The Cumberland Region in 2000
A Report to the Region, pg 4-5 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
The Cumberland Region is made up of 3.4 million acres in ten counties. Over 1.4 million people call it home. Located in the center of Middle Tennessee, the region consists of Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties.
These ten counties are the population and economic center of Middle Tennessee. Unlike metropolitan areas such as Atlanta or Chicago, most of the 34 cities and 20 towns of the Cumberland Region are physically separate. Residents of the region, however, are interdependent, with daily living, shopping and working patterns crossing many political, economic and geographic boundaries.
Read More»The Creation of Cumberland Region Tomorrow
A Report to the Region, pg 6 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
Cumberland Region Tomorrow (CRT) was founded in 2000 as an outgrowth on a regional planning summit sponsored by Vanderbilt University and the Greater Nashville Regional Council the previous year. The 1999 summit was organized around issues raised by the Pierce Report, a series of articles in The Tennessean, that explored current and future growth issues for the region. The study was sponsored by the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies and The Tennessean. Much discussion at and after the 1999 summit centered on the need for a regional, citizen-based organization to bring attention to growth-related issues. CRT is that organization.
Read More»The Cumberland Region In the Past Decade
A Report to the Region, pg 7 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
The Cumberland Region’s population and land development exploded in the 1990’s. Total population increased by 22 percent, a growth of approximately 250,000 residents. This population growth was accompanied by a jump in employment which increased by 38 percent.
In 1990, the Cumberland Region was one of the least congested mid-sized regions but it has now become the most congested area of its size in the country. Between 1990 and 2000, daily per capita driving in the Nashville metropolitan area increased from 30 miles per person per day to 37.5 miles per person per day. Time lost waiting in traffic also increased substantially during the same decade. Longer commutes and time spent in traffic increases the cost of fuel consumption and contributes significantly to air pollution.
Read More»The Regional Visioning Process
A Report to the Region, pg 8 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
One of the basic tenets of CRT is the concept that we in the region can guide our growth. We also believe that by working together we can develop new ideas to change the direction that current trends take us. There are many reasons to do so: the savings in infrastructure dollars, the revitalization of our cities and towns, the improvements in our environment. However, all of these will only be possible if we as a region can agree to a common vision, one that will engender enough support from enough people that change is feasible. This vision must be based on a core set of common values; it must solve real, critical problems without making things worse; and it must be achievable.
Read More»Development Trends and Growth Projections
A Report to the Region, pg 8-10 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
In order to predict growth and development patterns relating to our region, CRT first identified the following indicators and trends utilizing the most up-to-date data available. Primary sources used included census data, information from government agencies and professional consultants. Learn More about projections for:
- Population and Household Growth
- Employment Growth
- Use of the Land
- Commute Patterns
- Traffic Congestion
- Infrastructure Costs
- Cities and Towns
- Air and Water
Regional Involvement
A Report to the Region, pg 11 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
One of the most popular tools in recent years has been the use of workshops or charettes as a technique for involving citizens in developing solutions to planning problems. This method invites citizens to apply their common sense and local knowledge to find solutions to planning problems in their area. Processes vary widely, but typically participants work in groups on maps of their area. This method is a marriage of GIS modeling techniques and a neighborhood workshop process. Workshops are often popular but the real test is if results can lead to solution that are useable in developing realistic plans.
Read More»Defining and Projecting the Base Case Scenario
A Report to the Region, pg 12 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
To establish a Base Case scenario, the first step was to gather approximately 150 regional leaders in several workshops in May 2001. Workshop participants used regional maps and CRT trend data to forecast where growth and development would most likely occur in the next 20 years. After review of the workshop maps and a compilation of growth estimates by planning professionals, the Base Case map exhibiting trend projections was completed. The resulting Base Case map is the foundation of the Base Case scenario in which growth trends, based on statistical data, are graphically displayed.
Read More»Developing Guiding Tenets for Cumberland Region Tomorrow
A Report to the Region, pg 12-13 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
Following the basic philosophy of CRT, that we can guide our growth by working together to develop new ideas, CRT held a series of public workshops in October 2001. More than 350 citizens worked together to capture ideas on how to grow while maintaining excellent quality of life standards in the Cumberland Region. Part of the workshops’ activity was to bring to light and discuss shared values of the region’s residents which would come to represent a set of guiding tenets for CRT’s future work and activities. When we discuss the future, we will try to consistently use these tenets to evaluate growth choices and consequences of decisions. Working together we can help decide whether our values can be retained or enhanced in the future. The tenets are intended to identify the reasons people enjoy living here, the things they would like to see changed, and the aspects they would like to retain as the region grows and develops.
Read More»Determining the Alternate Case Scenario
A Report to the Region, pg 14 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
During the workshops in October 2001, we asked residents to help in developing different growth scenarios based on current trends and desirable alternatives. Participants used large-scale maps of the region to redistribute such factors as population, development and housing across the region while maintaining the numbers of forecasted growth. This second set of workshops produced three distinct growth scenarios. Each contained alternate growth patterns we would prefer to see in the future to avoid the problems associated with the Base Case scenario.
Read More»Comparison of the Base and Alternate Case Scenarios
A Report to the Region, pg 15 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF
After the May and October 2001 workshops were completed, the resulting maps were digitized and the map images you see in this report were created. Using computer- imaging software developed for CRT we are able to graphically represent the Base Case scenario and Alternative Case scenario. Base Case represents what would happen in the region over the next 20 years without any changes to current growth management practices. Alternative Case represents what can happen in the region over the next 20 years if different growth patterns and strategies in keeping with the CRT guiding tenets are realized.
Read More»
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