This isn’t the first time Nashville’s Black residents have been displaced. Those who can afford the new and revamped housing surrounding downtown typically aren’t longtime Black residents.” As the Tennessean reported in 2017: “Like the rest of the nation, Davidson county’s socio-economic divisions tend to fall along racial lines. According to the last census, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin is over 70% white. While a 2016 report compiled by the metro planning department estimated that Nashville “will have a demographic makeup of 32% White, 27% Black, 7% other, and 34% Hispanic” by 2040, it is less than clear whether downtown Nashville will ever be that diverse. Henrietta Myers, director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Nashville, rehearses with her quintet of singers for a concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, September 1952. (The chain has plans for two more locations in greater Nashville.) Within a year of the Crave opening its doors, the first Whole Foods in downtown Nashville opened its doors on Broadway Street in 2020. City Heights is home to apartment complexes like the Crave, which promises its residents “modern finishes on the inside and industrial vibes on the outside”. The name City Heights, coined 10 years ago in a room full of real estate developers and agents hoping to rebrand north-west Nashville, has stuck. Today, the postindustrial area north-west of downtown – now rebranded as City Heights – looks like SoDoSoPa, South Park’s parody of luxury apartment neighborhoods. In the mid-20th century, greater Nashville was a hub for Black Americans, a mecca for jazz, blues and R&B. The house cost $219,000, with $10,000 returned to her at closing for repairs that needed to be made. With a first-time homebuyer’s incentive on an FHA loan, she only had to put down 3.5%. Living in the RV, she was able to save up money for a down payment. She bought it in 2019, right before the pandemic inflated prices. Tiffany is one of the lucky ones: she would have been priced out of her neighborhood, despite its reputation, if she had waited to purchase her home. When it comes to housing, Tiffany is one of the lucky ones. Yet, like so many musicians who moved here to chase a dream, Tiffany hasn’t made any money off her music. She’s performed all over the city, and even recorded an album. Since moving to Nashville, Tiffany has written and co-written songs for other musicians. That weekend, she was organizing Music City Mamas, an event that would bring together Nashville moms who are also musicians, as well as putting together Calliope’s 10th birthday party at Dave & Buster’s. It’s exhausting, and it just ruins your vehicle,” she told me as Calliope chased their three-legged cat around.īut Lyft’s flexible schedule allows Tiffany to be a mom and the flexibility she needs to write, perform and record music. She had to drive in the morning before it got hot in the afternoon. When her car’s air conditioning broke this summer, it was too expensive to fix. When I told her my address, she was like, ‘Never mind, I don’t want to get shot.’”Īfter she drops Calliope off at school, Tiffany drives for Lyft. “There was this one woman on Facebook Marketplace,” Tiffany told me as we sat in her music room, “who was supposed to pick up a chair. While their neighborhood is just a 15-minute drive from the famous Broadway Street, it still has a bad reputation. Their RV, which was their home for three years, is parked in the backyard. Tiffany and Calliope now live in a duplex in North Nashville. Tiffany Gassette with the car she uses to work as a Lyft driver at her home in Nashville.
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