Growing Towns and Cities - Good or Bad? (Memphis, Franklin: buying a home, buying)

[TomNashville]

Next time I see some developer bulldoze an entire forest to build another **** subdivision (where, of course, all the houses will look the same and they'll go in and plant one tree in the backyard) I think I'll puke. Does that answer your question?

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by TomNashville

Next time I see some developer bulldoze an entire forest to build another **** subdivision (where, of course, all the houses will look the same and they'll go in and plant one tree in the backyard) I think I'll puke. Does that answer your question?

I agree. Gainesville, Florida has a code that requires the replanting of two trees for every regulated tree removed and the replacement trees have to be at least 8 feet tall and nursery grown. At maturity they have to grow at least as tall as the tree that was removed. I wouldn't mind seeing that in other states, like Tennessee, to keep them green.

[JMT]

One thing that is somewhat misleading with these population figures is it doesn't take into account growth through annexation. Memphis, for example, would've lost over 30,000 between 2000 and 2005 if it hadn't annexed over 50,000 residents in Cordova. So while on the surface it looks like Memphis is growing, it actually isn't. One of these days Memphis will annex all it will be able to annex in Shelby County, then it'll be too late.

Even though I love Memphis (it's got the coolest downtown in the state) I sometimes wish we could just go ahead and give it to Mississippi.

[mbmouse]

I agree, annexation has a lot to do with those numbers. I have lived here in East TN for 10 years, yes there is growth, but it is nothing like the 11 years I spent in Fl! If we went on a 2 week vacation, we would come back to yet another development with cookie cutter houses already up! Once, I wasn't sure if I was on the right road going home because it looked so different in two weeks! They had cleared about 40 acres in that time.
I do NOT see that kind of growth here in East TN. They PLAN for growth. We have a new school being built in Gray, and the school here is not crowded, but they are planning a head. I respect that and I had no problem at all with the $0.13 increase in my property tax for it either.
The county governments only allow so many building permits (for contractors doing new construction ) at a time.

[Tek_Freek]

Yes, I was hoping someone would ask. I bookmarked it. Maybe you could explain to me what the Nashville and Goodlettsville double entries mean:

http://cber.utk.edu/Census/05subcnty2.pdf

I found this when I was looking for the most current population estimate for Murfreesboro to answer someone else's post.

Hah! Had a great explanation then I read the bottom of the chart. Not sure what it means but it talks about "an incorporated place within a consolidated city".

Didn't see Fairfield Glade listed. Is it not a city?

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by TomNashville

Next time I see some developer bulldoze an entire forest to build another **** subdivision (where, of course, all the houses will look the same and they'll go in and plant one tree in the backyard) I think I'll puke. Does that answer your question?

Agreed 100%. We plant trees, a lot of trees. We have a "postage stamp" lot with 2 crab apples and one Amur Maple in front and 14 evergreens, a Summit Ash and a Kentucky Coffee Bean in back. We have our privacy and a mini-park in back.

Neighbors? One to the east has a single tree in front. Behind - the same.

There were no trees here to begin with, it was corn fields. Trees aren't the only resource lost when sub divisions go in.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Yes, I was hoping someone would ask. I bookmarked it. Maybe you could explain to me what the Nashville and Goodlettsville double entries mean:

http://cber.utk.edu/Census/05subcnty2.pdf

I found this when I was looking for the most current population estimate for Murfreesboro to answer someone else's post.

Hah! Had a great explanation then I read the bottom of the chart. Not sure what it means but it talks about "an incorporated place within a consolidated city".

Didn't see Fairfield Glade listed. Is it not a city?

Fairfield Glade is not a city, it's just a big, sprawling retirement ghetto with ridiculous neighborhood covenants (in my not so humble opinion).

Goodlettsville is a town within Davidson County. When Nashville and Davidson County merged in the 1960s, consolidating the city and county governments into one metropolitan government, it did not include the little towns in Davidson County which were already incorporated: Goodlettsville, Forest Hills, Belle Meade, and some others, I think. So those little towns are like little "islands" in Davidson County, completely surrounded by Nashville.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by JMT

One thing that is somewhat misleading with these population figures is it doesn't take into account growth through annexation. Memphis, for example, would've lost over 30,000 between 2000 and 2005 if it hadn't annexed over 50,000 residents in Cordova. So while on the surface it looks like Memphis is growing, it actually isn't. One of these days Memphis will annex all it will be able to annex in Shelby County, then it'll be too late.

How does Tennessee annexation happen? Do the residents of the town being taken over by the larger city/town get to vote on it or does the big city/town just come in and take it? What would be the benefit for either place? Can it only happen within a county or do these takeovers cross county lines? I was recently reading about one in western North Carolina.

I'm familiar with gerrymandering for political gain but is that the reason for these annexations?

And while I'm on that subject does anyone know why a small piece of Oak Ridge is in Roane County when most of Oak Ridge is in Anderson County?

[TomNashville]

I'm familiar with Shelby County so I'll only speak for that; other counties in Tennessee may have different policies. Each incorporated city in the county has an "annexation reserve" area (I think the cities made some sort of agreement about it a few years ago.) Essentially the county has been divided up into annexation reserve areas for the individual cities, with a small area in the far northeastern part of the county set aside as rural and thus within no city's annexation reserve.

A city may annex part of its reserve area at any time, but as far as I know they must then provide city services (police, fire, etc.) to that area. The major motive is taxes; with Memphis's residents fleeing to the suburbs Memphis annexes areas in order to get more tax money as many of the residents of Cordova (which is within Memphis's annexation reserve) are rather well-off.

If you do plan on moving to the Memphis area but don't eventually want to pay Memphis property taxes (which are notably higher than any of the suburban cities) then you'd better make sure that the area you move to is not in Memphis's annexation reserve. Here's a map:

http://www.cityofbartlett.org/pdfs/annex_reserves.pdf

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by JMT

Fairfield Glade is not a city, it's just a big, sprawling retirement ghetto with ridiculous neighborhood covenants (in my not so humble opinion).

Multiple ghetto blasts at FFG. Bad experience as a child?