Did you know that 95 new retail businesses either opened or announced future locations in downtown Nashville last year?

That's just one insight from the Nashville Downtown Partnership's 2023 Annual Report, which offers a snapshot of economic development and market trends shaping the downtown core. Whether you call downtown home or just work or play there, let’s dig into the key findings.

Live

Downtown is home to 17,630 residents, up from 16,302 the previous year.
There are currently 4,400 units under construction and 14,530 planned units.
The largest cohort of downtown residents is Baby Boomers at 35%, followed by Generation Z at 31%, and Millennials at 27%.
62% of residents identify walkability as their primary reason for living downtown.

Work

71% of all downtown businesses are locally owned.
There are 78,000 workers employed downtown.
The downtown office vacancy rate is currently at 11.5%.

It's your special day, Nashville. | Photo by @proofbranding

Play

6.4 million people visited Fifth + Broadway for dining, shopping, and events.
250,000 people gathered in Nashville for the 2023 Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th event.
NDP hosted over 1,100 free programs with 16,000+ participants in Church Street Park. Pro tip: Bookmark the calendar for 2024 programming.

The report also revisits a study on downtown recovery rates, released last fall, which found that Nashville leads other major US cities in post-pandemic recovery and has completely rebounded to 2019 levels.

Check out the full report for more stats on downtown, including hotel development, 2023 accolades, the number of active cranes (spoiler alert, there are 25), and more.