Northwest Indiana is expected to grow by about 115,000 residents over the next 25 years. That means Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties will need about 50,000 more homes. Where to put them is one of the topics addressed in the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission's NWI 2050+ plan.
Planning Manager Eman Ibrahim gave an update on the plan's housing section to NIRPC's Transportation Committee on Tuesday. She noted that 85 percent of the Region's homes are single-family — well above the national average — and 75 percent are on large lots.
"We're still keeping the single-family homes, but we would like to shrink the lot size so we can accommodate more housing," Ibrahim explained.
Placing homes closer together also reduces the cost of providing services, which, in turn could make homes more affordable. The plan notes that affordable housing is limited in Northwest Indiana. Households making less than $50,000 can only find older homes, and even those with higher incomes can face limited options.
"If they don't find housing within their ability, they go to a cheaper one, and then they cause an issue for the people within this income [level], that they don't have enough supply of this housing," Ibrahim noted.
One of the goals is to focus housing density around existing downtowns and commuter rail stations. While many communities along Lake Michigan have most services within walking distance — a concept known as a 15-minute city — that's less prevalent in growing communities to the south.
Going forward, Ibrahim said NIRPC's Economy & Place Committee is working on implementing the housing plan. That includes looking at the roughly 30,000 units that are currently vacant, and whether they can be brought back into use.
"So we would like to know, exactly, is that something, really, that people can live in, is it in a good condition, why we have this high vacancy," Ibrahim said.
The Economy & Place Committee is also analyzing existing needs and creating a housing snapshot for each community.
