GALLATIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — City leaders in Gallatin voted to study the impact of rapid growth and development before making any decisions to pause construction.
The move comes as residents debate whether the pace of development, especially multi-family housing, is changing the character of the community.
"Gallatin used to feel like a small town," neighbor John Hall said. "Now, it is overgrown and it should have stopped at least a year or two years ago."
For longtime residents like Louie, the growth is causing noticeable changes to daily life.
"I think they should put a pause on the development," Louie said. "It’s starting to get crowded. What used to take five minutes, now it’s about twenty."
Louie noted the contrast from when he first arrived.
"Coming from New York City, it seemed to be like a one horse town, although it wasn't," he said.
However, the growth is part of the appeal for new families moving to the area, bringing new opportunities and places to live. Alexandria and Donald recently relocated from Pennsylvania with their 5-year-old.
"I like it," Alexandria said. "Yeah, I think more the better."
"We moved in August," Donald said. "We mainly moved for the environment, from Pennsylvania down to here."
While no decisions have been made yet, the city will take a closer look at the construction boom.
"I think a pause is good. Whatever studies they find, at the end of the day will always be the finances," Hall said.
What do you think about the rapid growth in Gallatin? Watch the full video report above to see the areas most impacted, and share your thoughts on whether a construction pause is the right move for the community. Email your perspective to kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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