The Bus Stop Makes the Neighborhood

Good afternoon, everyone.

The bus system in Nashville is essentially invisible. Yes, you pass by the stops and see the vehicles on the road, but for the vast majority of Nashvillians who have never and will never set foot on a bus, functionally, buses do not exist. Because you spot them scooting around town and understand them in this abstract sense, it’s hard to grapple with how expanding bus routes and increasing their service hours might affect a neighborhood.

But lately, I’ve been doing some neighborhood arithmetic. Using the powers of journalism and critical thinking, it isn’t hard to see how 24/7 bus service would change my little neighborhood. 

I live over by the Charlotte/White Bridge intersection. Charlotte (Route 50) is one of the most trafficked bus routes in town. Under the new transit plan, it’s set to receive continuous, around-the-clock service. Recently, a new 24-hour 7-Eleven opened on White Bridge, right in front of a bus stop for Route 3—which is also set to operate 24/7 if the transit referendum succeeds.

Diagonal from all this by I-40, there’s a Waffle House that remains open 24/7, but since Covid, it only accepts pick-up orders in the early morning hours to stave off late-night brawls. Across from that Waffle House is the former site of a White Castle (soon to be a Wells Fargo, I believe) that Whataburger pulled out of a few years ago after management discovered homeless people squatting in the abandoned building.

Tucked back away from the main thoroughfares are some apartment complexes thick with dysfunction that sometimes pours out into the street. I’ve had packages stolen off my porch before, and hearing gunshots is not unusual.

At first, the 7-Eleven was a welcome addition to the area (great drink selection). But the longer it’s been there, the more it resembles the kind of late-night haunt you avoid at all costs past a certain hour. Marrying a 24/7 convenience store to a 24/7 bus system that stops right in front of it will surely do nothing to make it nicer. Am I wrong about this?

Onward.

🅿️ Parking Wars On Monday, NDOT director Diana Alarcon addressed a few questions about parking accessibility downtown, specifically for those who don’t use smartphones. Instead of having individual quarter meters, the city has replaced the payment mechanisms with kiosks, she explained.Though Metro attempts to provide a way to pay directly with a credit card on most streets, constituents are finding it more and more frustrating to navigate the parking situation downtown. In addition to the changes the city has made over the last few years, the unpredictable fees, heavily tech-based payment methods, unclear fee signage, and exorbitant fines issued by private companies have only added fuel to the fire.

Currently, Metro does not have any laws to protect consumers from abuse by private lot owners. Downtown’s council member Jacob Kupin told us back in February he wanted to avoid passing any legislation to hold companies accountable, but understood concerns about the problems that the new technology has caused. 

The state, on the other hand, passed a law this year that could help curb some of the more egregious practices. As of July 1st, protections against unlawful booting and towing were put into place. In response, Nashville Booting LLC filed a lawsuit against the state and requested a temporary restraining order to place a hold on the law until the case has been settled. As of this writing, the court has not come to a decision, and the state’s new laws are currently in effect. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

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📞 Answering The Call Last Night, President Biden held a conference call with around 200 Democratic mayors across the country to “[lay] out his vision for a second term” in an effort to buttress some support. The call included the likes of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dicken, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Though Mayor O’Connell didn’t watch the presidential debate two weeks ago—“In fact, I was enjoying a young professionals event where I presented an award to a creative cocktail producer,” he said at the time— he also dialed in. 

The lukewarm support for Biden amongst establishment Democrats has plagued the president’s administration ever since his worrisome debate performance against former president Donald Trump. Amid party panic and rumors of replacement, former Tennessee Democratic Party leader Chip Forrester called for his peers to buck up. “The bedwetters need to stop their moaning and get on board,” he told the Banner.

The current Tennessee party chair, Hendrell Remus, issued a more measured call to arms. “I don’t believe that now is a time for us to have fractures in our unity,” he said. “The president has been crystal clear that he intends to be the Democratic nominee for president, that he intends to be in this race until it’s over.” Regardless of the difference in delivery, the message coming from Party leadership in Tennessee is clear: they’re ready to support the president in November. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

DEVELOPMENT

• Developer Zach Liff takes 16-acre downtown district off the market (NBJ)
• Burger joint sets opening date for ex-Hermitage Café space (Post)

✹ REVIEW: DAILY WIRE'S MR. BIRCHUM

Despite taking flack online as The Daily Wire’s most recent attempt at comedy, the Adam Carolla-led Mr. Birchum is a series that has a strange and lengthy pedigree. Carolla has been working with the titular character since the 1990s. The crude old-fashioned woodshop teacher who supplies the show's name originated as a live-action puppet sketch during his time on The Man Show, Crank Yankers, and The Adam Carolla Radio Show.

In 2011, Carolla worked on The Birchums, a Fox animated sitcom similar to Family Guy and King of the Hill. He produced a pilot for Birchums, but alleged downsizing in Fox’s animation department saw the series left unproduced. Or, as with the majority of produced television pilots, it simply washed out amid other more demanding shows. 

The pilot is now considered lost media, as all of its YouTube and Daily Motion uploads have been taken down by Carolla’s production company Chassy Media Productions. All that remains are a few screenshots and a 13-year-old Facebook fan page that shows the original art design.

So, it is curious to see a version of the show adapted by the Daily Wire crew. CEO Jeremy Boreing has talked it up as the show “no network would touch” for decades. But given that Carolla is a recurring voice actor on Family Guy, author of a bestselling New York Times book, host of one of the world’s most popular podcasts, and the face of Pepsi, it’s hard to imagine Carolla is too offensive for the Fox Network. 

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 The Deslondes @ Dee's Lounge, 9p, $20, Info

🪕 The Steel Wheels @ 3rd and Lindsley, 7:30p, $20, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info