With $2M in participatory budget funding, North Nashville residents focus on parks and transit

North Nashville and Bordeaux residents want to spend $2 million from the city on a new pavilion at the Bordeaux Gardens Park, air conditioning for the gym at the Looby community center, and six other projects.

“Basically I grew up in Looby community center since I was about six,” 21-year-old Jayden Lockett says. “And it used to be worse than this. We used to have like three big ol’ fans, especially in the summer. We need the A/C for real.”

Last summer, Nashville officials gave Bordeaux and some North Nashville residents limited power to spend $2 million.

Since then, residents in the area have created rules for the process, submitted ideas and voted on proposals.This is called “participatory budgeting,” and it’s Nashville’s first time using this process.

Ericka Dixie, a librarian at Alex Green Elementary who lives in Bordeaux, was one of 17 budget delegates that helped flesh out project proposals and make sure they had broad impact.

“I think this went for all of us — we just didn’t have a clue how expensive sidewalks were,” she says. “So we couldn’t afford sidewalks, and that was the biggest need.”

She says the first round was a good starting place, and that she wants more money to fund sidewalks.

The process is being used as North Nashville recovers from devastation by the 2020 tornadoes, residents are being displaced by gentrification, and the neighborhood continues to struggle from historic neglect by the city.

In recent years, organizers have demanded residents have a larger role in setting the city’s overall spending.

Here are the eight projects getting money:

• A new pavilion, pathway, fencing, upgraded playground with new equipment and rubber surfacing and picnic tables at Bordeaux Gardens Park (1490 Snell Boulevard)
• An air conditioning system for the gym at the Looby Community Center (2301 Rosa Parks Boulevard)
• Six sets of speed bumps on Hinkle Drive in the Bordeaux Hills neighborhood
• Improve outdoor restroom facilities at Hartman Park (2801 Tucker Road)
• Better playground with new equipment, rubber surfacing and ramps for increased access
• Landscape improvements at Hartman Park
• New signage to designate the Buchanan Arts District
• More bus shelters

The mayor and Metro council have renewed participatory budgeting funding for this fiscal year. By fiscal year 2023 $4 million will go to districts 1, 2, 3 and 19.

Since city officials decided to take the funding from the capital budget, they are limited by law to only spend money for infrastructure. That means funding a new community center, for example, wouldn’t be eligible because they’d have to pay to hire and keep staff.

The mayor’s office points to other investments in the area like a new fire station, maintenance and upgrades to schools, stormwater mitigation projects, and new bus stops and shelters.

Tony Gonzalez contributed reporting to this story.

Clarification: This story originally stated that $4 million has been allocated to four Metro districts for participatory budgeting. The reference to the fiscal year during which that will take place has been revised for clarity.