NWI Population Trends

[ta1064]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

Just so everyone understands, there is “Section 8” homes in every area of the state...In at least every town. All it takes is for a property owner to contact the local section 8 office and pass an inspection. Once this happens and they find a tenant, then voila, their property becomes a “section 8 home”. Additionally, local governments cannot prevent any property owner from accepting section 8 vouchers if they are authorized to rent out their property. Yes, some communities have more section 8 voucher holders than others but every area has them. As far as suburban areas, Munster, Dyer, St. John, and Schererville have the fewest amount of Section 8 voucher holders and Merrillville, Portage, and Valpo have the most. Griffith, Chesterton, and Crown Point have a decent amount mostly isolated to specific multi-family properties. As far as more rural towns, Hebron and Demotte have a higher concentration of section 8 voucher holders than other rural towns.

Now as far as properties being built specifically for low income households (which could be income-based and/or accept section 8), there are no new projects pending in Dyer or the other areas that I listed at this time.

Also, Cedar Lake is most definitely NOT the “new Saint John” lol.

Carmel, Indiana has Section 8 housing? Are you serious?

[DoseTheClowns5]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I wonder if there are enough Republicans moving to NWI to turn Lake County, Indiana red?

Lake County shifted decently to Republicans in 2016.
In 2012 Obama won it by 31 points. In 2016 Hillary won it by 20 points. Trump also received the most votes of any Republican in Lake County since Bush Senior in 88.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_County,_Indiana
While I don't see Lake County going red I do see it shifting more to purple and being competitive for both parties in the future.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by ta1064

Carmel, Indiana has Section 8 housing? Are you serious?

If by "Section 8 housing" you mean landlords whom accept the Housing Choice Voucher aka "Section 8", then the answer is yes, Carmel does. Not a whole lot in Carmel but there are some. There are more in Noblesville (whom has their own housing authority actually) and Westfield. Overall, the Indianapolis area has more landlords accepting Section 8 in the suburbs than in the suburban areas of NWI but still, it is there. Here is the thing --- contrary to popular belief, you cannot always tell who has a voucher and who does not as well as which property is rented by a voucher holder and which are not.

The listings are not exhaustive, but you can check gosection8.com and affordablehousingonline.com to see listings and properties that either accept the HCV, are income-based, or a mix of both.

And again, just as a reminder, anyone who is able to rent out their property can choose to accept HCV as long as the property passes the Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Inspection.

Misty Glen in Hebron, IN is one example of an affordable housing complex in a small town that also accepts HCV. Williamsburg on the Lake in Valpo and Cedar Point Apartments in Crown Point are other examples. The major apartment complexes in Munster, Dyer, Schererville, and Highland do not accept section 8 but some landlords of smaller duplexes or single-family homes in those towns accept HCV. You can also add in Cedar Lake, Lowell, DeMotte, Kouts, etc. Section 8 is everywhere in varying numbers. Just like there are some good homeowners and bad homeowners, the same goes for renters and the same goes for voucher holders (within the confines of what the program allows as far as "bad" behavior/character).

[Pundcakesss]

Well with Illinois continuing to raise taxes the trend for NWI looks to be up for awhile. NWI continues experiencing robust housing market compared with Illinois | National | newspressnow.com

[valpofan11]

Originally Posted by paintedeagle

Highland is still a nice little community. Great location next to the highway. The big issue, and people are aware, is that the homes are small with small lots. A lot of ranches there. When I look at the real estate sites I do see a good bit of auctions in Highland, too. I have family that just moved from Highland. Where did they move? St. John. They got a bigger home.

I think back on growing up. Large families were raised in those smaller Highland ranch homes. Highland still has a solid community feel to it.

Highland is fine. I wouldn't call it that nice, but it's definitely decent. I'm interested to see how the community changes as a ton of old (white) people are dying off and much of the replacement is made by Hispanics. Pretty sure Highland is one of if not the oldest median age community in NWI.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by valpofan11

Highland is fine. I wouldn't call it that nice, but it's definitely decent. I'm interested to see how the community changes as a ton of old (white) people are dying off and much of the replacement is made by Hispanics. Pretty sure Highland is one of if not the oldest median age community in NWI.

Thanks for reviving this thread! I forgot about it. Here are the 2019 estimates:

Hammond -6.6% (80,825->75,552)
Gary -6.7% (80,256->74,879)
Lake Station -6.5% (12,671-> 11,845)
East Chicago -6.3% (29,698->27,817)
Michigan City -1.2%. (31,401>31,015)
La Porte -2.2%. (22,063->21,569)
Valparaiso 6.8%. (31,743->33,897)
Dyer -2.4% (16,367->15,976)
Schererville -2.4%. (29,217-> 28,517)
Munster -4.7% (23,580->22,476)
St. John 26.7%. (14,831->18,796)
Highland -6% (23,741->22,316)
Griffith -5.1% (16,919 -> 16,060)
Chesterton 7.6%. (13,087->14,088)
Portage 0.4% (36,828->36,988)
Crown Point 9.4%. (27,870->30,488)
Winfield 32% (4,536-> 5,987)
Lowell 6.8% (9,298 -> 9,933)
Cedar Lake 13.9% (11,579 -> 13,183)
Merrillville -0.5% (34,969->34,712)
Hobart -4.8% (29,336->27,939)

No huge changes other than accelerated growth in St. John and Cedar Lake and continued robust growth in Winfield. Portage was able to reverse its population decline slightly and may end up in the green by the time 2020 data come out.

It will be interesting to see what the actual numbers look like for 2020, and I’m really interested in what the estimates will be for 2021 in NWI.

[valpofan11]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

Thanks for reviving this thread! I forgot about it. Here are the 2019 estimates:

Hammond -6.6% (80,825->75,552)
Gary -6.7% (80,256->74,879)
Lake Station -6.5% (12,671-> 11,845)
East Chicago -6.3% (29,698->27,817)
Michigan City -1.2%. (31,401>31,015)
La Porte -2.2%. (22,063->21,569)
Valparaiso 6.8%. (31,743->33,897)
Dyer -2.4% (16,367->15,976)
Schererville -2.4%. (29,217-> 28,517)
Munster -4.7% (23,580->22,476)
St. John 26.7%. (14,831->18,796)
Highland -6% (23,741->22,316)
Griffith -5.1% (16,919 -> 16,060)
Chesterton 7.6%. (13,087->14,088)
Portage 0.4% (36,828->36,988)
Crown Point 9.4%. (27,870->30,488)
Winfield 32% (4,536-> 5,987)
Lowell 6.8% (9,298 -> 9,933)
Cedar Lake 13.9% (11,579 -> 13,183)
Merrillville -0.5% (34,969->34,712)
Hobart -4.8% (29,336->27,939)

No huge changes other than accelerated growth in St. John and Cedar Lake and continued robust growth in Winfield. Portage was able to reverse its population decline slightly and may end up in the green by the time 2020 data come out.

It will be interesting to see what the actual numbers look like for 2020, and I’m really interested in what the estimates will be for 2021 in NWI.

Crown Point, Winfield, Cedar Lake, and St John all booming. Portage has a couple active subdivisions being built in, which helps.

Valpo keeps growing but the school aged population is stagnant.