Majority of residents say Nashville is "on the wrong track" after ice storm
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Optimism in Nashville cratered in a new Vanderbilt University poll released Thursday, with a majority of respondents saying the city is on the wrong track.
Why it matters: Music City's mood has soured in the aftermath of the devastating ice storm that left nearly half the city without power at its peak.
- Approval for city leaders sank in the following weeks, according to the poll results.
By the numbers: 56% of Nashvillians think the city is on the wrong track, while only 44% think it is headed in the right direction.
- That's a stark reversal from last year's poll, which found a growing majority was optimistic over Nashville's outlook.
The big picture: Affordability, traffic and unwieldy population growth were top concerns among residents, according to the poll.
State of play: Mayor Freddie O'Connell's approval rating fell to 54%, a 13-point drop from last year's results.
Between the lines: O'Connell's approval fell most sharply among Republican respondents, slipping to only 25%. That drop came after a year when Republican leaders loudly criticized the mayor for his opposition to President Trump's immigration crackdown.
- O'Connell has 71% approval among Democrats and 54% approval among independents.
Zoom in: For the first time ever in the Vanderbilt Poll, the Metro Council had a negative approval rating. Disapproval rose to 50%, while council approval dropped to 48%.
- The Vanderbilt Poll asked residents about the Nashville Electric Service for the first time this year. Only 39% approved of the utility's performance, while 61% disapproved.
Reality check: The survey started less than a month after Winter Storm Fern, and 76% of respondents said they were affected by the storm.
- The pollsters said they believed some of the pessimism reflected in these results would soften as the city moves on from the storm.
Flashback: The topline results from this poll were largely consistent with results from a February survey conducted about two weeks after the ice storm by the Republican consulting firm Baker Group Strategies.
How it works: The latest Vanderbilt Poll was conducted Feb. 20-March 14 and included 1,048 Nashville residents. The margin of error is +/- 4.05 percentage points.