Downtown Nashville: When the party ends, he cleans up the mess
Molly Davis, Nashville Tennessean
6 min read
Joshua Hillen picks up the radio from where it rests on the center console of his truck.
"We're headed to Hard Rock," he says into the microphone. "I'll see you guys over there."
A Little Trees Black Ice air freshener swings from the rearview mirror as Hillen pulls out of the Nashville library parking garage, peering around the corner for oncoming vehicles. It's home base for him.
Hillen is an operations supervisor working for the Nashville Downtown Partnership's clean crew, which works daily from dawn until dusk in downtown and The Gulch. So far this year, the clean team has collected more than 1.1 million pounds of trash in the improvement districts. That's equivalent to the weight of about 257 Ford F-150 pickup trucks.
It's 5 a.m. Still dark. A few hours after closing time in Nashville's entertainment district bars.
There's almost no one else on the road. Music City is still waking up.
Hillen's bright yellow pickup turns onto Broadway from First Avenue. Several other yellow vehicles are lined up outside the Hard Rock Café. Huge clouds of steam billow from the sidewalk, where a boiling hot pressure washer blasts the concrete.
The machine's operator wears a red bomber-style jacket with the words "Downtown Ambassador" across the back. He pushes the pressure washer around like a vacuum.
Deone Fields cleans the sidewalks before dawn, downtown Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
"Good morning!" Hillen shouts at his coworker over the roaring machine.
Garbage trucks rumble down the street. Neon lights buzz silently, sending a glow over the wet ground. The Hard Rock guitar spins on its axis. The machine continues puffing out clouds of steam.
"I like for my team to get water on the ground before 4:30 every day," Hillen says.
His team is cleaning up the party.
About Nashville Downtown Partnership's clean crews
Hillen has been with the Nashville Downtown Partnership since 2016. He's worked every position, all the way up to supervisor.
Joshua Hillen, operations supervisor for the Nashville Downtown Partnership's clean crew, checks in with his crew at work before dawn on Nov. 13.
His day starts at 3 a.m. First he says a prayer of thanks.
Then, coffee. He learned a long time ago to set the brew timer the night before.
He drives just under 30 miles to Nashville and upon arrival, leads a shift meeting with his team. Then it's out on the streets to check the damage from the night before.
The Nashville Downtown Partnership has operated the clean and safe initiatives in the 424-acre Central Business Improvement District (downtown) since 1999 and the Gulch Business Improvement District since 2007.
Services are funded by annual assessments on privately owned properties and by an additional fee of 0.25% on certain retail transactions within the district’s boundaries. The Central Business Improvement District board of directors oversees NDP's operations in the district, and about 67% of the district's annual assessments are spent on the clean and safe services.
The same model applies to the 91-acre Gulch Business Improvement District, which is overseen by its own board and spends about 82% of its annual budget on clean, safe and beautification services.
Kaleb Perry cleans the sidewalks in downtown Nashville at dawn on Nov. 13.
Hillen knows the trash collection, graffiti removal, sidewalk scrubbing and power washing is valued. It's about more than just cleaning up.
"I love this city and I love what we do," he said. "We take pride in making a difference in the city."
Teamwork is at the center of the job
At 6:11 a.m., Hillen calls his special projects team from the truck. The sky is brightening, little by little. Clouds gather east of the Cumberland River, casting shadows over the land in the distance.
"Can you pick up the two trash bags on Commerce as soon as you're out of pre-shift?" he says to his counterpart through the radio.
Hillen spotted the bags of trash earlier as he patrolled the streets, on his way over to check on his team members operating street sweepers. The bags must have been missed during the morning's trash pickup. When he circles back to the spot at 6:16 a.m., the bags are gone.
"These guys are killing it today," Hillen says with charged excitement.
His positivity is contagious. He's the lifeblood of the crew, checking on each staff member and offering guidance throughout the morning. He learned to shift his mentality to one of daily gratitude for the mess. It's what pays the bills.
Joshua Hillen, operations supervisor for the Nashville Downtown Partnership's clean crew, talks about his work on Monday, Nov. 13.
He also knows the downtown area like he does his own home. He maps it out in zones in his head, and knows which staff members are in charge of which zones each day. He pays attention to the details like a chef would in a commercial kitchen.
Next he needs to head over to the 400 block of Broadway to meet with his crew on foot. He checks in with Darren Logan, who is just starting his trash pickup route. Logan is on the lookout for large trash items and any unauthorized handbills or signage pasted on light poles.
Logan has only been working for the clean team for about a month, but so far he loves his routine.
"I like getting up early," he said. "I don't even let my alarm go off. I wake up about 15 minutes beforehand."
Logan's favorite part of the job is the comments he gets from tourists in the city. They tell him how clean everything is and how impressed they are with the downtown area. It makes him feel proud of the work he does with his team.
Special projects team makes quick work of huge mess of trash
Hillen gets back in the truck just before 7 a.m. to meet up with his special projects team in Printers Alley.
They've identified a problem.
There's an overwhelming mess near the corner of Printers Ally and Bank Alley, in an enclave with three large dumpsters. Trash and debris are everywhere when Hillen pulls up to the spot. He snaps a photo to document the scene at 7 a.m. Later he'll coordinate with the city to make sure the pileup doesn't happen again in the future.
"OK boys, you know what to do," Hillen says.
Three special projects team members get to work. They attack the piles of plastic bottles and cardboard boxes with gusto, grabbing them with long pickers and flinging them into the dumpsters.
Oscar Garcia cleans up trash in a downtown Nashville alley on Nov. 13.
Six minutes later they have all the large pieces off the ground and have sprayed over a small graffiti tag on one of the building's doors.
Harold Bingham comes through with a pressure hose a few minutes later and has the area and surrounding alley sprayed out by 7:12 a.m. In just a little while a sweeper will come through and suck up all the little leftovers — from cigarette butts to bottle caps.
arold Bingham uses a pressure hose to clean a spot near Printers Alley in Nashville on Nov. 13.
In under 15 minutes, the only clue the trash was ever there is the photo on Hillen's phone, and the team is on to the next job.
By this time, the city is awake. Joggers pass up and down First Avenue. People dressed in suits click their heels against the floors of their office lobbies. A group of tourists rolls suitcases on the sidewalk, groggy from the night before.
The first Lower Broadway bars will open their doors at 9:30 a.m. The second shift clean crews will stay out until 10:30 p.m.
And in the dark morning hours, Hillen's alarm will ring.
