Designing The Street
2nd Ave Public feedback survey and Initial Results
By Joe Mayes, Project Manager
3 min read The following blog summarizes the Oct. 20th community engagement meeting where design teams presented concepts for the streetscaping of 2nd Ave. based on prior community feedback. It includes both the visualizations for 2nd avenue and some of the feedback from the audience during the event.
On October 20, 2021, the Civic Design Center, in partnership with Metro Planning, GHP, Kimley-Horn, Hawkins Partners, Wilmot Inc., and STG, conducted a community meeting featuring updated concepts for 2nd Ave. and 1st Ave. streetscaping, updates on the rebuilding process, sustainability, and ideas for the surrounding community.
During the meeting, 68 attendees (most of whom work and regularly experience downtown) were able to react to the concept designs for 1st and 2nd Avenue in an interactive survey. We have transitioned the survey to an online format so you can share your thoughts!
Rendering of idea for 2nd Ave N by Kimley-Horn (looking north towards Commerce St)
View looking north towards Commerce St prior to the explosion
Streetscaping Ideas for 2nd and 1st Avenue North
Rendering of Idea for 1st Ave N by Hawkins Partners Inc (looking North towards Public Square)
View looking North towards Public Square prior to the explosion
This meeting followed 8 other community meetings and other online engagement opportunities, where we heard from over 500 community members! After gathering the feedback of local residents, businesses, workers, and other Nashville residents, we learned a lot about how to improve the street in the future (See our summary blog here!). Based on the community ideas, visions, concerns, and other feedback, the Kimley-Horn and Hawkins Partners design teams came up with the following streetscape concepts:
Key Results from the Survey
Following the presentation of the concepts, here is some of the feedback we heard from attendees:
When talking about improving 2nd Avenue’s streetscaping and character, participants chose to prioritize sidewalk dining and retailing, followed by wider sidewalks for pedestrian circulation and Green/ Landscape areas. On the other spectrum, loading areas were only ranked 1st once, and on street parking was only rated in participants' top 3 choices once out of 155 rankings.
82% of the audience supported or strongly supported the idea of an urban plaza in the block between Commerce St. and Church St., and the entire audience supported the city redeveloping both 2nd and 1st Avenue North streetscaping. Some of the key characters or elements the audience would like to see in the potential plaza include historic elements, active and engaging, safety, and inclusive.
Rendering idea by STG Design looking east through buildings that were impacted by the explosion (view from 2nd Ave N)
View from 2nd Ave N looking east at the buildings that were impacted by the explosion
A key concern noted by multiple attendees is “the bend”. In the concepts shown, there is a bend on the northern portion of 2nd Ave. N. Attendees expressed concerns about the visibility and sightline of the courthouse, the functionality and traffic issues based on a similar bend historically on Church Street, and the historic character and grid of 2nd Ave.
The image above shows how the road “bends” in the middle of the block between Commerce Street and Church Street.
Transitioning to the riverfront, the audience was asked “What would create a riverfront space that would best connect with your needs and use of riverfront park?” and were able to choose the 3 most important to them. The most popular choices were Food and Drink within the park, Active Programming, Connections to the River, and Play for all Ages.
Attendees were also asked about a variety of sustainable opportunities for the area. The priorities for the sustainable solutions were adding trees, using Native and Drought tolerant plants, planters, and cool or green roofs. Some attendees were curious as to “why can’t we make all of these improvements”.
