Hope Gardens

I’ve said this of other areas, and Hope Gardens also merits it: what you see on the outer edges of this neighborhood isn’t what you’ll find further in.

The boundaries of the Hope Gardens area are business or industrial areas, and some of those lots look rather bleak. (All asphalt, no greenery—that type of thing.) But Hope Gardens is one of the city’s revitalization areas; things look a lot better on those inner streets. I’m even hearing rumors of a community garden down here, although I’ve not yet found it.

One caveat: this area is across Rosa L. Parks Boulevard (formerly 8th Avenue North) from the Farmers’ Market. The flood waters that wrecked the Farmers’ Market so badly reached over in here as well.

I have not been inside any of the Hope Gardens buildings since the flood, so I’m not sure how internal repairs are going here. I can tell you that from the outside everything looks normal—but that could be said of the Farmers’ Market, as well.

Still, Hope Gardens is getting added to my “places to watch” list. If you need to get out here, you can. Five different MTA buses serve the Hope Garden area.

Hope Gardens is new to the Nashville area situated near 8th Avenue South and Jefferson Street. The area is home to the Farmers Market which offers weekly deals on items such as produce and baked goods as well as household items and personal items. Many of the homes in the area are mixed homes and are single family homes. There are a number of condos that can be bought or even rented in the area as well.

You will enjoy the view that you get from here as you get a nice view of the Capital Building from here. Metro Center is not to far away and is home to numerous state offices as well as businesses. Some of the restaurants that you can enjoy in Metro Center consist of KFC, Long John Silvers, Subway and McDonalds. There are a few sit down restaurants that can be visited as well but keep in mind that during the day, these locations are going to be even busier with all the members of the workforce taking their lunches on their lunch breaks.

The Bicentennial Mall is a great location to visit on a Saturday morning or afternoon once you are done looking around the farmers market and can allow the children a chance to get out and run around to get rid of some of their energy.

Germantown is not to far away and offers a small number of restaurants and shops as well. Depending on what you are looking for will depend on if you will need to travel closer into Downtown to find what you are looking for or further out of town.

Hope Gardens is a fairly new neighborhood on the scene. Located across 8th Ave. South (now Rosa Parks) from the Farmer's Market, it is bordered on the other sides by Jefferson St., Herman, St. and the interstate. It is a mixed housing area, consisting of delightful single family homes, and the more high end 8.9 condos.

There is a great view of the Capitol from the area, and Metro Center, Germantown, and downtown are very close. Bicentennial Mall, located behind the Farmer's Market, offers a peaceful getaway in the middle of downtown. People walk their dogs and ride bicycles there.

There are a lot of great places to eat nearby including Jamaicaway, inside the Farmer's Market, Monell's, Germantown Cafe, Mary's Old Fashioned Barbecue, and my favorite, the Mad Platter.