America's midsize, 'inner Sun Belt' cities grow

One example is Murfreesboro, Tenn., which grew 51 percent in the '90s and has surged 26 percent since then.

from the July 11, 2007 edition

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In fact, across much of the South, the steady tandem growth of housing and paychecks has helped many communities escape the housing slump that has hit much of the nation over the past year.

In Murfreesboro, it seems, everyone has a job, a house, and a car, and they are driving down Memorial Boulevard to get to Lowe's or the Hobby Lobby. Managing all this growth is a challenge, but many residents say so far, so good.

"It's grown nicely," in a way that's good for business, says Sara Foy, as she serves up sandwiches at the Slick Pig. "We're progressively getting busier."

Ms. Foy has worked at the small restaurant, with a smokehouse out back, for four years. She moved here with her parents from Vermont about a decade ago, part of the ongoing migration of families and working-age people to the Sun Belt.

The snowdrifts of Vermont were a motivating factor, Foy says. But the dominant force for many migrants to places like Murfreesboro is the chance to live a suburban lifestyle without a long commute.

"It has to do with affordability. It has to do with freshness. It has to do with a mix of jobs and amenities," says William Frey, a senior demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The more affordable regions of the country are growing faster."

Often, affordability corresponds with smaller size. Murfreesboro has just 80,000 residents.

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