Gilbert thinks Detroit-Windsor deserved HQ2

[masterblaster]

Someome simply said Nashville's
downtown is more thriving/active than Detroit's, which I think any reasonable person would agree.

I still don't see where this whole tangent about urbanity came from...

Poobert said Nashville's downtown is bigger than Detroit's CBD, which set off Bham1982, who has a knack for derailing threads when he sees an opportunity to present a controversial opinion/trolling statement about one of his passions [[urbanity).

[Worldsgreatest]

Someome simply said Nashville's
downtown is more thriving/active than Detroit's, which I think any reasonable person would agree.

No reasonable person would agree with that... outside of Nashville tourist strip there is basically no activity and nowhere else to even walk.

[Worldsgreatest]

Poobert said Nashville's downtown is bigger than Detroit's CBD, which set off Bham1982, who has a knack for derailing threads when he sees an opportunity to present a controversial opinion/trolling statement about one of his passions [[urbanity).

This poobert person was wrong.

[Bham1982]

Someome simply said Nashville's
downtown is more thriving/active than Detroit's, which I think any reasonable person would agree.

I still don't see where this whole tangent about urbanity came from...

Except no reasonable person would agree with this.

And how is urbanity a tangent from a discussion of city centers? I don't get it. There's essentially nothing else to discuss but urbanity.

[313WX]

Poobert said Nashville's downtown is bigger than Detroit's CBD, which set off Bham1982, who has a knack for derailing threads when he sees an opportunity to present a controversial opinion/trolling statement about one of his passions [[urbanity)

Even then, I still don't see what the size of a downtown has to do with urbanity.

The only other thing I can assume is the bolded.

[iheartthed]

Maybe this helps explain why Detroit is such a mess. If people really think Nashville-type cities are the urban ideal, it would explain a lot re. our "urban" planning over the last few decades. No wonder people are cool with parking lots, stadia and convention centers.

100% agree with you here. I've never been to Nashville, but I seriously doubt that it has better urban bona fides than Detroit.

[313WX]

And how is urbanity a tangent from a discussion of city centers?.

The extent of urbanity is mutually exclusive from how thriving/active a place is

[bragaboutme]

According to Emporis Detroit has more population and the downtown is larger. I know we like to dump on Detroit, but the numbers hold a positive for Detroit. Gilbert does have a valid point, had they actually visited they would have seen a different side. Fact is Nashville is no where near the size or population of even Metro Detroit the only thing they might have over us is weather.

[poobert]

This poobert person was wrong.

I submit that this is tangential, but I used this tool [[https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-g...lator-tool.htm) to measure Nashville's downtown vs. Detroit's and they're virtually the same size with Nashville's being slightly larger. I also submit that downtown size is not a metric for urbanity. However in this brave new world we live in, I'm rather tired of dealing with "alternate facts" so I thought I would point out that I was not, in fact, wrong.

[Richard]

I kinda think Detroit/Windsor deserves better then HQ2.

If,deserves,is actually the right word to use?

[Meddle]

I kinda think Detroit/Windsor deserves better then HQ2.

If,deserves,is actually the right word to use?

Maybe, but then I think your post deserves 'than' more than 'then'.

[EGrant]

Nashville established itself as a conference destination and built a ton of hotels [[probably too many, at this point). All the names we fantasize about on this forum: Kimpton, Hilton Grand, Lowe's, Omni, Sheraton Grand, JW, and tons of boutique hotels. It's also a tourist destination with a giant bar, music and food scene year-round. Does Nashville have the industrial might that the Detroit Metro area has? No. But it's downtown is more vibrant by a mile.

[Bham1982]

There's not really anything to agree or disagree with. Nashville city proper is booming – it is a fact it is one of the hottest and hippest cities in the US. Detroit proper has some good things going for it, but it is not in Nashville's stratosphere.

That's great, and irrelevant.

The claim wasn't "Is Detroit sprawling more than Nashville" the claim was that Nashville was more urban than Detroit, which is absurd. Nashville is a booming Sunbelt town, with a tiny prewar core.

99% of DYes threads would be resolved if people would just read before responding.

[Bham1982]

Does Nashville have the industrial might that the Detroit Metro area has? No. But it's downtown is more vibrant by a mile.

Are people just trolling or ignorant? Not quite sure. Detroit had 20x the population of Nasvhille in the prewar era, and has the third or fourth largest prewar office core in the U.S. Nashville was about the size of Lansing in the prewar era.

Sterling Heights has a much better core than NYC, obviously. Commerce Township has a bigger downtown than Paris.

Any more idiocy, or is this thread pretty much done?

[313WX]

Nashville established itself as a conference destination and built a ton of hotels [[probably too many, at this point). All the names we fantasize about on this forum: Hilton Grand, Lowe's, Sheraton Grand...

Nashville has none of those.

But I do know that they're getting a Grand Hyatt [[thanks to Amazon), Four Seasons and Intercontinental.

And what makes you think they have too many? May I remind you they currently have nearly 8,000 tech/finance jobs in the pipeline, just had a major corporate HQ consolidation with nearly 2,000 jobs and recently landed a professional sports franchise?

[313WX]

And as far as individuals thumbing their nose at Nashville, it's funny how some things never change. People in Michigan were doing the same thing with Dallas and Atlanta back in the 1980s, and more recently, with Denver and Seattle.

[p1acebo]

I don't know why everyone is gushing about Nashville. I have been there a few times, pretty unimpressive if you ask me [[Obviously that is an opinion, I am sure it is the prefect place for some people). Great if you are a tourist who likes country music and mediocre live music.

[313WX]

...the claim was that Nashville was more urban than Detroit...

Again, not a single person in this thread made that claim.

I'm not sure why you love to make stuff up.

[renf]

Nashville has a commuter rail line. Detroit does not.

[Meddle]

Are people just trolling or ignorant? Not quite sure. Detroit had 20x the population of Nasvhille in the prewar era, and has the third or fourth largest prewar office core in the U.S. Nashville was about the size of Lansing in the prewar era.

Not sure why we're focusing on 'pre-war' but anywhoooo.

One thing most people don't realize is that the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is one of the largest in the country. We knew it by the term 'Super Court' though I'm not sure that's an official designation. With 15 active District Judges, there are only about 6 or 7 larger and a couple tied.


Add in all the other large regional offices of Federal agencies and it's a pretty significant location for the US Government.

[Bham1982]

Not sure why we're focusing on 'pre-war' but anywhoooo.

In a discussion of urban cores, you're not clear why we're focusing on prewar development? Is this a serious statement?

There's nothing else to look at. It's like asking why are we talking about trees when the discussion is forests.

There's nothing to the inherent structure of U.S. urban cores outside of what existed prior to the auto age. The die was cast by the 1930's. Absolutely nothing has changed [[or will change) re. the relative size of urban cores, because that's when the pre-auto fabric ends.

It's why Royal Oak is different from Sterling Heights - RO had a pre-auto legacy. It's why Philly's core is still vastly larger/better than that of LA even though LA is gigantic and twice the size of Chicago by CSA. It's why NYC's core will never be remotely challenged, ever.

[Bham1982]

Again, not a single person in this thread made that claim.

I'm not sure why you love to make stuff up.

I love when people nakedly project. Good stuff.

Read the thread and get back to us.

[313WX]

...Read the thread...

Last I checked, I created this thread.

Why not stop trying to hijack my thread with stuff you're making up?

[EGrant]

Nashville has none of those.

But I do know that they're getting a Grand Hyatt [[thanks to Amazon), Four Seasons and Intercontinental.

And what makes you think they have too many? May I remind you they currently have nearly 8,000 tech/finance jobs in the pipeline, just had a major corporate HQ consolidation with nearly 2,000 jobs and recently landed a professional sports franchise?

Ok, I misspoke calling the Hilton a "Grand" but the other hotels [[and the ones you seemingly left off of your quote, exist. Check your facts.

Lowe's: https://www.loewshotels.com/vanderbilt-hotel\
Sheraton Grand: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...ille-downtown/

I also said they might have built too many because construction is slowing and rates are dropping. Amazon could factor into it, but hotel supply has caught up with demand.

[313WX]

Ok, I misspoke calling the Hilton a "Grand"...

Fair enough.

I also said they might have built too many because construction is slowing and rates are dropping. Amazon could factor into it, but hotel supply has caught up with demand.

Maybe you should check your facts.

If construction is slowing at all, it's for the same reason it's doing so in all sectors of the economy in every part of the country [[rising costs for financing and historically high material / "skilled" labor costs), *not* because of the lack of demand.

In fact, the below article from last week explains the main reason more conventions skipped Nashville this year is because it still lacks enough hotel rooms.

Yeah, there my be plenty more hotel rooms planned, but they mean nothing until they're actually built and available.

https://www.nashvillepublicradio.org...ences#stream/0

So between that, the fact that AllianceBernstein moving their HQ there with 1,100 new jobs, Bridgestone recently consolidated their NA HQ there with nearly 2,000 jobs, and firms like E&Y creating a ton of support roles [[at least 600), not to mention the fact that the airport remains of the fastest growing in the country, even with rates possibly dropping for the first time in 8 years [[but still well abivw the historical average), the demand for more hotel rooms isn't going to ebb any time soon.