Your Voice Needed to Help Advance Knox Plan for Future

The prosperity of Knox County residents will depend largely on the ability of the region to grow in an economic environment where talent is the most precious resource.

The county, however, is currently not on that trajectory. The population is aging quickly. Birth rates and the labor force are flattening. Two job openings exist for every unemployed person.

“There continues to be high job demand and slower workforce growth resulting in fierce competition for talent and many open jobs going unfilled,” reports the Knoxville Chamber’s most recent Economic Conditions Outlook.

What does that mean for Advance Knox, the county’s effort to create a legal framework on which land-use and transportation decisions will be made over the next 20 years? Everything, because houses are where jobs go to sleep.

Historically, people have cited cost of living, particularly affordable housing, as a local advantage. That advantage is quickly evaporating, however, because of skyrocketing housing costs that reflect a lack of inventory.

Too often this issue is defined as a battle between developers, the real estate and business community versus residents, homeowners, and neighborhoods, but that’s a false dichotomy.

Generational residents find themselves priced out of the market where a $72,000 salary and 20 percent down payment is required to buy a median-priced home.

Knox County is gaining more residents, but the largest increase is among individuals older than 55. They either brought their jobs with them or are already out of the workforce. The growth in the past decade among 25- to 54-year-old individuals – prime working age – was just 3.3 percent, a significantly lower rate than peer cities such as Chattanooga, Asheville and Greenville, S.C.

The status quo will not enable Knox Countians to enjoy the quality of life they value.

If employers cannot fill their jobs, they will move elsewhere. If employers move, the small businesses that depend on them – from accountants to restaurants – will close. Without payrolls that generate sales tax and commercial interests that yield property taxes, local governments will be forced to cut services and raise taxes to current residents.

Advance Knox can serve as the catalyst to a more economic prosperous future.

Studies show that inefficient land use, not economic growth, is the primary cause of rapid loss of open space. And inefficient land use – specifically low-density development patterns — cause infrastructure needs to grow beyond the community’s ability to generate revenue required to maintain it.

To prepare for an economically prosperous future, Advance Knox should yield a land-use plan that:

• Encourages more Town Center-style developments with a mix of housing types, commercial establishments, and public amenities. This type of development reduces road trips and impacts on infrastructure and the environment by leaving property available for green space.
• Allows missing-middle housing – duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, and small-scale apartments – that is built to the scale of neighboring homes and retain the community’s character. Such housing is an affordable and low-maintenance alternative that is particularly appealing to young professionals looking to put down roots and senior citizens needing to downsize.
• Provides for predictable land-use decisions that allow projects to proceed when they comply with all zoning code regulations versus discretionary processes that create unnecessary costs, delays, and ill-will between developers and other special interests. Such a process can lower the cost and risk of development, thereby creating more housing units at all price points. It’s important to note the hole from which we are digging: the amount of new residential construction in Knox County has yet to reach the level experienced before the 2007-2009 Great Recession.
• Respects the rights of private property owners. Employment in land-based occupations – farming, mining, and forestry – makes up less than 1 percent of employment in the Knox and surrounding counties. Farm families are land rich and cash poor, and they deserve the opportunity to use their assets to pursue the livelihoods of their choosing.

Opportunities will exist beginning in October to provide feedback to Advance Knox planners on scenarios for future growth. Thus far, planners have heard mostly from residents whose top priorities are preserving the county’s “rural character” and “prime farmland.”

It’s vital that planners hear from those whose priority is creating more housing choices in more places to ensure a prosperous future.

The Chamber is hosting the Advance Knox leadership team to get feedback from the business community at 8 a.m. Oct. 4. (NOW FULL)

An encore session has been scheduled for Friday, October 7 beginning at 8:30 a.m. Register here.

Young Professionals of Knoxville is partnering with planners, the Chamber, and Knoxville Area Association of Realtors to host a meeting on Oct. 12 at noon. Registration for that event is here.

Advance Knox public meetings – no registration needed — are scheduled for Sunday, Oct.2 at New Hopewell Elementary School, 2-4 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 3 at Gresham Middle School, 5:30-7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Cedar Bluff Middle School, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

A virtual session will be held at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Register here.

Scenario information and opportunities to provide input online will be available on the website after the in-person events conclude.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out to Amy Nolan, vice president of regional enhancement for the Knoxville Chamber, at [email protected].

Please know your voice is important in determining whether Advance Knox prepares the community for a prosperous future or simply maintains the status quo.