iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The "safer" route using Riverside and Greenwood actually runs through THREE OTHER elementary school districts! Dan Mills then Inglewood then Rosebank, and finally back across Gallatin into my zone! I would also consider Chadwell, to the north of my house, to be more bike accessible...

Screen capture of the school district map between my house (top middle) and my zoned elementary school (bottom left).

Custom bike route from my house to my zoned elementary school, which runs through three other elementary school districts.

270

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

If you're ever debating whether it is worthwhile to make time for the gym in your weekly routine, just know that your ass might be posted in the NY Times without your consent. Don't gotta get ready if you stay ready, I'm learning.

Photograph frmo a recent NY Time article showing a badass man operating a chop saw and my fat behind in the background

1150

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

The work that Urban3 does to visualize this phenomenon makes the degree to the subsidy so plain. Totally changed my understanding, and did a lot to bolster my "literally everything about your life gets better with more density" worldview.

Example Urban 3 revenue modeling visualization

040

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

What nobody is telling you about the new greenway boardwalk: it smells INCREDIBLE! Totally different aromatic experience than the ped bridge or the paved greenway below.

New greenway connector around Ascend Amphitheater smells amazing. Fresh cut cedar (or some other wood species, idk) is so good

070

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

I’m a big fan of Hoboken, but comparing Davidson County to a few hundred blocks of intensely urban gridded streets with literally zero highway miles is not a comparison worth making, imo. Here’s basically all of Hoboken and downtown Nashville at the same scale:

Two maps, same scale. Top map is almost the entirety of Hoboken, NJ and the bottom is downtown Nashville, TN.

110

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Look, I love trains as much as the next guy, but somebody has obviously been taking it too far…

CSX train car with the words “DO NOT HUMP” written boldly on the side.

6963

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Especially “funny” considering NACTO, the urban design standard that Nashville claims to aspire to, clearly state that gutter width doesn’t count as bike lane width!

NACTO design guidance for constrained bike lanes

010

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

The only one that is recognizable from space, or course!

Ellington spaghetti - probably won some sort of "throughput maximization" award in 1969.

140

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Is it worse than the St. Louis Amtrak station that is literally underneath an interstate on ramp and requires at least a 1/4 mile walk through desolate parking lots to get anywhere cool?

000

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

An entire Dutch style protected intersection would fit at Clarksville & Buena Vista without changing the number of through lanes in any direction…

020

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Really gonna need news organizations and police to stop saying people are "outside the crosswalk" when state law says that all intersections of public roads are legal crossings and there is no law against crossing outside of a crosswalk anyway... Link: www.tn.gov/tdot/local-p...

Tennessee state law explainer for pedestrians in the public ROW. Link: https://www.tn.gov/tdot/local-programs-community-investments/community-investments-office/bicycle-and-pedestrian-program/resources11/tennesse-pedestrian-laws.html

2140

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

It is fine to root for sportsmen who do not share your political affiliation. It's not like you have to talk to them for hours next Thanksgiving or something.

010

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

I've been having the hardest time visualizing this overlay on the existing conditions, so I made this quick version for reference!

East Bend streets plan overlaid on the existing aerial via Google Maps

171

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

When I’m finally appointed as Chief Depaving Officer, Davidson Street may well become my magnus opus. That or this absolute catastrophe:

090

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Wishing all my people a very “lay in the sunshine” kinda Sunday

090

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Currently enjoying the urbanism of Ann Arbor 🥰

150

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

When I did TCLA, we took a trip out to see “transit oriented development” in Mt. Juliet where they showed us a mixed use apartment building with a few shops that was meant to connect directly to the train platform across the tracks until the railroad said they *couldn’t* connect across the tracks 🤦🏻

Map showing walking directions from train station to “transit oriented development”

2120

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

My little guy is getting this one when we get back into town!

260

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

The Inglewood Express never disappoints! Front door to downtown in 20 minutes. A nice little walk to warm things up, then I get to play on my phone for 15 minutes of chauffeured luxury 😊

3721

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Bus rider etiquette: if you bring your adorable dog onboard, you must let me pet it

010

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Shelby Park baseball fields with the some of the finest men Nashville can muster The sandlot community here is unbelievable - a true salve in these trying times

180

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Here is the material - nicely designed stuff!

110

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Can we add a concrete island “thumbnail” in front of the crosswalk on the west side of the project? There shouldn’t ever be cars in that space anyway and it would make that area into a comfortable refuge!

030

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Didn’t get a picture of the natural park due to the child wrangling involved, but it was seriously impressive! Play street was really cool - one block of a neighborhood street blocked off with plastic barriers. Totally operated by neighbors with permission and support (materials) from the city!

140

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Or at least put a BCycle Station out there!

Bicycle directions from BNA to a random point in Wedgewood-Houston

320

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

I’ve never enjoyed a walk home more than this one right here. Shout out to Inglewood Lounge for having my food ready when I stepped off the bus!

030

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Back on my BS* *bus stuff Much easier to order takeout while riding the bus than pulling over in your car so you can time up the food order before you arrive. Just another perk of riding over driving

120

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Bus dropped me off across the street from my destination. No need to fuss with parking or walking the extra block to the garage!

140

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

This 34 bus is so fast I almost forgot to take a bus selfie before we got downtown! What a service

140

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

It’s all downhill, my friend. Seemed too short tbh. Inglewood’s best kept secret, the 34 express bus to downtown will get me there (hopefully) on time! Luckily this automotive shop sign just happens to provide ample shade at exactly this moment

040

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

The journey to the mega meeting begins with a brisk 7 minute walk to the bus stop on a beautiful afternoon!

1100

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

The fact that this can be spontaneously converted into tour bus parking is a pretty strong argument for the “center turn lanes on bridges are superfluous” camp

Two tour buses parked on the Demonbruen viaduct

070

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

“See if you play the first three innings really hard, call that Game 1. Now I’m onto Game 2 in the 4th. By the time we’re in the late innings, I’ve already played in three games in one day…”

020

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Here is what Brick Church Pike looks like at this location Wide, arrow straight, poorly defined, no vertical elements to provide a sense of enclosure / visually narrow the road, sidewalks mere inches away from 40 mph traffic This is what bad design looks like and it is epidemic in Davidson Co

2400 block of Brick Church Pike circa 2023.

040

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

One last thing: the six lane design is an obvious violation of Executive Order #45. There is no plausible argument that including bike infrastructure on a brand new road of unlimited ROW width is difficult or impossible! What is the point of EOs anyway? www.nashville.gov/departments/...

Guiding Principles of EO #45 - Green and Complete Streets Policy

170

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Here is a screen shot of their published priorities for the East Bank Boulevard and the results of the literal survey of what Nashville residents want to see on the East Bank. Not only is the six lane option an inherently dangerous hypocrisy - it is in direct opposition to the will of the people!

What are your mobility priorities for work on the East Bank? survey question results

151

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

That appears to have built to the New Construction Commercial Driveway detail that NDOT uses, instead of the New Construction Curb Ramp detail - see both below for comparison! Easy to get these mixed up, and one reason I have asked NDOT to reconsider the 1.5" lip on their driveway detail

NDOT's standard new construction commercial driveway detail: https://filetransfer.nashville.gov/portals/0/sitecontent/pw/docs/drawings/ST324_may0803.pdf

NDOT's new construction curb ramp detail: https://filetransfer.nashville.gov/portals/0/sitecontent/pw/docs/drawings/st320.pdf

170

Chris Bowe @cbowe34.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

A good rule of thumb for whether a bike lane is wide enough: If you can’t fit the entire bike lane graphic in the actual width of the bike lane, it’s too narrow! Gutters don’t count as lane width per the official NACTO and FHWA guidance cc: @nashvilledot.bsky.social

Photo of a “bike lanes” on Greenfield Ave, Nashville, TN

2545