Growth continues across the Hub City

JACKSON, Tenn. — The City of Jackson has seen a lot of development over the past 200 years.

“When I first started in Jackson 40 years ago, we did not have but just a few restaurants and a few hotels,” said Gary Taylor, the President of Gary A. Taylor Investment.

Now if you take a look at the city, Jackson has grown quite a bit since then. There are more restaurants, business and families in our community, primarily in north Jackson.

“The greatest growth today is happening north of I-40, along the bypass to the east and west sides all the way up to Ashport Road,” Taylor said.

This is leaving other areas of Jackson underappreciated and underdeveloped compared to north Jackson. But Taylor says a few things may help.

“It’s a combination of three things: Planning with the government, second would be private investment, and third would be some type of incentives to allow investments see return on investment,” Taylor said.

This would allow more expansion in areas outside of north Jackson. And with the news jobs coming in from Blue Oval, expansion may be necessary with the possibility of double the current growth rate.

“If there’s 5,000 jobs created there, we will get a certain amount of those jobs here in Jackson, which means our population is going to increase,” Taylor said.

Along with the increase of available jobs, the lower cost of living compared to Memphis and Nashville is attracting many people to Jackson.

“We have a really economical ecosystem here that allows individuals to plant themselves here, and if you’re on a fixed income, you can live here relatively inexpensively,” Taylor said.

Over the next five years, its possible to see an estimated growth rate of three to five percent, which could bring a few more thousand to the area.

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