Most dangerous cities list

I have a hard time buying the idea that Nashville is the seventh most dangerous city in the U.S., as a research company lately announced.

I realize that the company used data to come to its conclusions (which is the respectable thing to do), but I still have a hard time believing that Nashville is more dangerous than Houston, which placed tenth on the list of most dangerous cities above 500,000 in population. I’ve been to both cities, and I’m not buying it.

I think part of the problem lies in how cities are categorized. For example, according to the study (and the U.S. Census, depending on how data is presented) Nashville is larger than St. Louis and Atlanta. This is because cities are classified according to their literal population data within their city limits rather than by the population of their metropolitan areas. Does anyone really think Nashville is larger than Atlanta? I don’t. (Atlanta did rank tenth on the list of most dangerous cities with populations of 100,000 to 499,000, for what it’s worth.)

Further muddying the waters, the report separately lists the safest and most dangerous metropolitan areas. Nashville, assuming it is included in this count, doesn’t even make the top 25 most dangerous metropolitan areas, but Jackson, Tenn., does. I love Nashville, but does anyone really think it is safer than the considerably smaller city of Jackson? Again, I sure don’t. Detroit is the most dangerous metropolitan area and the second most dangerous city, and that makes sense anecdotally, too. But is Macon, Ga., more dangerous than Houston?

The study also omits Chicago, the nation’s third largest city, because some of its crime statistics don’t translate adequately for the report. (This is apparently an ongoing omission.)

I think this study is useful and hopefully will spur discussions of how to make communities, including Nashville, safer, but I won’t be looking to it for an accurate assessment of safety in our cities.

Demonbreun Street bridge

I am very happy to hear that the Demonbreun Street bridge is officially re-opening to the public on Wednesday (Oct. 25). Eastbound connector roads into downtown Nashville are a funny thing, in my opinion. Broadway attracts major traffic and is by far the pipeline of choice for most commuters, from what I can tell. Church Street, which I consider far easier to navigate, generates significantly less traffic most weekdays, but that has changed somewhat now that it is a two-way street from First Avenue all the way to I-40. Charlotte probably ranks second to Church in terms of traffic, but even it is much easier to travel than Broadway most of the time (and certainly right now since Broadway is currently under construction).

I’ve found that it is easier to enter and exit downtown whenever you can avoid Broadway. I did not typically travel on Demonbreun every day prior to the bridge’s closure in July 2004, but I sure found it to be a handy shortcut when I needed it. It’s nice to know that another route will once again be available coming to and from downtown.

Convention Center

There’s a rally taking place this evening (now indoors because of rain) in support of a new convention center for Nashville. I’m planning to attend because my company has been involved in the effort, but I also personally support the idea.

I support it because I think our current facilities are outdated and undersized compared with our peer cities and because the bulk of the funding needed to build the new center will be paid for by those who use the facility (hotel guests and area businesses). I believe that Nashville has done a good job of developing a healthy business climate that attracts business and corporate relocations, and I think this kind of growth and progress is important to maintain. (I do think we need to do more to support public education in Davidson County, and I would like to see that done as well.) I am optimistic that many local residents see the need for a new convention center and that it will ultimately become a reality downtown.