Urban Walking

Nashville has an enviable greenways system where walkers, runners, cyclists, and others can enjoy a car-free journey through nature, on the outskirts of most of Middle Tennessee’s major neighborhoods. I’ve spent much time on our greenways and in our parks, but as the city is quickly changing, I find myself enjoying walks downtown more and more. 

I train each year with a small group of friends to walk the Music City Half-Marathon, and the course goes through our hilly downtown. Inevitably we end up officially training one or two weekends through downtown to prepare for those hills, but I like it for another reason. It’s given me an opportunity over the past few years to see up close how much the city is growing and changing. 

Nashville is one of America’s fastest-growing cities and, so far, the numbers aren’t slowing down. This time last year we were adding 100 people a day to our population. And that doesn’t include our high number of tourists, visiting popular neighborhoods like 12th South and the downtown honky-tonks. (A record number of 13.9 million tourists visited the Nashville area in 2016, according to the latest numbers from the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation.) With that increased growth and revenue, we’ve seen many changes downtown: new hotels, mixed-use buildings, and wonderful restaurants. When you’re in a car fighting traffic, it’s hard to notice the small changes until they’re big. But walking through the city, especially on a weekend morning, you have a chance to see exactly what’s being built and maybe even exchange a friendly word with the people doing the building. You see tourists out and about—some still out from the night before—and fellow residents enjoying the city. 

Nashville sits on the Cumberland River, with four major bridges entering the city. Zigzagging across all four is just a few miles and offers gorgeous views of the skyline from both sides of the city. Most days there’s free parking near the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, so you can start a route there, cross the river into downtown, and see Nashville landmarks like the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Hatch Show Print, and the Ryman, to name a few. 

There’s nothing like a walk in the woods to clear my head, but a walk through my city reminds me of all the possibilities out there for new friends and new fun. 
 

View of Nashville from the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge.