I was showing some Nashville commercial real estate to a client earlier this week, and since we all grew up in the same area of South Nashville, we had a lot of old memories to talk about. And then the discussion about what happened came up. The area of Nashville now know as Antioch was a very nice part of town, with good schools, very little crime, and quiet neighborhoods. 30 years later, it's the place most likely to be avoided if you want to buy Nashville real estate. The question that everyone needs to ask is why? And what can we do to prevent it from happening in other areas?
Looking back, the first thing that I would do different is avoid zoning any area for apartments. Apartments buildings and the people who live in them cause a tremendous disruption to the infrastructure of any community. The schools suffer the most, and when schools become less desirable, people move to better neighborhoods. When I compare schools that have residents from apartments to schools that don't, I usually see a significant difference in graduation rates, test scores, and scholarships. Parents that care will more to neighborhoods with good schools, driving up the resale value.
Talk to your local authorities about zoning for apartments. If you are not careful, you will wake up one day to find a 500 unit apartment complex in your school zone. It's all downhill after that. Just my opinion, but I plan to live in an area with no apartments.
This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property and opinions of Larry Brewer of Keller Williams Realty. Providing Nashville real estate services to clients in Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Spring Hill, Williamson county, and the middle Tennessee area.
Larry,
I seem to recall that about a decade or so ago, the federal government was mandating more rental units in some areas. There is a train of thought that suggests that ending the cycle of birth to death renting begins by developing the notion that one can "move up" to home ownership. Something to think about.
Richard - You may be right, the federal govenment also mandated desegregation laws that caused children to ride for hours every day across town to school instead of going to the school in the community they lived in. It was a big help to the counties outside of the city limits, but it really killed the home values in Nashville. And 30 years later, homes in Williamson and Wilson county are worth more than homes closer to Nashville because the schools in Nashville have a bad reputation.