Affordable Homes

We are at risk of "gentrifying" Rutherford County. Many people moved here as Nashville and Davidson County became unaffordable. Working people moved here for lower rent and lower price of homes. 

People that work here should be able to afford to LIVE here. 

That includes our firefighters, police officers and other essential workers! Young and hard working people shouldn't be moving to surrounding counties to find affordable homes, then driving in to Rutherford to work. 

 Where I stand on Affordable Homes

• Favor denser development / infill to raise revenue per acre and reduce road miles required per household. This will lower our long term infrastructure maintenance liability.
• Where it aligns with Plan Rutherford, rezone areas of the county that can sustain higher density developments and allow  duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhomes, permit accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on most residential lots, reduce minimum lot sizes.
• Find incentives to encourage developers to build lower cost residences.

Our median income in this county is $83,871. Using the 4x formula, an affordable home would be $335,484.  The average home price in 2025 in Rutherford County is $435,000. That just doesn't add up.

We need to find a way to incentivize builders to create affordable homes through land use and density where it makes good sense. Our residents shouldn't be "house poor" just because giant homes are more profitable. People need to be able to save money for a rainy day. It's that 43% I'm talking about.

To put it simply, we need to increase the supply of affordable homes. The developers in Rutherford County need no help building a $500,000 house.  We need to encourage the development of lower cost homes with smart policy. We need to lower cost of developing these homes by streamlining regulations or restrictions that interfere our ability to achieve this. 

I am for density in the right context

We should have very dense housing options where infrastructure is available and it makes contextual sense. We should have density where there's easy access to major highways and interstates, transit, water, schools and sidewalks. I am not for a giant apartment building in the agricultural reaches of my district. But I do believe our community needs to do something a little different.