🏞️ Is Metro Parks keeping up with our growth?

🏞️ It’s National Park & Recreation Month. How Are Our Parks Doing?

In 2017, Metro Parks released its 10-year Plan to Play master plan to bring a park within a 10-minute walk of every Nashvillian. Since then, Nashville’s population has exploded, maintenance requests and stalled projects are piling up, and Metro Parks has failed to reach its 2017 goal. On today’s podcast, Veronica Foster and Kaitlin Dastugue from the Civic Design Center talk about how some of these problems could be fixed. [Nashville.gov; 🎧 City Cast Nashville]

• Maintenance problems: Metro Parks faces a $127 million repair backlog as structural issues and collapsed roofs plague local community centers, once-busy splash pads remain closed, and promised greenway expansions have stalled. Meanwhile, owners of local paddling companies have sold their businesses because they say working with Metro Parks is too difficult. [WSMV; Nashville Banner; NewsChannel 5; 🎧 City Cast Nashville]
• Increased budget: While Metro Parks has boosted funding and now spends about the same as the national average, our annual ParkScore from the Trust for Public Land is lower than in previous years. [WPLN]
• New goals: Metro Parks updated its Plan to Play last month with a focus on addressing deferred maintenance, though the department still hopes to build new parks. [Nashville.gov]
• New beginnings: On Saturday, July 11, Mariposa Park opens in South Nashville. [Instagram]
• Events: Metro Parks is celebrating National Park and Recreation Month with a series of events, from greenway celebrations to live music and hikes. Keep an eye on their event page for updates. [Nashville.gov]

🎟️ Metro Council Implements Public Comment Tickets

Tomorrow, Metro Council is considering two pieces of legislation to regulate data centers. Anticipating a large turnout during the public comment period, Council is implementing a ticketed system. Folks who want to comment about the data center bills can get tickets to hold their spot in line starting at 5 p.m. on the second floor of the Historic Metro Courthouse. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. [WPLN]

• Learn more about the proposed data center regulations by listening to our interview with Councilmember Rollin Horton, who proposed the legislation. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

💰 Debate Over Grocery Tax Cut Continues

Nashville is one of five cities that tax groceries. Recently, Metro Council passed a new budget that included a local grocery tax cut from 2.25% to 1.75%. This will save Nashvillians about $6 a month. Councilmember Quin Evans Segall and The Elmahaba Center Nashville argue that, rather than cutting the grocery tax, it would’ve better served community members to fund additional social services and affordable housing solutions. [🔐 The Tennessean]

• What do you think? Should we have kept the 2.25% grocery tax rate and funded more community services? Or is the savings in groceries worth it? Take this poll and let me know. [Typeform]

🏫 Disparities Among TCAP Scores at MNPS

Last Friday, I reported on the preliminary test results of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. An analysis from advocacy group SCORE shows that while TCAP scores at Metro Nashville Public Schools are improving year over year, academic achievements among Black, Hispanic, disabled, and low-income students lag far behind those of their peers. [Nashville Banner]

🌿 Will Pot Ever Be Legalized in Tennessee?

While Tennessee’s ban on popular THCA products went into effect last week, Nashville Democrats Sen. Heidi Campbell and Rep. Aftyn Behn plan to bring back their proposed Pot for Potholes Act in the 2027 legislative session. The act would legalize pot and use tax revenue from its sale for infrastructure projects. While it failed to pass in previous years, attitudes within the federal government toward legalizing marijuana seem to be shifting. [Tennessee Lookout]