Forest Hills, TN

Forest Hills has long been one of the most reliably conservative enclaves in the Nashville metro, and that hasn't changed much even as the broader region has seen some political drift. The area sits comfortably at a Cook PVI of R+8, which means you can pretty much bank on Republican candidates carrying the precinct by about eight points more than the national average. If you've lived here for any length of time, you've seen that play out in local school board races, county commission seats, and even the occasional state house primary — the conservative vote tends to hold firm. That said, there's been a subtle but noticeable uptick in progressive-leaning newcomers over the last five or six years, mostly folks moving down from the Northeast or California who like the trees and the quiet but don't always love the local politics. It's not a wave yet, but it's enough that you'll hear more chatter about "equity initiatives" at community meetings than you did a decade ago.

How it compares

Drive ten minutes north into the city of Nashville proper, and you're in a completely different political universe — Davidson County went for Biden by a comfortable margin in 2020, and the Metro Council has been pushing progressive policies on zoning, policing, and public spending that would never fly in Forest Hills. Head west toward Bellevue or south toward Franklin, and you'll find areas that are still solidly red, but with a more moderate, suburban Republican flavor. Forest Hills sits in a sweet spot: it's conservative enough that you don't feel like an outlier at the grocery store, but close enough to the city that you get the cultural amenities without the political baggage. The contrast with neighboring Brentwood is worth noting too — Brentwood is also conservative, but it's a bit more corporate and polished, whereas Forest Hills has a slightly more libertarian, hands-off vibe. People here tend to vote Republican because they genuinely believe in limited government, not just because it's the social norm.

What this means for residents

For the most part, living in Forest Hills means you're left alone. The local government is small and relatively unobtrusive — property taxes are reasonable, zoning is straightforward, and there's no appetite for the kind of ambitious social engineering you see in Nashville proper. That hands-off approach is exactly why many residents moved here in the first place. You won't find mask mandates lingering on the books or city-funded diversity training for small businesses. The school board has resisted the kind of curriculum overhauls that have caused headaches in other districts, and the local police department focuses on actual crime rather than being turned into a social services agency. That said, there are signs that the political winds could shift if the area continues to attract transplants who don't share those values. If you're concerned about government overreach, the biggest red flag to watch is any push to bring Metro Nashville-style policies into the county. So far, those efforts have been beaten back, but it takes constant vigilance at the ballot box and at community meetings.

Culturally, Forest Hills still feels like a place where personal freedom is the default. You don't get a lot of HOA-style nannyism here — people tend to mind their own business. The biggest policy distinction you'll notice is the near-total absence of the kind of performative progressive gestures that have become common in other affluent suburbs. No "Black Lives Matter" banners on city property, no climate emergency declarations, no sanctuary city posturing. The local leadership seems to understand that their job is to keep the roads paved and the schools safe, not to signal virtue to the national media. If that changes — if you start seeing city council resolutions on national political issues or tax dollars funneled into social programs that have nothing to do with local governance — that's when you'll know the character of the place is shifting. For now, though, Forest Hills remains a quiet holdout of common-sense conservatism in a region that's slowly being pulled in other directions.