Nashville becoming a magnet for Millennials (Midtown: best city, real estate, 2015)

[kamoshika]

On a bluff overlooking the Cumberland River sits a nondescript red-brick building that once housed the city’s trolleys. A faded square above the door hints of the building’s past, while on the left-hand corner, a small white flag advertises the arrival of the future – a start-up incubator where business-minded Millennials are growing a quiet revolution.

Music City, once known for its country-tinged twang, is transforming into something of a Southern Silicon Valley, luring young people en masse. Nearly 30 percent of the city’s population is between the ages of 20 and 39, and more are arriving every day.
In Nashville, steel guitars mix with silicon start-ups - CSMonitor.com

[UKWildcat1981]

Thats because Nashville is the best city ever, okay i am bias because my gorgeous girlfriend is from the area but it is a great city to live in.

[Drake744]

I'll preface this by saying I love my city and what its become. I'm glad I grew up here (I grew up in Mt. Juliet, but you get the idea), but with that said, I'm a millenial that's leaving to go back to California later this year. It's ironic because when I was younger I wished Nashville would be what it is now, but now that it's getting that way, I don't feel all that connected to it and it doesn't do it for me. I'm just over it I guess. Here I have family, most of my friends, and Preds hockey. Those are my only local ties. My two best friends who grew up here as well live up in Seattle now because they needed to get away and they absolutely love it. They miss it here from time to time, but they love living in Seattle. Another is that way with Denver also. I'm that way with Southern California. I got homesick last time I lived there (I've lived there twice) and for several reasons I came back thinking this "new" Nashville would be the place for me to put down roots and all that stuff. Wrong. But hey, I guess the late 20s/early 30s are a volatile time in a lot of peoples lives, and personally it's all about where you're happy I guess.

I work downtown and am surrounded daily by people around my age that aren't from here and they love it. I understand why they do, but part of me always kind of says tongue-in-cheek that I almost wish I didn't grow up here, just so I could come here and like it the way all the new people do.

[citymama]

Originally Posted by Drake744

I'll preface this by saying I love my city and what its become. I'm glad I grew up here (I grew up in Mt. Juliet, but you get the idea), but with that said, I'm a millenial that's leaving to go back to California later this year. It's ironic because when I was younger I wished Nashville would be what it is now, but now that it's getting that way, I don't feel all that connected to it and it doesn't do it for me. I'm just over it I guess. Here I have family, most of my friends, and Preds hockey. Those are my only local ties. My two best friends who grew up here as well live up in Seattle now because they needed to get away and they absolutely love it. They miss it here from time to time, but they love living in Seattle. Another is that way with Denver also. I'm that way with Southern California. I got homesick last time I lived there (I've lived there twice) and for several reasons I came back thinking this "new" Nashville would be the place for me to put down roots and all that stuff. Wrong. But hey, I guess the late 20s/early 30s are a volatile time in a lot of peoples lives, and personally it's all about where you're happy I guess.

I work downtown and am surrounded daily by people around my age that aren't from here and they love it. I understand why they do, but part of me always kind of says tongue-in-cheek that I almost wish I didn't grow up here, just so I could come here and like it the way all the new people do.

What don't you like about it?

[balatro]

Originally Posted by citymama

What don't you like about it?

The "growth" that Nashville is experiencing is completely unmanageable long-term. It's a bubble, and when it burst, it's going to burst big.

In October of 2013, the Tennessean cited figures that put the median rent at $892/month. Those same sources put it somewhere between $1200-1300/month within a 10-mile radius of downtown by the close of 2014. What you're going to end up with is: the people who work in Nashville being forced out, graduate students unable to afford to live near the schools they attend and engage local communities, the working class music scene is already on the way out, the cultural groups that made up the Nashville neighborhoods are all but gone, etc.

As per SunTrust, rent in Nashville is increasing 6% every year while income is increasing 2%. PricewaterhouseCoopers is standing by their analysis that the rental market will begin its decline in 2015 and continue, at least, through the end of 2017. The market is being flooding with too many apartments at the upper-end of the price spectrum and there aren't enough jobs available to support such a move. Some developers have begun to take notice, increasing the amount of affordable units but there also needs to be policy change.

I'm no real estate or city planning analyst but from my vantage point, this growth is not maintainable.

[titanspreds_04]

Originally Posted by Drake744

I work downtown and am surrounded daily by people around my age that aren't from here and they love it. I understand why they do, but part of me always kind of says tongue-in-cheek that I almost wish I didn't grow up here, just so I could come here and like it the way all the new people do.

So true. I feel the same way.

[k.rn.chandler]

Originally Posted by balatro

The "growth" that Nashville is experiencing is completely unmanageable long-term. It's a bubble, and when it burst, it's going to burst big.

In October of 2013, the Tennessean cited figures that put the median rent at $892/month. Those same sources put it somewhere between $1200-1300/month within a 10-mile radius of downtown by the close of 2014. What you're going to end up with is: the people who work in Nashville being forced out, graduate students unable to afford to live near the schools they attend and engage local communities, the working class music scene is already on the way out, the cultural groups that made up the Nashville neighborhoods are all but gone, etc.

As per SunTrust, rent in Nashville is increasing 6% every year while income is increasing 2%. PricewaterhouseCoopers is standing by their analysis that the rental market will begin its decline in 2015 and continue, at least, through the end of 2017. The market is being flooding with too many apartments at the upper-end of the price spectrum and there aren't enough jobs available to support such a move. Some developers have begun to take notice, increasing the amount of affordable units but there also needs to be policy change.

I'm no real estate or city planning analyst but from my vantage point, this growth is not maintainable.

Someone was telling me this the other day as a matter of fact.

I said somewhere on here once that if you were to live here as a young person (or millennial if you want to say that) then you need to make AT LEAST $30K/yr to not drown in costs here. As I'm meeting more people who come here, they don't have that. It's interesting to say the least.

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by citymama

What don't you like about it?

I like Nashville for the most part, but the growth of the area isn't what I envisioned it being. Maybe it's just where I am in life personally but it just doesn't do it for me. I feel unimpressed by what's supposed to be "impressive" here. I couldn't care less about East Nashville. The Gulch is fine but I have no motivation to go. Midtown is also fine but it feels cramped and just....I don't know. The density and urban thing is fine with me, as I'm likely going back to Los Angeles or San Diego, but it doesn't feel right in Nashville to me. My personal growth doesn't seem to agree with the growth of Nashville. I don't long for the old days by any means, I'm just over it and generally underwhelmed with what it is now I guess. That probably sounds more harsh than what I actually feel, it's just hard to explain.

Originally Posted by balatro

The "growth" that Nashville is experiencing is completely unmanageable long-term. It's a bubble, and when it burst, it's going to burst big.

In October of 2013, the Tennessean cited figures that put the median rent at $892/month. Those same sources put it somewhere between $1200-1300/month within a 10-mile radius of downtown by the close of 2014. What you're going to end up with is: the people who work in Nashville being forced out, graduate students unable to afford to live near the schools they attend and engage local communities, the working class music scene is already on the way out, the cultural groups that made up the Nashville neighborhoods are all but gone, etc.

Interesting. Almost two years ago I was looking for an apartment in the Hermitage/Donelson area and I was surprised how relatively affordable the rents were (between the 700-850 range for a 1BR) and as I was talking to the leasing agent at one place, she was telling me that the "pricing curve" of rent in Nashville is well behind where it should be given the growth of the area and influx of new residents. She told me that it'll go up a lot, and likely pretty quickly. Some of that would seem to be common sense, but hearing it from someone in the business....even after I told her I wasn't interested in paying what they wanted....it just kind of makes it seem like an official problem.

[k.rn.chandler]

Well, when (in a 10 mile radius of town) they're building and renting out 500-600 sq ft studios for upwards of $1200, I'd say she was right. Maybe a little too right.

[N.Cal]

Originally Posted by k.rn.chandler

Well, when (in a 10 mile radius of town) they're building and renting out 500-600 sq ft studios for upwards of $1200, I'd say she was right. Maybe a little too right.

I paid $1210 for 700 sq. ft. in the Gulch when I moved here in mid-2012. I was shocked since it was more than I paid in San Francisco at the time (yea rent control).