Nashville's plan for future arrives today

It's here. Nashville's plan for the future — three years in the making, informed by hundreds of meetings and propelled by the ideas of tens of thousands of Nashvillians who spoke up.

Metro Planning unveils its NashvilleNext community plan online Friday. It's the home stretch for what will become the city's road map for responding to population growth, transportation needs, and growth and development.

NashvilleNext will guide city policies — especially on what gets built, how and where — and inform how the city spends tax dollars.

Almost 20,000 people have already contributed to NashvilleNext, but a final call for input starts Friday. Officials want residents to dive into the report and offer feedback for about two months, with the Metro Planning Commission scheduled to consider its adoption June 11.

It's incredibly rich material — and a lot of it. That's because, to chart the future, NashvilleNext takes stock of the city with authoritative research. If you want to know about Nashville, it's a great place to start, whether for natives or newcomers.

There are population trends, city history, copious data and more than a dozen maps — some as geeky as sidewalk patterns, pedestrian hotspots and the locations of every city park.

And that's just in the first 171 pages. All told, Metro Planning has invested three years into updating several key documents all at once, running to about 900 pages.

Mayor Karl Dean appauded planners for their work so far and the public's participation.

"This is the kind of community involvement that will be needed to keep Nashville on its upward trajectory in the years ahead," Dean said in a statement.

"There's a lot to review, and I'm still digesting what's in the report. I invite all Nashville residents to do the same and offer their comments," he said. "It will be up to future leaders and citizens to decide how to translate this framework into new policies for land use and development."

But don't be intimidated, said planner Greg Claxton. He recommended checking out the plan based on your interests — whether it's the section where you live in Davidson County, or by topic of interest, such as transit or preservation of natural resources.

And beyond the nuts and bolts of governing, the report fosters a sense of community building, Claxton said.

"A sense that this is where home is and you look out for your neighbors," he said.

The big ideas

If the massive effort is boiled down, four key goals surface:

• Create more walkable centers.

• Develop equitably throughout the county.

• Build a high-capacity transit system.

• Increase the community's resilience to social and environmental challenges.

"Walkability is probably the newest thing, and bringing walkability throughout the county," Claxton said.

When Metro last planned for the future, "walkability wasn't even on the radar," said planning spokesman Craig Owensby. But population changes — with baby boomers and millennials growing fastest — helped drive walkability toward the top of Nashville's vision.

"In 1990, when the last plan was drawn up, the world was so different," Owensby said. "You were still in an environment where if the city expanded it grew outward. This is a whole new vision."

The plan in action

Once adopted — changes are still possible — NashvilleNext is designed to inform large-scale and day-to-day decisions, including by the government, developers, local institutions and neighborhood leaders.

For Metro, the principles will be used to evaluate new development proposals and to inform city spending. Ordinance changes could follow. And there's a promise built in for Metro Planning to better monitor the effectiveness of the plan, with new annual reports anticipated.

"Before," Owensby said, "you kind of threw the plan out there and didn't monitor it."

"And, often, five years later it was not quite relevant," Claxton said.

Early responses

There aren't many secrets in NashvilleNext, which has come together through a lengthy public process. But there are a few ideas that planners said could draw pushback, even after all of the public input.

At the top of that list is the idea of "tiered centers" of development. Metro identified areas with the greatest population growth and plans to concentrate more city funding to those places.

"Instead of trying to spread all of our money out equally and give every council district a little bit, we're recommending that the community consider, (and) the council consider, focusing both transit investment and other supportive investment in (high-growth) areas," said Rick Bernhardt, Metro Planning executive director.

The plan tries to treat the distinct areas of Davidson County for their unique characteristics. For example, planners said there's more recognition than ever that some people value quiet rural areas, and that plans for those areas shouldn't look like policies in bustling commercial districts.

NashvilleNext also suggests ways for the city to continue to "be Nashville," describing "a culture grounded in inclusivity and friendliness, creativity and entrepreneurship, and concern for others."

"Nashville will experience significant growth in the coming years, but we can retain and build upon the culture that makes Nashville unique and strong ... that respects our history and looks eagerly to the future."

Reach Tony Gonzalez at 615-259-8089 and on Twitter @tgonzalez.

See the future of Nashville

The NashvilleNext 25-year plan is available at www.NashvilleNext.net, with comments accepted through April 30. A series of five meetings will present the plan:

• 10 a.m. April 18 at Tennessee State University's downtown Avon Williams Campus, 330 10th Ave. N.

• 5-7 p.m. April 20 at North Police Precinct, 2231 26th Ave. N

• 5-7 p.m. April 20 at Edmondson Pike Library, 5501 Edmondson Pike

• 5-7 p.m. April 27 at Madison Police Precinct, 400 Myatt Drive, Madison

• 5-7 p.m. April 27 at Bellevue Library, 720 Baugh Road

Public suggestions could be incorporated into the plan's final version, which is scheduled for review by the Metro Planning Commission on June 10. For more information call 615-862-NEXT (6398) or email info@nashvillenext.net.