Joanna Bayer loves her new home in East Greenway Park, the growing cottage neighborhood in East Nashville. But her favorite part of the house might be what’s outside the front door.

East Greenway Park is designed so residents have direct access to Shelby Park and the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. The neighborhood, which calls itself Nashville’s first health and wellness community, is one of a growing number of new developments located near greenways and parks.

“I’ve been walking and running nearly every morning,” since moving into her home, said Bayer.

“I also try to ride my bike a few times a week. I would love to get together some community yoga classes. I’d also love to get involved with the (Shelby Bottoms) Nature Center and volunteer there soon. They seem to do wonderful activities,” she said.

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Neighborhoods designed around green spaces, walkability

Located on 10 acres at the intersection of Rosebank and Eastland avenues, East Greenway Park will include 62 cottage-style homes that are being developed in phases over several years.

The neighborhood is designed for walkability and accessibility with wide sidewalks, trails and bike paths and features a fitness station, a dog park, an urban garden and green spaces.

“The urban gardens have not begun yet, but I cannot wait to help out with those and get them going. Very eager for that to begin. Having a garden is so important to me,” said Bayer.

Other examples of residential growth near parks and greenways include City Lights, the luxury condominium high rise on Rutledge Hill south of Broadway; Capitol View, the mixed-use development between Charlotte Pike and Jefferson Street on the north side of the Gulch; and Joule, a cottage development next to the Shelby Bottoms Greenway.

On Nashville’s west side, Treaty Oaks in the Nations and The Annex in Charlotte Park are close to West Park, Charlotte Park and a section of the Richland Creek Greenway.

Trend toward ‘trail-oriented development’

Nashville currently has about 100 miles of greenways along 11 corridors. About 90 percent of the city’s neighborhoods are within two miles of a greenway, according to the nonprofit organization Greenways for Nashville.

“Being near the Shelby Bottoms section of the greenway is definitely a major selling point for East Greenway Park. It was also a huge factor in the success of Joule, which finished up earlier this year. People want walkable access to greenways and neighborhood commercial districts,” said Mark Deutschmann, president of Core Development and founder-chair emeritus of Village real estate company. He also leads the CityLiving Group.

“Many cities are seeing phenomena known as ‘trail-oriented development,’ where neighborhoods begin to orient to the greenways,” said Deutschmann, chairman of Urban Land Institute (ULI) Nashville.

Examples include the Beltline in Atlanta, the Cross Cultural Trail in Indianapolis and Midway in Minneapolis. Those cities “upzoned” to allow denser developments near greenways.

“Density and transit go hand in hand. Urban greenways are more than a trail; they are part of a viable multi-model transit system. As we build out the CityCentral Greenway, which is now underway, Nashville should be upzoning along transportation corridors and might consider upzoning along some of the emerging urban greenway systems,” said Deutschmann. 

Density, green spaces can work together

In the Nations, MiKen Development is adding 21 townhomes to Treaty Oaks, a 60-home cottage community. Nearby, The Annex and The Woods developments are transforming an 18-acre former industrial site into a development of around 330 townhomes and single-family homes with plan for mixed use.

Home buyers are attracted by the location near West and Charlotte parks as well as the greenway, said Andrew Newby, chief financial officer for MiKen.

“The city’s big overhaul of West Park (after the 2010 flood) makes the area more desirable,” said Newby.

“We’re trying to achieve density, but near green spaces,” he said.

More development news: East Nashville’s longtime red-light district readies for transformation

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