Nashville....one of the top 10 most polluted cities? (Murfreesboro, Columbia: allergens, living)

[scongress1234]

Can this be right? I've seen this in several studies. I can see Cincinnati and Indy being there as well, but trying to wrestle with the concept of Nashville being there too......but there it is...

anyone there really think of Nashville as a polluted place? Again, according to the charts, they are one of the least green cities, with reams of heavy particulates belching all over the metro.....Louisville ranks just below them, but I can see that. Going over the Ohio River bridge, you see one humungous plume of toxic smoke......but nashville being ranked right up there is a bit rich for me...

What do YOU folks think of this?

[ariesjow]

Since Nashville isn't that filled with heavy industry, I would wager that the pollution here is due primarily to the sprawl and overwhelming dependency on the automobile. The Nashville metro now covers 13 counties and this is with subpar mass transit options. Also, consider that Nashville is surrounded by large hills. We're basically sitting in a giant valley which doesn't help for either pollutants or allergens. Tennessee, in general, is a high consumption state and regrettably doesn't take a strong stance on environmental issues.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by ariesjow

Since Nashville isn't that filled with heavy industry, I would wager that the pollution here is due primarily to the sprawl and overwhelming dependency on the automobile. The Nashville metro now covers 13 counties and this is with subpar mass transit options. Also, consider that Nashville is surrounded by large hills. We're basically sitting in a giant valley which doesn't help for either pollutants or allergens. Tennessee, in general, is a high consumption and regrettably doesn't take a strong stance on environmental issues.

that about hits the nail on the head.
sad, really.

[ariesjow]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

that about hits the nail on the head.
sad, really.

It is sad but I still love this city and the great strides it is making. I just wish certain areas would improve quicker such as mass transit.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by ariesjow

It is sad but I still love this city and the great strides it is making. I just wish certain areas would improve quicker such as mass transit.

It's not just Nashville that's terrible with transit and the like. It's the whole state.

I hope it does get better in Nashville, but until there's support from the entire metro area, (and I'm not sure how it is now, I moved a year ago), viable transit expansion is going to be very very hard to put in place.

[ariesjow]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

It's not just Nashville that's terrible with transit and the like. It's the whole state.

I hope it does get better in Nashville, but until there's support from the entire metro area, (and I'm not sure how it is now, I moved a year ago), viable transit expansion is going to be very very hard to put in place.

I do know that MTA has plans for bus rail transit and there has been some talk about both light rail and streetcars. Charlotte just opened it's first LRT line and it's been a great success. Light rail is very expensive and I believe Charlotte was able to get federal fund allocated to building there line well before funding for such projects dried up.

It would be much harder to get such funding right now and also to convince those in the metro and TDOT that the benefits of such mass transit far outweigh the costs. Imagine being able to jump on a train from downtown to Hillsboro Village. It would be incredibly convenient and spur some great growth.

[scottv]

You would not think it by living here....

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by ariesjow

I do know that MTA has plans for bus rail transit and there has been some talk about both light rail and streetcars. Charlotte just opened it's first LRT line and it's been a great success. Light rail is very expensive and I believe Charlotte was able to get federal fund allocated to building there line well before funding for such projects dried up.

It would be much harder to get such funding right now and also to convince those in the metro and TDOT that the benefits of such mass transit far outweigh the costs. Imagine being able to jump on a train from downtown to Hillsboro Village. It would be incredibly convenient and spur some great growth.

That's good to hear.

Me coming from Columbia, I always sort of dreamed there'd be more of a regional commuter thing, but is the Star train from Lebanon doing any better these days?

[ariesjow]

I believe there has been steady improvement with the Music City Star but it still hasn't "caught on" so to speak. It was a cheap commuter rail line and sort of misguided idea in my opinion. It probably would have worked better coming from Murfreesboro. Honestly, we would have been better off putting the time and effort into getting a light rail line up and running.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by ariesjow

I believe there has been steady improvement with the Music City Star but it still hasn't "caught on" so to speak. It was a cheap commuter rail line and sort of misguided idea in my opinion. It probably would have worked better coming from Murfreesboro. Honestly, we would have been better off putting the time and effort into getting a light rail line up and running.

Nashville used to have "light rail" so to speak.

http://davesrailpix.com/odds/tn/tn.htm#nf