MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Pretty soon, Nashville could become a larger city than Memphis.
The latest census data showed Nashville is gaining residents while Memphis is losing hundreds.
City Council member Berlin Boyd said it’s a trend that’s disturbing.
Officials need to come together to find out how to gain more residents, he said, but not everyone is so sure that can happen.
Census estimates showed Memphis lost more than 700 residents while Nashville gained more than 9,000 over the past year.
Boyd claimed the crime problem isn’t the only reason people are leaving the city.
“Memphis is blessed and cursed. It’s blessed because of our center demographic location, but also it’s cursed because we have Arkansas and Mississippi as bordering states so we see a shift in population as well. We shift in people moving down to North Mississippi,” he said.
Mayor Jim Strickland added that the high tax rate could be another reason people are moving.
Strickland said if the city government is run efficiently, that will help attract more people.