HOMES

Uber, Lyft help revitalize Nashville's urban core

Bill Lewis
For The Tennessean
Michael Giles, who has owned a home in Hope Gardens for eight years, believes Uber and Lyft are encouraging development in the surrounding neighborhoods near Jefferson Street.

Uber and Lyft, the Internet-based ride-sharing services, provide a convenient and quick way to get around Nashville. Another side benefit of the services: They're encouraging redevelopment of neighborhoods around downtown.

“Uber and Lyft are changing the landscape of how people work and live their lives,” said developer Khira Turner.

She and her husband, Julian Jobe, operate Turner Investments, which builds new homes in the Hope Gardens and Elizabeth Park neighborhoods north of downtown, as well as the area around Fisk University and Meharry Medical College.

Those neighborhoods, close to downtown but farther than many people would want to walk, are attracting residents of new or renovated homes as well as tourists staying at Airbnb rentals, and Turner believes the availability of Uber and Lyft is one of the reasons why. Using the smartphone app, a customer can request a car and be on the road within minutes.

“What it’s doing for the neighborhoods near downtown Nashville is amazing. This is changing the game,” said Turner, who regularly uses the ride-sharing services to travel downtown from her home in Hope Gardens, which is located near the Nashville Farmers' Market.

She typically pays just a few dollars in fare, much less than the cost of parking downtown, where double-digit fees are common and lots and garages quickly fill up during events.

“I can push this button and they’re here in five minutes. Uber and Lyft simplify things,” she said.

Khira Turner and her husband, Julian Jobe, who own Turner Investments, built this home in the Buena Vista and Elizabeth Park area. Turner Investments builds new homes in the Hope Gardens and Elizabeth Park neighborhoods north of downtown, as well as the area around Fisk University and Meharry Medical College.

Michael Giles, who has owned a home in Hope Gardens for eight years, believes Uber and Lyft are encouraging development in the surrounding neighborhoods near Jefferson Street.

“It’s a sign of progress,” he said.

Giles operates a home-based business during the week and drives for Uber and Lyft on the weekends. His peak times are midnight to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and on Sunday mornings, when tourists head to Nashville International Airport.

“Almost all of it is in the core city,” including Buena Vista on the north side, Germantown and East Nashville, he said.

Without those ride-sharing services, Giles believes travel to and from neighborhoods like Hope Gardens would be more difficult because taxis are not always available.

“When I lived in Green Hills, I never had a problem getting a cab. I moved to Hope Gardens and cabs just weren’t showing up over here. Guests at my home and people using Airbnbs weren’t able to get cabs,” he said.

His customers are a combination of residents and tourists staying at short-term rentals in those neighborhoods. Most of them want to travel to or from the Lower Broadway entertainment district.

The fare to Lower Broadway from Buena Vista, north of Jefferson Street on the west side of Rosa Parks Boulevard, is $8, said Giles.

“I think Uber and Lyft make Nashville’s tourism industry possible,” he said.

Scott Troxel, a Realtor with Keller Williams and president-elect of the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, said ride-sharing services are opening more neighborhoods to redevelopment.

“I would say that’s true. You hear about Uber and Lyft being more a part of the transit system,” he said.

Michael Giles, who has owned a home in Hope Gardens for eight years, believes Uber and Lyft are encouraging development in the surrounding neighborhoods near Jefferson Street.

Even before those ride-sharing services were available, homes in neighborhoods with easy access commanded higher prices, said Troxel.

“I’ve had people say, ‘If we can be in walking distance (of a certain destination) we can pay more. Outside of walking distance, we have to pay less because we’ll have to buy a second car,' ” he said.

Now Uber and Lyft are broadening the area buyers are willing to consider.

“Uber is such an easy option for arranging a pickup, and the fare is reasonable,” said Troxel.

Chad Wohlers, a Realtor with Parks who lives in the Twelve Twelve condos in the Gulch, believes the ride-sharing services are encouraging homebuyers to consider urban neighborhoods across the city.

“It’s like another form of public transportation,’ said Wohlers. “Uber and Lyft have changed the game. They tap into an urban lifestyle.”