‘It City,’ 10 years later

In 2013, The New York Times dubbed Nashville the “It City.”

Over the past 10 years, that moniker has become synonymous with Nashville’s explosive growth and the influx of new money and new people into the city. It’s also become a fixture in conversations about who has benefitted from Nashville’s expansion and who it has left behind.

Today, on the one year anniversary of the very first episode of This Is Nashville, we’re sitting down with Nashville natives, longtime residents, transplants and the author of that 2013 article to discuss what “it city” means to them, and their hopes for its future.

Guests: 

• Kim Severson, national food correspondent for The New York Times and author of the article that dubbed Nashville the “It City”
• Tom Morales, Nashville native and founder of TomKats Hospitality
• Charles “Wigg” Walker, Nashville native, soul and blues singer
• Brendan McLenaghan, transplant who moved to Nashville in summer 2022
• Judith Clerjeune, Nashville resident since 2008 and Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition campaigns and advocacy director

Related reading: 

• New York Times: Nashville’s Latest Big Hit Could Be the City Itself
• Nashville Scene: How did Nashville get to be the ‘It’ City? Our timeline is full of ‘it.’