Greetings from New Nashville: How a Sleepy Southern Town Became "It" City

by Steve Haruch (editor)

In 1998, roughly 2 million visitors came to see what there was to see in Nashville. By 2018, that number had ballooned to 15.2 million. In that span of two decades, the boundaries of Nashville did not change. But something did. Or rather, many somethings changed, and kept changing, until many who lived here began to feel they no longer recognized their own city. And some began to feel it wasn’t their own city at all anymore, pushed to its fringes by rising housing costs. Between 1998 and 2018, the population of Nashville grew by 150,000. On some level, Nashville has always packaged itself for consumption, but something clicked and suddenly everyone wanted a taste. But why Nashville? Why now? What changed to make all this change possible? This book is an attempt to understand those changes, or, if not to understand them, exactly, then to grapple with the What happened?

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Politics, History

222 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2020

Reviews

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

In 1998, roughly 2 million visitors came to see what there was to see in Nashville. By 2018, that number had ballooned to 15.2 million...Between 1998 and 2018, the population of Nashville grew by 150,000. The greater metropolitan statistical area grew by a half-million people, and is expected to cross the two million mark some time in 2020.

This collection includes essays on various journalists from Nashville, and authors - including Ann Patchett - that cover the various changes they’ve observed over these years, as well as perspectives of musicians and producers such as T Bone Burnett. The good, the bad, the welcome and the unwelcome. And, yes, the food.

I have only been to Nashville twice, the last time was a stop there for the night on a longer trip, the first time was for a work conference, although I did spend some time wandering about in my own time. The first memorable moment of that trip involved going to the Wildhorse Saloon, mainly for a friend who wanted some ideas on a similar plan they had in mind. I went alone, but ended up sharing my table with a married couple who asked if they could join me while they waited on a friend. They asked if I would mind being a “date” for their friend who was coming, who enjoyed dancing, but was very shy. They neglected to tell me that he was a priest - although he was a very good dancer. Other than that, I was mostly there for work, although I did spend an afternoon wandering around the area within walking distance of a mall - where I ran into the guys from Rascal Flatts, who I’d met earlier that year and who came over to say hello, and I shared the news of someone close to me, the person who introduced me to them originally had just died a horrific death. They walked and talked with me for a while, and then my work friends came along and added to the efforts to take my mind off the news and onto the delights of Nashville. I was carried away, literally… one of them picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and started walking to wherever it was that we went.

That’s more or less how I felt about Nashville, carried away by the caring nature of this small-ish city (in comparison) that still held onto some of the small town charm and hospitality. I suspect that even some of that has changed a bit, but there is also some positive change in the name of progress, as well. At least attempted positive change that will hopefully blossom more fully as time passes. As Nashville grows, the price of housing skyrockets, and those who had once lived in affordable housing have been forced out, which is a major concern. Major companies, like Amazon, who have made it home, have changed the landscape, and likely added to the downtown area’s population.

We need places like Nashville, not for the flashiness that attracts some, but for the diverse culture it offers, and what it teaches us about the past, as well as the future. We learn from our past, and hopefully apply those lessons to make a better future - for all.


Published 15 Oct 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Vanderbilt University Press / Longleaf Services

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, sorry to everyone I know, but I’m not talking to you until you read this book. To be a smidge less hyperbolic, if you live in Nashville, and maybe especially East Nashville, this book is mandatory reading. Also, please buy it from one of the two local indies in town.

This book is a collection of essays and articles written about Nashville’s transition to an “It City”. It covers 1998 - 2018. The way the editor decided what to include and what order to put everything in is *chef’s kiss*.

I’m one of the rare people in Nashville who grew up here. I can’t believe how much I didn’t know about my own city. If you had forced me to make a list of things I’ve meant to learn more about, or dive into, this book covers it.

Lastly, I’m sometimes shocked when I learn friends have never read Margaret Renkl or Betsy Phillips. If for nothing else, buy this book to learn more about Nashville through the eyes of its two best writers.

Shop local!

[britt_brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writer/editor Steve Haruch compiled these essays and articles by local writers - Ann Patchett, Margaret Renkl, Ben Folds, etc - to articulate Music City’s rapid change over two decades. There’s a bit of repetition, but that doesn’t take away from the points: intense gentrification, lack of affordable housing, metro school segregation, police, politics, pro sports, tech, hot chicken, and yeah, music. The good, the bad, and the inevitable.

[residentoddball · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give 6 stars, I would. A fantastic read, especially personal, as it covered the near 10 years I lived in Nashville and what happened after I moved away. Full of depth and historical perspective. Even if you don't know Nashville but care about civics and how things happen where you are, this is a must read!

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book about Nashville, even if it's just a collection of essays, really touches on the tip of several icebergs charting the cities changing social, political and physical landscape. I loved it.

[Victoria Hensley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and easy read for folks wanting to understand the Nashville of today as juxtaposed to the Nashville of the past. The compilation reads seamlessly, taking readers from one issue to the next. While there’s a sense of doom, there’s also a sense of hope. Looking forward to using it in my classroom next semester.

[Caroline Buchholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll say 4.5 stars. I learned a lot about my home, cried once and grieved long forgotten time & places. The technology portion was an unnecessary snooze though.

[Rob Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of essays on Nashville over the last 20 years. Most of the articles were pulled from sources like the Nashville Scene. They were mostly interesting, although I thought a couple of the articles were unnecessary. The book seems to take the editorial approach that most of the changes are negative to the city, and ends on a depressing note. It would have been nice to end with something hopeful or a strategy to improve the problems. I also thought it was interesting that the least-interesting essay was by the author/editor of the collection ha. If you visit Nashville as a tourist or are considering moving here, reading this book will help you understand all the scowls you'll get from locals. Nashville is "over it"!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every white “realtor” who’s really a songwriter or didn’t know what career to nail down, selling a tall skinny really ought to buy this as their realtor gift and leave it as required reading.

Hell, most of East Nashville ought to read this.

I read this book at the end of my 5 year Nashville journey, so my rose color glasses that come from moving to a new place are long gone. I have loved and hated this town for many a reasons that are essayed in this collection. Ive worked in historical music properties and the big tech companies that some of the essays touch on. I’ve watched privileged natives not really fight for their historical properties and frankly not even recognize their privilege. The town turn to caring more about the tourists that populate it, then the people who live here.

I think the editor did a fantastic job laying these pieces out in an order that really grows the case of just how much and quickly Nashville has changed and gentrified and the problems and hurtles that it faces in the further because of it. I knew some of the history laid out in these pages, but loved getting even more information and background.

Please go down to The Bookshop and buy this one.

I plan on recommending this one a lot. I’d also love to see this edited and expanded. Since publishing last year, we’ve had the tornado where more development debates popped up, industry closures, a bombing, the vote on Oracle. there’s soooo much that could be touched on in this year.

[Megsbookclub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greetings from New Nashville! This is a newly released book that is a collection of essays about the growth and how Nashville has become (almost overnight) what it is today. It starts out saying that in 1998 about 2 million tourists came to see the city, but in 2018 that grew to well over 15 million tourists. Nashville was the host to the largest NFL Draft ever and has grown its New Year’s Eve Party into one of the largest in the country. Nashville has also become the #1 destination for bachelor/bachelorette parties!

Of course, that all sounds nice when you visit! But for all the natives that are still here or folks that have been here for many years, they almost don’t recognize this small country music town anymore. With 100 people moving here daily the past few years, the traffic and expenses have drastically increased. What once was old, is now being torn down for new. Many joke the new skyline of Nashville is not all the skyscrapers being built but the cranes that are working around the clock on endless construction!

I have lived in Nashville for almost 8 years and yes, it’s growing like crazy but the one thing we have here is live music and talent like no other city in the world. It’s not just country music here… that’s why they call it Music City! Will you be one of the many tourists to visit in the coming years?

[lillqaa]

If you are for some reason like me and desire to comprehend Nashville wholly, with its country-music making machines and honest people who stay the hell away from downtown, then this book is for you. It has every major event of the 20th and 21st century that has led the city to become what it is now, and if you are interested in Nashville's writing scene, the bylines of the people you should be reading. There are sports, hot chicken, gentrification admist the development boom, bachelorettes, the tomato festival origin story, poetry and of course, country music.

Haruch is my editor at the Nashville Banner right now so I am not going to rate this book because I am so biased, but I wish I read this book the first week I came to Nashville, a city I have grown to love because I am free and independent and reporting on it while living here, and grown to hate for its busses that run every 30 minutes and lack of sidewalks. Now, Nashville evades me a little less after reading this.

Standout essays: the Introduction, Burned Out, Dish Network, Welcome to Bachelorette City, Desegregation and Its Discontents, Tomato Toss, Who Will Hold the Police Accountable?

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a series of essays published in 2020 that explain the factors that shaped Nashville, proclaimed "It City" by the New York Times. The essays are a mix of previously written and new essays that cover a wide range of topics - the rise of the tech sector in Nashville, efforts to develop civilian review of police, evolution of the Nashville culinary scene, the role of professional sports in shaping the city, and more.
The book is more a collection of insightful essays than a systemic, programmed approach looking at targeted areas, and I think the approach works to provide a wide range of insight.

[Jack Seigenthaler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who lives in Nashville - when I bought it, I thought it was one narrative, rather than a collection of essays, so I was a little wary when I began. But each essay (and poems and podcasts) was captivating in its own right. Taken together, Nashvillians can better understand what makes their city culturally and economically significant - and the ways in which the city has lost its way as it has variously prioritized corporate interests over the its people

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for Nashvillians (or people who hold Nashville in their heart.) This is a curated selection of essays from well-loved local journalists, writers, and even Ben Folds. Some of the essays hit more than others (Meribah Knight’s excerpt from the Promise fully gutted me and held me in stasis from finishing this book for months), as someone who grew up here I think it touches well on a variety of topics near and dear to the growth of the city over the past 25 years.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection includes some great essays (Ann Patchett's stands out), but kept revisiting the same topics across different essays without new perspective or ideas. A few more essays could have been left out without changing the messaging or conclusions of the collection.

Overall, though, an interesting cross section of issues surrounding the recent growth of Nashville!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One or two articles read like high school essays, but the rest are top notch! I feel like Nashville could release an update of just the part year and a half and give an entirely different feel to this collection!

[Michael baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short essays documenting the gentrification and densification of Nashville into what it is today: a city of paradoxes. The essays are collected from various writes over the last 10 years and can be repetitive at times. Ann Patchett's essay is my favorite.

[Sean Kinch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my interview with Steve Haruch at Chapter16.org:


https://chapter16.org/surviving-the-c...

[Vivienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well curated collection of essays that approach gentrification and growth from a surpising amount of different angles.

[Carson H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone who considers Nashville their home 💕