Focused on the little things

Emerging from work done earlier this decade in the Elmington Park area and Madison, the Nashville Civic Design Center’s Design Your Neighborhood program has pushed tactical urbanism into parts of Nashville not regularly blanketed by tourists or concert attendees. This summer, the program took aim at the active section of Nolensville Pike near Elysian Fields Road and Paragon Mills Road. The three-week project supported by Conexión Américas and the Greater Nashville Regional Council recruited a group of 14 students to study the area around the Salahadeen Center of Nashville, one of the tenants of a retail-heavy stretch that is quite inhospitable to pedestrians.

The students took stock of the district during the first week, including by checking out the nearby Plaza Mariachi and meeting with Councilmember Fabian Bedne, before planning some low-cost, quick-fix projects such as crosswalks and bike lanes. During their third week together, they brought to life some of those plans — where local business owners consented — to calm traffic and let pedestrians better access the shops.