Poll: 65 Percent Of Nashvillians Say City Is Growing Too Fast

NASHVILLE, TN — Nashvillians overwhelmingly approve of Mayor Megan Barry and the Metro Police Department, but more three in five think the city is growing too fast.

Vanderbilt released its 2017 version of the Davidson County-only poll Sunday, showing sizzling support of the mayor and police, tepid approval of the school board and concerns about Nashville's rapid growth.

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The poll of 1,106 registered voters in Davidson County was conducted between late February and mid-March. It showed that 72 percent of Nashvillians approved of Barry's job performance, up from 41 percent two years ago, though that poll was taken immediately after her inauguration.

Barry's approval rating was surpassed only by the Metro Nashville Police Department, which has an 80 percent approval rating against just 15 percent disapproval. Another question showed that Nashville is nearly unanimous — to the tune of 93 percent — in wanting officers to be equipped with body cameras.

The Metro school board continued to get mediocre approval — 49 percent, up 6 points from 2015, against a 32 percent disapproval, down 5 points from two years ago. Only 27 percent of Nashvillians approve of President Donald Trump's performance.

The poll also showed significant skepticism about the city's rapid growth, with 65 percent of respondents saying the city is growing "too quickly," an increase of 15 percent from the 2015 poll; 60 percent said new construction is moving "too quickly." Roughly a third of respondents said both population and construction are growing at an acceptable rate. A quarter said the changes in Nashville have made their lives worse with 36 percent saying their lives are better because of them.

Citizens continue to see improving public education as a top priority for the city's government, as 86 percent listed that as a top priority; the next highest item was reducing crime at 77 percent, followed by taking care of the problems of the poor and ensuring Metro's long-term financial health, both listed as a top priority by 73 percent.

Other findings include:

48 percent say the city has enough charter schools, with 42 percent saying there should be more

40 percent believe marijuana should be legal for personal use and another 45 percent saying it should be allowed only for medical use

71 percent of Nashvillians say they never use public transportation, with 86 percent saying they'd willingly add a half-cent to the sales tax to improve public transit.

Check out the full poll results.

Image via Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County