Shelby Bottoms Greenway
Large riverside nature area and trail system bordering the neighborhood.
Inglewood · Nashville, TN
Renovations and additions on Inglewood's postwar lots
Inglewood is East Nashville's steadier neighbor — brick bungalows, Minimal Traditional cottages, and ranches on comfortable lots near Shelby Bottoms. Part of the neighborhood sits inside the Inglewood Place conservation overlay; much of it does not, which makes parcel-level verification essential.
History & architecture
How Inglewood was built
Inglewood grew along the Gallatin Pike and McGavock Pike corridors, with residential development accelerating in the early-to-mid 20th century and continuing through the postwar boom as returning veterans drove new subdivisions and strip commercial along Gallatin Pike.
Isaac Litton High School anchored the surrounding residential district for decades. The Riverside Drive and McGavock Pike area near the Cumberland developed as a small commercial node — now Riverside Village — serving the residential streets around it.
- Typical era
- 1920s–1950s, with a strong postwar concentration
- Dominant styles
- Brick and frame bungalows, Minimal Traditional cottages, ranches
- Typical lot
- Modest urban lots, generally deeper than East Nashville's core
- Redevelopment pressure
- Renovation-led; teardowns constrained inside the Inglewood Place overlay
Landmarks & shared spaces
Places that anchor Inglewood
Riverside Village
Compact historic commercial node of early-20th-century storefronts on McGavock Pike.
Riverside Revival
Event and concert venue in a converted mid-century church building.
South Inglewood Community Center
Metro Parks facility hosting neighborhood programming year-round.
Isaac Litton Alumni Park
Park honoring the former high school that anchored the district for generations.
Businesses & districts
Where Inglewood gathers
Mitchell Delicatessen
Long-running neighborhood deli in Riverside Village, open since 2008.
Riverside Village shops
Cluster of small independent businesses along McGavock Pike and Riverside Drive.
Gallatin Pike corridor
Mix of older and newer retail and restaurant buildings running through the neighborhood.
Riverside Revival
Venue that doubles as a community and commercial anchor on its campus.
Zoning & overlays
Common zoning codes in Inglewood
These are the base districts and overlays we see most often on Inglewood lots. Always confirm your parcel's district and overlays on the Metro zoning map before design decisions get expensive.
RS7.5 / RS10Single-family residential
The common districts across Inglewood's postwar blocks, with more lot area than the neighborhoods closer to downtown.
R6 / R8Residential, single- and two-family
Found on selected blocks; allows a second unit on a conforming lot.
CS / MULCommercial Services / Mixed Use Limited
Corridor zoning along Gallatin Pike and around the Riverside Village node.
Overlays that apply here
NCZO
Inglewood Place Neighborhood Conservation
Covers a defined portion of the neighborhood with its own chapter in MHZC's consolidated design guidelines, governing exterior alterations, additions, and demolition. Guideline revisions were under community review as recently as 2024.
Permitting path
- 1Confirm the parcel's base zoning and any overlay on Metro's zoning map before design starts — overlay boundaries often stop mid-block.
- 2Inside a conservation or historic overlay, exterior work goes to the Metro Historic Zoning Commission (MHZC) for a preservation permit / Certificate of Appropriateness first.
- 3Staff can approve many routine items administratively; new construction, large additions, and demolition typically go to the full commission, which meets monthly.
- 4Metro Codes will not issue a building permit for overlay properties until the MHZC approval is in hand, so build that review into the schedule.
Why it matters
Inglewood's place in Nashville
Inglewood represents East Nashville's longer, steadier reinvestment wave rather than a sudden surge — rising values have driven renovation and thoughtful additions more than wholesale teardowns.
Riverside parks, walkable commercial nodes, and an active community venue scene make it a model of incremental, amenity-driven change, and its partial overlay keeps that character from being rebuilt out.
Events & festivals
What happens in Inglewood
Back-to-School Bash
Late summer
Annual community event at the South Inglewood Community Center.
Riverside Revival concerts
Year-round
Regular concert and event programming at the converted church venue.
Tomato Art Fest
August
East Nashville's signature festival in nearby Five Points, heavily attended by Inglewood residents.
Designing here
What this means for your Inglewood project
- Deeper lots than the older streetcar blocks mean rear additions and detached garages usually fit without pushing setbacks.
- Ranch and Minimal Traditional homes have low, simple rooflines that extend cleanly — a rear or side addition can read as original with modest effort.
- Overlay coverage is partial. Two houses on the same street can have different review paths, so verify the parcel before scoping.
- Where the overlay applies, siding and material replacement standards have been an active discussion topic; check the current guidelines before specifying.
FAQ
Questions about Inglewood
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