Good read about the future of Nashville out of the Wall Street Journal this week. We’re big proponents of our city, but at the same time, there are very real implications of the growth it’s enduring. At times, it seems like the city can be obsessive about its quest to become the tourism capital of the nation, local citizens be damned.
Every month, it seems some old Nashville institution is being torn down in favor of a giant four-story mega bar with a rooftop bar owned by some country music star. Each day, it seems like the traffic is getting worse and worse, and people are moving further and further out of the city to avoid the outrageous housing costs.
It reminds me of a city like Atlanta. And, don’t get me wrong – I rather enjoy Atlanta. But, there are parts of town that just seem desolate and lifeless. It’s because the city itself is so damn big. Part of the charm of Nashville has always been that you still have a bit of that small town vibe. But, if Nashville continues on this trajectory, there’s no stopping it from becoming another Atlanta.
Anxiety about the rapid growth is widespread here, as a city known for country music also becomes known for its skyline full of cranes and traffic congestion.
Ms. Ervin blames all the new development for last year’s severe flooding of a creek in her backyard. And her latest concern: A nonprofit wants to sell about 20 acres nearby where it formerly housed foster children and youth. Part of the property sits on a floodplain.
The Nashville region population grew 45% from 2000 to 2017, reaching about 1.9 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Ms. Ervin represents both sides of the city’s extraordinary growth: a transplant who was attracted to a booming urban hub, and a resident increasingly concerned that unbridled development may threaten the Tennessee capital’s charm.
Uhhhh….raise your hand if you realized we were up to about 1.9 million people. Not this guy. That’s astonishing. Also, seems a little out of control. I don’t understand where all of these people are coming from, but what’s the stat now? Something like 120 some odd people move to Nashville every day.
But, the development is effecting areas far and wide. My family’s ranch is out in Gladeville – new neighborhoods are popping up all over the place out there, even 20 miles out of Nashville. A new development popped up uphill from the ranch, and since then, we’ve had all sorts of issues with standing water, water running down the hill and washing out the backyard. So, I’m not surprised to hear this after dealing with all of that.
Now, that kind of puts into perspective just how widespread the issue is. I figure plenty of people are dealing with one of these unintended consequences of the growth.
As Southern cities draw more people from other regions, politicians, business leaders, economists and residents are increasingly focused on how to manage the growth to keep housing and other costs of living in line with wages.
For decades, part of the South’s appeal has been low housing costs, said Laurel Graefe, deputy regional executive of the Nashville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. While corporate incentives and relatively low taxation are still drawing businesses and workers, housing demand in some places has far outstripped supply, driving up prices, she said.
Uhhhhhhhh……yeah. You ain’t gonna find cheap housing in Nashville anymore. Even in the parts of town that have been traditionally “cheap,” the prices are skyrocketing.
Now, I will say that it’s interesting to see a new variety of businesses coming to town – San Francisco start-ups like Lyft have headquarters here, and Wall Street firm AllianceBernstein is coming to town, too. It’s not just music and healthcare anymore.
The government has been working to manage growth, such as preserving green space and establishing a special fund to build low-income housing in the city, which spent $10 million last year, Mr. (David) Briley said.
James Fraser, an urban studies professor at Vanderbilt University, said Nashville is in danger of becoming a “chic urban playground for the wealthy.”
He estimated the city needs about 30,000 more units of affordable housing and should spend about $1 billion to meet the demand. Working people are being pushed to outer suburbs and rely on buses to get to their jobs, while wealthier people are moving into Nashville’s inner neighborhoods, he said.
A “chic urban playground for the wealthy.” I like that – feels like that’s exactly what downtown Nashville is becoming. And, what exactly is stopping all of this from happening? We’re trying to come up with ways to alleviate the traffic, but it’s not happening quickly enough. And, the more housing costs go up, the harder it is for people to afford to live here. It’s continuously pushing people out of town, where jobs may be harder to come by.
We have to figure out if we really want it on this sort of scale or not. There’s really nothing stopping us from becoming the next Atlanta.
Otherwise, we may have already seen the “golden age” of Nashville. A time when the growth was exciting, not smothering, and city still had its charm.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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