GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – The town of Greeneville has seen an increase in people moving into town.
“There’s not other towns that have experienced this type of growth in this short period of time,” said Randy Davenport, the town’s planning administrator. “But certainly for Greeneville, it’s something that I don’t think we’ve ever seen in our history.”
Davenport told News Channel 11 that D.R Horton, a developing company, is building new homes in the area.
“They came in and just explained that Greeneville was their next market that they wanted to get into,” Davenport said. “They were looking at building anywhere from 800 to a 1,000 new houses in Greeneville.”
The population growth will require town leaders to focus on things like traffic, infrastructure, and school capacity.
“The school system and the town together have started the process of looking at constructing a new school,” Davenport said. “With all of that, you’re just adding fuel to the fire, of a traffic situation, so we’ve spoken with the Department of Transportation frequently about what they can do to help us.”
The Main and Depot Street project is one step the town is taking to replace outdated infrastructure.
Brad Johnston, managing broker for Hometown Realty, said he has seen the growth in the housing market.
“We still have a lot of buyers, but right now, there’s not a lot of inventory coming on if you’re looking for something with a little privacy and land,” Johnston said.
Johnston told News Channel 11 that he is seeing people moving from out of state.
The current population in Greeneville is approaching 16,000 and Davenport said the town expects to see that grow to 20,000 or more in the next five years.
