Creating Places: Barbed Wire Mess

As noted within a piece I penned for this week's hard-copy edition of The City Paper, Nashville's inner-interstate loop is marred by areas ringed by rusted metal fencing, some of it with barbed wire. This stuff is nasty and unnecessary — and, of note, uncommon in other cities.

For example, a quick Google Maps Street View search reveals Southeastern peer city Charlotte is minimally pockmarked by chain link/barbed wire fencing at exit points along inner-interstate loop I-77/277. Similarly, Street View shows only modest segments of metal fencing in Memphis along I-240 but none straddling the I-40 segment slicing through downtown.

So do these two cities — and many others — fail to "get it," simply not understanding that barbed wire metal fencing is attractive and functional? Obviously not.

You can go down the list with our built environment problems: TDOT's barbed wire fencing; streets that not only lack sidewalks but curbs or even white edge stripes; fire hydrants whose red paint is so sun-faded as to suggest Pepto-Bismol pink. I could go on but am tired.