In 2024, data collected by the Nashville Youth Design Team (NYDT) for Imagine Nashville found that only 60% of youth ages 8–18 feel a sense of belonging in the city—compared to 78% of adults. The NYDT has partnered with 2892 Miles to Go to create ArcGIS Story Maps that bring this statistic to life through powerful youth narratives. At the upcoming Youth Design Exhibition, NYDT will unveil the Story Maps and showcase community space designs created to strengthen youth belonging across Nashville.

This work is supported in part by Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Metro Development and Housing Authority, Belmont University, Vanderbilt University and 2892 Miles to Go.

Reflecting on the Past

Avenues to a Great City's Opening Panel is part of an event series exploring the influence of The Plan of Nashville with regard to the past, present and future twenty years after it was published. The Opening Panel welcomes the author of The Plan, as well as other key participants in the project's development, publication, and subsequent impact. It is only by reflecting on the past context of planning in our city that we can continue to vision for the future. 

Panelists

Moderator: Gary Gaston, CEO of the Civic Design Center

Christine Kreyling, Author of The Plan of Nashville

Seab Tuck, Co-Founder and Former Board President of the Civic Design Center

Joni Williams, Assistant Director of Strategic Integration and Program Development for the Metro Nashville Planning Department

There will not be tickets for this event. It is first come-first seated. Please add to your calendar and arrive early to secure a seat.

It's time to celebrate the Looby Center's history and look forward to its future! Over the past two years, we have held community meetings and gathered feedback and inspiration from community members about the future of the center. Now, we want to honor the space in the way it deserves and share the community design ideas shared by you!

This Urban Design Forum will reflect on what we have heard from neighbors, share results from the Nashville Youth Design Team’s peer research and basketball intervention, and finally, imagine the future of this neighborhood amenity. The Looby Community Center, Theater, Pool, and Library are all deserving of celebration, and we hope you can join us!

Agenda:

Councilmember Toombs, District 2 introducing the importance of this project

Miranda McDonald-Brown, Titans ONE Foundation, Director of ONE Community Programs

Nia Smith, Community Design Coordinator, presenting 2 years of engagement feedback

Nashville Youth Design Team, presenting youth focused design solutions

Remi Lynch, Landscape Planning Associate, presenting on the Campus design concepts

Misong Kim, Architectural Intern: Library Expansion, Pool Pavillion

Seyu Kim, Architectural Intern: New Looby Theater, Looby and Civil Rights Gallery

Eric Hoke, Design Director, MC

Join us at the pool from 10 am - 2pm, following the presentation

Come take a ride with Remi, Nia, and Mara as they guide you on a sketch tour of Nashville's beautiful and historic facades! Stops include Printer's Alley, The Arcade, 5th Avenue, and Germantown. We will take time to appreciate details of buildings that are often overlooked, and cultivate a new sense of appreciation for our beautiful city. The tour includes walking and biking with complimentary BCycles.

Sketching materials will be provided - Sketch books, pens, and markers!

This event is for members only, and attendance is extremely limited. Meet in Butler's Run on 2nd Avenue. We will leave at 10:15 sharp, so please arrive on time!

Save the date for the monthly Urbanism meet-ups! These gatherings occur on the last Saturday of each month and this one will be at the Civic Design Center’s Sandra Schatten Community Room. This group is open to everyone interested in Urbanism, focusing on sharing ideas and networking to enhance your work, whether in Council, housing, safe streets, journalism, or academia. We’ve welcomed architects, Council members, professors, students, and advocacy leaders. Join us for engaging discussions, travel stories, podcast, and book suggestions. There will also be an informal Urbanism book library to share.

We hope to see you there!

Informal Agenda:

• 10:00am: banter

• 10:10am: topical discussions

• 11:30am: short foot tour

Join us for a Parklet Design Competition learning session! This is a great opportunity for anyone who has never participated in a Parklet Design Competition to learn more about the history of PARK(ing) Day and what it takes to design a great parklet.

The Parklet Design Competition returns for another year!

For the past two years, we have enjoyed working with the Nashville Department of Transportation to create permanent parklets through the Parklet Permit Program. We are so excited to partner with NDOT again for this year's PARK(ing) Day.

Parklets are an imaginative way to reclaim public space, and we can't wait to see the designs for this year's Design Competition. This wouldn't be possible without our 2025 Construction Partner, JE Dunn. Cupcake Collection has agreed to be our next steward for reclaiming public space, and we are so excited for the community in Germantown.

The Kick-Off party will be a casual social time for aspiring parklet designers to meet with The Cupcake Collection team, Germantown residents, and our construction partner to get design inspiration and develop familiarity with the site. You can drop in, pick up official competition guidelines, and stay to hang out!

*This event is for Civic Design Center Sponsors Only*

2025 sponsors receive a number free tickets based on their level—once you have claimed your free tickets using your promo code, you may purchase additional tickets. Each Sponsor’s primary contact will receive their unique code via email. Please contact veronica at civicdesigncenter.org if you have misplaced your code. A company email is required for registration.

The Civic Design Center is proud to host a special mixer for our sponsors' emerging and young professionals (under 40). Last year's first Young Professionals Mixer was such a success, that we hope this year's event will be able to top it! There will be drinks, snacks, a photo booth and prizes! There will also be stations to learn more about how employees can become better civic leaders. 

Join us for another gathering of people who are interested in growing community/neighborhood meals in our city! You'll meet others who help (or are interested in helping) organize meals in a variety of environments - community centers, churches, third spaces, restaurants, homes, and more - in an effort to provide spaces of connection and nourishment to everyone in Nashville. 

In addition to networking and lunch, friends from local non-profit Walk Bike Nashville will share new resources and information about how to host a community meal (or any gathering!) outdoors, block-party style!

If you have informational/promotional materials related to an existing or upcoming community meal, or other resources to share, please bring them with you!

Lunch will be provided by The Nashville Food Project.

A "community meal" can take many forms: a weekly neighborhood gathering, curated experiences that encourage intentional dialogue while sharing food, dinner parties with the explicit purpose of fostering connection, [inter]faith community meals, open-air block party potlucks... the options abound! If any of these resonate with you, we encourage you to attend, share ideas, and learn more about how you can get involved in growing this movement.

Join us for a special Open House event at the Civic Design Center, where students from Belmont University’s O’More College of Architecture & Design present their work and spark a conversation about the future of our city through the exhibit: Pre-Enacting The Pike: Envisioning the Future of The Nolensville Pike Cultural District.

Fourth-year Urban Design Studio students, led by Professors Dr. Fernando Lima and Dr. Josh Yates, undertook an impactful project on the Nolensville Pike Cultural Corridor—a proposed mile-long stretch celebrating Nashville’s richest concentration of ethnic diversity. In collaboration with the Civic Design Center and inspired by the vision of longtime community champion, Dr. Jose Gonzalez, they developed architectural and urban design proposals aimed at ensuring that the future of the Pike preserves its rich cultural vibrancy in the face of rapid development.

Throughout the design process, students applied insights from Urban Magnet and Pre-Enactment theories, engaged residents, business owners, and community experts in the development of their proposals, and received critical feedback from design professionals from the Civic Design Center, local architects, and the Metro Nashville Planning Department. The resulting proposals prioritize several interdependent design principles: preventing displacement, preserving cultural identity, promoting equity and wellness, supporting mixed-use development, and strengthening pedestrian connectivity.

Come and see how the studio’s work promotes 12 distinct building proposals, a greenway, and a complete street redesign along Nolensville Pike, together forming a cohesive strategy for a more inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable urban environment.

Through this project, students engaged in hands-on urban resilience and community-driven design, deepening Belmont University’s commitment to service-learning and socially responsive architecture while offering meaningful contributions to one of Nashville’s most culturally rich corridors.

What to Expect:

• Talk to O'More College of Architecture & Design students and explore a variety of design solutions, including public spaces, landscaping, and community engagement strategies.  

• Learn about students’ research and creative approaches to shaping a vibrant and cohesive neighborhood.  

• Participate in discussions on preserving cultural identity and inclusive urban planning.  Connect with community members, stakeholders, and design enthusiasts.

• Program themes will include: Greenway + Nolensville Pk, Multi-cultural hub, MultiGen + Micro or co-Housing, Healthcare Clinic + Pharmacy, Trade school + Satelite, Food Hall, Hotel - with mixed-use ground floor, Art Gallery, Library, Events space/community center/Conexion Americas, “Intentional” EMS, Sports Training center + recreation, Parks/Amphitheater, International Market + Grocery

Support the students as they share their visions for enhancing Nolensville Pike’s Cultural Corridor. Enjoy refreshments and engage in meaningful conversations about the future of our community. We look forward to seeing you there!

Glencliff Neighborhood Group has announced the inaugural FlatRockFest 2025, a neighborhood arts and culture festival held in the Glencliff High School parking lot on April 26th, 2025, from 12-5 pm. It will feature an art exhibit, live music, food, local business pop-ups, and much more!

At this event, the Civic Design Center, along with neighborhood volunteers, plans to finish a mile-long tactical urbanism installation that seeks to expand on previous work from Open Streets. Made possible with a grant from the Bridgestone Foundation and the Tennessee Department of Health, as well as community partners, Walk Bike Nashville and NDOT.

Come see BeatleDudes, Women of Kelley, Dana Cooper, and more!

Agenda

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Ride WeGo Star

• Riverfront Station to Donelson Station

• Trains depart at 4:20 pm or 5:10 pm

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm: Networking/Tabling Opportunities

• Party Fowl

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm: Speakers

• Party Fowl

About this event

April is Transit Month. Come Celebrate with Us!

Join us by taking a FREE ride on the WeGo Star Train to Donelson Station on Friday, April 25, at 4:10 pm.

Hosted by the Young Professionals in Transportation (YPT), Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, Transit Now, WeGo Public Transit, Civic Design Center, Network for Sustainable Solutions, Nashville Connector, and Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT).

Speakers to be announced.

This event is free, but registration is required.

Ticket to Ride Schedule

Meet at the WeGo Riverfront Station at 4:10 pm or 5:00 pm on Friday, April 25

(108 1st Ave S. Nashville, TN 37201)

• Take either the 4:20 pm or 5:10 pm train

• Please arrive at 4:10 for the 4:20 train, and 5:00 for the 5:10 train

(108 1st Ave S. Nashville, TN 37201)

If you cannot meet for the train ride, you have multiple options using transit that may fit your schedule better! Use Route 6 Lebanon Pike inbound from Hermitage Station or outbound from WeGo Central (departs every twenty minutes) to meet at Donelson Station!

Arrive at Donelson Station and walk to Party Fowl Donelson

(2620 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37214)

• Light appetizers provided.

Getting Back to Riverfront Station

Bus Route 6

• Leave Donelson at either 6:38 or 7:38 pm and get off at the Hermitage Ave/Peabody St. WB Station - Walk .2 miles back to Riverfront Station

Commute with Enterprise has donated complimentary shuttle rides using their 15-passenger vanpool vans, which will also be available.

Getting to Riverfront Station

Parking

• The station does not include parking facilities; however, space is incorporated into the facility to accommodate efficient connections between regional rail and WeGo Public Transit bus services.

• You can also pay to park around lower Broadway.

Connecting Lines

• Route 64 Star Downtown Shuttle travels to and from Riverfront Station and 7th & Harrison.

• Route 93 Star West End Shuttle directly serves Riverfront Station.

• Buses for this route travel up Broadway to 21st Avenue to the Vanderbilt University area, then through the Belmont University area and back to Riverfront Station. If you are heading south, away from downtown, several bus routes are available on 4th Avenue.

Biking/Walking

• Riverfront Station is located at the foot of Broadway, adjacent to the Flag Court and the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge.

• It's also on the Cumberland River Greenway.

• Electric bicycles are allowed on the WeGo Star and WeGo Buses (if lighter than 50 lbs.)

Ticket to Ride is a 501(c)(3) activity and is prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. No candidates for office will be endorsed for their participation in the event.

Do you have a friend or family member who is transit curious? Invite them to come and receive an extra raffle ticket for a better chance of winning a prize!

**Once they have registered, please reach out to the Nashville Connector email below with their information to claim your extra raffle ticket.

Questions?

Contact the Nashville Connector by email at NashConnector@Nashville.gov or by phone at (615) – 862 – 7174.

(Registration closes by Wed. April 23rd at 11:59 pm)

Louisville is a city of bridges. San Antonio’s riverwalk is world renowned. Seattle has water planes and salmon-jumping locks. New Orleans has airboats. Baltimore has sophisticated floating wetlands. There are so many other communities with impressive boardwalks and ferries to local islands. We could go on and on, but it’s this water-focused infrastructure that creates unique community identities. The concept begs to ask, what is Nashville’s unique riverfront identity? 

During PechaKucha Vol. 49: Bridges, Barges, and Boats, presenters will share stories, projects, and dreams for how Nashville can set itself apart on, over and around the water. 

Speakers Include:

• Ashley Bergeron, Swipe Right Art

• Gina Emmanuel, Centric Architecture

• Hank Ingram, Ingram

• Remi Lynch, Civic Design Center

• Andrew Ostrowski, Pontoon Saloon

• Airstream with Nia Smith, Civic Design Center

• Anna Yoder, HASTINGS Architecture

The Design Center is a partner and support of the Nashville Bicycle Festival organized by Bike Fun. This event brings together a wide variety of bicycling enthusiasts – from supporters to mechanics, from beginners to experienced cyclists, from commuters to mountain bikers to cargo haulers and more.

We will be completing a tactical urbanism traffic calming installation on Branch Street during the festival. Come help us finish what the Inglewood Elementary students started!

If there’s inclement weather, the Bicycle Festival will be held inside the South Inglewood Community Center.

What’s going on during the Fesitval?

Rebecca Street will be a SLOW STREET! It will be CLOSED to anything other than residential traffic. You can access the community center parking lot via Moore. You can park on Branch, Moore, Shinkle, or Ann Streets.

In addition to the tables and activities from festival participants, Bike Fun will have 4 stations for attendees:

• a basic bicycle maintenance station (with kids bike giveaways)

• a station for traffic laws and safety guidelines

• a helmet fitting station (with adult & kid helmet giveaways)

• a station with crafts to make your bike or bike helmet more fun and visible

The Nashville Youth Design Team (NYDT), in collaboration with local youth at the Looby Community Center, is transforming Buena Vista Park by painting a basketball half-court and adding exciting games like four square near the basketball hoops. To celebrate this incredible community effort, NYDT is hosting a party for youth in the neighborhood!

This celebration will offer a variety of activities for ages 11-18, including basketball competitions like HORSE, a competitive basketball shoot-off, and an intense 3-on-3 tournament. In addition to the games, attendees can enjoy free crafts, food, and a chance to win exciting prizes.

It’s not just a celebration of sports – it’s a celebration of community, creativity, and the power of young voices coming together to shape the spaces they live in. Don't miss out on the fun!

There aren’t a lot of places left in the Downtown area of Nashville where a new development is so vast and diverse in its land uses that it can help define an entirely new neighborhood. Once it is complete, Peabody Union, a mixed-use development at the very edge of Rolling Mill Hill, is going to be a central community hub for the South Bank neighborhood.

In our 20th Anniversary year of The Plan of Nashville, of which one of the 10 Principles was, “Treat the Cumberland River as central to Nashville’s identity—an asset to be treasured and enjoyed,” we are thrilled to get a first look at a development that embraces that design principle. Not only does the residential tower have uninterrupted views of the river, but the project also includes a significant investment around the riverside greenway including an observation deck to spark a more complete greenway connection across Korean Veterans Blvd that is sorely needed.   

During this Civic Tour, attendees will discover the South Bank, exploring Peabody Union’s ground floor retail and office spaces, then working their way up the Olive residential tower. The event will close with drinks and snacks with a view!  

Ray Hensler of the Hensler Development Group will lead the tour with David Powell of HASTINGS Architecture.   

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of The Plan of Nashville publication, we are reading the book together to revisit community ideas we could advocate for over the next 3 decades. It is a special opportunity to expose new Nashvillians as well as young planners, designers, and community leaders to this 50-year vision that they now get to be a part of implementing. If you are familiar with The Plan but you have yet to sit down and read it, this is an excellent excuse!

Send an email to veronica at civicdesigncenter dot org to register.

FIRST SESSION: Nashville’s Past + Present
Please read through page 42 in The Plan of Nashville. We will have a discussion around the history and context which set the stage for Nashville's planning in the present.

Part of this meeting will also discuss the book club meetings for the following months, so we can establish timing and location that makes the most sense for the group.

If you still need a copy of the book:

• The library has a couple copies

• We still have some copies!

• Amazon often has some copies

How can we continue to amplify the contributions of Black creatives in Nashville while ensuring their legacy is preserved and celebrated?

Something that makes Nashville truly unique is our thriving creative culture, and so much of that can be attributed to the legacy of the city’s African American and Black community members. Nashville’s nickname as Music City comes from a reference to the Fisk Jubilee Singers by the Queen of England in the late 19thcentury. 150 years later, the nickname might just be one of the most lasting, well-known impacts from local Black creatives. Other than being home to Fisk and three other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), North Nashville was also once home to a thriving live music scene on Jefferson Street where Black artists looking to launch their careers performed.

Beyond music, there are so many creative outlets for which Black Nashvillians paved the way forward. From the abstract storytelling represented in both fine art and large-scale murals across the city to the emotional storytelling represented by local filmmakers and community organizers, the impacts run deep in Nashville’s culture.

During PechaKucha Vol 48: The Impact of Black Creatives, we will provide the space for attendees to get to know 8 Black creatives a little bit better by hearing their stories in lightning talks under 7 minutes long each.

Presenter Lineup:

Elisheba Mrozik

Eugene Johnson

Victoria Morgan

Ashley Larkin

Larry Jenkins

Metanoya Z. Webb

Clarence Edward

Denitia

MC: Shabazz Larkin
Poster Artist: Kazadi Kazadi

Event Timeline:

5:00pm: Gallery + Headshots + Mingle

6:00pm: Auditorium Doors Open

6:15pm: First 4 presentations

7:00pm: Beer Break 

7:15pm: Final 4 presentations 

Thank you to our event sponsors The Frist Art Museum, Google Fiber, Good People Beer, and On The Scene.

About PechaKucha

Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", PechaKucha rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It grew into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. The Civic Design Center is the Nashville host.

Have you ever felt unsafe walking in your neighborhood? Your experience can help make a change!

Join Walk Bike Nashville, NDOT, and the Civic Design Center for an open house-style listening session focused on Antioch Pike and the North Glencliff neighborhood. This event is free and open to the public.

Get a chance to talk with Civic Design Center staff about built environment issues, transportation, safety, and beautification. We will take your thoughts and weave them into our project focused on improving a healthy community around Antioch Pike.

This project began in the late spring of 2024 with the scope to focus on Antioch Pike with the support of The Tennessee Department of Health. During the Antioch Pike street closure for Desfiles de Navidad in December 2024, a hit-and-run crash on an adjacent street (Sunrise Ave and Wingate Ave) caused the death of Jianzhu Yu, a resident of Radnor Towers. It is expected that a frustrated driver was reckless in finding a shortcut which resulted in the tragedy; the driver has still not been found. Following this event, the scope of the project was expanded to include improvements for neighborhood streets around the Northeast Glencliff area.

For more information call 615.436.0371

2025 is a big year for the Civic Design Center! It marks the 20th Anniversary of The Plan of Nashville: Avenues to a Great City. Throughout the year, we will be looking back on all of the bold ideas in this instrumental 50-Year vision for our city. Since we are only 20 years into a 50-year plan, think of 2025 as a checkpoint. How far have we come in achieving these visions? What have we strayed from? What new goals do we need to advocate for in the next 30 years? 

If you aren’t yet familiar with The Plan and its significance, we will help you get acquainted! We are kicking off the anniversary year with an Urban Design Forum that will provide attendees with background on Nashville’s first long range plan, predating the comprehensive planning effort, Nashville Next. We will also focus on significant moments from the last 20 years in Nashville’s history and how we imagine this new history will influence planning for the next few decades. We will be sharing the unpublished community-created timeline that supported the history chapter in the book, and extending the timeline together at the event. 

In true Civic Design Center fashion, you may come for the cooler full of beer, but you’ll stay for the thought-provoking activity. This is the part where we write our own history.  

Kicking off the Book Club 

Attendees will also have a chance to sign up for The Plan of Nashville Book Club that will take place once a month from February-June. We will challenge community members to read or re-read The Plan in sections and join us for small group discussion starting Thursday, February 27th. 

Avenues to a Great City Exhibition at the Frist Art Musuem 

Opens July 10th 

If there’s one thing we know about highways in Nashville, it’s the divide they have caused between neighborhoods. If you were in the West Nashville area hoping to do a brewery crawl between Fat Bottom and Bearded Iris, a 20 minute walk feels ridiculous. As the crow flies, you can practically see one from the other, but Google Maps directs you to backtrack to 46th Ave in search of a street that goes under the highway. However, there’s a route that the Civic Design Center calls the “Secret Sidewalk” that will get you between the two breweries in half that time. For years, this sidewalk along the railroad tracks was overgrown, but now it will not only be a functional shortcut, but a placemaking destination. 

The sun is setting earlier and earlier, which means lighting is a critical part of the conversation for pedestrian safety. One thing that made the Secret Sidewalk so undesirable was the fact that it was an unlit, uncomfortable walk under the viaduct. After multiple neighborhood clean ups, a partnership with Nashville Design Week, and an approved tactical urbanism permit, the space will soon include a projection art installation by McLean Fahnestock. We wanted to invite Civic Design Center members and Nashville Urbanists to mix, mingle, and see the space for the first time.  

The group will meet at Fat Bottom Brewing at 3:00 pm, spend an hour there getting to know each other, and then we will take the Secret Sidewalk to Bearded Iris on Charlotte. Although the Secret Sidewalk is now lit, we want to make sure no one walks alone under the viaduct, so anyone who needs to walk back to their car at Fat Bottom can join a group that leaves at 5:00 pm, and another group will leave at 5:30 pm. 

The Civic Design Center will cover attendees’ first beer at Fat Bottom! 

Join Jefferson Street Historical Society for a winter wonderland at Kossi Gardner Sr Park. The Holiday Village in the heart of Historic Jefferson Street will transform the park into a festive gathering that captures the holiday spirit.

We’re excited to invite you to be part of a heartwarming and joyous event this season – the Holiday Village on Historic Jefferson Street! This festive celebration brings our community together in the spirit of unity, joy, and reflection.

This year’s event is filled with exciting activities for all ages, including:

• Joyful Voices Segment – Bring your voices and lift up the sounds of the season.

• Hot Cocoa Stations – Warm up with delicious cocoa as we celebrate together.

• Black Santa – A special appearance from our beloved Black Santa for the kids!

• Holiday Market – In partnership with Nashville Black Market, we’ll showcase local vendors and artisans.

• Kwanzaa Tributes – Join us as we honor and celebrate the cultural richness of Kwanzaa.

• Community Spirit – All of this with the incredible support of the Civic Design Center & Local Farmers Market.

Vendors:

Schedule:

3:00pm: Holiday Village on Historic Jefferson St. Announcement

3:45pm: Black Santa Stage Spotlight

4:30pm: Kids Story Time Begins, A’Raya Lights will be reading “The Best Christmas Gift” by Scott Emmerson and “Rudolph Shines Again" by Robert L. May

5:00pm: Joyful Voices Preformances

8:00pm: Event Closes for the night but come back on Saturday!

Event Partners:

This project was made possible with grant support from:

Join Jefferson Street Historical Society for a winter wonderland at Kossi Gardner Sr Park. The Holiday Village in the heart of Historic Jefferson Street will transform the park into a festive gathering that captures the holiday spirit.

We’re excited to invite you to be part of a heartwarming and joyous event this season – the Holiday Village on Historic Jefferson Street! This festive celebration brings our community together in the spirit of unity, joy, and reflection.

This year’s event is filled with exciting activities for all ages, including:

• Joyful Voices Segment – Bring your voices and lift up the sounds of the season.

• Hot Cocoa Stations – Warm up with delicious cocoa as we celebrate together.

• Black Santa – A special appearance from our beloved Black Santa for the kids!

• Holiday Market – In partnership with Nashville Black Market, we’ll showcase local vendors and artisans.

• Kwanzaa Tributes – Join us as we honor and celebrate the cultural richness of Kwanzaa.

• Community Spirit – All of this with the incredible support of the Civic Design Center & Local Farmers Market.

Vendors:

Schedule:

3:00pm: Holiday Village on Historic Jefferson St. Announcement

3:45pm: Black Santa Stage Spotlight

4:30pm: Kids Story Time Begins, A’Raya Lights will be reading “The Best Christmas Gift” by Scott Emmerson and “Rudolph Shines Again" by Robert L. May

5:00pm: Joyful Voices Preformances

8:00pm: Event Closes for the night but come back on Saturday!

Event Partners:

This project was made possible with grant support from:

Visitors may think of hot chicken, meat and threes, and barbeque when they think of Nashville, but as our city has grown, so has the diversity of flavors. When someone thinks of finding somewhere to feed themselves, after accessibility or affordability, “place” is an important aspect. Food can define community identity and it is often the center of a local economy. It’s this underlying component that drives people to consider culture, atmosphere, and belonging when seeking food. Food is a basic necessity, but it is so much deeper than that. How do the flavors and food cultures of our community shape our sense of belonging and identity?

PechaKucha 47: Flavors Among Us will feature lightning talks celebrating the producers, makers, and consumers of food in Nashville. There will be 8 talks under 7 minutes each covering a range of food-related topics. Attendees will also get to sample food from local partners, including Citizen Kitchens. 

 Presenters:

Rebecah Boynton

Mariah Ragland

Tera Ashley

Laura Wilson and Elizabeth Murphy

Tamara Kelly

Katie Vance and Camille Tambunting

Anas Saba

Kirbee Miller

About PechaKucha

Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", PechaKucha rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It grew into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. The Civic Design Center is the Nashville host.

Our Sponsor Reception welcomes our 2025 Annual Sponsors to connect over cocktails at W Nashville. We have been told that it is the professional event sponsors look forward to attending in the Fall, while some might say it is the best event we host all year. It is truly a celebration with fellow city leaders, planners, designers, architects, developers, and advocates—the people who are influencing Nashville today and for years to come.

This is just a save-the-date. To attend this event, please register your guests below. If your company is not yet a sponsor, please consider supporting the mission of the Civic Design Center by reviewing the benefits and pledging your contribution.

We couldn’t do what we do without the dedication and trust we receive from our sponsors.

Open Streets Nashville temporarily closes streets to cars, encouraging community connection, physical activity, and support for local businesses. This initiative inspires new uses for public spaces, allowing biking, walking, dancing, and more. Neighbors, businesses, and organizations can reclaim street space, creating opportunities for picnics, art, and play. The free event transforms streets into park-like settings, fostering exploration and enjoyment without cars. Originating in Bogotá, Colombia, many cities now embrace Open Streets programs, including Atlanta and Louisville.

Civic Design Center Open Streets Activities

Noon - 2pm: Glencliff and Antioch Tactical Urbanism Intervention

The Civic Design Center has designed a tactical urbanism gateway intervention for the focus area of Antioch Pike (from Nolensville to McCall). It looks at trying to move vehicles to the center lanes of the road in an attempt to distance cars from the sidewalk as much as possible. Help us paint new bulb-outs at this intersection during Open Streets.

2pm - 3pm: Knitting Workshop

Learn the basics of knitting and help dress up our traffic turtles that will be installed the the new tactical urbanism installation at Glencliff and Antioch. Yarn will be provided all you need is your fingers!

3pm - 2pm: Traffic Turtle Installation

Help place the traffic turtles in our new bulb-outs at Glencliff and Antioch.

This year at Open Streets we will be collaborating with Walk Bike Nashville, the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure, the Civic Design Center, and community partners to design and build tactical urbanism installations to info a longer-term (or Quick Build) Project on Antioch Pike. Learn more about the project.