As Nashville continues to be a popular destination for tourists and wealthy newcomers, locals from a variety of backgrounds say that skyrocketing housing prices have left them on the streets. 'Nashville only cares about tourists, country music and cowboy hats. It's a dog and pony show. Forget those fancy apartments that are going up, I don't stand a chance of getting any sort of apartment in this city right now,' Purple Heart recipient Patrick James told DailyMail.com.
One reason housing is so unaffordable for local residents is that the upfront costs can go far beyond a single month's rent. 'You've got to make at least three times the amount of the rent to get approved,' James said. 'That's why I bought that old truck to live in and the car, so I could get to places.
It's the rate of the rent of the rental properties here in Nashville that got me personally in the homeless situation,' Weaver said. 'And as I talk to other fellow community members that are living on the streets, it's their issue as well. The rental properties are just not affordable.'