[lnkmails]

This might sound like piling on a specific class of people but from my observation (I lived in the valley for 5 years all the way from San Francisco to San Jose), young white people crave for a lifestyle that is completely urban and do not want to make a commute sacrifice. Several of my ex coworkers would see it beneath themselves to get on public transportation. The demographics of people in an office changes significantly as you travel south from San Francisco to San Jose. The healthy balance in terms of demographics seems to exist at places like Mountain View/Palo Alto. During my five years, I set my rent cost goal to be 2500$ per month (and I didn't want roommates). I moved to keep the rent a constant while my salary was increasing marginally year over year. I ended up at Milpitas after 5 years but it wasn't bad at all :). I did miss drinking with coworkers and socializing but instead I could focus on health (both physical and mental). Now I moved to east coast and could afford a nice home etc and my mortgage is still close to 2500$ mark in DC suburbs. My large point is - Nashville will become San Francisco because it will be filled with young people congregating in some spots whereas some neighborhood 20 mins from Nashville downtown will have no takers. In several ways, the problem is self inflicted.

[chrisco255]

Nashville has a long ways to go before it becomes SF. Maybe in 5 decades?

[kv85s]

Why expect any city to become another?

[chrisco255]

Agreed. There will only ever be one SF. And Nashville has it's own character I hope it maintains as it grows. But I also hope they're not so anti-growth that they choke off development. At any rate, nimbyism seems to be less prominent in the South, in my experience, so I bet they'll embrace the growth.