Franklin is poised to almost double in population over the next 10 years. 

What does that look like when you might think our roads are already busy enough? It’s part of a master plan that was laid in place many years ago by our city planners https://www.franklintn.gov/government/departments-k-z/planning-and-sustainability/long-range-planning/urban-growth-boundary-ugb and more recently, by the Envision Franklin plan. It is easy to sometimes think that new development is popping up next to you that was never part of an overall growth strategy for our community; however, a great deal of thought and planning has been going on for years to lay out our future expansion. Many of us have had the same thought, “Thank goodness I made it to Franklin, now shut the door!” However, we all know the reality of how special Franklin is, and it’s on the radar of many other Americans. So, in anticipation of their arrival, we follow the plan that was wisely crafted by our city leaders with input from you, the citizens. It’s about quality development, sustainability, and good land management as to not put a strain on our financial and natural resources.

With this expected growth, there will be more schools, new roads, expanded water treatment facilities/sewer, and more infrastructure to maintain our safe, and high quality of life in Franklin. There will be significant costs to maintain and expand roads, sewer, water availability and other support services.  We must be prudent in our approach to ensure we are making the best possible investment with our taxpayer dollars.

The inconvenient conversation is housing that is reasonably priced for our growing area. I want your children to be able to return to Franklin to raise their families. I want your parents to be able to afford to retire in Franklin. In June 2023 our median home price was pushing $1,000,000. While that may be within the affordable range for some buyers, it is not for the vast majority. There is no one-size-fits-all. There are no easy answers. However, there are solutions we haven’t tapped into yet. I do not support Federal funding for housing. I plan to dig deeper into this disparity and attempt to come up with a workable plan to provide an opportunity for home ownership at entry price point levels. When you talk about housing affordability, all sorts of misconceptions come to mind. It’s a community conversation we need to have. We can’t continue to price out our policemen, our retirees, our first-time home buyers, and service providers. Apartments don’t solve the affordable housing crisis. Development must never jeopardize the ‘small town, historic beauty’ we all love.