Every city needs a “fun’ky” East Nashville

It’s hard to describe how funky (emphasis on fun) East Nashville is. Imagine a collection of dive bars, taverns, music venues, unique and varied dining establishments, tattoo parlors, record stores and studios, and assorted other businesses juxtaposed amid newer mid-rise apartments with an active street vibe located just a stone’s throw from downtown. Then decorate that assortment of land uses awash in colorful murals, flavored by the wafting aroma of international food fare (with a sniff of cannabis), and accented by sound of the bustling city. If you can picture that, you’ve just begun to scratch the edgy and delightful surface of East Nashville. The quote below describes this area best:

“If Nashville is the ‘Buckle of the Bible Belt,’ then East Nashville
is its unzipped fly. “

Source: Michelle Spiva – “Music City Musings: Old Nashville Knowledge for Newcomers”

Having visited many “cool” or “hip” places across the country ranging from Boulder to Hollywood (LA) to Deep Deuce (OKC) to Wicker Park (Chicago) to Corktown (Detroit) to Broad Ripple (Indy) to you name it, East Nashville (a.k.a. East Nasty) is very much in a league of its own. East Nashville consists of several sub-neighborhoods such as Five Points, Greenwood, Historic Edgefield, Main Street/Gallatin Pike, East End, and others — each with its own identity and unique flair.

Unlike The Gulch and Lower Broadway, East Nashville consists of a hodgepodge of homegrown appeal rather than being closely tied to tourism, music superstars, or big money interests. It’s that very lack of uniformity and “corporatized creation” that makes East Nashville so enjoyable. The neighborhood feels like it became funky on its own (organically) instead of having been developed out of some touristy thematic playbook. Hopefully, the gallery of photos in this post will help endear you to East Nashville too.

My hope is East Nashville never loses its edginess…its desire to not fit between the lines…a place that unabashedly defines itself. Given its proximity to downtown and the new Titans NFL football stadium, that may be a constant battle to maintain. The growing assortment of mid-rise apartments and condos serve as a reminder that the status quo can be fleeting without vigilance.

So, let’s all cheer on the folks in East Nashville to succeed in their ongoing quest to remain weird, avant-garde, quirky, eclectic, and above all, funky. I know one thing for sure as a retired planner – for this to succeed, the city’s planning department must largely leave East Nashville alone. It grew organically, now please let it continue to blossom and bloom organically. Peace!

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