More than 10,000 Nashvillians told community leaders what they wanted to see for the city. Here’s what they said.

Imagine Nashville, the citywide initiative asking residents to envision their dream city, has released results from more than 10,000 respondents.

The data show that while a majority of participants say that “things are positive” in Nashville, frustrations remain with the current state of the city.

That’s because the things that Nashvillians say the city is doing well — restaurants, shopping, entertainment and outdoor spaces — are also the things, respondents say, that have a lesser impact on quality of life.

Instead, it is what Nashville is executing poorly — traffic, affordable housing, managing the city’s growth, public transit and cost of living — that have a more resonant impact on everyday life.

“The research we’re sharing today tells an interesting story — one with much hope and good news, but also waving the caution flag about some really important challenges for Nashville’s future,” Dr. Dee Allsop, the CEO of Heart+Mind Strategies, said in a statement. Heart+Mind was commissioned by Imagine Nashville to conduct the research.

The responses, collected from a community survey over a period of 100 days, have been broken down by county, neighborhood, age, ethnicity, household income, sexual orientation and gender identity. Within each of these groups, the study identified their thoughts on Nashville’s positives, negatives, favorite visions, priorities for neighborhoods, and goals for housing, education and mobility.

From these results, Imagine Nashville identified five priority areas of what Nashvillians most want to see from the city. These are:

1. Improving neighborhoods’ livability and improving their amenities
2. Improving housing affordability and attainability
3. Improving the city’s mobility and transit
4. Bettering economic opportunity through education and training
5. Managing the city’s growth

At a news conference on Wednesday, Allsop pointed out other key takeaways from the results. These included:

• While 78% of Nashvillians overall say they feel they “belong” in Nashville, more than half of the city’s low-income population responded they “feel left out or excluded from the benefits of living here.” Overall, 72% of respondents see a growing divide between rich and poor.
• 72% of respondents think Nashville’s leaders are investing money in the wrong things, and not the people who live here.
• There is widespread support amongst a majority of Nashvillians for investing in public transit and public education.
• A majority of Nashvillians are not happy with their neighborhoods. The study had respondents identify necessary elements of a neighborhood. Responses yielded: grocery stores, green spaces, sidewalks, lighting and a range of housing options.

Imagine Nashville was led by a 23-person steering committee. The committee was chaired by Dr. Alex Jahangir, who served as head of Metro Nashville’s COVID-19 Task Force; Renata Soto, the founder of Mosaic Changemakers; and John Faison Sr., the senior pastor of Watson Grove Baptist Church. In conjunction with organizations across the city, the group raised around $1 million to carry out the effort.

Imagine Nashville is reminiscent of a similar project from 30 years ago, called “Nashville’s Agenda.” Eventually, Nashville’s Agenda produced “21 Goals for the 21st Century” — many of which came to fruition in subsequent years. The Frist Art Museum, the Housing Fund and many of the city’s greenways all originated with “21 Goals.”

Completing the research portion of the survey propels Imagine Nashville into its next phase. The group will now be engaging the nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank, ThinkTennessee, to discuss potential recommendations for each of the five priority areas. They plan to have a draft of recommendations ready by the end of the spring to present to the community for feedback.