"Calm Down, Babe."
🌆 Where's Nashville growing · Kid Rock gets a private air show · Rutherford library director defects, gets fired · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Looking at the numbers on a recent "Nashville is growing" study... Does the city want your street to calm down... Kid Rock gets a private air show... Library director fired in Rutherford County... And much more!
New Council Watch Features We've added additional features to Council Watch. In addition to who's funding your councilmember, you can now see how they vote and who they vote with most frequently. (Take a Look)
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Setting the record straight on where Nashville is growing.
From Davis Hunt
There’s been a story flying around. You might’ve seen it. “This Nashville Neighborhood Leads US in Per Capita Moves.” That’s what the Fox17 headline read, discussing the data from MovingPlace’s March 2026 Hottest ZIP Codes Report.
The zip code is 37228, which covers North Nashville and the Metro Center. Just 2,351 people live within the boundary. A per-capita move rate of 12.8 per 1,000 residents in February 2026, the highest in the nation for that month, translates to roughly 30 people relocating to the area.
Nashville’s 37203, which covers downtown, Midtown, and parts of Edgehill, is the real winner here. It comes in at number ten on the list, but 150 people moved to this zip code last month, ranking it just under Surprise, Arizona for the most total moves on the list.
Studies like this are usually published to promote the company. In this case, it's MovingPlace, an online marketplace for moving services. They pull together proprietary data on whatever they deal in, put together a "study," and send out a press release to various news outlets, who then, unblinkingly, reprint it.
Studies put out by companies like this vary in their quality. Another example is CompareCarInsurance.com. The website that does exactly what it says it does put out a really good study in 2022, ranking the most car-dependent cities in the country. Memphis and Nashville ranked one and two on that list.
All that is to say that now you know about two companies that you previously didn't and have a little better understanding of your area. But 37228’s “per-capita” growth looks like an outlier, not a legitimate signal of growth for the area. I only mention this because outlets across the basin have breathlessly reprinted this factoid, and someone's gotta state the obvious around here.
Knowledge is power. Onward.
✹ METRO COUNCIL WATCH
New Council Watch Features We've added additional features to Council Watch. In addition to who's funding your councilmember, you can now see how they vote and who they vote with most frequently. (Take a Look)
HEADLINES
- 🚁 Kid Rock post prompts army investigation after Apache helicopters fly by his Nashville home. A recent Kid Rock post targeting California Gov. Gavin Newsom has sparked political debate and prompted a military investigation, as the post showed two Apache helicopters maneuvering and making a visit to his Nashville-area home over the weekend. (Tennessean)
- 📚 Rutherford Library Board fires director after she refuses to relocate 132 children's books. Library director Dr. Luanne James refused to comply with a board order to relocate 132 children’s books to the adult section of the library. The board recently deemed the books inappropriate, citing LGBTQ+ themes, female empowerment, diversity, witches, and social justice. (Channel 5)
- 🚇 TN Lawmakers cut new proposed agency to oversee Boring Company tunnel from 20 staffers to 3. Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, a Franklin Republican, is now proposing a three-person “subterranean transportation infrastructure” agency costing less than $1 million compared to the 20-person, $5 million agency in his original proposal. (Lookout)
- 💸 New credit score push raises housing risk questions. Latinos for Tennessee is sounding the alarm on a Biden-era policy now being implemented by FHFA Director Bill Pulte that would introduce the untested VantageScore 4.0 into mortgage lending. Critics—including a coalition of national conservative groups—warn the move could loosen credit standards, incentivize riskier loans, and inflate housing instability. Some are asking what that could mean for already-strained markets like Nashville. (Tennessean)
🚦 Is your neighborhood getting the "Calm Down" treatment? You won't say it to your wife, but your city will say it to your street by laying down speed bumps (now lovingly called speed cushions), speed tables, chicanes, and bulb-outs.
The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) announced 25 newly selected traffic calming projects where they'll do whatever they can to make driving on your street more unpleasant and safer. (Take a Look)
DEVELOPMENT
- Metro commission OKs Edgehill apartment plan (Post)
- Timberland giant Weyerhaeuser taps Gallatin for facility (Post)
- NYC-based firm Apollo Global Management eyes Nashville (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🪕 Steve Huber & The Flatheads @ Station Inn, 8p, Info
✨ Stunt Girl w/ sour tooth @ DRKMTTR, 8p, Info
🎷 Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass @ Ryman Auditorium, 7:30p, $53, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan.