The current Nashville upzoning and Missing Middle issue in simple terms
Nashville Metro’s newly proposed policies and the negative consequences for all, but especially single-family and low-density neighborhoods, with inquiring minds:
Removal of Community Voice: Over time, a transfer of public participation (the removal of your input and public hearings) to the Planning Department Staff / Planning Commission.
The proposed “Tool” for a diversity of housing options: The proposed “tool” creating a diversity of housing options - RN or RL (two new zoning types) - would allow dramatic changes to housing types or options to include multi-family once adopted.
Once adopted (after the first time), project approval is a Planning Department process and does not involve neighbor or community participation through a public hearing. If the future solutions fall within the approved options, these options range from a single home to a series of multifamily “options” on the property.
What’s an example? Using the example at the end of the related post, a 20,000-square-foot single-family lot could be subdivided into “design-sites” and then developed with either one single-family home or 18 plex-style units (plus other options). Similarly, the larger the property, the larger the multipliers. The Council’s justification is that because a single-family home remains technically allowed, there is no reason for neighborhood concern.
Is this NEST? No, it is not a blanket application to the entire county as part of a new zoning remapping. It is a “tool” or zoning type to begin transforming Nashville – Davidson County to meet the new study goal of providing “a diversity of housing” and “options” in ALL neighborhoods (as outlined by the H&I boards and community presentations). This is a rhetorical cover for both the elimination of single-family zoning and a desperate attempt to mitigate infrastructure failings caused by overdevelopment by fueling more overdevelopment. Yes, let’s do the same thing twice and expect a different result. But, is it NEST? Again, it is not; the combo of “pseudo” lot subdivision and building option multiplier is a significantly greater impact than NEST ever dreamed of.
How Nashville can actually address the affordability crisis
A real strategy must come first. Surprisingly, Nashville already has one: the Unified Housing Strategy (UHS) 2025. It identifies the actual problem—a shortage of affordable housing for the city’s lowest-income and workforce families—and recommends starting with those who are most in need.
The current rezoning push promises affordability, but rarely delivers it where it is needed most. The term is used so broadly that it often applies to housing that is priced beyond what working-class residents can afford. True affordability means homes for the workforce and those with lower incomes, not just smaller units for higher earners. The Missing Middle approach may help a narrow slice of upper-tier workforce households—but only in theory. In practice, 15 years of zoning reform have yielded more expensive units, rather than more affordable ones.
Market-rate vacancy is already over 10%, showing that supply exists, but not at the prices people in crisis can afford. Nashville should return to the UHS—a plan it already has—focusing on affordable, targeted solutions, rather than increasing density for a market already overserved.
Get all the facts
Issues around housing affordability are complex. The media often presents the perspectives of special interest groups – politicians, developers, and outside consultants. And what is reported is often purposely over simplified. We believe you should have the whole story. Below are important facts that you should know about.
Who we are
Save Our Nashville Neighborhoods, Inc. (SONNinc or SONN) is a grassroots, neighborhood-led coalition working to protect community voice, community vision, affordability, and livability across Davidson County. Formed in District 23 and now active citywide, SONN helps residents decode zoning and housing reform, challenge who actually benefits from proposed changes, and advocate for policies that reflect the lived experience of real people, especially working families and long-time neighbors, the very people who create the communities that give Nashville its unique character.
We invite residents, leaders, and policymakers alike to work with us, not in opposition, but in collaboration. SONN offers a space where shared goals can take shape, where practical solutions rise from real neighborhoods, not imposed blueprints. Add your voice. Bring your ideas. Help us build a better path forward—one that genuinely serves the people who call this city home.