Prioritizing Placemaking for 2nd Avenue

By Gretchen Trast, Research Fellow

3 min read On the morning of December 25, 2020, a bomb inside an RV was detonated in front of the AT&T Building on 2nd Avenue between the blocks of Church Street and Commerce Avenue. This tragedy has had a lasting impact; however, as people processed what’s lost, there was time and space devoted to exploring a revived 2nd Avenue via community listening sessions organized by the Civic Design Center and Metro Planning Department.

The following is a summary of the findings from the 2nd Avenue listening sessions organized by the Civic Design Center and Metro Nashville Planning Department. The listening sessions happened on February 10 and 17, 2021 with over 190 community members in attendance. A majority of participants expressed hope for placemaking opportunities that express 2nd Avenue’s unique historic identity.

2nd Avenue as a Quieter retreat off Lower broadway

Participants discussed opportunities for placemaking by using other downtown areas as reference points. Most often, participants compared two concepts that are perceived as opposites and use those concepts as anchors to address a middle ground. Many people often pointed out the two opposite examples to consider where their opinion fell in the middle or as a “compromise” idea.

The most popular talking point throughout all the listening sessions was the built environment’s identity. The feeling and energy of Broadway was used as a contrasting reference to how participants wanted 2nd Avenue to feel moving forward.

There was a clear consensus that participants want 2nd Avenue to hold its own identity, leaning towards the right side of the scale; however, want to still attract attention from people experiencing Broadway. This includes making 2nd Avenue a destination for all hours (morning, afternoon, and night) while preserving the historical architectural style more than what has been on Broadway and similar to the preservation of Printer’s Alley. Participants highlighted historical signage, building facades, and improved pedestrian infrastructure as ways to preserve 2nd Avenue’s historical and unique identity.

Street-level picture of Lower Broadway showing bar and restaurant signs and a crowd [Photo: Drew Hays]

Street-level picture of Printer’s Alley showing signs, hanging lighting and historical architectural styles. [Photo by Brandon Jean]

The conversation around the built environment’s identity also extended to discussing who 2nd Avenue should target as its primary audience. Participants used Broadway to represent an area that is built for tourists while other places downtown like Printer’s Alley accommodated a wider audience range to include locals and families. Tourists and locals were discussed as opposites on a spectrum as represented below.

When considering the street’s intended audience, participants fell much more in the middle of the spectrum where they wanted both tourists and locals to be able to enjoy the space. This was highlighted by increasing quality of walkability for frequent and one-time users as well as having a strong local business ecosystem, especially for restaurants.

Together, considering the built environment holistically, conversation merged to consider the built environment and intended audience together. The spectrum below combines the previous spectrums into two main points of compromise.

Scale depicting binary between 2nd Avenue developed for tourists on one side and locals on the other side of the scale. Two “middle ground” options exist on the scale between the extremes. Text in Graphic: 2nd Avenue for Tourists…2nd Avenue can focus on pulling traffic from Broadway and engage tourists all the way up to the public square while also providing amenities for locals. 2nd Avenue for Locals…2nd Avenue can be a place to engage people at all times of day that prioritizes locals to bring more balance and space downtown for a wide variety of people.

Considering Elements of Healthy Communities

To further analyze the listening session data, the six main themes of Shaping Healthy Communities were used to group the data. The themes of healthy neighborhoods include neighborhood design and development, transportation, food resources, walkability and pedestrian safety, housing, and open space and parks.

Each theme has a percent coverage of the data, a representation of the total amount of time dedicated talking about that theme compared to other categories. Neighborhood Design and Development and Walkability and Pedestrian Safety were considered by participants for nearly two-thirds of the time.

The complete findings on 2nd Avenue Listening Sessions can be read in the following report.