Brentwood Offers High Quality of Life, Pastoral Setting
Ask Brentwood residents what they prize most about their city‚ and you’ll hear about gorgeous countryside‚ beautiful homes‚ good schools‚ efficient government‚ convenient location‚ great shopping – and cows.
What this mix of modern amenities and traditional comforts boils down to is a comfortable quality of life that has kept Brentwood growing and thriving even as affluent communities around the country are feeling the pinch of stagnating housing starts and flattened housing appreciation.
In Brentwood‚ housing maintains its steady appreciation‚ while new construction provides a continuing stream of both large-lot luxury subdivisions and mixed-use developments.
Brentwood averages 450 new housing starts annually and is growing at a steady rate of 4.7 percent each year‚ according to Brentwood City Manager Mike Walker.
“I get calls from people all over the country who are relocating‚ and they don’t want to look any place else but here‚” says Realtor Paula Cirulli‚ a 20-year Brentwood resident. “The schools are excellent‚ we have a central location‚ pro sports nearby‚ a quality environment and we have family values.”
Southern Land Co.‚ which has built extensively in Brentwood‚ Cool Springs and Franklin‚ has found the area particularly receptive to its high-end homes.
Windstone‚ on Murray Lane‚ for example‚ features upscale single- family homes beginning at $1 million‚ as well as million-dollar town homes.
“People from around the country are moving here‚ some because of their jobs (Nissan‚ for example)‚ and some to live near their children or grandchildren‚” says Jim Cheney‚ communications director of Southern Land Co.
“People come because there is a lot of opportunity in the area‚ and the cost of living‚ compared to places like Southern California‚ make it a no-brainer.”
Anticipating continued growth‚ the city devised its 2020 visioning plan in 1999‚ focusing on seven major goals: environmental conservation‚ recreation and scenic protection; retirement provisions; commercial provisions; mobility provisions; residential and service institutional provisions; community identity provisions; and growth management provisions.
In 2006‚ Brentwood officials revisited the plan in light of greater-than-anticipated growth and the projected build-out of Brentwood by 2016.
A remarkable 40 percent of Brentwood residents responded to surveys and‚ Walker says‚ their areas of interest remained much the same.
“People were very supportive of the city‚” Walker says. “The issues they identified were what you would expect: open-space preservation‚ growth management‚ traffic. We’ve got a great thing going here‚ but that creates some issues.”
