Historic red state town with Victorian charm faces population boom

Daily Mail​

7 hours ago

Once celebrated for its historic Victorian architecture and small-town charm, Clarksville, Tennessee , is now grappling with the growing pains of being one of the fastest-expanding cities in America. The population of the military town that sits close to Fort Campbell on the border with Kentucky has soared past 186,000. This is a jump of nearly 20,000 in just four years - but the housing market hasn't kept pace, driving prices sky-high and leaving many locals struggling to find a place to live. A new housing study warns that the shortage spans both rental and for-sale properties, with limited supply and a lack of variety in available homes.
The squeeze is forcing some residents to spend a disproportionate share of their income on housing, cutting into local spending and threatening long-term economic stability. City officials acknowledge the problem, but the scale of Clarksville's growth has left them scrambling to balance development with infrastructure needs while preserving the historic charm that draws people here in the first place. Council member Deanna McLaughlin called the situation 'urgent', pointing to a severe five-year housing gap of more than 15,000 units - including 8,595 for-sale homes and 6,598 rentals across all price points - and noted that both affordable and market-rate rentals are nearly at full occupancy.
'Limited options and rising costs are creating a significant cost burden for residents,' she said. 'We're seeing 43.6 percent of renters and 20 percent of homeowners spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, which is above the state average. Incomes simply aren't keeping pace with the cost of living .' Local real estate agent Tyler Forte, who services Clarksville from his base in Nashville, says the city has undergone a dramatic transformation in just a few years.
'Even three years ago, Clarksville was kind of Nashville's stepsister - known mainly for the military base and university, with a lot of farmland and a small-town feel,' Forte said. 'Since COVID, it's just absolutely taken off. They're building a ton of homes and commercial projects, new grocery stores, and even two new hospitals. It's gone from being an afterthought to a major city in Tennessee.' Much of that growth, Forte says, has been driven by both out-of-state buyers and Nashville residents seeking a lower cost of living.
'As Nashville prices have climbed, I've had a lot of clients who've moved to Clarksville for more affordable housing,' he explained. Forte notes that new construction dominates the market, which can be a double-edged sword. 'Most of the homes I see in Clarksville are brand new - even something built in 2015 is considered old. Builders are offering big incentives, like interest rate buy-downs through their preferred lenders. One client just locked in a 3.99 percent rate through Lennar's in-house lending program - a huge drop from the 6.5-7 percent you'd see with a typical lender.
'Because the builder owns the lender, they can offer aggressive financing deals that make new construction especially attractive,' he said. While bidding wars aren't as common as they once were, Forte says competition still exists for certain properties. 'If a home is unique, move-in ready, and priced right, it can still spark multiple offers. But out of the 80 homes I sold in the past year, only about three had bidding wars.' Some parts of the city remain hotter than others. 'The Sango area in the south is the most competitive,' Forte said.
'It's closer to Nashville, has a strong school district, and that combination is always going to drive demand.' However, Forte doesn't believe the real shortage is in housing stock. 'They're building as fast as they possibly can,' he said. 'The bigger issue is infrastructure. This was mostly farmland 10 years ago, and the public systems just aren't built to handle this kind of population growth so quickly.'
Although the boom has brought new businesses and job opportunities, it has also fueled concerns about traffic congestion, rezoning battles, and environmental impacts in a city where Victorian-era streets and landmarks now sit in the shadow of sprawling new subdivisions. McLaughlin said younger residents and first-time buyers are especially hard-hit, with many unable to qualify for mortgages and a shortage of smaller 'starter' homes in the market. She warned that building quickly without careful planning could worsen traffic congestion, strain public services, and erode the character of historic neighborhoods.
'If the housing shortage persists, the most pressing concerns would be an increase in the number of cost-burdened residents, particularly those in lower- and middle-income brackets,' she said. 'That could lead to the departure of essential workers and drive prices even higher,' she added. Patrick Bowen, president of Bowen National Research, led the assessment that laid bare Clarksville's housing shortage - and its wider economic consequences.
'Whether it's rental or for-sale housing, there's not much available,' Bowen told local FOX affiliate WZTV Nashville. 'And what you do have is really not affordable for many low- to moderate-income households.' He warned that rising housing costs don't just hit residents - they ripple through the local economy. 'When you've got people spending exorbitant amounts on housing, that's less money going back into the local economy. It has an impact on employers, too; the workforce can't afford to stay in the market, or afford the rent they're paying.'
Bowen says the newly compiled data can help Clarksville plan smarter: 'Now you have data to look to, so when you're setting priorities and goals, you have something that gives you structure, to say, we need to focus on this type of housing or this population.' He also stressed that rushing development could make matters worse. 'Yes, housing is needed quickly, but that doesn't mean it should be rushed. You want to make sure you're building the right kind of housing, in the right places, with the right infrastructure in place.'