TENNESSEE Zoning Atlas
The Beacon Center of Tennessee — a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and independent organization dedicated to providing expert empirical research and timely free market solutions to public policy issues — has launched the Middle Tennessee/Nashville region of the Tennessee Zoning Atlas, with the support of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Atlas Network and seeks to move to other parts of the state soon.
With Nashville home prices hitting historic highs and continual population growth in the Middle Tennessee region, housing supply needs to be addressed for Tennessee to continue to be an affordable place to live for both new and old residents.
MORE RESOURCES
Pushed Out: How Arbitrary Government Red Tape Raises Housing Costs by Limiting Supply: Report to accompany the release of the Middle Tennessee Zoning Atlas.
Tennessee State Zoning Enabling Rules: The repository for state laws that enable local zoning.
Note too Tennessee state laws currently prohibit rent control and prohibit local governments from requiring builders to create affordable housing units.
Land Use Planning in Tennessee: A Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations 2011 report documenting the lack of statewide planning regimes, the prevalence of sprawl, and recent zoning changes throughout the state.
Land Use in Tennessee - Striking a Balance: A Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations 2013 report that touches on the state’s system of city-county planning commissions, among other things.
City of Nashville Affordable Housing Task Force Report: A 2011 report chronicling a 50% increase in rent in the preceding decade and a need for 325,000 homes by 2030.
Guide to Nashville & Davidson County's Zoning Code: A website explaining and including GIS layers, a parcel viewer, and the Downtown Zoning Code.
Click here to download the zoning data collected for this atlas.
PROJECT TEAM
Co-Directors: Jason Edmonds & Ron Shultis
Special Thanks to: The Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Atlas Network for generous funding to support this project.