Over the course of the last couple of decades, Nashville has exploded into a mecca of tourism. We routinely pack tens of thousands of people into the streets downtown for various events from concerts to hockey games to literally just random Saturday nights. Your boy stays the hell out of all that stuff – I haven’t been a downtown guy in quite some time. I don’t know if it’s just maturity in my old age (36) or what, but I’d much rather hang out somewhere chill than to fight the crowds and pay the exorbitant beer prices on Broadway. Give me a night out in East Nashville or Donelson eight days a week.
That said, I can still appreciate the fact that tourism is a huge reason for all of this exponential growth, and I do rather enjoy playing tour guide when friends and family come to town because they want to see what all the fuss is about. Everyone wants the tourist’s experience in Nashville these days. I just have only so many of those nights in me anymore. Yes, I realize I sound like an old curmudgeon here, but let me write my fucking articles, okay?
Anyway, this story from Fox17 popped up in my weekly search for topics for the gang to discuss on the SoBros Power Hour (linked below), and I found it to be rather interesting. It sounds like there is some concern bubbling up that maybe that tourism experience is starting to wane at least a little bit.
A member of the Nashville Convention Center Authority (NCCA), the board that oversees the Music City Center in Downtown Nashville, says there is a sense of panic among some tourism officials because of a change in visitor habits. Habits would include not as many people coming to the city or booking events, conventions or shows.
I have mixed feelings about this. As an OCD/paranoid planner, I don’t know that anyone can appreciate a good worry about the future like I can. I’m constantly thinking about what’s next, and that’s all rooted out of fear that the ride’s going to be up one day. So, I can certainly understand how you might look at some of the crowds, compare it to what’s changed about the city recently, and start to ask, “okay, how long can this last?” But, on the other hand, just look at all these fucking people downtown on a Saturday night. Is now really the time to start thinking about diversifying the tourism experience in Nashville beyond “just get blitzed drunk and listen to live music?”
Fox17’s story goes on to mention an implication that maybe the crack down on the t-word-that-merges-with-entertainment-but-I-can’t-type-it-because-their-trademark-people-will-come-for-me-again vehicles might have tampered the visitor experience as well (I think it works like ‘Voldemort’ in Harry Potter for these people). I can’t speak to that because I haven’t done one, but I know people who have come from out of town and had the pedal tavern at the top of their to-do list. So, hey – maybe there is something to the notion that making them harder to operate in compliance in the city can impact a tourist’s experience. I hated those things when I worked downtown, but now that I work in my home in Mount Juliet, I don’t really care (I’m just saying this for those of you who have read my work long enough to notice a change in attitude – “but Stoney, you used to LOATHE the pedal taverns!“). It’s someone else’s stress now.
But, the question remains – how do we approach what this city has become, and how do we guide what it will become? Do we just lean into it full tilt and become like Las Vegas? Really turn Nashville into a playground for the elite and wealthy. Or, is there going to be some sort of balancing act in which we do start to focus on the things like city planning, transportation, and expanding other venues of the city’s economy? I don’t know – I got out of all that shit. I’m in Mount Juliet. That’s for you guys to decide. I just work here. But, I’ll say that if the tourism experience in town does begin to worsen over time, that’s a crack in the dam, and cracks in dams tend to give way.
Anyway…Brandon, Ryan, and I got into this on the latest episode of the SoBros Power Hour last Friday. It’s a fun, spirited discussion on this topic and much more, including but not limited to, drug-laced money, Starrcast, Ric Flair’s Last Match in Nashville, and being fed to Bigfoot.
Check out our friends at Trouble Spirits! If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to The SoBros Power Hour on Apple Podcasts, follow us on Spotify, or wherever you take in your shows. Give us a rate and a review when you have a moment – that’s how we get better and we always want to be better for you guys! That said, you can also simply smash that play button on the embed below:
Listen to “Ep. 72: Drug-Laced Money, Tourism Fading, and SummerSlam” on Spreaker.Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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