Community Assessments Get Funded

The Music City Moves! Community Partnership originally set out to conduct five or six community needs assessments of neighborhoods in and around Nashville, Tenn.  The assessments helped the partnership determine local needs to support physical activity.

The assessments, lead by Nashville's Metro Planning Department, were launched through community meetings attended by neighborhood association leaders, seniors, property owners and others.  Through surveys and discussions, the Music City Moves! program was able to identify some key capital improvements to the physical environment, including the need for more and better sidewalks, safe transit options and additional  parks.

Through the leadership of Toks Omishakin, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for the Nashville Planning Department, results of the needs assessments appeared on the mayor's agenda after two years of efforts to generate funding. The opportunity finally came after months of council debate over city departments' wish lists and Omishakin's ongoing contact with an advocate for active living in the mayor's office.  As a result, Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell - "the neighborhood mayor," as he is known locally and among the City Council - adopted a Capital Improvements Budget in August 2006 that included funds for implementing the assessment findings.

The Music City Moves! Community Partnership plans to use the funding to enhance other projects and initiatives currently in process with other Metro Nashville agencies.  "We wanted to use the money in a wise way," Omishakin said, "and leveraging our own funds within a partnership is the best way for us to do that."  Potential partnerships with the Metro Transit Authority, Public Works and the Parks and Greenway Commission are under consideration, with the goal of aligning existing initiatives with the identified community priorities.

Nashville's Greenhill Neighborhood is a potential target site for implementation.  The establishment of a half-mile trail along Sugar Tree Creek that connects a YMCA, a senior facility and a large greenway is under discussion.  Working collaboratively with other city departments, this effort has great potential to benefit a number of the city's residents.  Omishakin, who plans to continue the assessment in other neighborhoods, explained, "We want to achieve our own goals and the goals of the neighborhoods, while helping other projects work better at the same time."