Reaching the Dream -- Nashville
City
leaders in Nashville have committed to expanding Nashville's affordable
housing efforts by creating a mortgage pool for multifamily rental
developments and offering incentives to developers to increase the
number of affordable homes. During the last 3 years, more than 11,000
affordable housing units have been created in Nashville, and the city
is now ready to move forward to meet the goal of making available
safe, decent, and affordable housing for all of its residents.
To
that end, the Mayor's Office of Affordable Housing is aggressively
pursuing leveraging local funds with Federal, State, and private
funds to meet the capital needs of the affordable housing industry.
In order to implement a truly comprehensive housing strategy, funds
must be available for all the currently programmed categories of
activities, which include capital financing for the acquisition,
rehabilitation, construction, and preservation of affordable housing;
financial assistance to first-time home buyers; and predevelopment
costs and tax abatement associated with affordable housing development
by nonprofit development corporations.
With
this in mind, the HUD Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
(CFBCI) has chosen Nashville for the "Reaching the Dream"
initiative. The following information provides a look at some of
Nashville's neighborhoods undergoing revitalization, as well as
an overview of the city of Nashville's demographics.
Neighborhoods
Nashville
is a very diverse city, with 52 different neighborhoods within the
Nashville Metro Area. The following neighborhoods are undergoing significant
revitalization:
- East
Nashville-The Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA)
was awarded a $20 million Federal grant to revitalize East Nashville's
Sam Levy public housing development. The HOPE VI grant, awarded
by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will
match $12 million raised from local government, MDHA, and other
sources. Redevelopment plans include renovating 480 units and
building 226 new homes, which would decrease the area's density
and blend the homes with the surrounding neighborhood.
-
Creekside-Affordable Housing Resources Inc. is building 2 new
affordable housing subdivisions that will result in 82 single-family
homes and 20 town homes. Creekside, near Buena Vista Drive and
Whites Creek, will house 37 single-family homes that are 1,250-1,700
square feet in size. Meanwhile, Lanier Park in Madison will house
45 single-family homes and 20 town homes.
Summary
of Statistics
The
city of Nashville has a population of 545,524. Between the years
of 1990 and 2000, Nashville saw a population growth of 12 percent.
The
racial composition of the residents of Nashville is:
Caucasian-66
percent
African American-27 percent
Asian American-2.5 percent
Hispanic or Latino-5 percent
Fifty-five
percent of residents own the housing quarters they occupy, while
the other 45 percent are renter occupants. The 2000 median value
of all owner-occupied housing is $112,925.
Based
on the 2000 census, the median household income in Nashville is
$39,596 per year. Approximately 16 percent of households operate
on an estimated yearly income of less than $15,000. The unemployment
rate is 4 percent.
HUD's
Regional Faith-Based Liaison
William H. Dirl
Nashville Field Office
235 Cumberland Bend Drive
Suite 200
Nashville, TN 37228-1803
Tel: (615) 736-7000, ext 2430
Fax: (615) 736-7848
HUD's
Regional Director
Brian E. Noyes
Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
Five Points Plaza Building
40 Marietta Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
Tel: (404) 331-5136
Fax: (404) 730-2392
Content Archived: June 23, 2010