🚸 Why this sign is sparking backlash

☠️ The Dark History of Skull’s Rainbow Room

To celebrate Halloween, we’re joined on today’s City Cast Nashville podcast by the duo behind the hilarious true crime Last Podcast on the Left to revisit one of Nashville’s most gruesome murders — the 1998 murder of Skull’s Rainbow Room founder David “Skull” Schulman. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🏗️ New Places, New Plans

• Ascension Saint Thomas Landing is a new 1.3-acre public park in Nashville Yards with a dog run, pickleball courts, putting green, and food trucks. [🔐 The Tennessean]
• East Bank developers have released renderings of the 323-unit affordable housing development that will be next to the new Titans stadium. The plans include a daycare center and retail space. [Axios Nashville]
• Nashville International Airport is building a second terminal, with a projected completion date of 2038. Nearby neighborhoods worry about potential traffic. [WKRN]
• Traffic congestion has already caused problems at BNA. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]
• Live Nation has announced plans to build a new Wedgewood-Houston music venue called The Truth. [WPLN]

🚶 Crosswalk Sign Sparks Backlash

Roadway safety advocates are criticizing a cartoonish sign at the crosswalk where Dot Dobbins was killed earlier this year, which prompts pedestrians to make eye contact with drivers before crossing. They say the sign places the burden of safety on pedestrians instead of addressing effective infrastructure changes. [Nashville Banner]

• Listen to our debate with Councilmember Jacob Kupin and Vision Zero Advisory Committee member Charlie Weingartner about who’s responsible for making Nashville safer for pedestrians and cyclists. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

❤️‍🩹 Children’s Mental Health Crisis Unit Opens

A partnership between Nashville, the state, and the Mental Health Cooperative has led to the creation of a Children and Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit, which will fill a service gap by providing care to children ages 4-17 experiencing a mental health crisis. [Nashville Scene]

The best part of my day is reading your responses to the newsletter and podcast. Here are excerpts of some y’all’s thoughts!

On Best Local Sandwiches

Giselle has several sandwich recs: “Bill’s Sandwich Palace is a must for any of my out-of-town guests! I always feel luxurious consuming a grandiose, flavorful sandwich from the Palace, with a constant rotation of options! I’ll add that other great contenders (for best sandwiches in Nashville) are: Little Hats, Turkey and the Wolf, and Spread.”

Deb would add Mitchell’s in East Nashville to that list.

On Housing & Rezoning

Jackie believes, “Rezoning to increase housing will lead to further overcrowding in this city that is already so overcrowded, as illustrated by the horrific traffic issue. More people crammed into the available space will eventually cause more problems than it’s worth.”

According to a local realtor Laurie M., “We DO NOT have a housing shortage. There are over 4,300 homes on the market in Davidson County, thousands of apartments available, plus thousands more in the surrounding area. What we have is an affordability and infrastructure problem leading to quality-of-life problems, not to mention all this development is destroying the environment and beauty of our city. … We need to stop construction (and) grow into what we have until the infrastructure problems are addressed. Only the builders win, and most of them don’t live here and have to deal with the problems over development is causing for our city.”

On Choice Lanes

Dawn argues, “We don't need them. (Some)one is getting kickbacks from one or more companies to install them. They won't be used by average drivers. If large trucks could be forced to use them, there could be a benefit.”

What have you been talking about lately? Email me!