Nashvillians Anxious Over Rapid Pace of Growth

Nashville's regional population has grown 45 percent over the past 17 years, according to the Census Bureau, drawing in new residents and companies with low taxation and low housing costs. 

City residents who have not yet been priced out of buying a home are concerned that they will be, business leaders are wondering how attract and keep workers as housing costs rise, and city officials are grappling with how to foster growth sustainably. James Fraser, an urban studies professor at Vanderbilt University, tells Realtor.com that Nashville is in danger of becoming a “chic urban playground for the wealthy.” According to Fraser, "working people are being pushed to outer suburbs, while wealthier people are moving into the inner neighborhoods."

Nashville’s thriving health-care, financial and tourism sectors have drawn national attention. In April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the city had an unemployment rate of 2.7 percent—lower than any other major metro area in the U.S. From 2010 to 2016, Tennessee’s large urban areas, led by Nashville, accounted for 57 percent of all employment growth in the state, according to the Brookings Institution ... Southern metro areas make up almost 32 percent of the U.S. population, up from about 29 percent in 2000, according to the census. 

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