The City of Fishers has been waiting for months and the outside contractor’s “Housing Needs Analysis & Strategy” report is finally available. The document is lengthy and a presentation before members of the City Council January 18 could not be completed in the time allotted.
The report, put together by Urban Partners, a firm headquartered in Philadelphia, is 91 pages, not including the index at the end of the document. It contains much data and some recommendations. Planning and Zoning Director Megan Vukusich told council members that a group of local people were part of the process, but not everyone involved agrees with all the recommendations contained in the report.
Although Council members only received a partial presentation on the study, much intriguing information was provided. Here are some of the highlights:
–Population in the City of Fishers rose by 26% from 2010 through 2019. Hamilton County’s population growth during that same period was 24%
–The largest age growth segment was school-aged children, (ages 5-17) which is 23% of the Fishers population.
–Senior citizens also grew as a part of the Fishers population. Those aged 65 & over made up 5% of the city’s residents in 2010 – that percentage is 9% in 2019.
–Of those moving to Fishers from outside Hamilton County, these residents are 3-times as likely to be young adults, ages 25-34.
–In 2016, there were 19, 526 jobs located in Fishers – in 2018, that number was 37,336.
–Of Fishers residents, 47.5% work in Indianapolis, 13.7% in Fishers, 9.8% in Carmel and 5% in Noblesville.
–Fishers housing projections are centered on seniors. Over the coming 20 years, 42.5% of all net household growth will be headed by those 65 & older.
That is just a snapshot of some data shared with the Council and a small amount of the data contained in the report. You can read the entire document at this link.
Once Urban Partners completes the presentation to the council, it will be up to the mayor and council members to decide what to do about the report’s recommendations.