The City of Murfreesboro is presenting several issues related to Housing & Neighborhoods to the community as part of a participatory process to develop its 20-year comprehensive plan. The Chapter 5 presentation was first delivered to the Murfreesboro 2035 Task Force Wednesday, April 1, 2015, at Patterson Park Community Center. The 82-page draft report reviews the City's future Housing & Neighborhood capacity and needs related to residential zoning, housing numbers, affordability, transportation costs, livable neighborhoods, and walkability.

Citizens can view the full draft report on the City's Murfreesboro 2035 webpage at www.Murfreesborotn.gov/murfreesboro2035 clicking the tab on the left entitled Comprehensive Plan Chapters. Please give the PDF document sufficient time to download.

"We are excited to roll out another chapter to the community in the comprehensive planning process. The information contained in Housing & Neighborhoods provides a graphic look at the issues and opportunities available to Murfreesboro as the community grapples with the available land for housing within Murfreesboro's Urban Growth Boundary," said City Manager Rob Lyons.

Chapter 5, Housing & Neighborhoods, includes guiding principles on growth in 8 key areas including:

• Support initiatives to develop fair and equitable housing within neighborhoods.
• Encourage residential infill development and redevelopment that is compatible with the scale and character of existing neighborhoods.
• Provide opportunities for a greater mix of housing types in sufficient quantity to serve current and future Murfreesboro residents and workers, which are located in proximity to employment centers.
• Support initiatives to develop new affordable housing.
• Promote neighborhood design that allows for multi-modal connectivity between residential areas, commercial areas, parks and open space.
• Provide appropriate park space and recreation areas and amenities as a focal point in all newly developed neighborhoods.

As available land for residential development becomes scarcer, developing affordable housing becomes critical. KKC planners presented analysis, as defined by HUD, which shows many Murfreesboro households are already "cost-burdened" or "extremely cost-burdened." Cost-burdened refers to households that spend over 30 percent of their monthly income on housing. Extremely cost-burdened refers to households that spend over 50 percent of their monthly income on housing. Nearly one-third of Murfreesboro homeowners with a mortgage are classified as cost-burdened but planners revealed that the situation is worse for those who rent.

"With respect to renters, we found that 52.4 percent of renters in Murfreesboro are cost-burdened and that has increased 8.2 percent since 2000," said Frances Ketterman, Kendig Keast Collaborative consultant.

Affordable housing is just one of Murfreesboro's challenges. According to Chapter 2, Growth Capacity, Murfreesboro grew by more than 35,000 residents over the past 14 years, and it is expected to keep the fast pace in the near and mid-term. Population projections forecast significant population growth in Murfreesboro to an estimated 228,000 by 2035.

Future planning decisions will impact Murfreesboro's quality of life, community character, and growth capacity. The Murfreesboro 2035 webpage has been established at to provide citizens with a copies of draft Chapters and other updated information about the comprehensive plan projects, documents, schedules and meeting notices.

Hundreds of Murfreesboro citizens have been engaging questions in an Online Discussion Forum www.murfreesboro2035.com to provide input for the 20-year comprehensive plan. Texas-based KKC is currently working on additional chapters. Upcoming comprehensive plan chapter drafts will focus on Chapter 6, Parks, Recreation, and Open Space and Chapter 7, Economic Development. Chapters 3 & 4 on Mobility and Land Use & Character are still in progress as subconsultant Neel-Schaffer, Inc. develops a 2040 Major Transportation Plan which will be summarized in the delayed chapters.

Development subconsultants include Neel-Schaffer, Inc., focusing on transportation planning and stormwater drainage-related issues, and Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. focusing on utilities infrastructure capacities and improvements. Neel-Shaffer, Inc. is a national engineering firm with offices in Murfreesboro. Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. is a national engineering firm headquartered in Nashville.

The full plan, including executive summary, is expected to be finalized by May 2016.