There’s a pretty big conversation happening in Nashville right now about the future of the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
And while I completely understand that there are legitimate arguments on both sides — housing, green space, noise, infrastructure, history, economics and what COULD make the most sense for Nashville long-term — there’s one part of this conversation I keep coming back to.
Sometimes what looks like “just a hobby” to one person is a really big part of someone else’s life.
I’m a soccer mom, so maybe that’s why this hits me a little differently. My son plays soccer. At the end of the day, soccer is technically a recreational activity. Racing is, too, for many of the people who participate in it. But if you've ever watched a kid completely fall in love with something, you know it's rarely just the activity.
It's the practices. The discipline. The friendships. The excitement leading up to the weekend.
It's having somewhere to be and something to work toward.
It's learning how to lose, how to improve, how to listen, how to work with other people and how to get back up when something doesn't go your way.
For one kid, that might happen on a soccer field. For another, it's baseball, dance, theater, music or FFA.
And for another kid, it might happen in a garage with their dad, working on a race car and counting down the days until they get back to the track.
So what's actually happening at the Fairgrounds?
A coalition seeking to change the future of the Nashville Fairgrounds recently submitted nearly 75,000 petition signatures.
If enough signatures are certified, Nashville voters could ultimately be asked whether the Metro Charter should be changed so that auto racing is no longer a required use of the Fairgrounds property.
Those supporting the change have raised legitimate questions about noise, environmental impact, surrounding neighborhoods, affordable housing, green space and how Nashville should use valuable public property.
Those fighting to preserve racing see something different. They see history. They see generations of families who have spent weekends there. They see a racing community and a Nashville tradition worth preserving.
And I think both deserve to be part of the conversation.
Nashville is changing. We get it.
That's something I see constantly in real estate. We're growing. Land is becoming more valuable. Housing affordability matters. Infrastructure matters. Neighborhoods evolve. Those aren't small issues, and I don't think we should pretend they are.
But as Nashville grows, I also think we have to be careful that we're not so focused on what we can build next that we forget to ask what we're removing in the process. Not everything valuable can be measured by the highest and best use of a piece of land.
Sometimes the value is community.
Sometimes it's tradition.
Sometimes it's giving people — especially young people — somewhere to belong.
That's the part I don't want us to overlook.
I'm not going to tell anyone how they should vote if this ultimately makes it onto the ballot. But I am going to encourage people to look beyond the surface of the conversation.
Read what the proposed amendment actually says. Learn about the concerns of the surrounding neighborhoods. Learn about the history of the Speedway.
Ask questions about the housing and green-space proposals. Ask what renovation and continued racing would mean for taxpayers and the surrounding area. And listen to the families who use that track, too.
Because maybe racing isn't your thing. It isn't everyone's.
But neither is soccer.
And every weekend, parents all over Middle Tennessee load folding chairs, coolers, cleats, uniforms and entirely too much stuff into their cars because somewhere along the way, their kid found their thing.
For some families, that thing happens to have four tires and a checkered flag.
As Nashville decides what the next chapter of the Fairgrounds should look like, I hope we don't reduce this conversation to simply racetrack versus development. There are people, families, history and community attached to that pavement.
And whatever Nashville ultimately decides, I think that's worth remembering.
