Things are really starting to move now with projects that could change the way Nashvillians interact with the Cumberland River.
Our city was built with its back to the water. That’s changing.
We’re finally seeing construction begin on rebuilding in the block of Second Avenue that was most heavily damaged by the Christmas 2020 bombing. The plans call for preserving as much history of those structures as possible, while also adding more connection points that help people catch glimpses of the riverfront and move through to First Avenue.
At the same time, the ball seems to be moving in a more visible way on the East Bank redevelopment across the river. We’re finally seeing conceptual drawings and more detailed descriptions of what’s to come. Those include greenway extensions and park spaces that will invite people to hang out near the water.
For many, these changes beg the question: why did Nashville ignore its most prime riverfront property for so long?
WHAT TO KNOW
Image collage: Nina Cardona
One of my jobs at WPLN is hosting the daily NashVillager Podcast.I start every episode with something from history that offers a little context to what’s happening now in Middle Tennessee. One day last year, while doing some research into local history, I was flipping through a book produced around the city’s centennial anniversary that proudly detailed the way things were at that time. And there was a big spread on a factory that sat basically where the Nissan Stadium is now. And the factory next to it. And a third factory on the other side of that one.
That’s when things really clicked for me about this city and the river. Nashville wasn’t built to ignore the river, but it was built with a very different attitude about what purpose a river can or should serve. It was a utilitarian and economic resource. Recreation and nature didn’t really come into play at all.
I dig into it in a podcast episode from last year that is still quite relevant today. Basically, I discovered that the city’s economic life once depended heavily on shipping goods by barge and steamboat. Any place you could get to the water easily was to valuable for commercial purposes to let it become available for any other use.
Those historic buildings on Second Avenue back up to the waterfront not because anyone was trying to avoid the river, but because they were warehouses. The loading docks were on the First Avenue side, where the water was. The nice entrances on Second were for the offices and storefronts because the business owners didn’t want their customers interrupting the bustling hive of activity on the docks.
The East Bank was a factory zone for practical reasons, too. The goods made in those factories could be moved directly from the production floor to the cargo boats that would take those goods to market.
So the changes underway now don’t right a wrong made by earlier Nashvilians. They are just bringing the city’s core up to date with the needs of our very different era.
The NashVillager is supported by
and Nashville Public Radio members
On today’s episode of the NashVillagerpodcast with host Nina Cardona 🎙️
Exposure to the elements during a brutal cold snap played a role in the defeat of the Confederates in the two-day Battle of Nashville.Today, people living on the street face many of the same conditions, and federal resources to help them are in limbo. Plus the local news for December 15, 2025 and part one of The Debt.
Listen and subscribe on your favorite podcasting app
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pocket Casts | Web
MORE TO KNOW
- Tennessee’s landmark AI law could be at odds with an executive order from President. The ELVIS act, which stands for “ensuring likeness, voice, and image security,” became state law last year. It protects artists from having others use soundalike or lookalike content to copy them without their authorization. It’s the basis of a current lawsuit that the estate of Johnny Cash brought against Coca-Cola. The executive order says the nation needs to have a uniform standard rather than letting states adopt a patchwork of various laws. [White House]
- The Tennessee Supreme Court has ended two challenges to the way voting districts were redrawn in 2022. The state’s high court dismissed a suit was brought by a Nashville voter over the way Senate districts were renumbered. It also affirmed the lower court judgement in a suit that claimed the new House maps divide more counties than necessary. The state’s justices say the plaintiffs could not prove they were injured by the redrawn districts. [Tennessee Lookout]
- The ongoing wastewater problems in Wilson County could result in more than $800K in penalties. The problems include effluent, or outflow, ponding and overflowing into residential properties, discharge flowing toward state waters, and reporting issues. The state also says at times the wastewater authority claimed some problems were fixed, when they were not. [Wilson Post]
FROM WNXP
“It feels like scrolling TikTok. listening to an album in your air pods, and watching a movie while driving.”
Music reporter JustinBarney surveys our music landscape in 2025 and came up with five albums that represent the evolving sound of Nashville from Chuquimamani-Condori’s “Edits” to Snõõper’s more-than-punk “Worldwide.”
These artists and albums are untied to genre or legacy. They are moving forward with completely new sounds, which as Justin reports, can go from “completely overstimulating” to “big crashing guitars, mid-mixed echoey vocals and huge drums … a fresh heavier sound.
Dive into the top five for 2025.
THE LATEST FROM NPR
- 15 killed in mass shooting in Sydney And, Rob Reiner and his wife found dead
- Rob Reiner and his wife found dead in Los Angeles home
- For Americans, the love for chain restaurants runs deep
- Houses floated away in this Alaska Native village. Now residents want to move
- What’s behind the wellness claims for the synthetic dye methylene blue?
- Hong Kong court convicts pro-democracy activist and mogul Jimmy Lai
- Deadly attack on Bondi Beach follows rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia
- What to know about the Brown University shooting
- Chile shifts sharply right as José Antonio Kast wins the presidency
- What we know so far about the Brown University shooting investigation
Thank you!DONATE
Nashville Public Radio
630 Mainstream Drive
Nashville, TN 37228