Bells Bend meeting tonight

In recent meetings, developers eying Bells Bend (located across the Cumberland River from Charlotte Park) have proposed plans that included constructing a Cumberland River bridge connecting Bells Bend to West Nashville.

From the Metro Planning Department's website, with links added by The Charlotte Parker:

The latest in a series of community meetings on growth and development in the Bells Bend area begins at 6 pm Tuesday, April 29, at the Scottsboro Community Club, 5201 Old Hydes Ferry Pike. Planners will continue their discussion of development and economic issues, and a revised plan for the May Town Center will be presented.

Additional meetings are scheduled on May 15 and June 17.

For tonight's agenda and details from previous meetings, visit the Planning Department's website.

Previous coverage of Bells Bend can be read here.

Biannual sale at World Market: 25% off this weekend

World Market, the home entertaining and gifts retailer in Nashville West shopping center, is hosting a "Friends and Family Days" sale today through Sunday. The 25% discount promotion is offered twice a year -- now and right before Christmas, according to manager Beth Wannemacher.

Wannemacher added that customers can take advantage of the discount by simply mentioning the "Friends and Family online promotion" to the cashier if they don't bring a coupon.

"And they have to wink," Wannemacher said, laughing. "Just kidding."

Store hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. To sign up for World Market promotional emails, click here. For a map, click here.

Curbside recycling accepts plastic

From Metro Public Works, via email from Charlotte Park Neighborhood Association:

CURBY RECYCLING NOW ACCEPTS PLASTIC

You can recycle PLASTIC BOTTLES & CONTAINERS in Metro's Curbside Recycling Program. In addition to newspaper, cardboard, all types of mixed paper, aluminum cans, and metal food cans, PLASTIC BOTTLES & CONTAINERS are now also included in the recycling carts.

Recycling PLASTIC BOTTLES & CONTAINERS with Curby is easy:
1. Empty contents. You do not need to remove the labels or lids.
2. Place empty PLASTIC BOTTLES & CONTAINERS in your Curby cart along with your other recyclables.

YES:
All plastic bottles and containers (margarine, butter, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc.) labeled 1-7

NO:
No black plastic, baskets, clamshells (fast food take out), or Styrofoam.

For more information, please call 880-1000 or visit our website at www.nashville.gov/recycle.

Fun Times at Blue Moon Lagoon!

Our first Charlotte Park neighborhood meet-up on Sunday afternoon was a great success! We sat out on the dock at the Blue Moon Lagoon restaurant and enjoyed live music, great food, and most of all, great company. On my walk through the neighborhood today, I was so pleased to be able to point to several more houses and say, "I know who lives there!" For those of you who couldn't make it, fear not -- I'll be planning another get-together sometime soon. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Neighborhood Get-together!

Hello fellow Charlotte Parkers!

My family and I have lived in Charlotte Park for seven years now, and I've often lamented the fact that besides our immediate neighbors, we don't know many people in the neighborhood. I'd like to change that, and I thought a get-together at the fabulous Blue Moon might be a good way to start.

A few weeks ago, I sent out an email suggesting a neighborhood get-together, and since then, several members have responded to me indicating their interest. So I thought I'd put it out there again, with a date this time!

Mark it down on your calendars: Blue Moon Lagoon, Sunday, April 20, at 4:00 pm. The Blue Moon Lagoon website is http://bluemoonlagoontn.com/, and the restaurant is located at the Rock Harbor Marina, at 525 Basswood Drive.

If you know folks in the neighborhood who aren't on this listserv but who you think would like to attend, by all means extend the invitation. The more the merrier!

If you would, please let me know if you plan on coming, and how many people you'll bring, so I can have as accurate a head-count as possible. Feel free to email me with any questions/comments as well. I hope to see many of you there!

Best,
Kate Wingate
kzwingate@yahoo.com

One year and counting

From the editor ...

In April 2007, news of the planned reopening of Blue Moon restaurant in Charlotte Park inspired me to take an idea for a hyper-local news site about my own neighborhood and turn it into a reality.

TheCharlotteParker.com was born on April 6, 2007, and the inaugural post "Blue Moon restaurant to return to Rock Harbor marina" kicked off neighborhood news coverage here. The prospect of having Blue Moon's cool beverages and mellow outdoor dining within walking distance jump-started my interest in and curiosity about my neighborhood, Charlotte Park.

At the time, I was giddy and overwhelmed with all the possibilities of The Charlotte Parker. I imagined posting stories daily, featuring profiles of interesting neighbors and shedding light on important local issues. I also hoped to meet a lot of neighbors, and I even dreamed of organizing block parties and fundraisers for neighborhood projects.

While many of my initial ideas now are featured on The Charlotte Parker's homepage - neighborhood calendar and map, a group discussion list, and an easy email subscription box - not all of my grand plans have come to pass, yet. Still, The Charlotte Parker has had a successful first year.

News coverage has been pretty diverse: from river-flooding threats and development issues to yard sales and store openings and closings. Also, I've had the pleasure of connecting with many neighbors in person and online. Perhaps most notably, neighbor Kate Wingate has joined me in posting stories here, and just as her enthusiasm has inspired me, I hope it encourages other neighbors to join us in posting news and information. (Interested? Shoot me an email.) Finally, I'm happy to report Kate has planned a neighborhood get-together for this Sunday - at Blue Moon Lagoon, of course.

I'm proud to be a Charlotte Parker. It's been fun and deeply rewarding to cover our neighborhood, and I hope you'll stay tuned.

Here are some geeky statistics from Google Analytics, which has been tracking site traffic for The Charlotte Parker since April 8, 2007. Highlights from the first year:

Visitors

6,121 visits

4,202 absolute unique visitors

16.72 average visits per day

Comparison: First 3 months/last 3 months

1,371/2,243 visits

847/1,675 absolute unique visitors

15.07/24.65 average visits per day

Visitor trends (for the year)

1.95 pageviews per visit

1:53 average time on site

31% returning visitors, 69% new visitors

Traffic sources

14% direct, 27% referring sites, 59% search engines

Top referring sites: Enclave (264 visits), Tennessean (230), NashvillePost (103)

Top keyword search terms: "blue moon lagoon nashville" (157), "charlotte parker" (138), "nashville west stores" (94)

Content

Top viewed stories: Blue Moon to return (1,015), Stores coming to Nashville West (993), Stores now open (501)

Highest-traffic dates: March 24 following H.G. Hill closing story (189 visits), June 5 Store removes gay newspaper (86), March 17 following World Market video (49)