Suburban Urban Nashville

Today, The Huffington Post has a post by Suburban Nation co-author Jeff Speck on the, "10 Worst Things About Suburban Sprawl." This photographic lists includes, rather depressingly, an example from urban Nashville--Green Hills:

Hillsboro Circle, near Hobbs Road:

Yes, Green Hills is an area that is notoriously suburban in nature despite being in (what should be) an urban area. The good news is that the photo is out-dated and the pedestrian obstruction has been removed from the sidewalk:

You can even see the scar left behind by our stupidity:


So, yes, Green Hills and much of urban Nashville is still annoyingly suburban in nature. Perhaps the good news is that things are slowly changing for the better. One good Green Hills example is the delightfully walkable Hill Center.

Also, Mayor Karl Dean recently signed an executive order to implement a, "Complete Streets," initiative for Nashville.