With team banners still waving in the wind on downtown light poles and Nashville basking in the glow of rave reviews for its turn as host of the NFL Draft, the results of the new Vanderbilt University poll show a rising tension in the city. As Nashville has gotten better and better — nationally renowned, even — at playing host to big events, attracting big corporations and appealing to millennials with money to spend, the city has grown more disappointing to the people who live here.

“Since the poll’s inception in 2015, the percentage of residents who think the city is moving in the wrong direction has grown from 22 percent to 45 percent today,” reads a summary of the poll released to media. “Conversely, those who think Nashville is moving in the right direction has dropped from 72 percent in 2015 to 53 percent in this latest poll.”

For the poll, Vanderbilt’s Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions interviewed 910 Nashville residents ages 18 and older between March 5 and April 3. That means the bulk of the interviews would have been conducted before the late-March controversy over the draft-related removal of cherry trees at Riverfront Park that seemed to perfectly crystallize Nashville’s current moment. (That is, tear down something beautiful and free to make way for something big and loud that has a vaguely defined economic benefit.) But the poll results seem to reflect the general mood that was apparent in the reaction to that episode, as well as to recent (successful) efforts to lure companies like Amazon to town.

Among the findings:

78 percent of respondents think Nashville’s population is growing too quickly.

64 percent think the construction of new buildings and properties is growing too quickly.

74 percent would rather see taxpayer money spent on something other than tax incentives to keep or attract businesses to the city.

Despite all this, Mayor David Briley still finds his popularity in decent shape. Sixty-six percent of respondents said they approve of the job he is doing. Still, he faces opponents in this year’s mayoral election — At-Large Metro Councilmember John Cooper, state Rep. John Ray Clemmons and former Vanderbilt professor-turned-right-wing pundit Carol Swain — who will no doubt highlight sentiments about the direction of the city to undermine sentiments about Briley’s job performance.

It’s not the first time this particular poll has found respondents separating anxiety about the city’s growth from their views of the mayor. In March 2017, 65 percent of poll respondents said they thought too many people were moving to the city, and 60 percent said too many new buildings were being built at once. Despite those figures, then-Mayor Megan Barry had a 72 percent approval rating in the poll.

When it comes to this year’s poll, one other result looks to have implications for this year’s mayoral and Metro Council elections: Sixty-five percent of respondents said taking steps to ensure the city’s long-term financial health should be a top priority. That will be a central focus in the coming weeks as the Briley administration unveils its proposed budget.

The poll also asked residents about Metro Nashville Public Schools; the district has recently been engulfed in controversy as the Metro school board came to an agreement with director Shawn Joseph to end his tenure leading MNPS.

Among those results:

37 percent of respondents said they approve of the job the school board is doing, compared with 51 percent last year.

67 percent of those surveyed said they would support an increase in property taxes if the increase were to go toward raising the pay of teachers.

Those numbers suggest the uneasiness of residents who feel officials see Nashville not as a place to live, but as something to sell.