The possibility of a bullet train someday transporting passengers between Nashville and Atlanta in under two hours is another good example of our need to think regionally.

“We’ve got to think ahead,” said Joe Ferguson, special project manager at The Enterprise Center in Chattanooga.”We’ve got to ask questions about what we can do to maintain the kind of mobility we are used to.”

Nashville is no longer just Davidson County, and there are a lot of questions awaiting us about how we’re all going to get from place to place–and to places elsewhere–conveniently and responsibly. A bullet train may make sense for Nashville and Atlanta, for Middle Tennessee it needs to be part of a comprenhensive, long-term approach to meeting our transportation needs.

I agree with Gail Kerr that the current convention center site will be an “enormous opportunity” once the new convention center opens its doors.

“It needs to be a signature thing for downtown Nashville,” said Rich Riebeling, Metro finance director. “I think the potential is unlimited. Whatever gets done needs to enhance the Ryman, and have some sort of green space. I don’t know what the right answer is.”

Should the city level the old convention center and offer the land up for redevelopment to the higher bidder? Build a park? A downtown high school? Or (please, no) another high-rise condo tower?

My first thought is that I’d like to see a public space along the lines of the public square in front of the Metro Courthouse that features a parking garage beneath it. This would be a good balance between pragmatism and aesthetics, in my opinion. It would be challenging to make that kind of public square or space work since the property slopes downhill toward the river, but I think it’s workable. I’d like to see a study committee of some sort take on the task of determining the best use of the property for the city, and the fate the old thermal transfer site that may or may not become a minor league baseball stadium needs to be decided, too. The former needs to precede the latter, I think. Together these two properties represent major opportunities to make downtown more welcoming, more attractive and more cosmopolitan for all of us.