Creating Places: A Citizen Observer's Look at Nashville's Built Environment


Writer's Note: William Williams' interest in the manmade environment dates to 1970, at which point the then-young Williams started a collection of postcards of city skylines. The collection now numbers 1,000-plus cards. Among the writer's specific interests are exterior building design, city district planning, demographics, signage, mixed-use development, mass transit and green/sustainable construction and living. Williams began his Creating Places column with The City Paper in February 2005. The column in its original form was discontinued in September 2008 and reinvented via this blog in November 2008. Creating Places can be found on the home page of the website of The City Paper, at which Williams has worked in various capacities since October 2000.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Creating Places: Midtown Place update

The under-construction Midtown Place on 18th Avenue South is quite tall for a five-story building. It appears to be at least 60 feet tall and plays well off 1101 18th, the condo mid-rise across the street.
Posted by at

14 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 9:04 AM

    Geez, this is r-i-v-e-t-i-n-g information!

    ReplyDelete
  2. William WilliamsMarch 11, 2012 at 9:00 AM

    If you are as obsessed with building height as I, it's more riveting than an NCAA Tournament title game in its fifth overtime.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 11:40 AM

    does anyone have a picture?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 4:20 PM

    How about pics, or at least a bit more information.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 7:11 AM

    Nearly every time I click on this column I ask myself why I did so. It's always some random musing and rarely insightful about anything other than this guy's preoccupation with building height. I wish one of the papers would dedicate space like this to a more serious urban planning critic.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 8:54 AM

    So true, I wish there was more in depth information rather than these short statements that are often hard to follow. Rarely insightful is so true.

    What happened to his plan to compare Nashville's building scene with other cities, like Charlotte, Austin, etc.?

    It's good that this guy is so interested, but I wish he would deliver the good instead of just sticking his toe in the pond.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 9:21 AM

    William, every random thought (or portion of a thought) you have about the urban environment probably shouldn't make it's way into a major city news publication. Please put some meat on the bone and develop your ideas enough to at least form a thoughtful paragraph (or 3) before posting. Just a suggestion. Can I get an Amen?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 12:21 PM

      Amen. He's no Paul Goldberger!

      Delete
  8. AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 4:56 PM

    William - If the passion for this blog is as low as it seems to be, just don't do it! If you aren't being paid by the CP to maintain and write blog, just focus on more in-depth pieces. Your longer form pieces in the NP and CP are relevant and interesting. I'm actually ok with this type of short blog commentary, but to post it without a large, easily viewable photo leaves everyone hanging. If you're going to comment on aesthetics, we need a gallery of the surroundings, site plans, renderings of what you're talking about. Otherwise, you are writing this for the two or three readers who may have actually driven by the site recently. Lastly, the template design of this blog is so generic! I totally get it if this is something you're doing for CP as a freebie, hence not worth much effort. Otherwise, I think people would appreciate a greater level of detail and supporting photo/video content, on a visually appealing blog page.

    ReplyDelete
  9. William WilliamsMarch 12, 2012 at 10:47 PM

    Friends,

    I am surprised that this folks cared. I just assumed very few people read this blog. Though it's unfortunate, Creating Places is far down my list of priorities (either for my employer or for myself). I basically maintain it just for my own enjoyment, hoping a few others will read on occasion.

    That said, this response has been interesting. I guess there is some interest from readers. Perhaps it will motivate me to post more (say, three to four times per week) and with greater detail. Agree about the photos (of which I have been posting some lately).

    Thanks for the feedback, everybody.

    WW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 13, 2012 at 9:31 AM

      Glad to hear that you will be ramping up this blog. We are all not insiders on the Nashville development scene like you are, so we may not know the latest news and projects.

      Pics are really what is needed to illustrate what you are writing about. That's been a major shortcoming, but it can be easily fixed by including pics. Things change so rapidly, pics help capture it. For example, I noticed from checking the webcam of the Music City Center that the Omni hotel concrete now appears to be well above street level today.

      And did I miss the comparisons of Nashville to its peer cities that were mentioned? Looked at the archives, but couldn't find them.

      Thanks, William

      Delete
  10. William WilliamsMarch 13, 2012 at 10:52 PM

    A-Mous,

    Agree on the photos. I've made some progress on that front but can do better. I got lazy and failed to write the Nashville vs. ______.

    I appreciate your support,

    WW

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousMarch 14, 2012 at 2:17 PM

    William, I`m sure there are more people than you think that visit your blog at least once a week. I appreciate your thoughts/opinions on new building developments in different parts of our city. Like you sometimes do, I wonder what planet people come from that design some of the structures that pop up around town. Keep up the good work!!

    David S.

    ReplyDelete
  12. William WilliamsMarch 15, 2012 at 11:14 PM

    David S.,

    Kind words, my friend.

    WW

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)