Nashville Public Television’s award winning Next Door Neighbors series looks at Nashville’s status as a new destination city for refugees and immigrants, and explores the rich diversity of people now calling Nashville home. Across the United States, mid-sized cities like Nashville, TN are experiencing unprecedented growth in their international populations. Together these communities are redefining the traditional international city on a smaller local scale. As our new neighbors rebuild their lives in Nashville, their experiences, contributions and conflicts impact the city, but they are challenged by isolation and barriers unknown to many Nashvillians. How Nashville addresses its changing demographic will be important for the future of similar communities across the country.

Through five documentaries, extensive outreach and continued relationships with Nashville’s immigrant and refugee communities the Next Door Neighbors project aims to increase understanding of unfamiliar cultures, highlight the experiences and successes of Nashville’s immigrants, and mediate a community-wide conversation about who we are as Nashvillians. 

NPT’s Next Door Neighbors series received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s 2009 My Source Community Impact Award for Engagement.  Little Kurdistan, USA and Somali received Regional Emmy awards for
Best Historical / Cultural Program, in 2008 and 2009.    

Click here to view an interactive immigration data map showing data since 1880.