To date the Planning Commission of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson county have had many plans for the future of Nashville's residential and urban areas. These plans include upkeep of existing areas as well as plans for the development of completely new areas. The techniques that the commission uses to achieve their goals can be quite numerous. Whether it involves an urban or residential area the main concerns that people have are esthetic quality, commercial value of property, and whether or not the area serves their commercial needs. The planning Commission seeks to resolve these concerns mainly through zoning. Zoning is the most inclusive term and single most useful tool that the planning commission has for directing growth. The commission uses zoning to regulate the amount of business in a residential area as well as the number of families per dwelling and the size of the housing lots.

The number of families per dwelling falls under the category of housing density. In general the greater the housing density the less appealing the area is. The commission expected that between 1980 and 2000 the ratio of multi-family to single family housing in Nashville's residential areas would be two to one (Davidson County 80-2000, 34). Multi-family housing are mainly apartment buildings but also includes duplexes and condominiums. It is clear when viewing Nashville's various suburbs that this mix of single and multi-family homes is not even. Generally, multi-family housing exits in areas where there is significant residential growth such as South and West Nashville. Here, the rapid increase in residences has created many new multi-family units occupying less land than single family units. Multi-family housing becomes practical when people want to live in well established residential areas where single family homes are predominant. In these communities there is little space for many single family dwellings. Apartment buildings and condominiums allow for a great number of people to live in an area and still not disturb the size of housing lots. This is why use of multi-family housing is one of the healthiest ways for an area to deal with increased residents. Other areas have simply placed houses in between existing ones decreasing the size of the lots, an effect which is almost always negative.

As housing density increases the esthetic quality of the neighborhood is ruined. People have no desire to have small yards and to hear their neighbor's backyard barbecue from their living room window. Naturally, with increased housing will come decreased open space which is displeasing to the eye. Often people that move in are of a different style than those originally there. This causes disquiet especially if the new housing is lower-income. Whether the influx of low-income residents to a higher-income area is in and of itself a valid cause for the decrease in an areas worth, the older residents are often scared away and sell their homes. As the first people move out of these suburbs to more spacious and quiet ones, others follow. Soon real estate prices in that area drop. Residents, not wanting to lose any more money on their property investment, sell their homes for cheap. Thus, lower-income residents move in, causing the trend to quicken. In the areas directly north and east of Nashville the destructiveness of this is apparent. The homes in this area are old and run-down, the lots are less than three fourths of an acre and the area is low-income. Furthermore, the area is riddled with bars and liquor stores which do nothing to help the neighborhood's appeal. Once a neighborhood reaches this level the transition is complete and difficult to reverse. The area has gone from a strong residential area to a slum.

Few areas are either completely commercial or completely residential. These areas, which the planning commission calls "mixed use areas" often have a precarious balance of business and residence. This balance is often difficult to maintain in good health. If for some reason commercial development should encroach upon the quiet and spaciousness of the suburb then people may leave the area. Over-zoning is a problem that allows for such encroachment. strip commercial development is carefully regulated as not to adversely affect the ascetics of a neighborhood. For example if a music hall where rock concerts were played was placed in the center of a residential area, this would disturb the residents. If residents leave either business will fill in the neighborhoods producing a healthy commercial area or they will develop into low-income, slum-type residential. The businesses in the residential areas directly adjacent to downtown undoubtedly once friendly neighborhood drug stores, grocery stores, doctors and dentist offices, hardware stores etc. With the decrease in the areas worth ,the stores and the low-income people that frequent the area allowed and even supports businesses like bars and liquor stores which are detrimental to a healthy community. By contrast in an area like Green Hills the lots have been kept relatively large and the businesses and multi-family housing has been restricted to the strips along the main roads such as Hillsboro Road. The area continues to be in good health because the residential and commercial areas were kept sufficiently separate so that they are convenient but not crowding. Keeping the stability of the residential neighborhoods and rapid commercial growth separate or in harmony is a problem that the planning commission has to continually deal with.

The pattern of residential and commercial growth in Nashville or anywhere can be dizzying. There are hundreds of factors to be considered to when planning for a specific neighborhood. Controlling an area's growth while allowing it to develop freely can is very tricky. This is why the specific guidelines of zoning laws are so integral to the planning commission.