What's becoming of the green, green grass of home? (Memphis: crime, chapel)

[TNNative]

I usually run my daily trek to work and back and don't vary much. Last week I went from Robertson County to Maury County. It's only been a year since I was there (my kid goes to camp every summer) and from I-65 (Chapel Hill/Columbia exit) into Columbia my repeated thought was "that wasn't here last year" about buildings and houses.

A few days ago I simply went from White House to Gallatin down Long Hollow Pike and returned through Gallatin and back out Big Station Camp to Long Hollow. There are construction trucks EVERYWHERE. Building is booming off of Drakes Creek in Hendersonville, on Long Hollow, and all points in between. With the influx into Tennessee, the green pastures are turning into subdivisions, and the shady trees are being mowed down to make way for houses almost on top of houses. Isn't this what people are leaving wherever they are coming from?

I'm not trying to discourage or sound unwelcoming to anyone moving to Tennessee, but I just wonder if they know that with all the new flow into the state it's losing it's "country" feel that they are seeking to become another overcrowded state.

Just my 2 cents...

Are any other areas in Tennessee seeing this building boom where the towns are starting to grow into each other?

[Mike in TN]

It's happening pretty much everywhere, all over the US. Look at all of the cities that are in the desert. However, most of the large growth is in the mid-state, with the exception of the Memphis surburb Oakland. So, you won't see it to this extreme in west and east TN.

I think what it amounts to is that it's cheaper to buy land in the county than it is in the city.

[mbmouse]

I think it is a matter of "if you build it, they will come". If these towns and cities keep allowing developers (by allowing the permits and zoning) to build these developments and subdivisions that have houses on top of each other, building 200 of the exact same house, yea people will buy them and it ruins aesthetics of an area that everyone wants to live in.
I would like to see a bit more requirements on the developers. I agree, it is happening all over the country, population growth is inevitable and not necessarily a bad thing, but I think if the powers that be take a step back and do a bit of long term planning, we can all fit more comfortable and still leave nature it's space too.

[Father John]

The fastest growing state in the nation is Arizona, where the temps in summer are over 100 for 5 consecutive months (May-Oct), water is expensive and a limited commodity, and freeways are almost as rare as water. Smog has gotten so bad that only Denver and LA are worse. Roads are crowded. Gangs and illegal aliens make crime a major problem. And still they come.

The problem, however, has nothing to do with Arizona. It has to do with increasing populations all over the world, including this country. The rats are fleeing the crowded places, only to congregate in new places and to create new crowds. Eventually, there will be no place to flee.

The solution probably lays in the hands of Mother Earth. Patience. She is working on another ice age that should remedy this human infestation in just a few hundred years.

[daniellefort]

It's frustrating here in FL. the developers are continuing to build 200 homes at a time yet all over the state we have water restrictions where the people who live here now can't even take care of their own lawns because we need to conserve for the new people who will be coming into these homes. It's all about making money to the developers and we all suffer in the long run one way or another and that goes for anywhere you live, not just in FL. In TN, it might mean losing the country setting everyone is seeking. In FL, it's losing our water supply and wells drying up.

[TNNative]

Originally Posted by Father John

The fastest growing state in the nation is Arizona, where the temps in summer are over 100 for 5 consecutive months (May-Oct), water is expensive and a limited commodity, and freeways are almost as rare as water. Smog has gotten so bad that only Denver and LA are worse. Roads are crowded. Gangs and illegal aliens make crime a major problem. And still they come.

The problem, however, has nothing to do with Arizona. It has to do with increasing populations all over the world, including this country. The rats are fleeing the crowded places, only to congregate in new places and to create new crowds. Eventually, there will be no place to flee.

The solution probably lays in the hands of Mother Earth. Patience. She is working on another ice age that should remedy this human infestation in just a few hundred years.

Truthful words and well put. Thankfully, I will TRULY be "home" by then...

[goodbyehollywood]

It's happening in Knoxville, too-- rampantly! To get a lot larger than half an acre, you have to buy in an older neighborhood. The new developments are zoned 4+ homes to an acre, which, given the size of some of these McMansions, means you had better really like your neighbor, because you're going to be seeing-- and hearing-- a lot of them!

Developers just petitioned to have the vacant land behind my street rezoned from 1-2 homes per acre to 5 homes per acre. We all fought it, but they won, even though access is an already-congested two-lane street that can't handle a double in density.

Before long, it'll be like L.A.-- you can pass the salt right out your kitchen window into your neighbor's... and when their teenager blasts gangsta rap, you can sing right along.

[hiknapster]

Knoxville is turning into a nightmare. One of the small, local papers just wrote about how they've found lots of contributions to the county commissioners from developers. I don't doubt it.

I talked to a local builder today, though, and he said that building has started to slow down. If people can't sell their houses they can't move here.

[goodbyehollywood]

You're right, hiknapster, Knoxville is really changing. It seems to be taking on the big city "bads," like traffic, noise and overdevelopment, with fewer of the "goods," like higher paying jobs, growing industry and clean, safe public transportation. When I moved here from CA, I just wanted a small house on a decent lot with privacy in a quiet neighborhood. Instead, I found huge houses on small lots boxed in by neighbors, with prices escalating at an unbelievable clip. The market has definitely slowed-- let's just hope jobs and wages don't go down with it.

[hiknapster]

Yes. And there are not that many jobs to begin with. Chattanooga is even worse.

I have nothing against retirees, I really don't. My favorite customers are my elderly customers, and they don't mean to ruin an area, they just want to live out their golden years in relative peace and happiness. But when they show up in droves to an area they skew the economy, especially the housing market.