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Writer's pictureMarina Tadrous

The Binaries of Nashville

The only city I have ever lived in is Nashville, Tennessee. Consequently, I am confident that I understand the dynamics of the city. The core part of downtown is overrun by “cool,” mostly white, young, recent graduates. To satisfy their demands, trendy restaurants and “gentrification style” apartment buildings populate the landscape. Very few families actually live in the dense part of downtown. The high prices, business catered to millennials, and minimal space are not incentivizing to those with kids.

Broadway Street: Nashville's main tourist street.

Surrounding the core of downtown, to the south, is the more spacious part of Nashville. I mentally categorize this area into two parts, the right wing and the left wing. The right wing is where Nashville’s ultra-rich families typically reside. The left is where the lower class and lower-middle class families tend to live. It has always been interesting to me that the poorest and richest parts of Nashville mirror each other in location. The right hosts most country music stars, gated golf course communities, and little diversity while the left hosts immigrants from all regions of the world, international markets, and diverse restaurants. Right outside of downtown is the suburbs, which are a bit less binary but still follow the general “left right pattern.”

Centennial Park: Downtown's most popular park.

Up until first grade I lived near downtown on the left side. My parents had only immigrated from Egypt a few years prior, so they didn’t have much money. Despite being culturally and socially rich, living on the left didn’t promise good public schools or safety. Once we could afford it my family moved from downtown to the suburbs, barely entering the right side. I went from having an extremely diverse community to being one of the few kids at my school who wasn’t white. I felt like I was living a double life. We would spend our weekends on the left side at a majority Egyptian church. Monday through Friday I was a “normal” American kid while on Saturday and Sunday I was the daughter of immigrants speaking Arabic and eating wark enab.

My friends and I exploring the city.

This dichotomy is probably why I view cities the way that I do. The first aspect I notice is a human one. Who lives where, why do they choose to live there, and what differences are there between the many breakdowns of a city? To me, this is the first step when trying to understand a city. Cities are solely made by people and for people so naturally I believe it is right to understand our motives and choices as human beings first.


(All photos taken are mine)

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